Before You Came

Writing by Anne Renaud

Illustrated by Nahid Kazemi

Peanut Butter Press

978-1-927735-90-9

28 pp.

Ages 5+

March 2026 

 

From Anne Renaud, author of Mr. Crum's Potato Predicament (2017), Fania's Heart (2018), and The True Tale of a Giantess: The Story of Anne Swan (2018), comes less of a story and more of a lullaby in Before You Came. In words that are warm and sweet, the narrator speaks to a child, recalling the emotions of anticipating the arrival.

By day my heart sang out to you,

close to bursting.

My love did not know where to go. (pg. 11)

From Before You Came, written by Anne Renaud, illustrated by Nahid Kazemi

In gentle but powerful words, Anne Renaud's narrator speaks to a child yet to arrive, perhaps by birth or by adoption, about what they are feeling and imagining. It's all about a bond that is growing, and dreams and love that will be realized. 

The day you came, I gave you

all the pieces of me—

from the very first moment. (pg. 21) 

From Before You Came, written by Anne Renaud, illustrated by Nahid Kazemi

The love that this parent feels for this child, before they are even more than a whisper, is remarkable. It is deep and complex, encompassing the promise of what is and what is to be. Anne Renaud's text is so poignant than the reader, whether adult or child, will appreciate the sentiment. I can only wish that every child could feel the adoration that this child will know.

From Before You Came, written by Anne Renaud, illustrated by Nahid Kazemi

Because Anne Renaud's free verse is so intense, it would have been a challenge to find an illustrator who could match the spirit of that devotion. Nahid Kazemi, who illustrated Joanne Schwartz's picture book The Old Woman (2020) as well as many other wonderful picture books, echoes that sentiment with her PanPastel and pigment art. Her illustrations are delicate and ethereal, matching the love that is felt so intensely. There is a surreal nature to Nahid Kazemi's art, whether it be lungs with a bird in a nest resting there, or arms embracing a house. What her art tells us is the breadth and personal nature of this love. 

Though the words speak to a child, Before You Came would make a lovely gift for a new parent or parent-to-be so that they might read it to their own child. So, keep this elegant book in mind for anyone who will be touched by the tenderness of a parent's love for a child. That love may be difficult to express in words and art, but Anne Renaud and Nahid Kazemi express it with aplomb.

 

• • • • • • • 

 

The French-language edition, Avant que tu ne sois là, was published in 2023 by Les Éditions Héritage.

No Purchase Necessary

Written by Maria Marianayagam

HarperCollins

978-1-4434-7261-6

256 pp.

Ages 9–12

January 2025 

 

Ajay Anthonipillai and his parents and sister Aarthi recently moved to Bridge Creek to be closer to some family and save money. It's now a three-hour commute for Appa to the city where he is studying for his master's in civil engineering, but the Tamil Sri Lankan family understands the sacrifices that must be made to succeed. While understanding that money is tight and that his parents have very high expectations for him, Ajay really wants to fit in. And so, when taunted by alpha classmate Jacob Underson to steal a Mercury chocolate bar in Scary Al's convenience store, Ajay does it. This one mistake changes everything for Ajay.

 

Jacob refuses the chocolate bar since Ajay hid it in his pants, so Ajay eats the chocolate himself. "It tasted like bliss and guilt." (p. 25) But there's more than candy in the package. There's also the message on the wrapper that tells him he's won Mercury's $1 million Grand Prize. He knows all the good that money would do his family, including helping his aunt's family in Sri Lanka but Ajay knows he doesn't deserve it. In fact, if he hadn't taken it, his classmate Mindy Yu would've won it, grabbing the next bar after him. 

What to do? He has learned much from karate about integrity and respect, as he had from attending Catholic Church with Father Freddie, so Ajay is torn about what to do. Return the wrapper to Scary Al? Give it to Mindy? Confess to his parents? Cash in the ticket? Even as Ajay vacillates between all his options–not unlike Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" for an assignment with which Ajay is struggling–he ends up working for Scary Al at the store, becoming friendly with Mindy who helps him with his English assignment, and fighting and then collaborating with his tormentor Jacob. 

But lies have a life of their own. Some lies beget other lies. Or the lies morph into something completely different. And they can always be exposed. Whether it's because someone lets something slip or the liar is overcome with guilt or because the truth was known all along, lies do unravel, and for Ajay, it's just a question of when and how, not if.

 

Maria Marianayagam, herself a Sri Lankan-Canadian, undoubtedly drew from her own cultural experiences to give life to Ajay and his family. The high regard for education and family and hard work are evident, all solid foundations for Ajay and Aarthi. But these same values are challenged when they intersect with the culture of their new home, in which kids defend themselves when bullied, do extracurricular activities, and try to fit in with their peers. The balancing act of being different people, one at home and both a peer and your parents' child at school is a precarious one and one that challenges Ajay. Maria Marianayagam does not make Ajay a perfect kid who handles it all. She makes him real, struggling with himself and others, trying to do what's right though it might make life harder, and wishing for a break occasionally to just be himself. When Ajay and Aarthi can finally unmask themselves to their parents, it's both refreshing for all and illuminating.

