Bent Not Broken: Madeline and Justin (One-2-One series)

Lorna Schultz nicholson’s third novel for Clockwise Press’s One-2-One series follows Madeline, a 14-year-old with a traumatic brain injury, and Justin, a high school senior still mourning his sister’s death, as they participate in their ... Read More »

April 24, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

Washington’s Long War on Syria

By Stephen Gowan

While the complicated Syrian conflict is best known as the focal point for one of the largest refugee populations in world history, few have a firm grasp on the roots of a war that continues ... Read More »

April 24, 2017 | Filed under: Politics & Current Affairs, Reviews

Phoebe Sounds It Out

By Denise Holmes (ill.); Julie Zwillich

Some kids’ books address thorny childhood issues by relocating the attendant angst to the animal world, or outer space, or lands of witchcraft and wizardry. Others, like Phoebe Sounds It Out, tackle problems head-on by ... Read More »

April 17, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

★ Town Is by the Sea

By Joanne Schwartz; Sydney Smith (ill.)

Town Is by the Sea introduces readers to the day-to-day reality of growing up in a mining town, as seen through the eyes of a young boy. The boy shares everything with readers, describing his ... Read More »

April 17, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

The Whisky King: The Remarkable True Story of Canada’s Most Infamous Bootlegger and the Undercover Mountie on His Trail

By Trevor Cole

Canadians are sometimes guilty of selling themselves short when it comes to the more colourful aspects of their country’s history. The national predilection for “peace, order, and good government” fosters the impression of a comfortably ... Read More »

April 17, 2017 | Filed under: History, Reviews

★ Little Sister

By Barbara Gowdy

A darkening sky, the clap of thunder, and Rose Bowan is no longer herself. Her consciousness leaves her body behind and lands inside another woman, Harriet Smith. Rose sees what Harriet sees, breathes in her ... Read More »

April 17, 2017 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels, Reviews

★ So Much Love

By Rebecca Rosenblum

Rebecca Rosenblum opens her commanding, technically impressive debut novel with a note-perfect chapter titled “Marriage.” Assured and captivating, it portrays a deeply melancholic narrator, a slumped English professor in “the middle of a near-silent summer,” ... Read More »

April 17, 2017 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels, Reviews

Innocent Heroes: Stories of Animals in the First World War

By Sigmund Brouwer

With the country in the midst of sesquicentennial fever, publishers are making an effort to ensure that another important anniversary isn’t overlooked: the centennial of the First World War battle of Vimy Ridge. Three new ... Read More »

April 10, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Non-fiction