Fantastic Companions

The use of animal companions in fantasy writing is a difficult balancing act: walking the line between coy anthropomorphism (with its risk of sentimentality) and sage-like omnipotence is a feat for even the most seasoned ... Read More »

August 29, 2005 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction

Swimming in the Monsoon Sea

By Shyam Selvadurai

In the 20 years of my adult book discussion group at the library, one title stands out for the sheer delight it occasioned us all – Running in the Family, Michael Ondaatje’s outrageous Sri Lankan ... Read More »

August 29, 2005 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction

The Beautiful Wife

By Leon Rooke

In his prolific career as a writer, Leon Rooke has frequently seemed to be having far too good a time. The same suspicion strikes the reader of The Beautiful Wife. The novel begins as Vira ... Read More »

August 29, 2005 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Scholastic Canada Book of Lists

By James Buckley, Jr., and Robert Stremme with Pat Hancock

The junior Cliff Clavins of the country will be delighted by the Scholastic Canada Book of Lists, a behemoth collection of gross, interesting, and/or useless facts. Weighing in at 320 pages, with over 250 lists, ... Read More »

August 29, 2005

Animals Hibernating: How Animals Survive Extreme Conditions

By Pamela Hickman; Pat Stephens, illus.

Who hibernates, and why? How do hibernating animals know when to wake up? Why don’t ectotherms, which spend the winter frozen, actually freeze to death? And what is an ectotherm, anyway? These are just a ... Read More »

August 29, 2005

Atlantic Puffin: Little Brother of the North

By Kristin Bieber Domm; Jeffrey C. Domm, illus.

This beautifully crafted story, by the same team who devised Ahmed and the Nest of Sand, teaches readers about a marvellous colourful bird that returns to Newfoundland’s Bonavista Peninsula each spring to mate. Written by ... Read More »

August 29, 2005

She Dared: True Stories of Heroines, Scoundrels, and Renegades

By Ed Butts, Heather Collins, illus.

Ed Butts’ She Dared, about women in Canadian history who defied society’s norms, is full of great tales. Butts (whose books for adult audiences include Bandits and Privateers and Pirates and Outlaws of Canada) understands ... Read More »

August 22, 2005 | Filed under: Book news

Evil Masters: The Frightening World of Tyrants

By Laura Scandiffio

In Evil Masters, Toronto writer Laura Scandiffio chronicles the terrible and terrifying careers of seven tyrannical rulers. Ranging from the lesser-known, such as Qin Shi Huangdi, the first emperor of China, and Robespierre, to the ... Read More »

August 22, 2005 | Filed under: Book news

Hayley Wickenheiser: Born to Play

By Elizabeth Etue

The story of Hayley Wickenheiser is almost too perfect to be true – if she didn’t exist the CBC would have to invent her. Born and raised in the town of Shaunovon, Saskatchewan, Wickenheiser was ... Read More »

August 22, 2005

Split

By Lori Weber

Sometimes the young adult category seems unnecessarily arbitrary, as with Quebec writer Lori Weber’s second novel, where the only thing that’s YA is the age of the protagonist. Weber’s spare, sombre, poignant coming-of-age story can ... Read More »

August 22, 2005

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