#IMWAYR December 11, 2023

Welcome! It's #IMWAYR time again, when bloggers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. These are fabulous places to start your search for what to read next.


This is what I have been working on in my sewing life. I've finished three mice and  sewn, but not yet stuffed, three more. I've finished up a few outfits and hope to have at least two for each mouse by Christmas. 

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.

CHAPTER BOOKS

Last week I asked Earl Dizon @ THE CHRONICLES OF A CHILDREN'S BOOK WRITER for some help choosing books for my six year old grandson. This is one that was on his list. I downloaded and devoured it. Then I ordered it and the other books he recommended (except for the ones I already purchased for him) from my local bookstore. 
Ever since losing their mother, the two Ratso brothers, Louie and Ralphie, try to be tough just like their father, Big Lou. They do their best to get into trouble and show everyone how harsh they can be, but all their attempts end up backfiring. They try to cause trouble, but end up doing good in the world. This book is full of tenderhearted sweetness and humour, just like my grandson. I'm looking forward to reading more. 

MIDDLE GRADE GRAPHIC NOVELS

This is based on the author's experience growing up the daughter of a Jewish mother and and Muskogee (Creek) Nation father. 
Mia lives with her Jewish mother, but longs to spend time with her Native American father. She uses her bat mitzvah money to purchase a ticket to go for a visit while her mother thinks she is at a school based weekend retreat. 
Of course she ends up getting found out, but her consequences end up turning into a learning opportunity for her, all her parents and even their rabbi. 

ADULT/YA FICTION


Honestly, if you are not a Murderbot fan, you are living a deprived life. Murderbot is a rogue security unit who hacked their governor model and is now a free agent. Murderbot is plagued with the two f words - feelings and friends. They are now connected to the people on Preservation Moon, a liberal planetary community in a universe mostly controlled by nefarious corporations. 

This novel continues the story after Network Effect. It's set in the same planet, but in a different community. Murderbot and friends are on a contaminated planet where they are attempting to rescue the inhabitants from future corporate slavery. Unfortunately, after their previous contamination, Murderbot is not up to par, and is experiencing strange kinds of flashbacks that might impair their ability to keep their humans safe.
While each of these novels or novelas are full of adventure and humour, it's really the character of Murderbot that keeps me coming back for more. 

4 stars

The List of Last Chances by Christina Myers 🍁 

Ever since finding her partner in flagranti delicto, 38 year old Ruthie has lost her job, been sleeping on her friend's couch and downing a bottle of wine every night. Then her friend finds the perfect job for her. Ruthie is reluctant, but applies and gets it. All she has to do is help Kay, an elderly woman, pack up her house and drive her across the country from PEI to Vancouver. She also has to keep Kay's good looking son, David, updated on their progress. Once they are on their way, Kay reveals that never mind what David thinks, she has her own bucket list of where to go and what to do along the way. 
If you like feel good novels with friendship between generations, smidgeons of romance, road tripping, and plenty of humour, then this book is for you. 

As soon as I finished listening to this, I started all over again. 
I fell in love with Brené Brown's work after reading Daring Greatly. I'm not a fan of self help books, but I find her work to be invaluable for helping me to live more honestly in relationship with myself and the people important to me. 
In this book she unpacks emotions and experiences that enable us to have richer understanding of who and why we are who we are. 
She narrates this, and it's like having her explain it directly to you. 

CURRENTLY

Take Back The Fight: Organizing Feminism for the Digital Age by Nora Loreto  🍁 I keep adding this book to my list because I started it, but I seem to have misplaced it. 

Nobody Walks by Mick Herron
 
The Black Friend: On Being A Better White Person by Frederick Joseph

UP NEXT (MAYBE)

Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon

READING GOALS 

#MustReadFiction 23/24 

#MustReadNonFiction 14/20 one in progress

Canadian Authors 55/75 

Indigenous Authors 21/20 

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 196/200 
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#IMWAYR December 4, 2023

Welcome! It's #IMWAYR time again, when bloggers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. These are fabulous places to start your search for what to read next.


The get ready for Christmas buzz has begun around here. I managed to get the advent calendar gifts wrapped and sent off to the grandkids in time. Hurrah for Canada Post! I'm working on some stuffed mice projects that I'll share next Monday. 
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.

