Local Author Amanda Peters Visits Grade 12 Students

To foster an appreciation and a love for reading, our Senior School students underwent an independent novel study that is also meant to motivate students to read literary works outside of class that they may not have necessarily chosen for themselves. The students are motivated to think critically about the work’s themes and to connect what they are reading to their own lives and to the world around them. This year, Mrs. Cynthia Verryn-Stuart’s Grade 12 English class studied local author Amanda Peters’ novel The Berry Pickers within their independent novel study unit.

Last Friday, we were incredibly fortunate and honored to welcome Amanda Peters to Convocation Hall to read from her award-winning novel, The Berry Pickers, and to answer questions from our students. In her novel, Peters, who has Mi’kmaw and settler ancestry, brings to life the story of an Indigenous family in the 1960s who travels to Maine in the summer to pick berries and who suffers the disappearance and loss of their youngest family member, four-year-old Ruthie. Peters’ novel contains themes like identity, responses to traumatic events, racism, and the power of family bonds allowing her reader to deeply feel with her characters and to reflect on the novel’s content.

After reading a passage from her novel, our students were able to ask Peters questions about her novel and her path to becoming a writer. They also had the chance to have their copy of The Berry Pickers autographed. We want to thank Amanda Peters for taking the time to visit our school and for her inspiring stories that will surely stick with us. Wela’lin!