100 Books Like Medicine Woman

Daniel Quinn’s award-winning novel illuminates the historical roots of our consumer culture from the perspective of a gorilla who teaches a human the lessons of sustainability.

Before he died, Daniel would meet with my students to discuss sustainability and the lessons of Ishmael. His wisdom comes through clearly in this well-told tale of how Homo sapiens become a species of unsustainable “takers” and what the consequences are of a global consumer culture.

This book came to me when I had survived so much up until that point and really began to realize the need to liberate myself and release social conditioning. I was like, “Goodness, this is the book I need to hold up anytime someone shames me using tropes about a ‘woman’s place’ in the world.”

I enjoyed how it invites you to question why powerful figures in traditional religious institutions have been rendered as men. She pushes us to go farther back in history, before Abrahamic religions, to trace the spread of disinformation about women as leaders, goddesses, and powerful beings. 

I love this book because it is useful at any step of your journey to reclaiming personal power.

In this book, author Neale Donald Walsch, at the lowest point of his life, picks up pen and paper one night and begins an interesting and quite intimate conversation with God.

The conversation becomes a daily routine and helps him get past his fears and challenges. Walsch asks questions I think many people, including myself, want to ask God, and God (the author’s higher consciousness) provides answers that really make you think and look at things through a different perspective.

This conversation ends up changing Walsh’s life, as well as the reader’s. 

I love biographies of the lives of individuals who go through spiritual transformations.

Daughter of Fire is one of those books. It’s about a British woman who goes to India and meets a Sufi Master. He asks her to keep a diary, which she does for five years. The account of the guru/disciple relationship is deep, touching, and intriguing.

It keeps you turning the pages through the 800+ pages of a soulful experience. 

Black Bear, Red Fox is a board book introducing colours in both English and Cree using animals and plants. Julie Flett’s lush, vibrant illustrations highlight the colours so vividly they seem to pop off the page. Board books are associated with very young children, however, this one can be enjoyed by anyone who is interested in learning some words in Cree while enjoying some beautiful artwork. Arden Ogg of the Cree Literacy Network provides an interesting and informative introduction about the use of colour words in the Cree language. There is also a helpful pronunciation chart. If you are looking for colour, this book delivers! Each page is a gorgeous work of art and design.

This book has inspired generations of paddlers, many of whom (including myself) didn't know that you could put a boat in the water at Minneapolis and paddle 2,250 miles north to Hudson Bay, where you have to watch out for polar bears.

That’s exactly what Eric Severaid and his friend Walter Port, both teenagers, did in 1930. Sevareid later went on to be a famous war correspondent, but this was his first big adventure.

With few words and simple images, we journey with a child as she becomes friends with an elderly neighbor who also loves birds, nature, the changing seasons, and expressing that love through art. But as the change of seasons continues, the girl’s elderly friend becomes fragile in health and strength. Even with an ache in her heart, the child discovers the comfort of remembering special times together and gathering together the drawings they shared. At night, while watching the rising of the full round “frog moon,” the child bundles up close to her mother and “My hands feel warm, and the covers feel soft, and I think of my friend until I fall asleep.”

This 4-volume serialized graphic novel tells the story of an Indigenous family across centuries and generations, stretching from Indigenous history before colonialism to ongoing colonial violence in Residential Schools until the present world of a Cree youth in existential crisis as he attempts to take his own life. His mother then guides him on a path of personal healing from his intergenerational trauma through stories about their history and traditions; Edwin’s journey takes him into the heart of ceremony and connection with his culture and history. He discovers his own strength to heal and then offers his father the opportunity to find his own healing path.

In this graphic novel, we are educated about Indigenous history through stories of struggle, resilience, and resurgence across the centuries. As Edwin, guided by his mother, meets with Elders, embraces his Cree identity, and pursues a path of healing through traditional teachings and practices,… show more.

This book is a conversation between a grandchild and their grandma who is a residential school survivor. With childlike simplicity, grandma explains why her colourful clothes, long hair, and treasured time with her brother are a reaction to being taken “from community” and being sent “far far away”. Grandma talks about students forced to wear uniforms, cut their hair, forbidden from speaking Cree, and separation from her brother.

This is a book I would probably have steered clear of “not wanting to frighten my children” when I was parenting, David Roberson does a masterful job of gently laying out facts without explanation or accusation. The book opens the door to further questions and conversations that have to be had but are very difficult to start. This is a great start.

School Library Journal invited Sandra, three other authors and myself to participate in their May 18th SLJ Day of Dialog to present our upcoming books centered around belonging. My first discovery of Sandra's book, We Belong to the Drum was through this event and collaboration.

Sandra's son is the star of the story, starting in the womb before Nikosis was born. The story centers around his Ancestral connection to the drum and the community found in gatherings and powwows. When Nikosis starts daycare he has separation anxiety and feels lonely in this new environment. Nikosis's mom has the brilliant idea to bring their Cree identity through music and drumming into the classroom which empowered both Nikosis and his peers.

It is a beautiful book of proudly walking in one's identity and communities welcoming that identity.