I AM MY NAME: A Girl's Journey to Finding Her Cree Family, written by Na'Kuset and Judith Henderson. Illustrated by Onedove. Alfred A. Knopf, Penguin Random House. 2025. $26.99 ages 6 and up

 

"'This is your new name."

That name is not me. 
I do not want a new name.
I need to find my sister so 
she can tell them I have a name." 

In my first year of teaching in 1971, one of my Indigenous children was 'scooped'. I did not understand it at the time. I was told he had been adopted by a family in the United States; the adoption agency in whose care he was explained that it was thrilled that he had found a family. It took a long time before I truly understood that process.

In this book, a young Cree girl and her sister are removed from their beds at night; she wakes up in the morning in a new room with a new family. Her name has been changed. As she spends her days mourning the loss of her sister, she finds her new family cold and distant; but for Bubbie an older woman who is kind to her and shows her a gentle and loving spirit, her life would be impossible. Whenever Bubbie goes home, the sadness returns. 

As days pass, she finds happiness at the synagogue, when she is learning, and when playing with her new best friend. Still, the best place to be is with Bubbie, her new grandmother. She feels at home whenever they are together. On the day her best friend's mother calls her a 'little Cree girl', she remembers it to be true. That is exactly what she is. Confronting her adoptive mother and father does her no good. They tell her she is lucky to have this new life they have provided. 

"I don't feel lucky.
I don't 
I don't
I don't 
I don't
belong. 

I have come from somewhere else, where 
I am Cree and I have a big sister
and another name. 
Maybe my sister is missing me."

In timer she runs away to her Bubbie's house, where the time they spend together brings great joy. Bubbie gently reminds her that she will not always be there for her. Though fearful of that truth, Bubbie also reminds her that she is beautiful. Together, they search for her sister and she finally goes home. From an elder there, she is given her Spirit name ... Na'kuset. 

Notes from the three collaborators add important context for this story of love and family. Honest and personal storytelling, accompaniedd by emotional artwork, shows how connection to loved ones endures and impacts families everywhere.