The Word Collector

Written and illustrated by Peter Hamilton Reynolds

Orchard Books (Scholastic)

978-0-545-86502-9

40 pp.

Ages 4-8

January 2018

Kids love collecting things: shells, stones, coins, marbles, stuffies. Like most, collecting starts quite naturally, one here, another there, and soon the collection grows.  What they do with that collection is as variable as the items collected.  The lovely Jerome of The Word Collector takes a unique perspective on his collecting and one to which all collectors should aspire.

Jerome loves picking up words wherever he finds them: those he hears, words he sees and some he reads.  Why he is drawn to a word ranges from those that grab his attention because of their sounds or their meaning.  Regardless he amasses quite a collection of words which he needs to organize.  But while transporting a colossal stack of books and boxes of his organized words, he slips and they tumble into a chaotic mess.  But Jerome sees beauty in the unusual combinations of words which he translates into poetry and music and by expressing to others.

From The Word Collector 

by Peter Hamilton Reynolds

By recognizing the profound impact his words can have on how others think, feel and dream, Jerome expands on sharing his growing collection.

Jerome 

had no words 

to describe how happy 

that made him.

Squirrelling away a collection of treasures brings a certain joy but Peter H. Reynolds recognizes that a shared collection is a better collection.  No longer is the collection the realm of the individual but instead it becomes part of a community of aesthetes who appreciate the collection's elements in the myriad of ways.  The illustration of countless and diverse children grabbing words like "honor", "resilience", "hope" and "promise" supports Peter H. Reynolds' message of appreciation and creativity and empathy. Words are powerful and all the more for being shared in thoughtful texts like The Word Collector and illustrated with cheerful artwork of Jerome and others amongst the fluttering murmurations of words.

I'll leave the final words to author-illustrator Peter H. Reynolds whose own words inspire readers to more.

From endpapers for The Word Collector 

by Peter Hamilton Reynolds

Middle Bear

Written by Susanna Isern

Illustrated by Manon Gauthier

Kids Can Press

978-1-77138-842-9

34 pp.

Ages 3-7

October 2017

Reminiscent of the tale of the three bears, a middle-sized bear learns that he is neither too large nor too small to take on a challenge.  In fact, he's better than just right.

Retrieved from https://www.behance.net/gallery/25738405/Mediano-spain-2014 on January 5, 2018. 

The middle bear of three brothers understands well his place in his family.

He was not big, but he was not small, either.  Neither strong nor weak, neither tall nor short, neither a lot nor a little...

He accepted that his were middle-sized things–bicycles, umbrellas, clothes, dishes–but he didn't necessarily want to be the middle child as it made him sad sometimes.

From Middle Bear 

by Susanna Isern

illus. by Manon Gauthier

But when his parents fall ill and need willow bark, it is the middle bear who is able to fulfil the task, with the support of his siblings, simply by being neither the heaviest nor the smallest.

He was the middle one.
And being the middle one, he could do all sorts of things: small things, middle-sized things and big things, too.

Spanish writer Susanna Isern's story (originally published as Mediano in 2014) about the angst of the middle child becoming self-aware is simple and yet profound, all the more so for Manon Gauthier's cut paper collage illustrations. The artwork of predominantly sombre colours imbues an atmosphere of steadfastness in the bears' lives, complementing the three brothers' acceptance of their places.  However, Manon Gauthier's art demonstrates, with hints of rose and orange, blue and green, that there is lightness and opportunity for accepting something different.

Retrieved from https://www.behance.net/gallery/25738405/Mediano-spain-2014
on January 5, 2018.

Middle children, of which I am one, may not always know that they don't have to be relegated to a middling position of vagueness, and books like Middle Bear are great tools for inspiring young children, especially middle ones.  Middle children and bears should, and we do, aspire to be whatever they choose, big or small or in between.


••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Because I wanted readers to see how beautiful the double spread illustrations were, I shared several images from Manon Gauthier's Behance website at https://www.behance.net/manongauthier.  Because scanning a bound book does injustice to the illustrations, I chose to show readers the original artwork, in all its glory and sans distracting divides.  I hope readers and Manon Gauthier forgive me this indulgence.

