Occasional Paper Series #54
The world doesn’t look just one way
by Kim Spencer
As an Indigenous youth growing up, I never questioned why.
Why was I reading or learning about people who weren’t like me?
Who didn’t look like me?
From Dick and Jane to Raggedy Anne and Andy,
Nancy Drew to The Hardy Boys.
Judy Blume or the Sweet Valley High series.
I never asked why.
Kim Spencer is an award-winning bestselling author. Her debut novel, Weird Rules to Follow, won multiple awards, including a 2024 Pacific Northwest Book Award, a 2023 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, and a 2023 Jean Little First-Novel Award. Named to both the USBBY Outstanding International Books list as well as the IBBY Honour List, the book also received a Kirkus starred review and was a 2023 Governor General’s Literary Award finalist. Kim is a proud member of the Gitxaala Nation and resides in Northern British Columbia. Her next novel, I Won’t Feel This Way Forever, a sequel is scheduled for release in October 2025.