 

Winning a million dollars seems like a dream but for Ajay it becomes a nightmare of conflict between honour and want. Thankfully, the rules of his family and those of the dojo and his faith help guide him to make the best choice and ultimately to enrich his life in unforeseen ways.

Mad at Dad

Written and illustrated by Janie Hao

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-1026-3

32 pp.

Ages 2-6

October 2024 

What gets this child riled up? It's her dad who is just being a dad, trying to get her to eat her vegetables so he can tidy up the dishes. But when she gets this big feeling, she has an arsenal of strategies to get her out of it.

From Mad at Dad, written and illustrated by Janie Hao

She tries a host of activities to get her out it her anger. She talks it out with her stuffies, she counts, she draws, and she does cartwheels. She tries quiet activities that might not be so, and energy-burning ones that might help her let go of her annoyance at her father. She might not like being mad but it's an emotion that's hard to let go of. 

From Mad at Dad, written and illustrated by Janie Hao

With time, that anger transforms into sadness, probably from the exhaustion of those big feelings, and her dad, the original source of her ire, is there to help her through.

From Mad at Dad, written and illustrated by Janie Hao

Like the emotions the child is feeling, bigger than just being displeased, Mad at Dad is larger than its 9" x 9" format. Mad at Dad is an interactive picture book that allows the reader to fold-out pages that allow for immense four-page spreads that are equal to the size of her emotions. Not only will young readers get the full force of her wrath, depicted with furrowed brows and a clenched jaw–when she's not releasing outraged squiggles from her expressive mouth–they'll see the bigness of those feelings in the slams and the shouts and the cries. Janie Hao, a Sheridan College grad of illustration, gives the full range of anger in her character's fury, using colours of red and yellow, black and orange. It's not until the child is wearing herself out and crashing under a comforter in the dark that the tones become primarily blue. Fortunately, her dad also brings the light and colour with him. 

From Mad at Dad, written and illustrated by Janie Hao

Janie Hao's digitally-rendered artwork relays the full scope of this rollercoaster of a father-daughter relationship but also the changes that happen as the child attempts to calm herself with strategies readers' own parents and teachers might have taught them. It'll be refreshing for young children to see that not everything works and that they just need to try something different. And even if nothing works, time will heal and remind them that the big deal that started the anger does not have to remain a big deal and being mad at dad doesn't have to be a permanent state. In fact, it might be the very thing that reminds them of the love that exists between a parent and child regardless of tough moments.

An Unbalanced Force

Written by Valerie Sherrard

DCB 

978-1-77086-764-2

200 pp.

Ages 12+

November 2024

 

When your family gives you everything, from a comfortable lifestyle and money to support and love, it's not unusual to feel beholding to them, even if they don't make you feel like it's a transactional relationship. (Sadly, there are families that do this.) But imagine if you owe your life to a dad who saved you when you'd snuck into an abandoned house and were bleeding out from an injury? Would you feel indebted forever? Or would there be a point where doing the right thing would feel like the wrong thing?

Seventeen-year-old Ethan Granger has a pretty nice life. He and his parents live in a gated community in Ottawa near enough to the Gatineau that he can take his trail bike there regularly. He just got a new bike, and his parents are talking about taking him to do the Inca Trail in Peru. His dad who became rich with his company, The Granger Group, is generous with his cash, especially whenever he goes on a business trip, which is frequently. Part of Ethan's circle include his best friend, Owen, who enjoys getting away from his alcoholic mother by hanging at Ethan's, and Ethan's girlfriend Nora with whom he often has an on-again-off-again relationship.

When he sees his dad in a parking lot near a strip mall in town when he's supposed to be on a trip, Ethan has questions, even more so when he texts his dad and his dad claims he's just getting off his flight. Recalling an earlier incident in which Mom claims to have seen someone driving Dad's car when he was out of town, Ethan decides to hire a private investigator to check things out. Ethan knows his dad is a smooth talker and a great storyteller but is he really a liar? Ms. Abboud, the investigator, reminds Ethan that, "It's important to realize that whatever you find out, it's going to be something you'll carry for the rest of your days." (p. 36)

 

Working with Ms. Abboud and his friends, Ethan discovers where Dad is spending time during his supposed business trips, and what Ethan learns puts him in an uncomfortable position. Does he stand by his father, a man who'd saved his life, or does he go to the police? Does he jeopardize all he and his family have or consider the needs of others?

Being a teen is often a balancing act of following the rules of the adults in your life–parents, teachers, coaches, guardians–and your own inclinations, whether for interests, friends, ambitions or just independence. And even though Ethan is fortunate that he comes from a wealthy family in which his wants are rarely limited, Valerie Sherrard gives us a typical teen who looks for support in his peer group, and who wants to have a good relationship with his family and girlfriend. He's also honest with himself, seeing things he doesn't like, whether in the way Nora treats him, in his father's lies, or in his own responses to disappointment and confusion. He's a teen and he's an insightful one.

