Bloodknots

Ami Sands Brodoff is not afraid of blood and guts imagery or the narrative intricacy that her characters’ densely packed psyches seem to demand. In these 12 ambitious stories, Brodoff probes and prods our most ... Read More »

June 9, 2005 | Filed under: Children and YA Non-fiction, Fiction: Short

One Foot in Heaven

By David Waltner-Toews

There’s a quietness at the heart of One Foot in Heaven, the first collection of short stories from veterinary professor and poet David Waltner-Toews. Given the subject matter – Prairie-dwelling Mennonites – the sense of ... Read More »

June 8, 2005 | Filed under: Children and YA Non-fiction, Fiction: Short

Blind Crescent

By Michelle Berry

Suburb-lit is one of those classically American phenomena, like jazz or drive-through churches. From Sinclair Lewis’s Babbitt to Updike’s Rabbit to Carver’s cavalcade of losers, the suburbs have been a mainstay of the American literary ... Read More »

June 8, 2005 | Filed under: Children and YA Non-fiction, Fiction: Novels

The Spiral Garden

By Anne Hines

In The Spiral Garden, Toronto writer Anne Hines takes the Biblical character Ruth and gives her a decidedly modern slant. Meet Ruth Broggan, a divorced, empty-nester mother of two and Christian minister who is searching ... Read More »

June 8, 2005 | Filed under: Children and YA Non-fiction, Fiction: Novels

A Brazilian Alphabet for the Younger Reader

By P.K. Page; P.K. Page

A seven-year-old of my aquaintance once passed the hours of a long car trip by inventing her own language. The language was based on the ingenious idea of using ordinary English words to mean something ... Read More »

May 11, 2005 | Filed under: Picture Books

Roger Gets Carried Away

By Barbara Todd, Rogé, illus.

When it comes to Roger’s imagination, the sky’s the limit – or nearly so, since, as the heroic Captain Kaboodle, he can reach outer space. But when Roger gets his first pair of eyeglasses – ... Read More »

May 11, 2005 | Filed under: Picture Books

Silly Chicken

By Rukhsana Khan, Yunmee Kyong, illus.

Rukhsana Khan’s new picture book gives a delightful twist to the classic plotline of a young child’s jealousy about sharing her mother’s attention and affection. The rival in this case is not a younger sibling, ... Read More »

May 11, 2005 | Filed under: Picture Books

The Alphabet with Wild Animals

By Melanie Watt

A new board book series from Kids Can Press, Learning with Animals explains basic concepts using various groupings of animals. Each book begins with a two-page spread including all the featured animals and an inviting ... Read More »

May 11, 2005 | Filed under: Picture Books