PREVIOUS POSTS

CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Julie and the Mango Tree by Sade Smith & Sayada Ramdial (Illustrations) August 8, 2023  🍁

Julie really wants her mango tree to drop one mango for her. She waits patiently, cajoles the tree, and even tries trading four plums for one mango. Alas, she ends up going to bed empty handed. When a storm blows an over abundance of mangos into her yard, she has to come up with a plan for what to do with them.
I loved so much about this book. I loved the generosity, Julie's patience, and her attachment to her tree.
This book made me wish I wish I had a mango tree in my back yard. After looking at the recipes in the back matter, I might have to add mangos to my shopping list.

4 stars

Dear Polar Bears by Gabrielle S. Prendergast & Marcus Cutler (Illustrator) February 14, 2023  🍁

What happens when some penguins from the Antarctic invite some polar bears from the arctic to come for a visit?
Will they accept? How will they get there? How well will these two different species get along?
Some lines I liked. "The party will be during the day so it could go on for weeks."
It looks like there are some tense moments when the bears first arrive, but luckily, the cache of fish seems to tame them down.
There are two pages of nonfiction text related to the animals, their environments, and the seasons.
Marcus Cutler's artwork is beautiful.

CHILDREN'S NONFICTION PICTURE BOOKS


This picture book biography is created by the same people who wrote Her Courage Rises: 50 Trailblazing Women of British Columbia and Yukon, a book I wrote about last week. 
Kimiko Murakami deserves her own book. She was born in Steveston and was five when her family moved to Salt Spring Island just off the coast of British Columbia. They ran a successful farm and were integrated into their community. Kimiko grew up, got married and started a family. Then WW2 was declared, Canada passed the the Canadian War Measures Act, and the internment Japanese Canadians began. Kimiko and her family were taken from their home to live under untenable conditions. Even when the war was finally over they were not allowed to return home. Still, Kimiko was a strong woman who never gave up. She and her husband worked hard to save up enough money to return to Salt Spring Island. When they arrived they discovered that their farm had been sold without their permission. They purchased another and started to build a new life all over again.
I appreciate that this story highlights the life of one person at the same time as it educates readers about the circumstances for Japanese Canadians at this time.
Kimiko Fraser's gorgeous illustrations enhance the text and add emotional context to the experiences of Kimiko and other Japanese Canadians. 

Since I finished Forever last week, I decided to read this other Judy Blume book that has had people up in arms ever since it was published.
Reading this book was a kind of time warp for me. The most important thing about Blume's writing is how authentic her characters are. She manages to capture the essence of childhood - no matter the age of her protagonists. I'm pretty sure I went to school with the preteens she writes about here. I suspect preteens today might say the same thing.
Margaret is a delightful young girl learning to navigate her way around a new community, a new school, a new teacher, and new friends. She is trying to figure out what religion she might want to join - Christian, like the faith her mother was raised in, or Jewish like her father's side of their family. 
I loved the Jewish grandmother in this book and am sorry for the rigidness of the Christians ones. 

ADULT/YA FICTION


Reading another Thursday Murder Club mystery is like visiting with old friends and meeting new ones. Learning that they are involved in a new murder mystery - this time, one of a friend of a friend, is just par for the course. It's remarkably comforting to listen to their wild adventures because you know they will all come out ok in the end.
Richard Osman's character's are completely authentic. Just like in real life, every visit with them reveals more about their personalities. I can't help but adore them.
This novel was more poignant for me than the earlier ones. Watching a close friend deteriorate from the curse of Alzheimer's has made me more sympathetic to the plight of Elizabeth and her husband, Stephen. I ended up weeping for them, for my friend, and for myself.
I enjoyed listening to the interview between Richard Osman and Fiona Shaw at the end of the audiobook.


This novella is set in the space between Herron's second and third novel in his Slough House series.
John Bachelor, minder of aging spies, finds himself in trouble when one of his aging assets, Dieter Hess, dies and is found to have had a secret bank account. Bachelor soon discovers that Dieter Hess had a secret list of his own assets.
It was a delight to be entertained by Diana Taverner up to her usual nasty shenanigans. When she and Dieter come up with a plan to turn one of those assets, you know it's all going to go terrible wrong.
I'm always happy to see Jackson Lamb in action again and it was interesting to learn more about JK Coe's back story.
Now I can't wait to read Nobody Walks.