Valerie Sherrard, who was recently named the 2024 Literary Arts Laureate of the New Brunswick Lieutenant Governor’s Award for High Achievement in the Arts, is an accomplished writer of all genres, from picture books and middle grade novels to YA and non-fiction. (See a few of my reviews of some of her books, including A Bend in the Breeze, Counting Back from Nine, Standing on Neptune, Driftwood, Random Acts, and Rain Shadow, to see the range of her writing.) While she can write everything from funny to angsty, novels in free verse to information texts, I think Valerie Sherrard excels at realistic YA in which young people are challenged by ordinary feelings in perhaps uncommon circumstances. In An Unbalanced Force, Ethan is challenged with doing what's right which may be at odds with what his family might want. His choice could also impact others around him. Perhaps the circumstances are exceptional but his reactions, from confusion to disappointment and even rage, are all legit, as are the means by which he decides upon his response.

With the overload of decisions which young people must make before reaching adulthood, with respect to their careers, their relationships, and even the risks they take, it's reassuring to know that, even when given circumstances beyond their control, like Owen's alcoholic mother and Ethan's deceitful father, they can see different perspectives and make good choices for themselves. Best of all, they can remain open to possibilities and stay confident in their choices, regardless of what others may toss at them.

If We Tell You

Written by Nicola Dahlin

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-1147-5

400 pp.

Ages 12-15

October 2024

 

A truth relies on what came before it. (p. 32)

 

There's something about the cover that tells you that If We Tell You is going to be a thriller. And if that doesn't give it away it then the first pages in which fifteen-year-old twin brothers Lewis and Cameron Larsen are running from a "serious event" at their home outside of Calgary and heading to the airport and then to Scotland definitely would. The "serious event"? It was a man and a woman who crashed their BBQ and held guns on the boys before Mom and Dad expertly put the strangers down with a knife and a gun. Mom and Dad have taken off and left the boys with a backpack of passports with new names and a load of money. Now the twins are heading to find Maggs, a woman who runs a guest house in Edinburgh, determined to find their parents again and figure out why this is all happening.

Because they had been told by their mother to stay together but avoid being seen together–they are identical twins–the boys experience things differently, not the least of which is because the two are not identical in dispositions. Cameron is the more impetuous boy but optimistic and more street savvy of the two, while Lewis is the smarter one and the one who does not believe that his parents have done anything wrong to get them to this state.

Though they hope getting to Maggs will answer all their questions, Lewis and Cameron just get more perturbed by what they learn and are left with more questions including finding out who their parents really are. The parents they knew as Jennifer Reid and David Larsen are known by different names. They're suspected of being terrorists and thieves and are still wanted by the police. It's going to take a whole host of characters, including family they never knew existed and an assortment of guests and neighbours at Maggs's, to keep the boys safe and help them figure out whether all their lives are based on lies.

 

Told in the alternating voices of Lewis and Cameron, If We Tell You is an action thriller that offers different perspectives on the same circumstances. They are twin teens who witness a terrifying situation and are separated from the only family they know, and they see their circumstances differently. Of course, they are both devastated but Lewis adheres strictly to what his parents told him to always do and not to trust anyone and is convinced that their parents are not the criminals they are assumed to be. Cameron jumps in and follows his heart, doing what he thinks is right and hoping that it will help them find their parents and the truth. As the two boys grapple with their circumstances, including posing as one boy Will, their trust of each other and others becomes limited. But Calgary author Nicola Dahlin brings the boys full circle, from only seeing their own perspectives to appreciating those of the other. In fact, it is only because of those differences that the two are able to face a myriad of challenges, including kidnapping, assaults, and romance, and come out the other side.

This is Nicola Dahlin's debut novel and, because of her own background, living in Calgary and growing up in Scotland, there is an authenticity of voice and place. Her placement of the bulk of the story in Scotland, a place of rich history, of the Edinburgh Festival, and more, adds a unique dimension, in language and landscape. Moreover, she brings in all sorts of characters, from teens to tourists, police and historians, some friend, some foe, such that it's difficult for the boys, and readers, to tell the difference. If We Tell You is as rich in storytelling as it is in people and place.

The title may be If We Tell You but there's not a whole lot of telling that is happening that is the complete truth, though for the boys and the readers, figuring it out when they're on the run and in a different country makes for a good story. And a good story it is with action and history, mysteries and even a little romance. In the end, it's a whodunit or maybe even a what-did-they-do story, and its ending promises more to come.

 

Dad, I Miss You

Written by Nadia Sammurtok

Illustrated by Simji Park

Inhabit Media

978-1-77227-482-0

40 pp.

Ages 9-12

August 2024

 

Dad, I Miss You is a conversation that only takes place in the minds of a father and son as the boy is returned, again, to a residential school, leaving his father, mother, and two-year-old sister behind. It is a heartbreaking exchange that never takes place in person but tells us so much about the family and what they went through.

