Not My Girl by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Maragaret Pokiak-Fenton is about Olemaun returning home after spending two years away from her family to attend an “outside school”. An “outside school” is where children are sent away from their family to learn English, and customs outside the Inuit's community. Olemaun attended an “outside school” from ages 8-10 years old, and returned home, where she is no longer recognized by her family, except by her father, who went to an “outside school” when he was young. Olemaun has a hard time readjusting back home. She no longer has the taste for her favorite food that her mother bought for her when she returned to welcome her, she does not possess the family's scent for the dogs to recognize her, and so forth. Olemaun's father helps her readjust, and through an incident of nursing a puppy with the skills she learned from the outside school, she begins to feel at home once again.

USBBY Outstanding International Books - Grades 3-5: 2015; Short-listed, da Vinci Eye Award 2015; Commended, Eric Hoffer Award, Honorable Mention 2015; Joint winner, USBBY Outstanding International Books Honor List 2015; Short-listed, Chocolate Lily Award 2015; Commended, Skipping Stones Honor Award 2015; Short-listed, Information Book Award, Children's Literature Roundtables of Canada 2015; Joint winner, Storytelling World Award 2015; Joint winner, Best Books for Kids & Teens, starred selection, Canadian Children's Book Centre 2015.

Authors and illustrator live in Canada.

English. Originally published in Canada by Annick Press in 2014.

Two years ago, Margaret left her Arctic home for the outsiders' school. Now she has returned and can barely contain her excitement as she rushes towards her waiting family -- but her mother stands still as a stone. This strange, skinny child, with her hair cropped short, can't be her daughter. "Not my girl!" she says angrily. Margaret's years at school have changed her. Now ten years old, she has forgotten her language and the skills to hunt and fish. She can't even stomach her mother's food. Her only comfort is in the books she learned to read at school. Gradually, Margaret relearns the words and ways of her people. With time, she earns her father's trust enough to be given a dogsled of her own. As her family watches with pride, Margaret knows she has found her place once more. Based on the true story of Margaret Pokiak-Fenton, and complemented by evocative illustrations, Not My Girl makes the original, award-winning memoir, A Stranger at Home, accessible to younger children. It is also a sequel to the picture book When I Was Eight. A poignant story of a determined young girl's struggle to belong, it will both move and inspire readers everywhere.