Part story, part how-to guide. Secret Gardeners is a children book that is packed full of knowledge.
I loved Gurjinder Basran’s The Wedding. The book, released today, follows the stories of a bride and groom from two South Asian families in addition to those of the guests, event staff and family “and the secrets, resentments and unspoken... Continue Reading →
Book 3 of 4 of author Karen Swan's books about the young women of St. Kilda, Scotland, was an excellent and fast read, pulling me right back into the story, this time told from the perspective of Flora MacQueen.
"Back when I was a baby dyke, there was never any agony-free representation of “dykedom” in books or films. Lesbians always died in the end. That was such a downer for kids coming out in a dangerous, unaccepting world. Thank the goddess, it’s changed. Lesbian, aka sapphic fiction or lesfic, treats universal themes and is a booming market, especially the romance genre." I interview author Ragini Werner about her book Becoming Janice.
I review children's books about making friends and naming emotions.
I read two great but very different middle grade books by Wendy Orr - Out of the Valley of Horses and Swallow's Dance.
"I love that (picture book The Little Regent) highlights West African culture. My goal as a writer is to help kids like mine feel seen in the books that they read, while also sharing aspects of my culture with kids that are not familiar with it. " Read my Q&A with author Yewande Daniel-Ayoade.
Atrocity on the Atlantic, a new book by Toronto author Nate Hendley, features the story of the Llandovery Castle, an unarmed, marked hospital ship used by the Canadian military during the First World War, which was “torpedoed off the Irish coast by U-Boat 86, a German submarine.” I chat to Hendley about his latest book and the importance of this story.
Great pace, great characters, disturbing content in The Escape by Ruth Kelly.
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