Introduction: Voices of Passion, Voices of Hope / Sharon McKay -- 1. Passion within the First nations School Work Profession / Dexter Kinequon -- 2. Passion, Action, Strength and Innovative Change: The Experience of the Saskatchewan Children's Advocate's Office in Establishing Rights-based "Children and Youth First" Principles / Marvin M. Bernstein and Roxane A. Schury -- 3. From Longing to Belonging: Attachment Theory, Connectedness, and Indigenous Children in canada / Jeannine Carriere and Cathy Richardson -- 4. Jumping through the Hoops: A Manitoba Study Examining Experiences and Reflections of Aboriginal Mothers Involved in Child Welfare in Manitoba / Marlyn Bennett -- 5. Rehearsing with Reality: Exploring Health Issues with Aboriginal Youth Through Drama / Linda Goulet, Jo-Ann Episkenew, Warren Linds and Karen Arnason -- 7. The Moving Forward Project: Working with Refugee Children, Youth and Their Families / Judy White et al. -- 8. Passion for Those Who care: What Foster Carers Need / Rob Twigg -- 9. Children with FASD involved with the Manitoba Child Welfare System: The Need for Passionate Action / Don Fuchs, Linda Burnside, Shelagh Marchenski and Andria Mudry -- 10. Physical Punishment in Childhood: A Human Rights and cxhild Protection Issue / Ailsa M. Watkinson -- 11. Complex Poverty and Home-grown Solutions in Two Prairie cities / Jim Silver [Winnipeg and Saskatoon].

"As the play begins, an old hobo named Poppy by his avid companion, young Davey Quinn, is telling a tall tale. It is the early 1890s and itinerant story tellers like Poppy are the voices of the prairie. Years later, Davey is discovered by a radio entrepreneur while he is telling stories about Poppy and Frankie, a blind girl he rescued from a cruel father. Quinn becomes famous on radio as the Voice of the Prairie. Frankie reenters his life and the FCC threatens them all for broadcasting without a license."--

This charming, coming-of-age story is perfect for fans of Joan Bauer and Sheila Turnage. Prairie Evers is finding that school isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. She’s always been homeschooled by her grandmother, learning about life while they ramble through the woods. But now Prairie’s family has moved north and she has to attend school for the first time, where her education is in a classroom and the behavior of her classmates isn’t very nice. The only good thing is meeting Ivy, her first true friend. Prairie wants to be a good friend, even though she can be clueless at times. But when Ivy’s world is about to fall apart and she needs a friend most, Prairie is right there for her, corralling all her optimism and determination to hatch a plan to help. Wonderful writing and an engaging narrator distinguish this lively story that celebrates friendship of every kind.

Born in Minnesota in 1890 and raised and educated in Massachusetts, Marjory Stoneman Douglas came to Florida in 1915 to work for her father, who had just started a newspaper called the Herald in a small town called Miami. In this "frontier" town, she recovered from a misjudged marriage, learned to write journalism and fiction and drama, took on the fight for feminism and racial justice and conservation long before those causes became popular, and embarked on a long and uncommonly successful voyage into self-understanding. Way before women did this sort of thing, she recognized her own need for solitude and independence, and built her own little house away from town in an area called Coconut Grove. She still lives there, as she has for over 40 years, with her books and cats and causes, emerging frequently to speak, still a powerful force in ecopolitics. Marjory Stoneman Douglas begins this story of her life by admitting that "the hardest thing is to tell the truth about oneself" and ends it stating her belief that "life should be lived so vividly and so intensely that thoughts of another life, or a longer life, are not necessary." The voice that emerges in between is a voice from the past and a voice from the future, a voice of conviction and common sense with a sense of humor, a voice so many audiences have heard over the years—tough words in a genteel accent emerging from a tiny woman in a floppy hat—which has truly become the voice of the river.

"The Statue of Liberty is a woman, but did you know that when the statue first came to America in 1886, women could not even vote? In fact, the men in charge of the dedication of the statue on the island in New York Harbor declared that women could note even set foot there during the ceremony. That didn't stop New York suffragists Matilda Joslyn Gage, Lillie Devereux Blake, and Katherine ("Katie") Devereux Blake. They wanted women to have liberty and were determined to give the new statue a voice. But, first, they had to find a boat. The Statue of Liberty stands on an island, after all. Matilda, Lillie, and Katie organize hundreds of people and sail a cattle barge to the front of the day's demonstration-making front-page news and raising their voices for LIBERTY"--

Dakota Territory, 1880. When Hanna arrives in the town of LaForge, she sees possibiltiies. Her father coupld open a shop on the main street. She could go to school, if there is a school, and even realize her dream of becoming a dressmaker--provided she can convince Papa, that is. She and Papa could make a home here. But Hanna is half-Chinese, and she knows from experience that most white people don't want neighbors who aren't white themselves. The people of LaForge have never seen an Asian person before; most are unwelcoming and unfriendly--but they don't even know her! Hannah is determined to stay in LaForge and persuade them to see byond her surface. In a setting that will be recognized by fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books, this compelling story of resolution and persistence, told with humor, insight, and charm, offers a fresh look at a long-established view of history. -- From dust jacket.