Spells, Wishes, and the Talking Dead: ᒪᒪᐦᑖᐃᐧᓯᐃᐧᐣ ᐸᑯᓭᔨᒧᐤ ᓂᑭᐦᒋ ᐋᓂᐢᑯᑖᐹᐣ mamahtâwisiwin, pakosêyimow, nikihci-âniskotâpân is a wonder. It plays with form, space, and language, comparing meanings in English and nêhiyawêwin (Plains Cree). The reader's attention is drawn to the restrictive and imposed constructs of English grammar, the way it boxes in interpretation and cadence.

With inspiring defiance, Wanda John-Kehewin demonstrates which magics cannot be suppressed. Broken into three sections, Spells, Wishes, and the Talking Dead looks at the sickening grip of colonialism: its ongoing detriment to the mental health of Indigenous people, its theft of language, and the scope of its intergenerational harms. The author places herself, her work, and her family's personal experiences in the context of a historical timeline running from the so-called doctrine of discovery to the present day. Recounting the two in tandem reveals the unrelenting nature of violence and, in turn, resistance. There is great power in truth; John-Kehewin "stands in her truth" so that other survivors may stand in theirs. (From Talonbooks)

Wanda John-Kehewin is a Cree writer, poet, fiction author and film scriptwriter. She is the author of the Dreams series of graphic novels including Visions of the Crow. Her other work includes Seven Sacred Truths, YA novel Hopeless in Hope and In the Dog House, which won the World Poetry Foundation's Empowered Poet Award.