"Britt Wray is a science writer who focuses on the intersection of mental health and climate change."
I struggled at first with this book. I already feel anxious about the state of the planet and what kind of world we are leaving for our grandchildren. Also, when I started it, I had my grandkids visiting and reading in general is a challenge when they are around. Reading something this intense is impossible. 
I'm so glad I went back to it. 
I have become more and more aware of how my generation's descent into consumerism in all it's aspects continues to exacerbate the problem. Some days I'm wracked with guilt that I didn't do more - that my generation didn't do more, that even those of us who understand the implications of the climate crisis haven't really changed our behaviour. I feel helpless to do anything about the corporate entities who are not only responsible for the majority of carbon now spewing into our atmosphere, have also fomented the spread of enough misinformation that climate crisis deniers continue to flourish. It seems like environmentalists, scientists, and ordinary people of all ages have lost. 
Britt Wray explains what this existential dread is like for people of her generation and younger. According to research she sites, more than half of teens now contemplate not having children because of fear of the state of the planet they are growing up into. Suicide ideation among these youth is higher than it has ever been. 
I thought this book would focus on this, and while the grim reality is certainly acknowledged, this book is also about how to survive in the face of such an uncertain future. It's full of strategies for how to live your best life on the cusp of catastrophic environmental change. 
Throughout the book Wray explores her own eco anxiety with respects to her conflicts about becoming a parent. Along the way she has created a guidebook for how to use our dread as a force for good in the world. 

I've read some brilliant books in 2023, but this is the best of the best.  I'm not sure how to begin to explain it. Klein's writing is honest, sharp and brilliant. This is a comprehensive analysis that shows us that we are more connected to one another than we might want to imagine. Beginning with her personal history of being confused with Naomi Wolf, she makes profound connections across political and cultural spectrums. Ultimately she shows us that the polarization we see around us at a macro level, exists also at the micro one.  
I know this will be a weird connection for some people, but there were numerous times when I couldn't help but think about Tiffany Aching, my favourite Terry Pratchett protagonist. While learning to be a witch she must strive to act ethically at all times. This involves making hard decisions which entails layers of thinking. She has her first, her second, her third and sometimes even her fourth thoughts before she is finished. 
Naomi Klein reveals she is capable of at least four layers of thinking here. 

CURRENTLY

Take Back The Fight: Organizing Feminism for the Digital Age by Nora Loreto  🍁
System Collapse (The Murderbot Diaries, #7) by Martha Wells 
The List of Last Chances by Christina Myers
 
UP NEXT (MAYBE)

Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon
The Black Friend: On Being A Better White Person by Frederick Joseph

READING GOALS 

#MustReadFiction 22/24 one in progress

#MustReadNonFiction 13/20 one in progress

Canadian Authors 54/75 

Indigenous Authors 20/20 

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 192/200 
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Free Verse Friday #12 December: Celebration

Last January, I joined Beverly A Baird & Linda Schueler in a "year long poetry practice – on the first Friday of each Month," when they, and anyone else who joined, wrote a poem based on the theme of the month and a photo taken relating to that theme.

You can find out more about this here.

I really enjoyed participating in this project with these two remarkable women. I appreciated the framework. I want to spend more time writing, but I have a lot of projects (of all kinds) on the go, all the time. This gave me a focus and forced me carve out time to write. I am especially thankful to not have the stress of having to do this everyday, like when I participate in the April Poem a Day challenge.

The first time I participated, I didn't get the photograph first bit. I let the theme percolate throughout the month before posting and the poem more or less wrote itself. When I realized my mistake, I sent a half decent draft of it to my partner, Randy Rotheisler, and a friend, Ron Peace, both gifted photographers, asking for images to accompany it. We continued this process, except of course for the last couple of months when they sent me images and I wrote poems based on those.  

This month I'm back on track for writing the poem first and sending it off to my two favourite photographers for an image to accompany it. 

image by Randy Rotheisler


these days, 
dark
comes early

last night
we turned
the christmas lights on

these bright bulbs
clinging to the eaves
across the seasons,
wait
to remind us that

small things
bring beauty and light
into our lives

Christmas Lights on the Spirit of Summerland 3716 by Ron Peace

In case you are interested, the above photographs can be purchased from the photographers. Let me know if you want their contact information.

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#IMWAYR November 27th, 2023

Welcome! It's #IMWAYR time again, when bloggers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. These are fabulous places to start your search for what to read next.

I hope that all my American friends and family have enjoyed their Thanksgiving feast and weekend. 

It is now ok to put up Christmas decorations - but no music until December first please. 

November has been busy with grandkids coming to visit, then their parents and more grandkids and finally, cousins. I started writing a post a couple of times, but life and work got in the way of finishing. I haven't included all the picture books I read with the grandkids - just the ones they adored. This is mostly because I didn't keep track and if I don't make a note of them, I just don't remember. 

