Reviews

Real Life

We’ve grown used to thinking of evil – if we think of it at all – as something monstrous, destruction you can’t wrap your mind around. Evil is the Holocaust, Sept. 11, war in Rwanda. ... Read More »

January 19, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

Just Married: Gay Marriage and the Expansion of Human Rights

By Kevin Bourassa and Joe Varnell

It would seem that a new definition of “family” is needed in the 21st century, and the contribution of the gay community here would be welcome. The topic of legal gay marriage raises some interesting ... Read More »

January 19, 2004 | Filed under: Politics & Current Affairs

In the Shadow of Silence: From Hitler Youth to Allied Internment: A Young Woman’s Story of Truth and Denial

By Gertrud Mackprang Baer

It is difficult to feel sympathy for someone who voluntarily became a Nazi spy, expected to rat on neighbours, schoolmates, and priests, possibly resulting in their imprisonment or worse. But what if the position was ... Read More »

January 19, 2004 | Filed under: Memoir & Biography

Spying 101: The Rcmp’s Secret Activities at Canadian Universities, 1917–1997

By Steve Hewitt

In light of sweeping new police powers approved by the Canadian government last fall, Spying 101 is a timely and valuable document of a shameful chapter in Canadian history. Many readers will be shocked to ... Read More »

January 19, 2004 | Filed under: Children and YA Non-fiction, History

Stratford Gold

By Richard Ouzounian

The Stratford Festival is celebrating its 50th anniversary this summer, so books about its history are virtually guaranteed a good sale, even if they serve simply to decorate coffee tables as a sign of cultural ... Read More »

January 19, 2004 | Filed under: Children and YA Non-fiction, Politics & Current Affairs

Fifty Seasons at Stratford

By Robert Cushman

January 19, 2004 | Filed under: Politics & Current Affairs

Doors Open Toronto: Illuminating the City’s Great Spaces

By John Sewell

In the mid-1990s, former Toronto mayor and left-wing political columnist John Sewell conducted an indefatigable (but ultimately unsuccessful) campaign against the amalgamation of the city’s municipal governments. He peppered his criticism of the province’s proposal ... Read More »

January 19, 2004 | Filed under: Art, Music & Pop Culture, Children and YA Non-fiction

The Secret Language of Girls

By Josey Vogels

There aren’t many secrets revealed in The Secret Language of Girls. But, then again, I’m a girl, making me privy, I suppose, to these secrets. The book is the fourth from Josey Vogels, a Canadian ... Read More »

January 19, 2004 | Filed under: Politics & Current Affairs

Eloise: Letters to a Lost Child

By Loise Lavallee

There’s something about the experience of grieving that memoirs capture particularly well. Perhaps because grief is so little understood, so socially difficult, and because it can take such a surprisingly long time to overcome, the ... Read More »

January 19, 2004 | Filed under: Memoir & Biography