Fresh off her 2025 Canada Reads win, Shayla Stonechild has signed a deal to write her own memoir.
Set to publish in spring 2027, Between Two Worlds chronicles Stonechild’s path to healing through connection to her Red River Métis and Plains Cree cultures as well as the Indian yogic philosophy she’s studied.
“A part of me always knew I would one day share my story because of the path that was carved before me,” she told CBC Books.
“It’s for those wanting to deepen their own healing journey. It offers solutions towards multi-generational healing, guided by the wisdom of my ancestors and the ancient teachings of yoga.”
Between Two Worlds is the first in a two-book deal with Simon & Schuster, acquired by senior editor katherena vermette. The second book, also nonfiction, will be published in spring 2029.
Stonechild, a podcaster and wellness advocate, is an avid reader of nonfiction. She brought her love and appreciation of true stories to Canada Reads 2025, where she championed the memoir A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby, with Mary Louisa Plummer.
Shayla Stonechild, championing A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby, with Mary Louisa Plummer, won Canada Reads 2025. (Joanna Roselli/CBC)
In A Two-Spirit Journey, Ma-Nee Chacaby, an Ojibwa-Cree lesbian who grew up in a remote northern Ontario community, tells the story of how she overcame experiences with abuse and alcohol addiction to become a counsellor and lead Thunder Bay’s first gay pride parade.
“In today’s society, vulnerability is often seen as a weakness and I think that’s what Ma-Nee has, that’s her strength,” said Stonechild on the last day of Canada Reads. “For me reading it, I was like, ‘Oh, wow, I do have the power to share both the dark and the light because that’s a part of the human experience.'”
Reflecting back now that her own publishing journey has begun, Stonechild said, “Ma-Nee inspired me to finally put the dream into action and write my own story.”
LISTEN | Shayla Stonechild and Ma-Nee Chacaby on The Next Chapter:
The Next ChapterShayla Stonechild shares an Ojibwa-Cree elder’s message of hope and healing with Canada Reads
Stonechild founded the Matriarch Movement, an online platform, podcast and nonprofit that amplifies Indigenous voices and provides wellness opportunities for Indigenous women and two-spirit individuals.
She is also a global yoga ambassador for Lululemon and is the first Indigenous person featured on Yoga Journal’s cover. Stonechild has hosted APTN’s Red Earth Uncovered, appeared on Season 9 of Amazing Race Canada and co-hosted ET Canada’s Artists & Icons: Indigenous Entertainers in Canada, for which she won two Canadian Screen Awards.