I've also been working on a quilt and other sewing projects. I just managed to get all the advent calendar gifts wrapped and ready to drop in the mail Monday. 

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.

PREVIOUS POSTS

CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOKS

This is an important picture book showing readers how much we lose when we become immersed in technology of all kinds. A table, that once was the centre of family life, is abandoned and grows smaller and smaller until it disappears completely. Violet, a young girl, engages the rest of her family to build a new and even stronger table.  


A little monster eats their pizza, but is still hungry. They go on to eat the plate, the pizza box, and larger and larger things until noticing a child. You will have to read the book to find out what happens next.
This book was an absolute hit with my grandkids. The six year old granddaughter read it by herself again and again. Because of the repetitive language, her three year old sister was able to read it to the rest of us all by herself too. When their two cousins arrived, they loved it just as much. 
I can't wait to read the rest of this series. I might even purchase sets for my youngest grandkids for Christmas. 

GRAPHIC FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN


Pup and Dragon: How to Catch an Elf  by Alice Walstead & Paul Gill (Illustrator) September 5, 2023 🍁

This didn't enthral me as much as it did the grandkids, but since they are the target audience, I guess that's all that really matters. I concede that it is pretty funny in places and that I didn't really mind reading it more than once.
Pup and Dragon learn that trying to catch an elf is a lot more work than they anticipated. Along the way they wreck havoc across neighbourhood homes and shops. 


Narwhalicorn and Jelly by Ben Clanton October 4, 2022

My six year old granddaughter adored this book. She took it to bed with her every night she was here with us. It might be because Narwhal transforms into a unicorn and that is her favourite thing these days. I hope it's mostly because it's full of humour and has important messages about friendship. 

You can read the full review I wrote when it was first published here. 

MIDDLE GRADE GRAPHIC

4.5 stars

Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy by Faith Erin Hicks October 3, 2023  🍁

Alix blows up at the mean girl on her hockey team and puts her potential hockey career in jeopardy. She asks Ezra, a popular theatre boy, who remains calm even when dealing with bullies, for help controlling her temper. Like everyone else in their school, she assumes Ezra, who has had relationships with boys, is gay. As the two of them get to know each other a friendship develops and then something more.
I liked a lot about this book. I liked that Ezra thinks his sexuality is nobody's business but his own. I liked that Alix cares about Ezra because of who he is. I like how they go out of their comfort zones to learn more about each other's worlds.
I liked their relationships with all the parents. I appreciate that at the same time as the teens are learning more about them selves and growing and changing, so do the adults. I liked that when Alix asked her father for help to pay for hockey camp, even though he could afford to, he wouldn't go against his ex-wife's decision.


Mindy and her two best friends have a dog walking business. Her life is almost perfect. Then her single mom meets a nice man, and their home life changes. A new girl starts school and her friends start paying attention to her. Mindy feels abandoned, and takes it out on everyone. 
I like that when Mindy finally talks about her feelings to her mother and her friends, things start to get better. Her life might even end up being better than it was before all the changes. 

Max @ Completely Full Bookshelf lauded this series in October, so when I found a copy at my favourite used book store, I nabbed it. Max wasn't exaggerating. It's a sweet, adorable romance between two young men. The artwork is absolutely stunning! I can hardly wait to read the next in the series. 
I donated my copy to a local high school where I sometimes substitute teach. 

This multilayered tale is the story of troop of puppets: a king, a girl, a boy, a wolf, and an owl. It also the story of two sisters who receive the puppets as a gift from their uncle. It includes the story of a housemaid with big dreams.  The puppets have their own adventures and then get to be part of a story written by a young girl. Eventually they play an important part in the housemaid's life. 
Like most all of DiCamillo's work, it's loaded with nuance and profound messages for readers of all ages. 
I listened to this, so will have to find a hard copy to admire Julie Morstad's artwork. 

My son asked if I had read this book. I hadn't so he suggested I find a copy and then we could talk about it. 
It's the story of a romance between two teens who fall in love and have sex. 
It deals with consent and portrays a young woman as an active participant in their intimate relationship. Nobody dies. 
I was kind of gobsmacked by this book. I really wish it had been published in the 1960's so I could have read it when I was a teen. It's full of important information about how to have a healthy, sexual relationship. 
My son felt that while consent was there, the boy still pressured the girl more than is acceptable by today's standards. I agree. 