From Dad, I Miss You, written by Nadia Sammurtok, illustrated by Simji Park

As a young boy recalls catching a fish, having learned from his father, his father watches his son out the window, also thinking about how proud he is for feeding the family and sure the boy will be a good provider for his own family when he is a man.

From Dad, I Miss You, written by Nadia Sammurtok, illustrated by Simji Park

When the child hears the plane that will transport him far from his home, in his mind he tells his dad that he doesn't want to go back there. Hearing the same plane, his father is hopeful that it will be over soon if the boy just does what they say. After all, "They said it will be better this way." (p. 9)

 

And as the boy packs his things, he wishes that his dad would stop them from taking him and not to let them take his baby sister too. His dad has the same worries about his daughter.

From Dad, I Miss You, written by Nadia Sammurtok, illustrated by Simji Park

As the boy is taken away and endures the horrors of residential school, from the cold and lack of food to punishment and loss of language, his father keeps hope that his child is learning and will be home soon. But things are different when he returns home. Thankfully there is still love and acceptance and the wisdom to understand what he may be going through.

I know you've forgotten some parts of yourself, but after some time, you'll find yourself again. (p. 37)

Every story that speaks to the residential school experiences of Indigenous families is heartbreaking. But Nadia Sammurtok approach of getting into the unspoken thoughts of both son and father remind us of the emotional toll on both parents and children. While the son knows what he must live with at the school, from hunger and abuse, loss of culture and homesickness, his father does not know. The boy's family has been told a sanitized and misleading version of what his child will learn and do, but without first-hand accounts they cannot know what happens there. Still, as both father and son show stoicism, revealing their feelings and thoughts only to themselves, Nadia Sammurtok shows us the depth of their connection. They think about similar things but from different perspectives and readers can only hope that this connection will sustain their relationship through the hardships of a child taken away to residential school. (As the story is based on Nadia Sammurtok's own family history of residential school separation, we hope that they found strength in that connection.)

From Dad, I Miss You, written by Nadia Sammurtok, illustrated by Simji Park

Simji Park, an artist based in England and the Netherlands, uses pencil and watercolours to create scenes of great heart and feeling. Just as the dialogue between father and son is repressed, Simji Park's illustrations are subdued, using soft tones and quiet lines to depict simple scenes of home and school. She still conveys the muted comfort of home and the angst of the residential experience, but she does so with hushed ambience, reflecting the unspoken dialogue between father and son.

Every book that speaks about the tragedy of families separated when Indigenous children were forced into residential schools is unique and revealing. By focusing on the unspoken thoughts of a parent and a child, Nadia Sammurtok makes us see something a little different. The bond between a parent and a child is stretched and almost severed and yet there is hope that there is enough resilience to reunite and strengthen. Dad, I Miss You is a story of tragedy but also one of the capacity of family to reconnect and prevail.

 

• • • • • • •

Teaching about the residential school experiences is a challenging one for teachers and parents. A QR code appended to the book links to downloads of educational support materials. 

• • • • • • •

The Space Between Here and Now

Written by Sarah Suk

Quill Tree Books

978-0063255135

320 pp.

Ages 13-17

October 2023

I know I'm a little late to review Sarah Suk's second young adult book (she wrote Made in Korea in 2021) but I just recently heard of this novel from the Red Maple panel of the Forest Kid Committee who recommended it for their summer reading list. (Each year that I help out with this committee, I learn of new Canadian titles for young readers. These young people are amazing readers!) After checking out their recommendation, I was intrigued by the blurb about The Space Between Here and Now and was not disappointed.

 

Aimee Roh is a typical 17-year-old Korean Canadian living in Vancouver, BC with Appa, her father. She's thinking about university, she hangs with her friends, she has a passion for photography, and she and her father have a close but respectful relationship. She's typical in every way except that she has a rare condition called Sensory Time Warp Syndrome a.k.a. STWS. Those with STWS have different triggers for memories that can transport them back to the time of the memory. When triggered by smells, Aimee disappears, travels back to a memory usually for just few minutes. Some people grow out of the condition, but Aimee is finding that she's experiencing more frequent episodes and wonders if it is because of the stresses of being a senior and anticipating the next phase of her life. What doesn't help is that it is impossible to talk to her father about it or get the supports she needs to help her cope.

 

After a particularly lengthy disappearance in which she is taken to a long-forgotten memory of a family outing to Kitsilano Beach, before her mother abandoned the family when Aimee was 6, Aimee is confused. Her memory doesn't match what she remembers and she begins to wonder whether her mother perhaps had STWS. Taking matters in hand, and with the encouragement and help of best friend Nikita, Aimee embarks on a spring break trip to Korea, hopeful of finding out some answers about her mother and family that her father doesn't seem to want to share with her.

 

With Nikita researching online for clues, and Aimee reconnecting with her Aunt Gomo and childhood friend Junho, the search for Aimee's mom begins. With some new insights into her STWS and into her relationship with her father, Aimee finds herself gaining clarity and even confidence where there was once only confusion.

