We are enjoying some gorgeous weather here in Vancouver, BC. I live on a block famous for its spectacular ornamental cherry blossom display. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't understand what staying inside and/or social distancing means. While it's not as busy at it would be any other year, it's still like a party out there.
Now that I am finished with my rant, how are the rest of you doing?
I have no time to be bored.
Packing, cleaning, listening to audiobooks, reading, and sewing masks (until my machine died) has kept me busy. I am now working on a Read Across Canada database. If you are interested in helping out with this project please let me know!
Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian Author and or Illustrator.
Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book.
PICTURE BOOKS
Ojiichan's Gift by Chieri Uegaki & Genevieve Simms (Illustrations) 🍁
This beautifully illustrated picture book tells of the connection between Mayumi and her grandfather, who live an ocean apart. She spends two months each summer staying with him and helping him tend his garden. Then one summer when she arrives with her family, the garden is in disarray, and she understands that her grandfather can no longer look after it and must move. After taking out her feelings of frustration and loss on the garden, Mayumi figures out a way to preserve it for both herself and her grandfather.
My Mommy, My Mama, My Brother, and Me by Natalie Meisner & Mathilde Cinq-Mars (Illustrator) 🍁
Mathilde Cinq-Mars' water colour illustrations are gorgeous in this rhyming picture book. It takes readers to Crescent Beach, Nova Scotia, a small fishing community. Two brothers explore the beach with their two moms. On their walk they discover all kinds of interesting objects and creatures, but the highlight of the excursion is in the making of new friends.
I appreciate much about this book except that while the rhyming pattern worked and delighted me initially, later on it became cumbersome and got in the way of my enjoyment.
The Good Egg (Bad Seed #2) by Jory John & Pete Oswald (Illustrator)
Just delightful. A little egg drives himself nearly to a breakdown by not only trying to be a really good egg, but by trying to get the rest of his carton to do likewise. He leaves to go and restore himself and returns with a healed shell and a renewed outlook on life.
GRAPHIC NOVELS
The Monster Sisters and the Mystery of the Unlocked Cave by Gareth Kyle Gaudin 🍁
This book starts out strong. While introducing readers to the history of Victoria BC it begins by acknowledging the Coast Salish people. I loved this bit where it continues, "It may have been "found" by James Douglas in 1843. But it has been "lost" by monsters in the twenty-first century."
The Monster Sisters, Enid Jupiter and Lyra Gotham, are superheroes fighting off monsters and protecting their city. The book is a medley of serious and imaginary history and geography. I love the references to Neil Young and his After the Gold Rush album. Readers of this graphic novel will experience fast paced action, mystery, humour, research, puzzles to solve, and even saga poetry.
Honestly, I was completely absorbed by this graphic novel until the ending when it all kind of fizzled out. This doesn't mean I won't be looking forward to reading the next in the series though!
NOVELS
Badir and the Beaver by Shannon Stewart & Sabrina Gendron (Illustrations) 🍁
I'm just delighted with this book! Badir and his family are new immigrants from Tunisia to Canada. While on a walk with his mother he spies a large rat swimming in a pond. When Badir learns that the the rat is actually a beaver, he begins to research this new to him, animal. When the beaver is threatened by a local park enthusiast who is worried about the trees, Badir and his friends have to come up with a way to save the beaver and the park.
I like so much about this book.
1. It's peopled with diverse characters who are kind and work together for a cause.
2. Readers will learn a lot about beavers and what it means to be a Muslim family celebrating Ramadan.
3. It's full of humour and love.
4. The characters have depth and nuance and will wiggle their way into your heart.
5. It's written at an easy to read level, but you wouldn't know it by the richness of the story.
Ghost of the Mill House by Margriet Ruurs & Claudia Davila (Illustrator) 🍁
Four friends travel to an old grist mill in Oregon to stay with an aunt and uncle of one of them. While they have a lot of time for fun, they also help get the house and grounds ready to become an historic park. This is not a ghost story to keep you awake at night. The infestation of bugs is more disturbing! When a hollywood film crew rents the property for a location, a ghost shows up on the rushes. That's how they all learn it is real. The film is rewritten and the two boys end up taking turns acting as the ghost in the movie.
There is a lot in this book to entertain readers of all ages and genders. The illustrations portray diversity in the characters. The kids get along with each other and the adults are solid role models.
Badir and the Beaver and Ghost of the Mill House are from the Orca Echo Series. These titles are written at a grade two reading level, so they are perfect for young readers just starting chapter books. They aim to interest readers from six through to nine years, but even old people like myself are entertained by them.
