No Time to Say Goodbye

Children’s Stories of Kuper Island Residential School
by Sylvia Olsen with Rita Morris and Ann Sam

No Time to Say Goodbye is a fictional account of five children sent to aboriginal boarding school, based on the recollections of a number of Tsartlip First Nations people. These unforgettable children are taken by government agents from Tsartlip Day School to live at Kuper Island Residential School. The five are isolated on the small island and life becomes regimented by the strict school routine. They experience the pain of homesickness and confusion while trying to adjust to a world completely different from their own. Their lives are no longer organized by fishing, hunting and family, but by bells, line-ups and chores. In spite of the harsh realities of the residential school, the children find adventure in escape, challenge in competition, and camaraderie with their fellow students.

Sometimes sad, sometimes funny, always engrossing, No Time to Say Goodbye is a story that readers of all ages won’t soon forget.

ISBN 1-55039-121-6, $9.95

Also available in a Kindle Edition.

Adopted by the BC Teachers' Federation

Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice Snow Willow Award Nominee

"No Time to Say Goodbye is a book every school should have. It tells an untold history of First Nations in Canada in a way that children will understand. The residential school era was a time of great hurt for First Nations people. The stories must be shared and remembered so that it will never happen again." Theresa Desnomie-Fiddler, Peepeekisis First Nation elder and educator.

"No Time to Say Goodbye has opened many new doors within education in BC, and in Canada. The insightful narratives continue to make this book incredibly important to the fabric of Canadian culture today.”  Terri Mack, co-owner Strong Nations Publishing.

Interested in hosting an author visit at your school? Download Sylvia Olsen's brochure for more information.