Teen angst is not unusual but the angst that comes from a chronic condition that unexpectedly disappears you from your life, even if temporarily, is beyond typical. It has left Aimee in a precarious position, in a space between then and now, unclear as to her memories of her past and her understanding of her present. Sarah Suk, a Vancouver author, gives Aimee a story that might appear tenuous, never knowing when she might disappear or where she will end up or even if there is a possibility of ending up in a time loop. But Aimee's story is not anxiety-driven; it is driven by a need to know. Young adults will appreciate that push to become self-actualized, to understand oneself. Aimee's life is many layered, between her issues of abandonment by her mother, being disaffected with her father, and struggling not to stand out because of her STWS. While today's teens may not have a memory-driven time-travel condition, they have their own issues that challenge them in their drive for understanding and satisfaction. They can learn from Aimee who faces peer pressures and family pressures and uncertainty and is still able to resolve things well enough for herself. She may not get the answers she was specifically looking for, but she gets what she needs and learns things that will help her, as well as others. 

Though the fantastical nature of Aimee's STWS elevates The Space Between Here and Now from the drama of teen angst to the realm of science fiction,  Sarah Suk gives a story that is both enlightening about one Korean-Canadian family as well as familiar. For that reason, I urge young people to read The Space Between Here and Now for some insight into their own lives and relationships with others, particularly parents, to see how reconciliation may be reached with patience, effort and, most definitely, compassion.

Spotting Dottie (Orca Currents)

Written by Gail Anderson-Dargatz

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-3483-5

112 pp.

Ages 9-12

R: 2.5

April 2024 

There's Nessie, the Loch Ness monster. There's also Chessie, the Chesapeake Bay creature,  and Champ, the lake monster of Lake Champlain. But in Gail Anderson-Dargatz's latest hi-lo novel for Orca Currents, we have Dottie, a cryptid that lives in the deepest part of Dorothy Lake. Or does she?

Charlotte believes wholeheartedly in Dottie, just as her grandmother Donna always has. Ever since Donna saw the lake monster when she was 14, as Charlotte is now, she has been interested in Dottie, collecting memorabilia and photos, interviewing prospective witnesses, and patiently watching through her spotting scope and binocs. This has earned her the moniker of Dottie Donna, and though her grandmother doesn't mind, it really bothers Charlotte's mom Anna who is not a believer in the creature.  When Anna gives Charlotte a drone with a camera for her birthday, Charlotte (a.k.a. Lottie) and Grandma and Charlotte's friend Scott witness something large, with humps rolling out the water. Convinced they have footage of Dottie, Charlotte shares it with the Dorothy Lake News website. 

That posting starts everything, from media attention, local ridicule–Charlotte becomes known as Dottie Lottie–self-doubt, and an undesirable draw of tourists and cryptid hunters to the lake. All Charlotte had wanted was to get her mother to believe Grandma in her assertion that Dottie existed. Instead, she has brought chaos and perhaps danger to her friends and family and perhaps, worse of all, to Dottie.

 

There is a natural interest in the unknown, attempting to understand the unexplainable, to prove that which has not been proven. It's wondering about things we don't know and defending those whose beliefs may be different than our own. Charlotte is a sweet granddaughter who really just wants to help her mother and grandmother get along better. The two strong women in her life are pulling Charlotte to different perspectives and Charlotte is convinced that if she can find evidence of Lottie and prove it to her mother, then everything will be alright. Unfortunately, beliefs can be entrenched and making someone believe something other than what they've always held true is a tall order. It doesn't help when there are those who ridicule you for those beliefs. But Gail Anderson-Dargatz doesn't force Charlotte or Anna or even Donna to believe something they don't. She lets them be a family who can love and accept differences and bend as needed. Spotting Dottie may lead young readers to investigate the real story of BC's cryptid–Ogopogo in Lake Okanagan–but that mystery is one that will remain while families come together, and sometimes fall apart. And Gail Anderson-Dargatz will let us watch them and learn.

Whether Nessie or Chessie or Champ are logs, mega eels or cryptids, it doesn't matter to Dottie's story. Dottie is as real as she needs to be for all the families involved. And we're going to keep her secrets safe.

The Club

Written by Eric Walters

DCB

978-1-77086-734-5

264 pp

Ages 9–12

March 2, 2024

 

It's the start of their Grade 8 year, and Jaxson and best friend Logan are looking forward to making their final year in middle school an epic one. While Logan is all about basketball, Jaxson is driven by playing his trumpet. But then a new girl, Liv Parker, joins their school. Though Jaxson sort of kind of has a girlfriend, Samantha, Liv is an extraordinary trumpet player, and she and Jax are thrown together, in a good way.

When the music teacher, Ms. Hooper, auditions the students for the senior band, she knows that Liv and Jax are going to be the stars of the band and hopefully take them to the city championship, finally. In fact, she wants them to play a duet for the first school assembly just days away. To prepare, the two have to meet after hours at each other's homes. Though their households are very different, with Liv and her mom Jenn, a cybersecurity expert, living in an immaculate big house with a grand piano, Jax and his mom Ali, an artist and art history prof, live in a cluttered house filled with colour and stuff. Still, the two teens find they have a lot in common, including their music, love of sushi, and ways of thinking. Moreover, when asked about their dads, they both acknowledge that subject as "complicated." 