Upcoming Releases for Winter and Spring 2018

Every season brings the promise of new books.  Some are new books in much loved series (e.g., Immortal Reign, Book 6 in Morgan Rhodes's Falling Kingdom series; Julia Unbound, the conclusion to Catherine Egan's Witch's Child trilogy; and The Defiant, the sequel to Lesley Livingston's The Valiant); some are new genres from familiar authors (e.g., picture books from Caroline Pignat and Deborah Kerbel, and a graphic novel from Dave Whamond); some are debut titles (e.g., The Strange and Deadly Portraits of Bryony Gray); and some are simply new titles from authors whose work I've admired for many years (e.g., Sadia by Colleen Nelson, Don't Tell the Enemy by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch and Good Night, Good Night by Dennis Lee).  All hold the promise of taking readers to new and exciting places and times to be touched, frightened, amused, entertained, excited, romanced and educated.  Happy reading!

Picture Books
Get Me Another One! by Robert Munsch, illus. by Mike Boldt (Scholastic Canada)
Hop Into Bed by Nicholas Oldland (North Winds Press)
The Pink Umbrella by Amélie Callot, illus. by Geneviève Godbout (Tundra)
The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynolds (Orchard Books)

Fiction
The Dark Missions of Edgar Brim: Monster by Shane Peacock (Tundra)>>>sequel to The Dark Missions of Edgar Brim
Don't Tell the Enemy by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch (Scholastic Canada)
The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis (Scholastic Canada)
Princess Angelica, Camp Catastrophe by Monique Polak, illus. by Jane Heinrichs (Orca)>>>Orca Echoes
Running on Empty by Sonja Spreen Bates (Orca)>>>Orca Sports
Shadow by Mere Joyce (Orca)>>>Orca Currents
The Snake Mistake Mystery by Sylvia McNicoll (Dundurn)>>>Book 3 in The Great Mistake Mysteries
Supergifted by Gordon Korman (Scholastic Canada)>>>sequel to Ungifted
True Blue by Sigmund Brouwer and Cindy Morgan (Orca)>>>Orca Limelights
Upside Down Magic #4: Dragon Overnight by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle and Emily Jenkins (Scholastic)
Whiteout by W. C. Mack (Scholastic)
Winter Road by Kristin Butcher (Orca)>>>Orca Currents

Young Adult
Don't Cosplay with My Heart by Cecil Castellucci (Scholastic)
Impossible by Jocelyn Shipley (Orca)>>>Orca Soundings
Kryptonite by Lesley Choyce (Orca)>>>Orca Soundings
Learning Seventeen by Brooke Carter (Orca)>>>Orca Soundings
Solomon's Ring by Mary Jennifer Payne (Dundurn)>>>Daughters of Light Book 2

Non-Fiction
From the Heart of Africa: A Book of Wisdom compiled by Eric Walters (Tundra)

Picture Books
Good Night, Good Night by Dennis Lee, illus. by Qin Leng (HarperCollins)
Sakura's Cherry Blossoms by Robert Paul Weston, illus. by Misa Saburi (Tundra)
Sleepy Bird by Jeremy Tankard (Scholastic)>>>newest volume that started with Grumpy Bird
Surfer Dog by Eric Walters, illus. by Eugenie Fernandes (Orca)

Fiction
Heartwood Hotel Book 3: Better Together by Kallie George, illus. by Stephanie Graegin (Disney-Hyperion)
The Ice Chips and the Magical Rink by Roy MacGregor and Kerry MacGregor (HarperCollins Canada)>>>first book in a new series
Leatherback Blues by Karen Hood-Caddy (Dundurn)>>>newest The Wild Place Adventure Series book
Oculum by Philippa Dowding (Dancing Cat Books)
Sparks by Ian Boothby, illus. by Nina Matsumoto (Scholastic Graphix)
The Strange and Deadly Portraits of Bryony Gray by E. Latimer (Tundra)
Tank & Fizz:  The Case of Firebane's Folly by Liam O'Donnell, illus. by Mike Deas (Orca)>>>fourth book in Tank & Fizz hybrid graphic novel series
Where's Burgess? by Laurie Elmquist, illus. by David Parkins (Orca)>>>Orca Echoes

Young Adult
The 11th Hour by Kristine Scarrow (Dundurn)
The Defiant by Lesley Livingstone (HarperCollins Canada)>>>sequel to The Valiant
Fourth Dimension by Eric Walters (Penguin)>>>A Rule of Three book
Immortal Reign by Morgan Rhodes (Razorbill)>>>Book 5 in Falling Kingdoms series
Sadia by Colleen Nelson (Dundurn)
Shark by Jeff Ross (Orca)>>>Orca Soundings

Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman (Penguin)

Non-Fiction
Bloom: A Story of Elsa Schiaparelli by Kyo Maclear, illus. by Julie Morstad (Tundra)
Can Your Outfit Change the World by Erinne Paisley (Orca)>>>A PopActivism book
Holi Colors by Rina Singh (Orca)>>>board book about Holi
On Our Street: Our First Talk about Poverty by Dr. Jillian Roberts and Jaime Casap, illus. by Jane Heinrichs (Orca)>>>new book in The World Around Us series
Passover Family by Monique Polak (Orca)>>>board book about Passover
Rising Seas: Flooding, Climate Change and Our New World by Keltie Thomas (Firefly Books)

Picture Books
Bed Tales by Brigitte Waisburg, illus. by Ariana Koultourides (Annick)>>>board book in Big Kid Books series
The Better Tree Fort by Jessica Scott Kerrin, illus. by Qin Leng (Groundwood)
Blue Rider by Geraldo Valério (Groundwood)
Crackerjack Jack by Bowman Wilker, illus. by Marie-Ève Tremblay (Owlkids)
A Fire Truck for Chuck by Annika Dunklee, illus. by Cathon (Owlkids)
Forest Baby by Laurie Elmquist, illus. by Shantala Robinson (Orca)
The Good-Pie Party by Liz Garton Scanlon, illus. by Kady MacDonald Denton (Scholastic)
Mr. Mergler, Beethoven, and Me by David Gutnik, illus. by Mathilde Cinq-Mars (Second Story Press)
Not 'Til Tomorrow, Phoebe by Julie Zwilich, illus. by Denise Holmes (Owlkids)>>>return of Phoebe from Phoebe Sounds It Out
Shirt Tales by Brigitte Waisburg, illus. by Ariana Koultourides (Annick)>>>board book in Big Kid Books series
Sugar and Snails by Sarah Tsiang, illus. by Sonja Wimmer (Annick)
Toilet Tales by Brigitte Waisburg, illus. by Ariana Koultourides (Annick)>>>board book in Big Kid Books series
Trampoline Boy by Nan Forler, illus. by Marion Arbona (Tundra)
What Happens Next by Susan Hughes, illus. by Carey Sookocheff (Owlkids)
Where's Bunny? by Theo Heras, illus. by Renné Benoit (Pajama Press)
Who Can? by Charles Ghigna, illus. by Vlasta van Kampen (Orca)

Fiction
Alex and The Other by Philippa Dowding (Dundurn)>>>new title in Weird Stories Gone Wrong series
Casting Lily by Holly Bennett (Orca)>>>Orca Limelights
Kasey & Ivy by Alison Hughes (Orca)
The King's Shilling by David Starr (Ronsdale)>>>sequel to The Nor'Wester
Olga: We're Out of Here by Elise Gravel (HarperCollins)>>>new graphic novel in Olga series
On the Other Side of the Garden by Jairo Buitrago and Elisa Amado, illus. by Rafael Yockteng (Groundwood)
A Possibility of Whales by Karen Rivers (Algonquin)
Slip Jig Summer by Elizabeth J.M. Walker (Orca)>>>Orca Currents
Soapstone Porcupine by Jeff Pinkney, illus. by Darlene Gait (Orca)>>>Orca Echoes
The Sound of Freedom by Kathy Kacer (Annick)
Timo Goes Camping by Victoria Allenby, illus. by Dean Griffiths (Pajama Press)
Terra Nova by Shane Arbuthnott (Orca)
Tournament Trouble by Sylv Chiang (Annick)>>>first book in new series Cross Ups
A World Below by Wesley King (Simon & Schuster)

Young Adult
Big Water by Andrea Curtis (Orca)
Escalate by Sigmund Brouwer (Orca)>>>new title in Retribution series
Fire Song by Adam Garnet Jones (Annick)
Ophelia by Charlotte Gingras, illus. by Daniel Sylvestre, trans. by Christelle Morelli and Susan Ouriou (Groundwood)

Non-Fiction
Bat Citizens: Defending the Ninjas of the Night by Rob Laidlaw (Pajama Press)
Fania's Heart by Anne Renaud, illus. by Richard Rudnicki (Second Story Press)
Food Science by Lina Scarpellini (Fitzhenry & Whiteside)
Going Wild: Helping Nature Thrive in Cities by Michelle Mulder (Orca)>>>Orca Footprints
How to Raise Monarch Butterflies: A Step-by-Step Guide for Kids by Carol Pasternak (Firefly Books)
Ramadan: The Holy Month of Fasting by Ausma Zehanat Khan (Orca)>>>Orca Origins
The Seal Garden by Ian McAllister and Nicholas Read (Orca)
Super Cats: True Stories of Felines that Made History by Elizabeth MacLeod (Annick)

Picture Books
Ben and the Scaredy-Dog by Sarah Ellis, illus. by Kim LaFave (Pajama Press)>>>newest book in Ben series
The Day Dad Joined My Soccer Team by Maureen Fergus, illus. by Mike Lowery (Kids Can Press)
Dr. Coo and the Pigeon Protest by Sarah Hampson, illus. by Kass Reich (Kids Can Press)
EveryBody's Different on EveryBody Street by Sheree Fitch, illus. by Emma Fitzgerald (Nimbus)
Grains of Sand by Sibylle Delacroix, trans. by Karen Li (Owlkids)
Harry's Hiccups by Jean Little, illus. by Joe Weissmann (Orca)
Little Brothers & Little Sisters by Monica Arnaldo (Owlkids)
The Magician's Secret by Zachary Hyman, illus. by Joe Bluhm (Tundra)
My Teacher's Not Here! by Lana Button, illus. by Christine Battuz (Kids Can Press)
Poetree by Caroline Pignat, illus. by François Thisdale (Red Deer Press)
Rooster Summer by Robert Heidbreder, illus. by Madeline Kloepper (Groundwood)
Swimming with Seals by Maggie de Vries, illus. by Janice Kun (Orca)
Ten Cents a Pound by Nhung N. Tran-Davies, illus. by José Bisaillon (Second Story Press)
Time for Bed by Carol McDougall (Nimbus)
Tinkle, Tinkle, Little Star by Chris Tougas (Kids Can Press)
Toesy Toes by Sarah Yi-Mei Tsiang (Orca)>>>board book
Tree Song by Tiffany Stone, illus. by Holly Hatam (Annick)
Wallpaper by Thao Lam (Owlkids)
Wash On! by Michele Marineau, illus. by Manon Gauthier (Pajama Press)

Fiction
Daredevil Morgan by Ted Staunton, illus. by Bill Slavin (Lorimer)
Ebb and Flow by Heather T. Smith (Kids Can Press)
The Fake-Chicken Kung Fu Fighting Blues by Aaron Lam, illus. by Kean Soo (Lorimer)
Family of Spies by Jodi Carmichael (Yellow Dog/Great Plains)
Forgetting How to Breathe by Anita Daher (Yellow Dog/Great Plains)
Freerunner by David Trifunov (Lorimer)
Krista Kim-Bap by Angela Ahn (Second Story Press)
Morgan on Ice by Ted Staunton, illus. by Bill Slavin (Lorimer)
Morgan's Got Game by Ted Staunton, illus. by Bill Slavin (Lorimer)
Nick the Sidekick by Dave Whamond (Kids Can Press)>>>first graphic novel from award-winning author-illustrator Dave Whamond
Sliding Home by Joyce Grant (Lorimer)>>>Lorimer Sports Stories
Whatever After #11: Two Peas in a Pod by Sarah Mlynowski (Scholastic)

Young Adult
Black Chuck by Regan McDonell (Orca)
The Call of the Rift: Flight by Jae Waller (ECW Press)>>>new series
Gang Girl by Nancy Miller (Lorimer)>>>Lorimer SideStreets
The Goodbye Girls by Lisa Harrington (Nimbus)
Just Julian by Markus Harwood-Jones (Lorimer)>>>Lorimer Real Love
Romeo for Real by Markus Harwood-Jones (Lorimer)>>>Lorimer Real Love
Simone: Even More Monstrous! by Rémy Simard (Owlkids)
Trouble Never Sleeps by Stephanie Tromley (Kathy Dawson Books)>>>third book in Trouble series that started with Trouble is a Friend of Mine and Trouble Makes a Comeback

Non-Fiction
Be a City Nature Detective: Solving the Mysteries of How Plants and Animals Survive in the Urban Jungle by Peggy Kochanoff (Nimbus)
Better Together: Creating Community in an Uncertain World by Nikki Tate (Orca)>>>Orca Footprints
Carey Price: How a First Nations kid became a superstar goaltender by Catherine Rondina (Lorimer)
Exploring the Wild Coast with Sam and Crystal by Gloria Snively, illus. by Karen Gillmore (Heritage House)
Exploring the Rocky Shore with Sam and Crystal by Gloria Snively, illus. by Karen Gillmore (Heritage House)
Haunted Canada #8: More Chilling True Tales by Joel E. Sutherland (Scholastic Canada)
Look at the Weather by Britta Teckentrup, trans. by Shelley Tanaka (Owlkids)
Might Mission Machines: From Rockets to Rovers by Dave Williams (Annick)>>>newest in Dr. Dave Astronaut series
The Promise by Pnina Bat Zvi and Margie Wolfe, illus. by Isabelle Cardinal (Second Story Press)
There Be Pirates! Swashbucklers & Rogues of the Atlantic by Joann Hamilton-Barry (Nimbus)
Trash Revolution: Breaking the Waste Cycle by Erica Fyvie, illus. by Bill Slavin (Kids Can Press)
The Triumphant Tale of the House Sparrow by Jan Thornhill (Groundwood)
Walking in the City with Jane: A Story of Jane Jacobs by Susan Hughes, illus. by Valérie Boivin (Kids Can Press)
When We Were Shadows by Janet Wees (Second Story Press)

Picture Books
Anne's Colors: Inspired by Anne of Green Gables by Kelly Hill (Tundra)>>>board book
Anne's Numbers: Inspired by Anne of Green Gables by Kelly Hill (Tundra)>>>board book
The Bagel King by Andrew Larsen, illus. Sandy Nichols (Kids Can Press)

Hedge Hog by Ashlyn Anstee (Tundra)
I Love You Like... by Lori Joy Smith (Owlkids)
Nothing Happens in This Book by Judy Ann Sadler, illus. by Vigg Vigg (Kids Can Press)
The Outlaw by Nancy Vo (Groundwood)
Red Sky at Night by Elly Mackay (Tundra)
Square by Mac Barnett, illus. by Jon Klassesn (Candlewick)
Sun Dog by Deborah Kerbel, illus. by Suzanne Del Rizzo (Pajama Press)
When Wolves Howl by Georgia Graham (Red Deer Press)
Zoom Along by Jessica Phillips (Kids Can Press)

Fiction
Becca Fair and Foul by Deidre Baker (Groundwood)>>>sequel to Becca at Sea
Enid Strange by Meghan Rose Allen (Dancing Cat Books)
Gordon: Bark to the Future! by Ashley Spires (Kids Can Press)>>>new graphic novel A P.U.R.S.T. Adventure
The Hollow Under the Tree by Cary Fagan (Groundwood)
Jay and Sass: How to Spot a Sasquatch by J. Torres, illus. by Aurélie Grand (Owlkids)
Kiddo by Cynthia Nugent (Tradewind)
Knock About with the Fitzgerald-Trouts by Esta Spalding, illus. by Sydney Smith (Tundra)
Missing Mike by Shari Green (Pajama Press)
My Deal with the Universe by Deborah Kerbel (Scholastic Canada)
The Mystery of Ireland's Eye by Shane Peacock (Nimbus)>>>rerelease of A Dylan Maples Adventure
Piper by Jacqueline Halsey (Nimbus)
The Princess Dolls by Ellen Schwartz, illus. by Mariko Ando (Tradewind)
Secrets of Sable Island by Marcia Pierce Harding (Nimbus)
Skating Over Thin Ice by Jean Mills (Red Deer Press)
Talking to the Moon by Jan Coates (Red Deer Press)
Tara Takes the Stage by Tamsin Lane (Simon & Schuster)>>>Book 1 of new Yes No Maybe So series
Whatshisface by Gordon Korman (Scholastic)
The Whirlpool by Laurel Croza, illus. by Kelsey Garrity-Riley (Groundwood)
Yael and the Party of the Year by Tamsin Lane (Simon & Schuster)>>>Book 2 of Yes No Maybe So series

Young Adult
Adele's Garden by Linda Amyot, trans. by Norman Cornett (Coteau)
Aftermath by Kelley Armstrong (Crown/Doubleday Canada)
Crimson by Arthur Slade (HarperCollins)
Cross Fire: An Exo Novel by Fonda Lee (Scholastic)
Death by Dinosaur: A Sam Stellar Mystery by Jacqueline Guest (Coteau)>>>first book in new series
Fifteen Point Nine by Holly Dobbie (Dancing Cat Books)
Golden Hour by Chantel Guertin (ECW Press)>>>newest A Pippa Greene Novel
Pulse Point by Colleen Nelson and Nancy Chappell-Pollack (Yellow Dog/Great Plains)
The Spoon Asylum by Caroline Misner (Thistledown)
Summer Constellations by Alisha Sevigny (Kids Can Press)

Non-Fiction
100 Things You Don't Know About Atlantic Canada (for Kids) by Sarah Sawler (Nimbus)
Birding for Kids A Guide to Finding, Identifying, and Photographing Birds in Your Area by Damon Calderwood (Heritage House)
Countdown to Danger: Canadian Survival by Jeff Szpirglas (Scholastic Canada)
Debating and Public Speaking by Claire Duffy (Dundurn)
Hot on the Trail in Ancient Egypt by Linda Bailey, illus. by Bill Slavin (Kids Can Press)>>>part of The Time Travel Guide series, new edition of Adventures in Ancient Egypt (2000)
Mi'kmaw Animals by Alan Syliboy (Nimbus)
See How We Move: A First Book of Health and Well-Being by Scot Ritchie (Kids Can Press)
Sharing Our Truths=Tapwe by Henry Beaver and Mindy Willett with Eileen Beaver (Fifth House)
The Space Adventurer's Guide: Your Passport to the Coolest Things to See and Do in the Universe by Peter McMahon, illus. by Josh Holinaty (Kids Can Press)
Turtle Pond by James Gladstone, illus. Karen Reczuch (Groundwood)
Winners: The New Generation of Maritime Sports Stars by Philip Croucher (Formac)

Picture Books
Fox and Raccoon by Lesley-Anne Green (Tundra)
A Halifax Time-Travelling Tune by Jan Coates, illus. by Marijke Simons (Nimbus)
If a Horse Had Words by Kelly Cooper, illus. by Lucy Eldridge (Tundra)
On My Swim by Kari-Lynn Winters, illus. by Christina Leist (Tradewind Books)

Young Adult
Julia Unbound by Catherine Egan (Doubleday Canada)>>>conclusion of Witch's Child trilogy
The Ruinous Sweep by Tim Wynne-Jones (Candlewick)

Non-Fiction
Be Prepared! The Frankie MacDonald Guide to Life, the Weather, and Everything by Frankie MacDonald and Sarah Sawler (Nimbus)

Strangers: The Reckoner, Book One

Written by David A. Robertson

HighWater Press

978-1-55379-676-3

216 pp.

Ages 14+

October 2017

David A. Robertson, author of the Governor-General's literary awarded illustrated children's book When We Were Young (illustrated by Julie Flett, HighWater Press, 2016), returns his writing to young adults with Strangers, the first book in a new supernatural thriller series called The Reckoner. Still honouring his Cree roots with a story installed in the fictionalized Cree community of Wounded Sky, David A. Robertson shows us life on a remote Manitoba reserve where a past tragedy and current illness and murder have its inhabitants reeling in suspicion and anger.  And it doesn't help that that trickster Coyote is playing a leading role.

Seventeen-year-old Cole Harper has been living in Winnipeg since his Aunt Joan and grandmother moved him there to forget "everything he'd lost in the tragedy and his role in it" (pg. 13) ten years earlier.  Now his friend Ashley Ross is summoning Cole back to Wounded Sky with cryptic messages about needing to come home.   But Cole's return is far from welcome and he learns from Ashley that his phone had been missing and he'd never sent any messages to Cole.  And he tells Cole this minutes before he is shot dead.  While he awaits RCMP Constable Wayne Kirkness, Cole is visited by Choch, the anthropomorphized spirit being Coyote, who reminds Cole of a deal they'd made ten years earlier when Cole had saved two friends, Eva and Brady, from a burning school in which everyone else perished, including Cole's mother. Now Choch expects payback though he doesn't tell Cole exactly what he needs of him.  After Ashley's murder and an illness hits the community, Cole is sure it is to make things right here at Wounded Sky.  But then two more murders and deaths from the illness have the community turning on Cole, whose arrival coincided with the newest tragedies.  How can he do right by Wounded Sky when it's obvious the community, except for a few, resent his return from the city and his earlier role in the fire in which he only saved two lives?

There are mysteries aplenty in Strangers and not all are able to be solved in this first book in the series.  Who murdered Ashley?  How is the research facility, now closed, involved in the tragedies at Wounded Sky? How did the fire at the school start? With the advice of his grandmother to find his peace and "If you accept yourself for who you are, you belong anywhere" (pg. 109), Cole faces the challenges of an angry community, the antics of an arrogant and reckless Choch, and his own anxiety to be the hero needed to heal himself and others.

All legends, Cole, come from some place of truth. Whether they're about Coyote or a sky that was cut and bled the heavens like tears, or a boy that saved others. Look at your own scars. (pg. 124)

Beyond David A. Robertson's intricate plotting, he creates a character of Wounded Sky itself.  He makes sure that readers, Indigenous or not, get an authentic glimpse of life on a reserve: remote, ignored, self-reliant, challenged, vulnerable and cohesive.  From Elder Mariah making hot muskeg tea and Cole's tobacco tie, to the northern lights of spirits playing and Coyote's pranks, Strangers is both singular and inclusive, educating readers and encircling many in its story. I look forward to Book 2 in The Reckoner series so that I can witness how David A. Robertson resolves mysteries first revealed in Strangers and undoubtedly creates a few more for Cole to confront.

Don't Tell the Enemy: Book launch (Brantford, ON)

Author

Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

who has dazzled middle grade readers
with her historical fiction and non-fiction books
including picture books,

is back with her newest

Don't Tell the Enemy

Written by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-2839-1

184 pp.

Ages 10-14

January 2018

on

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

at 

7 p.m.

at

Braemar House School

36 Baxter Street

Brantford, ON
(Map here)

⥐⥐⥐⥐⥐

Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch 
will speak about the real mother and daughter 
who risked their lives to hide three Jewish friends 
during the Holocaust.

This is their story (from the blurb on Scholastic Canada website:

How much would you do for a friend? Krystia’s family hides Jews from the Nazis at immense risk to their own lives.

Life is becoming dangerous for Krystia. It’s 1941 and her town in Ukraine is now occupied by the Soviets. Some members of her family are harassed, while others are arrested and killed. When the Nazis liberate the town, they are welcomed with open arms. But Krystia’s best friend Dolik has doubts. His family is Jewish and rumours are that the Nazis are even more brutal than the Soviets.

When the Nazis discover a mass grave of Soviet prisoners, they use it as an excuse and blame the slaughter on the Jews. Soon after, the Nazis establish ghettoes and begin public execution of Jews. Krystia can’t bear to see her friends suffer, so she smuggles food in for them. When word gets out that the ghetto will be cleared and Jews will be exterminated, Krystia must make an impossible decision. Will she risk her own family’s safety to save her friends?

Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.ca/rights/titles/special/dont-tell-the-enemy/ 

on December 14, 2017.

Book sales and signing will follow the author's presentation.

(Proceeds will go to the Scholarship Fund of CFUW Brantford)

Light refreshments will be served.

The Spirit Trackers

Written by Jan Bourdeau Waboose

Illustrated by François Thisdale

Fifth House Publishers

978-1-92708-311-6

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

November 2017

It's been far too long since the CanLit world has welcomed a book from Jan Bourdeau Waboose, a First Nation Anishinaabe of the Ojibway Bear Clan of northern Ontario.  Adding to her stunning collection of picture books which includes SkySisters, Morning on the Lake and Firedancers, Jan Bourdeau Waboose's telling tale of Ojibway traditions and the relationship between children and their uncle is breathtakingly illustrated by François Thisdale, award-winning artist of The Stamp Collector, Missing Nimâmâ, and French Toast.  The Spirit Trackers is a magnificent story in words and art, melding together First Nations and an intergenerational relationship with legends and spirits and the wonder of children.

Illustration by François Thisdale 

used in The Spirit Trackers by Jan Bourdeau Waboose

Two cousins are awed by the stories told by their uncle of their clan, the Moose Clan, and their heritage of extraordinary trackers but it's the story of the Windigo that truly captures their attention.  His story of the Wandering Night Spirit of Winter is a warning to the boys. 

"Watch out for the Windigo on a winter night.  It has a heart of ice, and its teeth are like steel.  It will eat anything in its way!" 

"Even the best Trackers disappear in Windigo's footsteps."

In the night, the boys are awakened by a Thump! Bang! and, upon seeing a black shadow cross the window, are convinced the Windigo has visited their uncle's house.  The next day, however, evidence in the snow and on a tree compel the two to put their tracking skills to work.  But far from the house, hearing a sad cry that "slices the air like a trapper's knife" the two are immobilized with terror.  It may not be the Windigo but the boys demonstrate the aptitude in tracking and their reverence for the natural world, especially for an animal they know to honour.

Jan Bourdeau Waboose infuses her atmospheric text with the companionship of family and an appreciation for traditions and legends of First Nations. Because of that, an occasion of storytelling becomes more; it becomes a lesson in caution and curiosity and heritage. Tom and Will are apt students at their Uncle's knee, listening, hearing and learning.  Resplendent in snow, the frigid medium of trackers, The Spirit Trackers is an appropriate visual and textual read for the winter season.  Artist François Thisdale makes sure that his illustrations transport readers to that frosty season and to a life of snowshoes, moosehide clothing, and ravens.  Combining photographs, drawings and paint with digital imagery, François Thisdale lends a supernatural essence to the story, perfect for a pair of boys already spooked by their disquietude about the Windigo but determined to follow the path of their tracker ancestors into the unknown winter stillness shattered by a haunting cry.

Illustration by François Thisdale 

used in The Spirit Trackers by Jan Bourdeau Waboose

Whether you believe in the Windigo is irrelevant.  The boys believe, as does their Uncle, and in the stillness and cold of winter, it's a story, like The Spirit Trackers, that has much to teach.

❅❅❅❅❅❅

The illustrations included in this review are derived from illustrator François Thisdale's Facebook page at Thisdale illustration.

Tangled Planet

Written Kate Blair
Dancing Cat Books
978-1-77086-504-4
260 pp.
Ages 13+
October 2017

Four hundred years of ancestors have travelled on the ship Venture leaving behind Alpha Earth in search of a Beta Earth to colonize.  For seventeen-year-old Ursa, the ship has always been home.  As a junior engineer and daughter of a former captain, Ursa knows every control, vent and tech that keeps the Venture working, now in orbit above the planet being readied for full colonization. But there is silent dissension between those who want to embrace life on Beta fully and those who appreciate the safety and known entity that is the ship.

It smells right, here.  Not like the empty scent of Beta.
     It’s the smell of hundreds of years of skin cells, waste reclamation pipes, and generations of people stuffed in a cramped space. I never noticed it until we went to the planet, where the air is so clod and clear I choked on my first breath.  Here it’s rich and musky.  The smell of home. The Venture is cozy, human-sized, lived-in, unlike the muddy mess of the planet below. (pg. 23)

It’s astonishing, Ursa.  Just being here.  Humanity, stretching out into the stars.  We’re the dream Alpha Earth had so many hundreds of years ago. (pg. 65)

When Ursa  discovers the murdered body of Orion, the husband of her sister Celeste and of former friend Vega, planet-side, Ursa becomes a suspect, though she had observed a wolf-like creature hiding in the forest.  Because of her reluctance to spend much time on Beta and because no animals matching that description or DNA had been created or released onto the planet by the genelab, few believe her.  But then a second murder leaves the crew reeling and Ursa begins to investigate in earnest to clear herself and keep her family and those for whom she cares safe.

Much like Kate Blair’s debut YA novel Transferral (DCB, 2015), Tangled Planet is speculative fiction, asking a “What if?” question, here about inhabiting new worlds of space or on new planets.  It’s about choosing that which is familiar but limited over that which is unknown but holds much potential.  Kate Blair makes it clear that in this sci-fi setting, even with the development of astounding tech, genetic manipulation and more, people are still human, enduring grief and resentment, loss and jealousy, and making decisions that are both selfish and selfless, resulting in the murder mystery at the book’s heart.  In this well-plotted and suspenseful novel, belied by its unremarkable cover, it’s clear that for all its newness, Beta Earth is nevertheless being colonized by those driven by old hurts and fears and the future may still be determined by what has happened in the past.

(A version of this review was originally written for and published in Quill & Quire, as noted in the citation below.)

Kubiw, H. (2018, January/February). [Review of the book Tangled Planet, by Kate Blair]. Quill & Quire, 84 (1): 48.