Reading the tagged book brought to mind other writings by Indigenous authors who incorporated elements of horror.

When genocide is what you‘re up against, you regret nothing.

An unusual yet very well-executed picture book about the colour blue. History, science, cultural traditions around the world will encourage curiosity, wonder and further exploration. Ancient Egypt; the evils of slavery-related indigo production in the Americas; contemporary textile practices in Africa; Black girls with blue-ribbon science projects. Text: Ghanian Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond; richly-toned art by African American Daniel Minter. #kidlit

I love the jewel tones artist Daniel Minter achieved in this picture book, painting with acrylic wash on heavy watercolour paper.

The color blue is all around us.
Have you ever wondered where it comes from?
It‘s in the sky, but you can‘t touch it.
It‘s in the sea, but when you cup it,
it disappears.

In this children‘s historical fantasy picture book, a small but plucky owl realizes his dream and becomes a knight. There‘s plenty of foreshadowing—dragon imagery is on almost every page—until Owl comes face to face with a massive dragon. Funny, sweet and inspiring. A Caldecott Honor recognizes the charming art, which rewards careful examination to find jokes and surprises. #kidlit

Knight School was hard, but Owl worked and worked. He graduated with honor, as all knights do.

A gripping debut novel about Mackenzie, a contemporary Cree woman from northern Alberta, who is not only experiencing nightmares about her deceased sister, but transporting objects back from the dream world. The message about the importance of female members of one‘s extended family staying connected is a bit heavy-handed, & sometimes Mackenzie did things that made me impatient, but I enjoyed this overall. #LGBTQ #Indigenous #ShadowGiller2023

I think about the toxic environment in the oil patch, the high depression rate among young people based in camps for weeks and months on end, working every day. The way the industry changes men into worse men.

[An example of content overlap between the tagged novel and Kate Beaton‘s memoir about working in oil patch camps.]

Nehiyawak are supposed to be less controlling with their babies. When someone is born, they become their own person. Have to be trusted to make their own choices. Parents are supposed to just help when they need it. I‘ve always had a hard time with that part. The letting go part. I‘m a bad Cree sometimes.

In volume 2 of this graphic novel series, robots are mostly forbidden from participating in society in 26th-century France. This injustice leads to protests—and the violent suppression of any revolutionary action. All of which leaves a human and robot couple, Elle and Karel, on the run from authorities. I‘m eagerly awaiting the third and final instalment, which is coming out later this month. Translation from French by Montana Kane.

[Mayor of Paris]: We need to find those two … uh… Criminals? Terrorists? Fugitives? Commies? Find out which term sows the greatest fear in the people.

A hot-tempered human social justice warrior falls for a cherish-bot in this star-crossed romance comics series set in 26th-century Paris. I really enjoyed the wit and the themes of social class and social justice, which reminded me of Klara and the Sun. Humans and robots alike are given distinctive character in the bright artwork by Andrés Garrido. Translation from French by Montana Kane.

Pop culture moment

This multi-award-winning graphic novel poignantly portrays a lesbian couple and their pregnancy-related grief, along with their subsequent journey towards emotional well-being. It‘s based on author Ingrid Chabbert‘s own experience and expressively illustrated by Carole Maurel. Translation from French by Edward Gauvin. #LGBTQ #comics

Sometimes we drown, drinking in the sea.

I listened to this because it won ALA‘s Odyssey audio award in the children‘s category. Talk about high energy in this full cast production complete with sound effects! Stuntboy, the “greatest superhero you‘ve never, ever heard of,” gets “the frets” when his parents start arguing, but family dysfunction and anxiety don‘t detract from the warmth and joy of this slice-of-African-American-life tale for kids aged 7-11. For Captain Underpants fans.

The print edition—which consists of a verse narrative composed in three long sentences, set within striking stylized collage artwork by Jason Griffin—was my favourite YA of 2022. It translates remarkably well to audio, with two complete performances: first by Jason Reynolds and then by a full cast. A conversation between the two Jasons about their creative collaboration is included at the end.

Medical ethics and what we don‘t know about psychosis, the connections between mental illness diagnosis and identity—these topics are explored with sensitivity. Journalist Rachel Aviv frames her questioning within her own experience of being hospitalized and diagnosed with anorexia nervosa when she was six years old. A fascinating audiobook narrated by Andi Arndt.

Friday Reads February 3: book cover design; CanLit; picture book biography; graphic novels; audiobooks for all ages; poetry; YA

https://youtu.be/ITofJsLCf3A

This YA novel set amid criminal corruption in 1920s Chicago is a fun blend of mystery, historical fantasy and romance. It‘s told in alternating chapters—Ruby can read minds, and Guy can transform his appearance. I enjoyed the romp and the social justice theme, but ab-so-tive-ly pos-i-lute-ly became tired of the flapper girl slang.

Fabulous interior book design suits the 1920s setting. The Art Deco fonts are swoonworthy. Look at the ‘O‘ and the ‘G‘ in ‘Epilogue‘ and the decorative drop cap initial letter ‘R‘—the triple upright line, the circle, the kick that ends in a perfect spiral. 😍

I honestly didn‘t expect to make a connection between Kulper‘s historical fantasy YA novel and Prince Harry‘s memoir … until I read this passage:
“…and Peter stripped him down to his union suit—I hope frostbite takes care of his most favourite parts.”

I learned in this picture book biography of mime artist Marcel Marceau that he was Jewish and was a member of the French resistance during WWII, leading hundreds of Jewish children over the Alps to safety in Switzerland. Gerard DuBois‘ gorgeous vintage-style art shows how Marceau could express so much with his face and body language. #kidlit

The tradition of whiteface developed in the Italian commedia dell‘arte […]. The white face, which is put on with greasepaint, helps the audience view expressions from a distance.

