In her new novel for middle years readers, Maggie Lou, Firefox, award-winning author Arnolda Dufour Bowes evokes in readers the tenacity and adventure of childhood spirit.
Her first book 20.12m: A Short Story Collection of a Life Lived as a Road Allowance Métis, won several awards including the 2021 Danuta Gleed Literary Award and the 2022 High Plains Award in the Indigenous writer category.
- Maggie Lou, Firefox
- Arnolda Dufour Bowes, Karlene Harvey (Illustrator)
- Groundwood Books Ltd
- $14.99 Paperback, 220 pages
- ISBN: 978-17-73068-81-7
For Bowes, writing Maggie Lou, Firefox was about creating representation for young readers. She says, “I felt that there was a space in young readers’ literature that was not meeting my children’s needs. There were no contemporary Métis stories that shared our humour, joie de vivre, or the resiliency and strength of Métis women and girls.”
Cleverly woven together with humour and love, this lighthearted story gives us a glimpse into Métis kinship and culture.
The main character Maggie Lou, or “Firefox” as her moshom (grandfather) calls her, takes readers along for a delightful ride through her days.
These include some rather unconventional activities for a young girl, such as learning to box, building a hotel for dogs with the knowledge and materials she gains from her father’s construction site, and joining her brother and uncle on a deer hunt.
Based on “somewhat true” events and characters from Bowes’s own family and life, the novel beautifully captures the dynamic and grounding Métis values of humour, tenacity, and family loyalty.
“I love being able to recreate some important family members and friends into this book, with all their zany characteristics and idiosyncrasies,” Bowes says. “There was so much more I wanted to share, but I also didn’t want to completely embarrass my family by sharing too much.”
This book is suitable for readers young and old, Métis and non-Métis. “I feel many would be able to relate to Maggie Lou and her family’s antics, and would find her irrepressible spirit refreshing,” says Bowes.
The book sends an inspiring message of resilience, hope, and pride to young readers, and it also presents the seasoned reader with an opportunity to reminisce and honour younger selves through recapturing a childlike approach to life.
“We all have a little bit of Maggie Lou’s fiery spirit in us – whether it’s her search for adventure, her ingenuity, her innocence, and her love for family,” says Bowes.
“Maggie Lou is a young girl who doesn’t fit into any box well; she doesn’t give up easily and is courageous beyond her years. I feel some lose these essential qualities as they age, and I hope her unquenchable spunk ignites some adventures for the young and old.”
Enhancing this fun and engaging story is the cartoon-style art by talented Tsilhquot-Syili illustrator Karlene Harvey, who draws readers in with her portraits of Maggie Lou and her family and friends.
Bowes, currently based near Saskatoon where she is originally from, is working on a sequel to Maggie Lou, also with Groundwood Books. She says she is grateful to Groundwood for recognizing the importance of telling these stories.
“Stories are one way we can learn to relate to one another cross-culturally,” says Bowes.
