The Parachute

By Sinclair Dumontais; Patricia Claxton, trans.

It’s almost beside the point to note that this well-wrought translation of the pseudonymously published L’Empêcheur retains the wry, didactic quality of the original French, because any reader will readily discern that the novel’s strengths ... Read More »

November 22, 2005 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Treading Water

By Anne DeGrace

Historical fiction is tricky. Successful books in the genre blend equal amounts of fact with fiction, while others provide just enough background to set the scene and provide context. Ultimately, it is the reader who ... Read More »

November 22, 2005 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Field of Mars

By Stephen Miller

Russian mystery and thriller writers are currently doing extremely well in the West, most notably Boris Akunin – two of whose policiers are being turned into feature films – and Yulia Latynina, whose stinging odes ... Read More »

November 22, 2005 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Santa Claus: A Biography

By Gerry Bowler

This Christmas, Santa won’t bring every child a pony or an MP3 player. But let the disappointed take comfort: at least he no longer brings vinegar-soaked birch rods to the unlucky or badly behaved. Gerry ... Read More »

November 21, 2005 | Filed under: History

Degrassi: Generations

By Kathryn Ellis

There’s no getting around it: Degrassi was never a great show. Kids who followed the fictional lives of Spike, Joey, Wheels, Snake, et al (and who now follow those of Emma, Craig, Marco, and Ashley ... Read More »

November 21, 2005

The Wonder in Water

By Diane Swanson

Victoria-based science writer Diane Swanson, author of more than 60 books, is clearly fascinated by her subjects and the challenge of presenting them to kids. In The Wonder in Water, she peers closely at aquatic ... Read More »

November 21, 2005 | Filed under: Book news

The Blue Jean Book: The Story Behind the Seams

By Tanya Lloyd Kyi

Of all sartorial success stories, that of blue jeans must be the most remarkable. When first fashioned in California in the 1870s, denim overalls with copper rivets had immediate appeal as a practical, durable garment ... Read More »

November 21, 2005

Red Sea

By Diane Tullson

The dramatic red cover of Vancouver author Diane Tullson’s second novel promises blood, and teen readers will not be disappointed by this modern-day pirate yarn.Fourteen-year-old Libby has been coerced into a year-long sailing trip with ... Read More »

November 21, 2005

The Freedom of Jenny

By Julie Burtinshaw

Writers of historical novels need to maintain a delicate balance between history and telling good stories. The Freedom of Jenny, by Vancouver’s Julie Burtinshaw (Dead Reckoning and Adrift), doesn’t always keep this balance, though it ... Read More »

November 21, 2005

The Sower of Tales

By Rachna Gilmore

Ottawa writer Rachna Gilmore (whose picture book A Screaming Kind of Day won the 1999 Governor General’s Award for text) delves into the world of juvenile fantasy for the first time, with impressive results. The ... Read More »

November 21, 2005

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