Tasha Spillett-Sumner facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tasha Spillett-Sumner
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Tasha Spillett
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| Education | University of Saskatchewan |
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Notable work
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Surviving the City |
Tasha Spillett-Sumner is a Canadian writer and teacher. She is famous for her graphic novel series called Surviving the City. The first book in this series won an award in 2019.
Contents
Tasha Spillett-Sumner's Career
Tasha Spillett-Sumner has done many things to help young Indigenous people. In 2014, she took part in the Miss Indian World pageant. She was chosen as "Miss Congeniality" there.
She also helped lead the Miss Manito Ahbee Youth Ambassador gathering. This event honored missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Tasha also guided young Indigenous people in Winnipeg through a group called Sister Circle.
Tasha Spillett-Sumner has taught high school subjects like social studies and English. She also teaches workshops about land-based knowledge. This means learning from the land and Indigenous traditions.
Her Books and Stories
In 2018, Tasha Spillett-Sumner released her first graphic novel, Surviving the City. A graphic novel is like a comic book but tells a longer story. Natasha Donovan drew the pictures for the book.
The story is about two young Indigenous women, Miikwan and Dez. Miikwan is Anishinaabe, and Dez is Inninew. The second book in the series, "From the Roots Up," came out in 2020.
In 2021, Tasha released a picture book called I Sang You Down from the Stars. Michaela Goade illustrated this book. It quickly became a best-seller on The New York Times list. Tasha started writing this book when she was expecting her daughter.
Her second picture book, Beautiful You, Beautiful Me, was published in 2022. It was even featured on a show called CBC Kids Reads.
About Tasha Spillett-Sumner's Life
Tasha Spillett-Sumner has family roots from the Nehiyaw (Cree) people and from Trinidad. She has a master's degree from the University of Saskatchewan. Her degree is in land-based Indigenous education. This type of education focuses on learning from the land and Indigenous ways of knowing.
She is also working on her PhD in education at the same university. She received a special scholarship to help her with her studies.
Tasha Spillett-Sumner is married to a singer-songwriter named Leonard Sumner. They have a daughter named Isabella, who was born in 2020.
Awards and Honors
Tasha Spillett-Sumner's books have won several important awards:
- In 2019, her graphic novel Surviving the City won the Best Work in an Alternative Format award. This was given by the Indigenous Voices Awards.
- In 2020, Surviving the City also received a Young Adult Book Honor. This award came from the American Library Association.
- Her picture book I Sang You Down from the Stars won the McNally Robinson Book for Young People Award in 2022. This was part of the Manitoba Book Awards.
Tasha Spillett-Sumner's Works
- Surviving the City
- Volume 1: "Surviving the City" - illustrated by Natasha Donovan (2018)
- Volume 2: "From the Roots Up" - illustrated by Natasha Donovan (2020)
- I Sang You Down from the Stars - illustrated by Michaela Goade (2021)
- Beautiful You, Beautiful Me - illustrated by Salini Perera (2022)