But soon things get even more complicated for both of them. When Samantha learns how much time Jax is spending with the new girl, she feels threatened and he can't convince her that they're only friends. Still, with all their rehearsing for assemblies and solos, Jax and Liv are spending more time at each other's houses, and by chance, their moms are becoming friends. But with that friendship, personal details are shared, and Jenn and Ali begin to wonder whether the kids share more than just a virtuosity with the trumpet.

 

The theme of family is a common one in contemporary stories, with families that were once deemed traditional now being seen as just one of a myriad of forms that families can take. Whether a family has a mom and dad like Logan's, or is a single-parent household like Jax's or Liv's, or like those reconfigured through divorce or loss, a family is a family is a family, and Eric Walters recognizes that families come in all shapes and sizes and are all natural. What makes them families is the love and respect that is given and received within that construct. And regardless of how that family was created, whether through sperm donation, a heterosexual marriage, adoption, or one of countless other ways people enter others' lives, it is valid and valuable if family members choose for it to be so. (Thankfully the kids' moms give them some choice about whether to explore their paternal heritage and never compel them to embrace DNA as the ultimate basis for family.) 

Blood makes you related but it doesn't make you family. (p. 176)

Fortunately for Jax and Liv they would probably always have become family, regardless of their DNA. Just as Logan and Jax always considered themselves brothers, Liv and Jax were already simpatico because of their love of the trumpet and music. The DNA just made their relationship official and genetically solid.

 

Eric Walters's Afterword tells the reader that the story of The Club was inspired by a true story of half-siblings discovering each other through their DNA. Their story, like that of Jax and Liv, was one of positive connection. For the kids in The Club, there is no conflict or expectation that they must embrace strangers as family. For those two kids, it happens organically. But without the support of their core family, related or not, neither teen would've been secure enough to welcome others in and put themselves out as they become part of a larger club.

The story of The Club could be happening anywhere in the world. The circumstances are not uncommon, and with access to DNA and ancestral records, it's becoming more frequent that genetic relatives are being linked. But Eric Walters makes this less about the process and more about the outcomes and what they mean for these kids. Their worlds have changed and in a good way. I do wonder about those circumstances for which "new" family connections may not be positive or welcome but that would be another story. In The Club, Eric Walters gives us a story of being a family, discovering family, and making family. For Jax and Liv, they are able to strengthen what is already there with those who were previously unrecognized and make for a new type of familial association.

40 Days in Hicksville

Written by Christina Kilbourne

DCB

978-1-77086-715-4

264 pp.

Ages 12+

October 2023

 

Moving to Clarendon with her mother to live in her grandparents' old home was supposed to give Kate Cooper a clean break from living in the city. Little did they know that she'd just find a new trouble with classmate Zach Whitchurch. Yeah, she's definitely safer in Clarendon a.k.a. Hicksville. Not. 

When Kate and her mom Sally move into the Cooper place next door, Zach is smitten. And Kate, determined to convince her mom Sally that she's making an effort, let's Zach show her around. When he points out Peter Goheen's property, warning her that he is known to be cruel and maybe even dangerous, Kate reveals that he is her grandfather, though she's never met him. When they venture onto his property to introduce Kate, Pater Goheen is less than welcoming and warns them against trespassing again. That doesn't deter Kate who, with Zach, discovers a cave-like crevasse which they investigate after midnight so that she can make a video. What they discover deep inside are the remains of two bodies. 

 

Zach's dad, a detective in Clarendon, reveals that a wallet in the jeans of one is that of Sally's fifteen-year-old brother James who disappeared in 1982 along with his friend Luke McLeod. For the first time, Kate learns about her uncle and his disappearance and about Sally's troubled family life because of her mean drunk of a father. Though Peter Goheen was questioned, Kate's dad Mitch provided an alibi for his father. And without bodies, it was impossible to know the truth. But that was then.

Are these the bodies of James and Luke? What happened to them? Who did it and why? 40 Days in Hicksville could be a true crime podcast, unravelling the story through Kate and Zach's eyes–chapters are alternating perspectives of the two teens–and with the twists and turns that often come with a thriller. Christina Kilbourne, author of The Limitless Sky, Safe Harbour and Dear Jo, takes us to a small Ontario town as if the setting for an episode of Dateline or 20/20, unravelling the mystery with each interview and piece of evidence and investigative step of the police.  And, as in those in-depth investigations of the newsmagazine shows, the trajectory from missing person to justice is not a straight line. There are those who keep secrets, those who hide truths, those who lie, and those who grieve. There are those who are determined to make things right and find justice. There is danger and revelations, standstills, and action. With a variety of characters, some who are aggravating, others naive, some scared, others aggressive, 40 Days in Hicksville remind us that small towns are not always boring communities in which nothing happens. Sometimes they are seething with secrets and dangers and history that are only revealed when someone from outside arrives. Kate may not have wanted to be in Clarendon but her first forty days in the town her father called Hicksville are as thrilling as the urbex videos that got her in trouble in the city. Fortunately, Christina Kilbourne's "Epilogue" reveals that this adventure has a far more constructive outcome for both Kate and her community.