Here in the Real World by Sara Pennypacker & Noah Galvin (Narrator)
This is a beautifully crafted coming of age novel. It's a slow thoughtful look into the lives of two quirky preteens. Ware is an introvert with a passion for the knight's code of honour. Jolene is a tough realist. The two create a refuge in an abandoned church grounds where Jolene grows papayas and Ware escapes from the Rec program he is supposed to be attending.
This novel reminded me of Lynn Rae Perkins' Criss Cross. It's as much about character as plot, although this one does have an interesting dilemma and satisfying conclusion.
The Three Spartans by James Alfred McCann 🍁
There is nothing quite as satisfying as knowing the setting of a book. The mention of places and events a reader can actually visualize from memory adds a layer of unparalleled authenticity to a novel. This story of Art, a twelve year old Canadian boy visiting his family's summer home in Birch Bay, Washington is like that for me. Over the years I've been lucky to have spent many weekends there with friends and family.
Art and his friends, Leo and George, are the three Spartans. They challenge Zeke, a local bully, to a paintball war in the woods behind the local campgrounds. I've never paintball battled, but in my youth, my cousins and siblings and I had many cow pie fights over control of the barn. Although the stakes were very different, it sounds pretty similar. In this case, the three Spartans and their crew are standing up for the freedom to enjoy their summer without being harrassed and bullied. Whether they win at paintball or not, they will still come out ahead.
Ru by Kim Thúy & Sheila Fischman (Translator) 🍁
Listening to this feels as if someone is reciting poetry. The prose is gorgeous. The original French language version and Sheila Fischman's translation have garnered all kinds of accolades and won, or been nominated for, all kinds of awards. It won a Governor General award, was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and in 2015, was a Canada Reads winner.
It's a fictionalized account of a Vietnamese family who were part of the first group of Boat People. The story is revealed through the first person perspective of An Tinh Nguyen. It weaves together her memories as a young girl in Vietnam, then living in a refugee camp in Malaysia, immigrating with her family to a small town in Quebec and then visiting Vietnam as an adult.
I knew of some of these experiences from narratives by other authors and for many years I taught Vietnamese children and got to know their parents and their stories.
Narrated by the author, Ru is so authentic, I thought it really was a memoir as I listened to it!
CURRENTLY
My Jasper June by Laurel Snyder is the audiobook I have on the go. With my eyes I'm reading Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens by Tanya Boteju.
UP NEXT
Roll With It by Jamie Sumner will be the next audiobook. I'm hoping to read at least four novels and finish off the picture books from my Chocolate Lily Box.
PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS
#MustReadIn2020: 6/25 1 in progress
#MustReadNFIn2020: 3/12
25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors: 9/25
100 books by Canadian Authors: 72/100
Goodreads Reading Challenge: 146/333
Now that I am finished with my rant, how are the rest of you doing?
I have no time to be bored.
Packing, cleaning, listening to audiobooks, reading, and sewing masks (until my machine died) has kept me busy. I am now working on a Read Across Canada database. If you are interested in helping out with this project please let me know!
Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian Author and or Illustrator.
Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book.
PICTURE BOOKS
 |
| 5 stars |
This beautifully illustrated picture book tells of the connection between Mayumi and her grandfather, who live an ocean apart. She spends two months each summer staying with him and helping him tend his garden. Then one summer when she arrives with her family, the garden is in disarray, and she understands that her grandfather can no longer look after it and must move. After taking out her feelings of frustration and loss on the garden, Mayumi figures out a way to preserve it for both herself and her grandfather.
 |
| 3.5 stars |
Mathilde Cinq-Mars' water colour illustrations are gorgeous in this rhyming picture book. It takes readers to Crescent Beach, Nova Scotia, a small fishing community. Two brothers explore the beach with their two moms. On their walk they discover all kinds of interesting objects and creatures, but the highlight of the excursion is in the making of new friends.
I appreciate much about this book except that while the rhyming pattern worked and delighted me initially, later on it became cumbersome and got in the way of my enjoyment.
 |
| 4 stars |
Just delightful. A little egg drives himself nearly to a breakdown by not only trying to be a really good egg, but by trying to get the rest of his carton to do likewise. He leaves to go and restore himself and returns with a healed shell and a renewed outlook on life.
GRAPHIC NOVELS
 |
| 4 stars |
This book starts out strong. While introducing readers to the history of Victoria BC it begins by acknowledging the Coast Salish people. I loved this bit where it continues, "It may have been "found" by James Douglas in 1843. But it has been "lost" by monsters in the twenty-first century."
