• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 7

The man in the poster is Louis Riel, and in this powerfully wrought historical novel by Jan Truss, Paul Gauthier has been chosen to play Riel in a school play at a time in his life when new menaces threaten the small Metis settlement where he lives with his family.

Convinced that such menaces can be fought with the same spirit that emboldened Riel, Paul and his young Indian friend Simon Buffalo set out to thwart a government plan to raze the settlement to make room for a new highway.

An award-winning author, Jan taught literature, art and music to students in Alberta before she began writing her own stories. In 1972 she won the Alberta Search for a Novelist competition with Bird at the Window. A Very Small Rebellion was her second novel, originally published in 1977, and her third novel, Jasmin, won the Ruth Schwartz Award. Her short stories have appeared in such magazines as Redbook, Chatelaine, on CBC radio, and in various collections.

Jan Truss' profile page