All We Need is Love and a Really Soft Pillow!

Written and illustrated by

 Peter H. Reynolds and Henry Rocket Reynolds

Orchard Books (An Imprint of Scholastic Inc.)

978-1-338-57233-9

40 pp.

Ages 4-8

October 2023 

In yet another heartfelt book in his collection, Peter H. Reynolds, this time in collaboration with his son Henry Rocket Reynolds, shows us that the Beatles were always right: all you need is love, though a really soft pillow doesn't hurt either!

 

All We Need is Love and a Really Soft Pillow! is a touching dialogue between Little One and their caregiver Poppy. As they are cutie-pie furry creatures, young readers can engender them or not, because it doesn't really matter whether Poppy is mother or father, grandparent, or older sibling. What matters is the love, and the love is stronger than the labels.

 

From All We Need is Love and a Really Soft Pillow!, written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds and Henry Rocket Reynolds

It all starts when Little One asks Poppy whether they need anything. That simple question leads to a sweet heart-to-heart discussion about what we really need. 

Little One,

I’ve got YOU!

We’ve got LOVE!

Love is all

we need!

But then Little One thinks about all the other things that might be nice to have, starting with a really soft pillow. Poppy always concurs with Little One’s ideas, from that pillow to a roof, walls, water and more. With each addition, Poppy acquiesces to Little One’s suggestions, recognizing that it would certainly be useful or sweet, something to add to their life together. Their simple life, now immortalized in a wall hanging, grows with their new shelter and water, as well as chocolate, a cooking pot, a bathtub, a toilet, vegetable garden and books. It’s a lovely life. That is, until a storm hits, and all is lost. Poppy reassures Little One that they still have each other and love, so that’s all they really need.

From All We Need is Love and a Really Soft Pillow!, written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds and Henry Rocket Reynolds

Disasters have always hit, from fires and floods to hurricanes and tornadoes, and people have experienced extraordinary losses. While never diminishing the impact of those disasters, Peter H. Reynolds and Henry Rocket Reynolds remind us that, even with the loss of our material things, with love, we can move forward.

Each day
is a new day.
A new chance to count
our blessings and
savor the journey with
those we love.

All We Need is Love and a Really Soft Pillow! is a delightful take on being grateful for what you have and more importantly for the love and support you get. I know many adults who need to understand this message but entitled children who get whatever they want, framing their requests as "I need..." could also benefit from a read of All We Need is Love and a  Really Soft Pillow! Children see what others have and think they need the same, but if this picture book does anything it shows that a close caregiver-child relationship based in love can make room for other things but can also sustain itself with that affection.

From All We Need is Love and a Really Soft Pillow!, written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds and Henry Rocket Reynolds

Though Peter H. Reynolds often has stylized people for his characters (see some samples below), the warm-fuzzy creatures of All We Need is Love and a Really Soft Pillow! are anything but human. They may have two eyes, two arms and two legs and walk upright but their similarities to people end there. By drawing them as something other than humanistic, Peter H. Reynolds surprisingly makes the story even more inclusive. Children don't have to see themselves in the characters to empathize with their situations. They will simply understand what it could mean to feel love and to give love and to support those we love, even in times of great loss. Poppy and Little One could be any caregiver and young person, furriness or hairiness aside.

From All We Need is Love and a Really Soft Pillow!, written and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds and Henry Rocket Reynolds

There's an eyes-wide-open quality to Peter H. Reynolds's stories, demonstrating for us how we can be the best we can be, whether in pursuing our dreams, being ourselves, accepting others, or being grateful for what we have. In collaboration with his son, Henry Rocket Reynolds, Peter H. Reynolds has given us another important message and reminded us that, if we have love, we might just have everything.

• • • • • • •

Some books of the Peter H. Reynolds collection (with Orchard Books)

Happy Dreamer (2017)

The Word Collector (2018)

Say Something! (2019)

Be You! (2020)

Little Happy Dreamer (2020)

Our Table (2021)

Love You By Heart (2022)

All We Need is Love and a Really Soft Pillow! (2023)

Do You Remember?

Written and illustrated by Sydney Smith

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-986-9

40 pp.

Ages 3-6

October 2023

 

Remembering someone who is gone, whether through death, divorce, or moving, is a mix of grief and comfort. It's remembering the good times but never forgetting that loss. Do You Remember? is the sensory experience of a young boy and his mother remembering times when his father was still with them.

From Do You Remember?, written and illus. by Sydney Smith

Lying in bed in the dark, a mother asks her son whether he remembers a picnic in a field. She recalls the bugs and snakes the child looked for, but he remembers the sweet berries. They continue to trade remembrances, always asking, "Do you remember..." He recalls when his parents gave him his bicycle and he lost control, falling into a haypile. Then she recalls "the rainstorm" of the hard rain and leaking roof, thunder and lightning, and then the loss of power which led to the burning of Grandpa's old oil lamp.