The Monster Sisters, Enid Jupiter and Lyra Gotham, are superheroes fighting off monsters and protecting their city. The book is a medley of serious and imaginary history and geography. I love the references to Neil Young and his After the Gold Rush album. Readers of this graphic novel will experience fast paced action, mystery, humour, research, puzzles to solve, and even saga poetry.
Honestly, I was completely absorbed by this graphic novel until the ending when it all kind of fizzled out. This doesn't mean I won't be looking forward to reading the next in the series though!
NOVELS
 |
| 5 stars |
I'm just delighted with this book! Badir and his family are new immigrants from Tunisia to Canada. While on a walk with his mother he spies a large rat swimming in a pond. When Badir learns that the the rat is actually a beaver, he begins to research this new to him, animal. When the beaver is threatened by a local park enthusiast who is worried about the trees, Badir and his friends have to come up with a way to save the beaver and the park.
I like so much about this book.
1. It's peopled with diverse characters who are kind and work together for a cause.
2. Readers will learn a lot about beavers and what it means to be a Muslim family celebrating Ramadan.
3. It's full of humour and love.
4. The characters have depth and nuance and will wiggle their way into your heart.
5. It's written at an easy to read level, but you wouldn't know it by the richness of the story.
 |
| 4 stars |
Four friends travel to an old grist mill in Oregon to stay with an aunt and uncle of one of them. While they have a lot of time for fun, they also help get the house and grounds ready to become an historic park. This is not a ghost story to keep you awake at night. The infestation of bugs is more disturbing! When a hollywood film crew rents the property for a location, a ghost shows up on the rushes. That's how they all learn it is real. The film is rewritten and the two boys end up taking turns acting as the ghost in the movie.
There is a lot in this book to entertain readers of all ages and genders. The illustrations portray diversity in the characters. The kids get along with each other and the adults are solid role models.
Badir and the Beaver and Ghost of the Mill House are from the Orca Echo Series. These titles are written at a grade two reading level, so they are perfect for young readers just starting chapter books. They aim to interest readers from six through to nine years, but even old people like myself are entertained by them.
 |
| 4 stars |
This is a beautifully crafted coming of age novel. It's a slow thoughtful look into the lives of two quirky preteens. Ware is an introvert with a passion for the knight's code of honour. Jolene is a tough realist. The two create a refuge in an abandoned church grounds where Jolene grows papayas and Ware escapes from the Rec program he is supposed to be attending.
This novel reminded me of Lynn Rae Perkins' Criss Cross. It's as much about character as plot, although this one does have an interesting dilemma and satisfying conclusion.
 |
| 4 stars |
There is nothing quite as satisfying as knowing the setting of a book. The mention of places and events a reader can actually visualize from memory adds a layer of unparalleled authenticity to a novel. This story of Art, a twelve year old Canadian boy visiting his family's summer home in Birch Bay, Washington is like that for me. Over the years I've been lucky to have spent many weekends there with friends and family.
Art and his friends, Leo and George, are the three Spartans. They challenge Zeke, a local bully, to a paintball war in the woods behind the local campgrounds. I've never paintball battled, but in my youth, my cousins and siblings and I had many cow pie fights over control of the barn. Although the stakes were very different, it sounds pretty similar. In this case, the three Spartans and their crew are standing up for the freedom to enjoy their summer without being harrassed and bullied. Whether they win at paintball or not, they will still come out ahead.
 |
| 5 stars |
Listening to this feels as if someone is reciting poetry. The prose is gorgeous. The original French language version and Sheila Fischman's translation have garnered all kinds of accolades and won, or been nominated for, all kinds of awards. It won a Governor General award, was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and in 2015, was a Canada Reads winner.
It's a fictionalized account of a Vietnamese family who were part of the first group of Boat People. The story is revealed through the first person perspective of An Tinh Nguyen. It weaves together her memories as a young girl in Vietnam, then living in a refugee camp in Malaysia, immigrating with her family to a small town in Quebec and then visiting Vietnam as an adult.
I knew of some of these experiences from narratives by other authors and for many years I taught Vietnamese children and got to know their parents and their stories.
Narrated by the author, Ru is so authentic, I thought it really was a memoir as I listened to it!
CURRENTLY
My Jasper June by Laurel Snyder is the audiobook I have on the go. With my eyes I'm reading Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens by Tanya Boteju.
UP NEXT
Roll With It by Jamie Sumner will be the next audiobook. I'm hoping to read at least four novels and finish off the picture books from my Chocolate Lily Box.
PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS
#MustReadIn2020: 6/25 1 in progress
#MustReadNFIn2020: 3/12
25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors: 9/25
100 books by Canadian Authors: 72/100
Goodreads Reading Challenge: 146/333
