By Derrick Grose
Publishers are invited to submit the title of one work of fiction and/or one work of non-fiction by a Canadian author or illustrator, published in the last year, that they would consider a “best book” or a “neglected gem.” Let the Canadian School Libraries Journal know about recent works to satisfy the needs and interests of school library patrons from kindergarten to senior high school. Send a .jpg image of the cover art, a 50-100 word factual blurb and the publication information to sliceditor(at)gmail.com.
Story Books and Fiction
Two Times a Traitor
Karen Bass
Toronto: Pajama Press, 2017.
288 p.; Ages 9-12; ISBN 9781772780246
Angry with his family, twelve-year-old Laz Berenger is mysteriously transported from the twenty-first century Halifax Citadel to the city’s barren harbourside almost three centuries earlier. Captured by New Englanders and accused of espionage, Laz must spy on the French at the fortification of Louisbourg to prove his loyalty. Once in Louisbourg, Laz earns a job as runner to the kind Commander Morpain and learns to love both the man and the town. Faced with the choice of betraying his friends in Louisbourg or giving up on ever getting back to his own time, Laz learns the meaning of growing up.
Wade’s Wiggly Antlers
Louise Bradford; Illustrations by Christine Battuz
Toronto: Kids Can Press, 2017.
32 p.; Ages 3-7; ISBN 9781771386159
Louise Bradford has crafted a playful allegory for children about losing a first tooth. With Christine Battuz’s art bringing Wade’s story to life with sympathy as well as humor, this book makes an engaging read-aloud for story time. It provides opportunities for discussions about how our bodies change as we grow up, what it feels like to go through these changes and the different ways we can celebrate the milestones. It would also work for an life science lesson on how and why some animals lose and grow antlers. Wade’s experience models a positive approach to dealing with developmental changes.
Impact
Edited by Warren Cariou, Katherine Vermette and Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair
Winnipeg: Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre, 2016.
231 p.; Ages 13-Adult; ISBN 9781927849293
This anthology of fiction, poetry, essays and creative non-fiction features works by 27 Indigenous Canadian writers. In his foreward, Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair places these works in a tradition of story-telling embracing not just oral traditions, but also beadwork, songs and the very footsteps of ancestors. He places this collection in the context of a belief that, “Stories create the world.” The book focuses on the effects of colonialism in Canada from both historical and contemporary perspectives. Its authors document the losses that stem from a colonial history and the struggle to recover the values at the core of their identities.
The Darkhouse
Barbara Radecki
Toronto: Dancing Cat Books, 2016.
244 p.; Ages 13-Adult; ISBN 9781770864788
Fifteen-year-old Gemma’s life on a small New Brunswick island with her father, Jonah, is not an exciting one. Her mother ran off when she was an infant, and Jonah, an amateur scientist, spends most of his time conducting experiments he thinks will one day bring him fame. When a woman arrives on the island, Gemma tries to play matchmaker – only to discover Jonah’s hidden journals, which hold terrifying secrets about both their lives. Mystery, science, and dreams of a better life collide in this page-turning young adult novel full of startling revelations leading to the climax in a thrilling pursuit.
Non-Fiction
Lines, Bars and Circles
By Helaine Becker; Illustrations by Marie-Ève Tremblay
Toronto: Kids Can Press, 2017.
32 p.; Ages 6-9; ISBN 9781771385701
Louise Bradford has crafted a playful allegory for children about losing a first tooth. With Christine Battuz’s art bringing Wade’s story to life with sympathy as well as humor, this book makes an engaging read-aloud for story time. It provides opportunities for discussions about how our bodies change as we grow up, what it feels like to go through these changes and the different ways we can celebrate the milestones. It would also work for an life science lesson on how and why some animals lose and grow antlers. Wade’s experience models a positive approach to dealing with developmental changes.
Water’s Children
Angèle Delaunois; Illustrations by Gérard Frischeteau; Translation by Erin Woods
Toronto: Pajama Press, 2017.
32 p.; Ages 4-8; ISBN 9781772780154
Children from twelve different landscapes around the world explain what water means to them. Some children see water as something flowing from a tap that is taken for granted. Others see it as “a perfect crystal of snow” or as the substance behind the dam that floods an ancestral village. Others associate it with oasis in the desert or with an “endless walk on burning paths.” The key phrase “Water is Life” in a language spoken by people who live there is juxtaposed with text and pictures for each landscape. This encourages further exploration of the world’s lands and cultures.
Tom Thomson’s Fine Kettle of Friends
By Angie Littlefield
Toronto: Marangi Editions, 2017.
212 p.; Ages 10-Adult; ISBN 9781771385701
Published to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday, Tom Thomson’s Fine Kettle of Friends: biography, history, art and food, is not a conventional biography. Using a wide range of archival materials ranging from photographs, postcards and sketches to newspaper clippings, booklets and paintings, it transports the reader back to the decades before and after the turn of the twentieth century. Thomson’s story is peppered with acquaintances such as Ernest Thompson Seton and J.E.H. MacDonald. Recipes provide a taste of the era. This book provides insights into an artist and a time when rural life and the wilderness were central to Canadian life.
Robert Bond The Greatest Newfoundlander
Ted Rowe
St. John’s: Creative Publishers, 2017.
220 p.; Ages 13-Adult; ISBN 9781771031018
Playing the game of politics like a gentleman, Robert Bond enjoyed spectacular success in Newfoundland. During his remarkable career, he built a reputation as a statesman through negotiations with the Americans and the French. Following a bank crash in 1894, he intervened to save his country from bankruptcy. As prime minister, he led a scrupulous and scandal-free administration while in private life, he was a recluse. This carefully researched and engaging biography follows Bond from his school days in St. John’s and England, to his rapid rise in politics and his time as prime minister in the early twentieth century.