From Do You Remember?, written and illus. by Sydney Smith

With each memory, there is that beginning idea, and then a multitude of vignettes involved in that memory. Perhaps most significant for them is when they left their home behind, and travelled further than they ever had, and got lost. That's the memory but the vignettes shows us the boy's dad handing him a teddy bear through the truck's open window, then waving to them, and the child holding the bear as they enter traffic and get lost. The memory is not just one of leaving: it is one of carrying boxes, a dad's face, a dad's wave, the many cars, watching from the back seat, holding his bear, and then seeing the source of all those memories stacked against the wall in their new place. The bear, the oil lamp, the bicycle, the picnic blanket–they're all there.

But do their memories have to remain in the past? Or are there new memories to be made?

A memory may be but a moment in time but it's a complex amalgamation of spoken words, foods tasted, textures touched, emotions felt, and images processed. It's seeing and feeling everything and incorporating them into a memory. It could be a sad memory or a joyous one, but it's all wrapped up and available to return the one remembering to another time and place. But, as Sydney Smith demonstrates, these memories are just part of the whole, of the past and future, of good times gone and future experiences still to be had. And loss and pain can play with those memories. In the case of this child and his mother, there has been a separation of his parents, and the consequent moving to a new home. Whatever rift has contributed to his parents' separation, his mother encourages him to remember times with his dad. She has not put her animosity, if she has any, ahead of the needs of her child. Instead, she encourages him to remember and to share in his remembrances too. There is tenderness in their exchange, understanding that there may be hurt below the surface and caution to not create more discomfort. They are tentative but honest, and that sincerity obviously comes from love.

Sydney Smith's illustrations, primarily watercolour and gouache, show a sensitivity for what the family is going through while demonstrating the strength of connection between mother and child even under these circumstances. They neither ignore nor rail at their heartache for their losses of father, husband, home, and established family. They look back but still forward. There is darkness–they are speaking at night in bed in their new apartment–but there are moments of lightness both in the past and in their future–as the child opens the window to the light–and Sydney Smith gives them that in his soft and thoughtful art.

From Do You Remember?, written and illus. by Sydney Smith

Sydney Smith dedicates this book to his mom, and his words and art honour parents who must move forward with a different family configuration. This mother, and undoubtedly many others, had to find ways to help their children accept new circumstances while not giving up on everything from the past. They remember and are loving enough to ensure their children do too.

What Were You Expecting?: First Words for New Parents

Written by Cameron Spires 

Illustrated by Grace Cho

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-0579-5

44 pp.

Adult (sort of)

May 2023

 

It's a board book, so technically What Were You Expecting? is probably for the very youngest of children.  In fact, it isn't and it kind of is. It's a book to be read by parents to babies who have no idea what is being read to them, but the adults will be chuckling to themselves with the tongue-in-cheek humour that recognizes the wonders and many challenges of having a new baby. After all, what were you expecting?

 

There are actually two stories in What Were You Expecting?  One is written in bold, simple sentences like "This is a book" or "This is a house."  The illustration reflects that simple concept, and a young child would easily pick up on the nouns like house, cat, alien, bottle, rooster, whale, sleep or skunk. But it's what's written after that basic sentence that is loaded with humour, nuance, and significance for the adults reading the book.

From What Were You Expecting?, written by Cameron Spires, illus. by Grace Cho

What is a house? It's "like the one we had to remortgage to pay for your daycare. Just kidding. We can't find daycare."  How about the baby bottle? "You would think your parents would drink fewer bottles than you. You would think that." It's real but very funny. And still the book ends recognizing that ultimately it's the family they created that has made this all worthwhile.

From What Were You Expecting?, written by Cameron Spires, illus. by Grace Cho

Having a baby is an overwhelming commitment of time, finances, energy, and emotion. The rewards of growing a family as an expression of love may be substantial but there are costs, even if some are only temporary. As a parent, BC's Cameron Spires is there to remind others what to expect and how to deal, and he does it with such playfulness that, as they struggle with sleepless nights, debilitating expenses, and physical peculiarities involved with spit-up, poop, and more, they'll smile and remember why it's all worth it.

From What Were You Expecting?, written by Cameron Spires, illus. by Grace Cho

Artist Grace Cho, also of BC, stays with the concept book feel of What Were You Expecting? by keeping her digitally-rendered illustrations bright and bold, perfect for children. The art is whimsical and very sweet, whether it's a coffee-drinking owl, a skunk with a nose clip, or a pair of penguins with their baby. The lines are soft, the backgrounds lively, and the shapes distinct which will be perfect when your baby starts to understand the connection between "their" text and the art.

If you know someone expecting a baby, this is the gift that will give them a much-needed laugh while serving double-duty later on when they'll be reading, at least parts of it, to the source of both their love and their frustrations, hopefully just temporary ones. As a gift for new parents, it may not be what they're expecting from a board book but, like their new bundle of joy, it'll be worth it.