Miya Wears Orange

by Wanda John-Kehewin, Erika Rodriguez Medina (Illustrator)

Overview

A beautifully illustrated book that gently explores the complicated feelings a young girl experiences as she learns about tragedy and injustice.

Miya loves her school and she especially loves storytime. One day, her teacher shares a story about a little girl who was taken away to a residential school. The little girl wasn’t allowed to go home. Her hair was cut and she wasn’t allowed to keep her favourite doll. She was taken away from her family because she was Indigenous, just like Miya!

Miya worries the same thing will happen to her. Her mom tells her that Indigenous girls and boys aren’t forced to leave their families anymore. Miya is relieved, but she is still sad. What can she do about these feelings?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781774921265
Publisher:	HighWater Press
Publication date:	09/05/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Age Range:	6 - 8 Years

About the Author

Wanda John-Kehewin (she/her/hers) is a Cree writer who uses her work to understand and respond to the near destruction of First Nations cultures, languages, and traditions. When she first arrived in Vancouver on a Greyhound bus, she was a pregnant nineteen-year-old carrying little more than a bag of chips, a bottle of pop, thirty dollars, and hope. After many years travelling (well, mostly stumbling) along her healing journey, she now writes to stand in her truth and to share that truth openly. A published poet and fiction author, her first novel for young adults, Hopeless in Hope, won the Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize and was named to USBBY’s Outstanding International Books list.

Erika Rodriguez Medina (she/her) is a Mexican book publicist and illustrator, currently living and working in Vancouver, BC. Her favorite things to illustrate are angry kids, energetic characters, nature and space. There is a special place in her heart for folklore, spooky stories, big house plants, and things you’d find at a grandma’s house.

What People are Saying About This

Jen Moss

A moving and important story that deftly explores the fear a little Indigenous girl feels when she learns the truth about residential schools. Miya finds solace in her mom’s words, and readers will too. A sensitive explanation of residential schools that prioritizes the emotional safety of all readers, especially Indigenous children.

Bronwen Tate (and her kids

Writing against a tendency to view the harms of residential schools as “ancient history,” Wanda John-Kehewin offers a crucial reminder that the pain and strength and care of Indigenous people persist in the present and future, not just the past. Brought to life by Erika Rodriguez Medina’s tender illustrations, Miya Wears Orange is also a story about trusting our kids—trusting them to open up when they’re ready, to hear the truth when they ask questions, and to know when they need a break and some snuggles before heading back out into the world.

lecturer at UBC's School of Creative Writing Jen Moss

A moving and important story that deftly explores the fear a little Indigenous girl feels when she learns the truth about residential schools. Miya finds solace in her mom’s words, and readers will too. A sensitive explanation of residential schools that prioritizes the emotional safety of all readers, especially Indigenous children.

Editorial Reviews

The book showcases healthy coping strategies and ends with a call to action... This message shines brightest in the text. A solid choice for schools and libraries seeking a tie-in to programs on residential schools or the national Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

School Library Journal