Be My Wolff

In her latest novel, Emma Richler comes across as an unapologetic maximalist. If minimalism presupposes that less is more, Richler’s aesthetic in this exuberant, freewheeling work is the precise opposite. At the heart of Be ... Read More »

March 16, 2017 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

The Dark and Other Love Stories

By Deborah Willis

Provocative commentary decrying the death of certain literary forms has become so common that it practically constitutes its own genre. Poetry dies several times a year, and short fiction often seems to be on life ... Read More »

March 9, 2017 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

All the Beloved Ghosts

By Alison MacLeod

March 9, 2017 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

★ Dragon Springs Road

By Janie Chang

Janie Chang’s second novel is a remarkable read, brimming with magic and the grit of realism. According to a blog post, the author originally intended to write the story of a real-life Cinderella, Luo Jialing, ... Read More »

March 9, 2017 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Wolfie and Fly

By Cary Fagan; Zoe Si (ill.)

Almost everything Cary Fagan writes for young people – from his Kaspar Snit books to his instalment of Mordecai Richler’s Jacob Two-Two series – is primed with a light coat of magic. Two of his ... Read More »

March 9, 2017 | Filed under: Picture Books

Little Blue Chair

By Cary Fagan; Madeline Kloepper (ill.)

March 9, 2017 | Filed under: Picture Books

The Gold

By David Carpenter

Canadian history is inextricably connected to geography. And Canadian fiction seems endlessly absorbed with a reckoning between the land and the humans who exploit it. Saskatchewan’s David Carpenter has staked out one indelible corner of ... Read More »

March 9, 2017 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

The Thing Lou Couldn’t Do

By Ashley Spires

Conquering fears is a big part of childhood. Kids are confronted with scary new things on a regular basis: the dark, the monster under the bed, climbing a tree, a move to a new neighbourhood. ... Read More »

March 9, 2017 | Filed under: Picture Books