Parachuting

Leora Freedman’s first YA novel revolves around two Jewish teens living in a Connecticut suburb in 1973. Zoe and her best friend Naomi spend their days smoking pot, cutting classes, and trying to get a ... Read More »

May 30, 2011 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction

Merci Mister Dash!

By Monica Kulling; Esperança Melo, illus.

Despite being a mongrel, Mister Dash is a dog of great refinement. He wears vests and bow ties, reads newspapers, and eats his popcorn one kernel at a time. He and his owner, Madame Croissant, ... Read More »

May 30, 2011 | Filed under: Picture Books

★ Ones and Twos

By Marthe Jocelyn; Nell Jocelyn, illus.

Concept books for little children are a specialty of versatile Ontario author-illustrator Marthe Jocelyn, and this first collaboration with her art-student daughter Nell is a delightful development in the genre. The younger Jocelyn’s imaginative collages ... Read More »

May 30, 2011 | Filed under: Picture Books

Monster Manners

By Hazel Hutchins; Sampar, illus.

Thanks in part to our culture-wide embrace of instant communication, as well as the seemingly non-stop parade of narcissistic, depraved, and loutish public figures pushed on us by the media, the public realm has never ... Read More »

May 30, 2011 | Filed under: Picture Books

★ You’re Finally Here!

By Melanie Watt

May 30, 2011 | Filed under: Picture Books

Chimo

By David Collier

For over 20 years, David Collier has made comics about Canada’s freaks, weirdos, and underdogs. In Chimo, he changes course, dramatizing his own struggle to re-enlist in the Canadian military after hitting 40. His goal ... Read More »

May 27, 2011 | Filed under: Graphica

Folk

By Jacob McArthur Mooney

Inspired in part by the 1998 crash of Swiss-air Flight 111 offshore of Nova Scotia, Jacob McArthur Mooney’s second collection examines human tragedy and the limits of community. Folk undertakes an intelligent effort to reject ... Read More »

May 27, 2011 | Filed under: Poetry

On the Outside Looking Indian: How My Second Childhood Changed My Life

By Rupinder Gill

Rupinder Gill is the daughter of immigrant Punjabi parents who were masters at saying no. No sleepovers. No tennis lessons. No fun. Instead, she and her four siblings had two options for after-school activities: clean ... Read More »

May 27, 2011 | Filed under: Reference

The Water Rat of Wanchai

By Ian Hamilton

Why do crime-fiction readers love series so much? The best explanation I can come up with involves merging two oft-repeated axioms: “get in late, leave early” and “leave ’em wanting more.” The best series fiction ... Read More »

May 27, 2011 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels