By Jesse Thistle
This Canada Reads 2020 contender is at once a redemption story extraordinaire and a powerful indictment of the forces of racism and colonialism that have fractured relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people since the first European settlers arrived in North America. In his utterly gripping memoir, Jesse Thistle, now a professor at York University, traces in painful detail his difficult childhood and the descent into addiction, petty crime, and homelessness that brought him to rock-bottom. Against the odds, he rises phoenix-like from the ashes of emotional poverty to attain an education and proudly reclaim his Métis-Cree identity. Told with stark and unflinching honesty, this is a must-read.
By Marjorie Celona
Author Marjorie Celona kicks off How a Woman Becomes a Lake, with a hook that will be familiar to thriller devotees: a missing person. In this case, that person is Vera, a film professor and inhabitant of a fishing village called Whale Bay, who takes her dog for a walk along the lake on New Year’s Day and never returns. Her disappearance is preceded by a mysterious phone call she makes to the police, one that ratchets up the suspense and casts shadows of suspicion across the town. How a Woman Becomes a Lake combines the traditions of suspenseful plotting with a masterful control of character, as Celona slowly unwraps the mystery at the heart of the story through the voices of those touched by Vera and her absence.
By Sherry Lee, Pictures by Charlene Chua
Young Sophie and her dad, Leonard, are invited to a birthday party on the tenth floor of their apartment building. In preparation, they bake a plate of Sophie’s grandma’s special-recipe molasses jam cookies and Sophie summons the elevator with a push of the button. As it ascends, the elevator stops at each floor, admitting more neighbours bound for the party. By the sixth floor, Leonard has hoisted Sophie onto his shoulders, and on the ninth floor, everyone has to take a deep breath in to make room for the last person. Finally, they spill out on the 10th floor and a party ensues. A warm tale about community and diversity in an urban setting, this charming book is sure to please readers young and old.