His father died in the concentration camps. “The people who came back from the camps were never able to talk about it,” Marceau later said. “My name is Mangel. I am Jewish. Perhaps that, unconsciously, contributed towards my choice of silence.”

In 1947, Monsieur Marceau created his famous character, Bip, adapting the name from Pip in Charles Dickens‘s novel, Great Expectations. “Because when you are young, you have great expectations.”

At the end of the corridor was the room my father referred to as the “second library”—the “first” having reached its limit years before. My father was a great reader and a great rememberer of things, though he never remembered anything in the right order, or entirely, and always had just little bits of all the books and poems he‘d ever read floating around in his mind.

I had this on my shelves ever since it made the Giller longlist last year, then I was spurred to pick it up because it's in the running for Canada Reads. Wow! I fell hard for the wonderful central character, widowed Muna, who escaped the Lebanese civil war in the 1980s by emigrating to Montreal with her young son. #CanadianAuthor

Brief reviews of my January faves are on my blog, along with stats and links to my booktube videos. If you‘re interested:

https://lindypratch.blogspot.com/2023/02/january-2023-reading-stats-and-booktube...

The first 74 pages contain nine philosophical essays, including "Should I Really Read The Remains of the Day in What Remains of My Days?" The second part is one long essay (195 pages)—"The Hermit's Smoke"—about the author's conflicted desire for solitude. Edmonton author Tim Bowling is considered a writer's writer—in other words, his language is exquisite. I really enjoyed his ruminations. #CanadianAuthor

I clearly need to get out more. 😉
📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚

Recent Reads January 31: 2023 Caldecott winner & honorees; essays; Read Across Canada
https://youtu.be/OOxKqIcXvwM

I picked this up because, in her brilliant essay collection “How to Read Now,” Elaine Castillo praises its importance in the quest to read critically. Morrison‘s use of academic language gave me a challenge but I really appreciated engaging with her ideas about the literary imagination.

All of us, readers and writers, are bereft when criticism remains too polite or too fearful to notice a disrupting darkness before its eyes.

Angela Joy‘s outstanding picture book biography & history book is summed up by the subtitle: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement—and truly does justice to its subject. Distinctive papercut art by Janelle Washington fits the mood of dignity & strength. Lots of helpful back matter too. Ages 8 up. Adult readers: this would be a good book to pair with Percival Everett‘s The Trees. #kidlit

Janelle Washington creates her papercut art with delicately cut black paper, adding layers of tissue paper for colour. This book required 71 blades for her craft knife, according to the note at the back.

Diploma in hand, Mamie was unusual indeed: the first African American to graduate at the top of her class. Yet the best of grades couldn‘t hush what she heard on street corner and pew: “Can‘t catch a man with a book,” they said. “Better marry somebody soon.”

This outstanding picture book was recognized in 3 categories at the ALA Youth Media Awards today: Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator WINNER; Caldecott HONOR; and Sibert Nonfiction HONOR.
Congratulations!

A brother and sister, orphaned by war, escape their country and face dangers experienced by refugees everywhere: a capitalist ogre, a smuggler in the form of a snake, having to cross forests, deserts and oceans… only to be incarcerated when they seek asylum at their destination. A heart-rending Franco-Belgian graphic novel given depth and universality with Hippolyte‘s expressive watercolour art. English translation by Matt Madden. #comics

A small girl spends the summer with childless relatives in rural Ireland. From that unprepossessing outline, Claire Keegan has crafted a perfect novella about family secrets and the acquisition of wisdom. Beautiful and haunting.

Friday Reads January 27 - Canada Reads; Giller Prize news; comics; audiobooks; Indigenous books

https://youtu.be/dTsHh7X923U

Like her Cree mother & grandmother, 10-year-old Shelly can see the ghosts of people & animals. She is learning how to catch them & help them move on. But tragedy strikes and Shelly must learn something even more challenging: how to handle grief. A gentle contemporary ghost story by a Ililiw/Cree author, for ages 9-12. #CanadianAuthor #Indigenous #kidlit

“My grandma is a ghost hunter,” Shelly says. “I‘m going to be one, too.”

Haisla has many sounds that don‘t exist in English, so it is not possible to spell the words using English conventions.

A specific place & era—California in the 1990s—comes through tenderly in Hua Hsu‘s quiet memoir about being Taiwanese American & sorting out how to fit in among other Asian Americans at college, as well as looking for his place in larger American society. He “had a fraught relationship with fun,” wore uncool thrift store clothing, was serious about creating zines, & then the violent death of a close friend left him unmoored for a long time.

We would make Berry Gordy‘s Imbroglio and find an empty lecture hall on campus to screen it for our friends. We didn‘t want to be filmmakers. We just wanted to make something. To discover such a thing was possible. We just needed to find someone with a camcorder.

That‘s right, it‘s the door that‘s talking! And I‘m feeling rather unhinged!

Simplified text, illustrations & lots of white space make this important text—about Indigenous worldviews & reciprocal relationships within our environment—more accessible for young readers. That being said, I recommend sticking with the adult version for any teen who is a strong reader or has a deep interest in this topic. The adaptation emphasizes the didactic nature without the original nuance & the addition of reflection questions is annoying.

Told from the viewpoint of a woman looking back on a traumatic time in her childhood during un unspecified war, this deeply moving graphic novel captures the uncertainty of memories. When she was 9, she was afraid to fall asleep because every time she woke up, more of her world was destroyed. When she did sleep, it was always the same terrible dream of a line of people walking. Her family eventually joined the line.
Age 9 to adult.