#IMWAYR August 9, 2021

 Hello everyone. It's #IMWAYR time again, when readers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to in the past week. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. Whatever you are looking forward to in your next great read, these are fabulous places to start your search.

In the last couple of weeks my sister and I have managed to get two baby quilts almost completed. Here's the one that's ready to give away. 

Then last weekend my four year old granddaughter was visiting. She kept us busy. Ada adored the quilt I had just finished and wanted one just like it for her doll. While she was here Grandpa helped her make a set of bunk beds for them. Ada chose the colours for the quilts and even sat on my lap while I sewed them. The rest of the time when I was sewing, she played around with scraps of fabric. We ended up making mattresses and pillows to go with them. 

We also built a huge duplo house and played a lot of 'visiting with grandma and grampa.' We went swimming, canoeing, and collected flat rocks that we painted. She was here for six sleeps and wasn't ready to go home. Her little sister, mother, and father insisted it was time because they missed her so much. We were heartbroken (and exhausted) when she left. 

Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian or Indigenous Canadian Author and or Illustrator. 

Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book.

RECENT BLOG POSTS

A Kid Is a Kid Is a Kid by Sara O'Leary
History Is Delicious by Joshua Lurie

The Disability Experience: Working Toward Belonging by Hannalora Leavitt & Belle Wuthrich (Illustrator)

PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Fred Gets Dressed by Peter Brown May 4, 2021

My granddaughter and I enjoyed this lovely book about a boy who ends up dressing up in his mother's clothes. She is starting to think that there are boy things and girl things. This is a delightful book for eliminating those kinds of budding stereotypes.

5 stars

Bodies Are Cool by Tyler Feder June 1, 2021

The rollicking rhyme and rhythm in this book begs to be read out loud. It showcases the beautiful diversity in bodies. No matter what age, colour, shape or size, bodies are indeed cool! 

4 stars

The Train by Jodie Callaghan & Georgia Lesley (Illustrator) March 24, 2020  🍁

A young girl comes upon her great uncle waiting by an abandoned train station. He tells her of boarding a train from there when he was young. He and his siblings were taken to a residential school. He was there for six years before he came home.
The book doesn’t deal with the horrors of that place, but it does highlight the loss of language, culture and relationships.
Georgia Lesley’s gorgeous illustrations enhance the emotional impact of this story.

3 stars

Spirit Bear: Fishing for Knowledge, Catching Dreams by Cindy Blackstock & Amanda Strong (Illustrator) January 1, 2018  🍁

Essentially this book addresses the underfunding of Indigenous education in Canada. In 2016 funding on reserves was only up to half of what their provincial counterparts received. This book focuses on the reality of the community of Attawapiskat. A school was built in 1976, but three years later, 30,000 gallons of diesel fuel leaked into the ground under the school. Even though children and staff got sick from attending the school, it wasn’t until 2000 that the government set up portables on the playground area. By 2005 the trailers were breaking down and infested with mice and black mold. In 2007, Shannen Koostachin, a grade eight student, began advocating for a new school. Unfortunately she died in a car accident attending high school away from her community. In 2012 the community finally got a new school. Shannen's dream continues through shannensdream.ca, a group working to build schools and ensure equal funding for education for all Indigenous children in Canada.
This book contains an important message. Unfortunately, the fictional component didn’t work for me.

5 stars

A Kid Is a Kid Is a Kid by Sara O'Leary & Qin Leng August 3, 2021  🍁

Like this duo's first book, A Family is a Family is a Family, this one showcases a diverse group of characters. It addresses micro aggressions couched as questions. Adults can learn a lot from this book. You can read my full review with images here.

CHILDREN'S NON FICTION

3 stars

History Is Delicious by Joshua Lurie August 10, 2021

This looks at food across time and space. The content is rich, but the presentation of it leaves much to be desired. You can read my full review here. 

4 stars

The Disability Experience: Working Toward Belonging by Hannalora Leavitt & Belle Wuthrich (Illustrations) Apr 13, 2021  🍁

This book explores what it means to be disabled. While I have a few quibbles with it, I would definitely purchase it for my school library and encourage teachers to read it. You can read my full review here. 

CHAPTER BOOKS

5 stars

The Princess in Black; The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party; The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale & LeUyen Pham (Illustrator)

When my granddaughter was here we started out reading a collection of books every evening. After a few nights we transitioned into just reading one of the Princess in Black titles. Each night we read a new one. Ada loves them. Hopefully these will shake up her notion of what it means to be a princess.

NOVELS

4 stars

Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon, & Barrie Kreinik & Peter Ganim (Narrators) March 31, 2020

Nancy Wake was a fascinating character. This was one of those books that I had a hard time stopping listening to once I started. I was so enthralled I would interrupt my partner's reading to tell him about her. At one point I went to read more about her and discovered something that gave away an important part of the story. It didn't change my enjoyment of it.
This is both an historical romance and a thrilling war story. It's written in alternate time frames. One part tells of her courtship and marriage. The other tells of her work in France as one of Britain's Special Operations Executives.

5 + stars

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley & Isabella Star LaBlanc (Narrator) March 16, 2021

This book is brilliant. It’s a nerve wracking thriller steeped in Anishinaabe culture.
These characters are beautifully written. They are rich, complex and loaded with nuance. I adored all the strong women. Of all the supporting characters, the elders are some of the finest I’ve read. The unraveling of the mystery was fraught with surprises and betrayal. The romance was satisfying and realistic. I loved this ending.
This is one of the best books I’ve read so far this year.

5 stars

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna & Shayna Small (Narrator) October 08, 2020

This is a highly satisfying feminist fantasy. I'm looking forward to the sequel coming out in 2022.

4 stars

Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala & Danice Cabanela (Narrator) May 4, 2021

This is a delightful cosy mystery. It's chock full of diverse characters making their way in a culinary world. I listened to this, but figure I'm going to have to find a hard copy just to get the recipes at the end of the book.  

5 stars

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells & Kevin R. Free (Narrator) April 27, 2021

Although I finished the print version of this book recently, when the audiobook became available, I had to experience it in this format as well. Kevin R. Free didn't let me down. 

CURRENTLY

The Fabulous Zed Watson! by Kevin Sylvester & Basil Sylvester

Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish by Pablo Cartaya (audiobook)

Compulsory by Martha Wells (A Short Story) 

 
UP NEXT

Elvis, Me, and the Lemonade Stand Summer by Leslie Gentile
Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey by Erin Entrada Kelly
My Name Is Seepeetza by Shirley Sterling

Made in Korea by Sarah Suk

I'll try to work at getting the picture book pile under control.

BLOG POSTS PLANNED FOR NEXT WEEK

The Deepest Dig by Mark David Smith

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

#MustReadIn2021 20/25 one in progress

#MustReadNFIn2021 8/12

#MustReadPBIn2021 48/100 

Big Book Summer Challenge 8 

Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 27/25

Books by Canadian Authors: 78/100 one in progress

Canada Reads 2021 4/5 

Discworld Series 41/41

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 291 /333