Biography & Autobiography Personal Memoirs
So Few on Earth
A Labrador Métis Woman Remembers
- Publisher
- Dundurn Press
- Initial publish date
- Oct 2010
- Category
- Personal Memoirs, General, General
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781554887095
- Publish Date
- Oct 2010
- List Price
- $26.99
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781770705654
- Publish Date
- Oct 2010
- List Price
- $8.99
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781459704718
- Publish Date
- Oct 2010
- List Price
- $26.99
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Where to buy it
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age: 15
- Grade: 10
Description
Short-listed for the 2011 Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing
Josephine Mildred Curl Penny grew up in Labrador during the 1940s and 1950s. Like many Métis, she and her family lived a semi-nomadic lifestyle, moving inside to the primitive settlement of Roaches Brook each fall to hunt and trap, and outside to Spotted Islands in the spring to harvest the rich fishing grounds.
Sent away to hospital at age four, to boarding school when she was seven, and forced out to work at age eleven, Josie lost the family bond so important to a young child. She recounts the years spent at Lockwood Boarding School where she suffered atrocious punishments, merciless teasing, and the humiliation of two rapes. The depersonalization and constant punishment eventually took their toll, and her once free-spirited nature was broken. Reading became her only escape
Set against the beauty and ruggedness of the Labrador coast, So Few on Earth is a story of perseverance in a harsh environment and the possibility of life starting anew from shattered beginnings.
About the author
Josie Penny is the author of So Few on Earth: A Labrador Métis Woman’s Memories, a dramatic personal story of growing up in an isolated Labrador community surrounded by loving family, and how this was crushed by her experiences at residential school. In 2011, Josie received the Atlantic Book Award for her first book. Having triumphed over personal adversity, Josie is now a retired successful entrepreneur with a large, loving family. She lives in Dunville, Ontario, Canada.
Awards
- Short-listed, Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing
Librarian Reviews
So Few on Earth: A Labrador Métis Woman Remembers
Josie Penny was born in 1943 in Roaches Brook, Labrador to Métis parents. She lived the life of a semi-nomad for her early years, until she was sent to Lockwood School at the age of seven. There, she changed from a vivacious young girl to an introvert who was constantly punished by the teachers and repeatedly raped by the male students. So Few on Earth documents Penny’s life from her early beginnings to her eventual return to Lockwood School as a cook. Includes a glossary.So Few on Earth was nominated for the Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing. This is Josie Penny’s first book.
Caution: Includes descriptions of sexual assault.
Source: The Association of Book Publishers of BC. Canadian Aboriginal Books for Schools. 2012-2013.
