Phoenix Gets Greater

In this personal-feeling family story, Wilson-Trudeau gives loving voice to the early experiences of her child Wilson, who also contributes. As an infant, “Phoenix was sick, and his doctors said he would never be able to talk, ride a bike, or kick a ball,” but he improves after his mother uses the Indigenous healing technique of smudging. Home from the hospital, Phoenix plays with a pink blanket and dolls, wraps a towel around his head to approximate long hair, and learns to “spin, swish, and swirl,” taking ballet and dancing at powwows. When he’s bullied at school, Phoenix stops dancing and playing with dolls, until his coming out as gay leads to his mother introducing a new concept around gender. “We all carry a spirit within us,” Phoenix’s mother explains. “It gives us life and guides us. But in our Anishinaabe culture there are Two Spirit people, Niizh Manidoowag, who have both girl and boy spirits” and for whom “Anishinaabe have great respect.” In saturated pinks and purples, Kyak-Monteith’s portrait-oriented art offers warmth to an individual narrative about acceptance, authenticity, and identity. Ages 6–8. (Oct.)