Cat’s Pilgrimage

A short foray into plot synopsis will tip off fans of Marilyn Bowering’s fiction that with Cat’s Pilgrimage they are in familiar territory. A drunken teenage party leaves a girl dead, and the gay boy ... Read More »

January 5, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

The Singing Fire

By Lilian Nattel

Think Isaac Bashevis Singer, Charles Dickens, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez and you will have some idea of the scope of literary influences behind Lilian Nattel’s new novel, The Singing Fire. The story begins with two ... Read More »

January 5, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

An Orange from Portugal: Christmas Stories from the Maritimes and New foundland

By Anne Simpson, ed.

Christmas tends to evoke strong feelings in all of us, and not always of the cozy yuletide kind. It is a conflict of emotion captured beautifully in this terrific, ranging collection of short fiction, memoirs, ... Read More »

January 5, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

Clothar the Frank

By Jack Whyte

To read Jack Whyte is to surrender to a storyteller of the old school. His writing is firmly rooted in the basics of good storytelling: strong characterization, effective plotting, and excellent writing. It helps, of ... Read More »

January 5, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Midnight at the Dragon Café

By Judy Fong Bates

This is a terrific, page-turner of a first novel from Judy Fong Bates, who has previously published a book of short stories. Set in the 1950s, the novel tells the story of a young Chinese ... Read More »

January 5, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

★ Where’s Pup?

By Dayle Ann Dodds, Pierre Pratt, illus.

The impulse to put on a show – to roll up the rugs and raid the dressup box, to decorate the dog and broadcast a little glitter – this is the energy that lies behind ... Read More »

January 5, 2004 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Picture Books

The Sea King

By Jane Yolen and Shulamith Oppenheim, Stefan Czernecki, illus.

The impulse to put on a show – to roll up the rugs and raid the dressup box, to decorate the dog and broadcast a little glitter – this is the energy that lies behind ... Read More »

January 5, 2004 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Picture Books

What? What? What? Astounding, Weird, Wonderful and Just Plain Unbelievable Facts

By Lyn Thomas, Dianne Eastman, illus.

You don’t have to start at the beginning to enjoy this book. Open to any page and you’ll be intrigued by the abundance of interesting trivia on one of eight topics, including the human body, ... Read More »

December 10, 2003

The F Team

By Anne Laurel Carter & Rose Cowles, illus.

Is hockey still at the heart of the Canadian psyche? Is it still our defining myth? It’s the kind of topic the CBC would turn into a rambling, multi-part documentary. Hockey’s a bigger business than ... Read More »

December 10, 2003 | Filed under: Picture Books