Imagine that one of the grandchildren of John Le Carré's characters followed the family tradition, and joined the secret service. Imagine this same grown child working with a compatriot of their forefathers. 
In this novel someone posing as River Cartwright attempts to murder David Cartwright, an aging MI5 agent. Even though he is plagued with dementia, he is not fooled and ends up killing the assassin. His actual grandson, the real River, arrives soon afterwards. 
What unfolds is the discovery of an organization created to protect the western world from terrorists in the rest of the world. 


A terrorist organization is operating on British soil. Someone is trying to kill Roddy Ho, the computer nerd at Slough House. 
It's up to the the rest of the disgraced crew at Slough House, under the auspices of the disreputable Jackson Lamb, to save him and the country, whether the powers that be at Regent's Park want them to or not. 

Not only are these books screamingly hilarious (especially if you are a fan of black humour and satire), the world building and characters are brilliant. Herron's writing is exquisitely beautiful - often like reading poetry. 

ADULT/YA NONFICTION


I found this book to be comforting. The authors tell the story of one year in their lives when they mostly ate only food grown and raised locally. A lot of the produce came from their own farm and garden. 
She's probably preaching to the converted in my case. Like her family, we preserve as much as we can in the summer when food is plentiful. We grow as much as we can in our garden space. We have a cold frame that allows us to harvest lettuce at least until Christmas. We purchase locally farmed meat as much as possible. Given that there are over 30 wineries in our area, drinking locally is a no brainer. However, we are not nearly as hard core as they were.  I had some quibbles about some things, (the carbon load from eating New Zealand raised lamb is the lowest in the world, and that includes it being shipped by boat to Canada.)  Still, I am inspired to do more. Ultimately, all we can do is try to eat as ethically as possible. 

4 stars

Her Courage Rises: 50 Trailblazing Women of British Columbia and Yukon by Haley Healey & Kimiko Fraser (Illustrator)  🍁

I enjoyed reading these mini-biographies about the many remarkable women of British Columbia. I liked the diversity in them. Each individual receives her own two page spread that highlights their achievements. The beautiful illustrations make the book worth picking up and just browsing. 

CURRENTLY

Take Back The Fight: Organizing Feminism for the Digital Age by Nora Loreto  🍁
The Last Devil to Die (Thursday Murder Club, #4) by Richard Osman & Fiona Shaw (Narrator)
The List by Mick Herron

UP NEXT (MAYBE)

A New Season by Terry Fallis 🍁
Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis by Britt Wray 🍁

READING GOALS 

#MustReadFiction 21/24 one in progress

#MustReadNonFiction 13/20 one in progress

Canadian Authors 49/75 

Indigenous Authors 20/20 

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 183/200 
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FREE VERSE FRIDAY #11 November A Splash of Colour

I've joined Beverly A Baird, Linda Schueler and others in a "year long poetry practice – on the first Friday of each Month," when they, and anyone else who joins, will be writing a poem based on the theme of the month and a photo taken relating to that theme.

You can find out more about this here.

I usually write a poem and send it off to my two favourite photographers to come up with an image to accompany it. Last month as the posting date drew near, I hadn't written a thing, I begged them for inspiration. Each of them sent me an image so I ended up writing two poems!

I was thinking of poppies with this theme, but neither of them were on the same page as I was. When I told my husband, Randy Rotheisler, the theme was 'a splash of colour' he told me he knew what he was sending me and it didn't matter what I wrote. I complained to Ron, and he also sent me a photo. Both images are of course, just bloody stunning!
I tried to write a poem that connects their two images, but gave up and ended up with two. I think they are sort of connected. Both are really about transformation and endings. 

image by Ron Peace


last rites

autumn's
thaumaturgy
conjures
variegated 
iridescence
out of once
verdant 
landscape

a final benediction 
before the grim grey of winter



image by Randy Rotheisler


in the evening,
spirals 
of red 
luminesce,
snake 
across 
the dark
disappearing 
into 
    the maw
of winter


In case you are interested, the above photographs can be purchased from the photographers. Let me know if you want their contact information.

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#IMWARY October 30, 2023

Welcome! It's #IMWAYR time again, when bloggers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. These are fabulous places to start your search for what to read next.

I had a great time at my quilting workshop last weekend. It turned out that I had cut some of my background fabric wrong, but it wasn't the end of the world. I just had to cut the rest of it to match. This meant that my blocks were smaller and that I had to cut out a bunch more pieces. (I still need to cut more) Ok, so it was a big deal, but it still wasn't the end of the world. I now have about 70 blocks made. I only need 26 more before I get to the fun part of arranging them. 

I Read Canadian day is coming up soon - November 8th of this year. I'm planning my reading life so that I will be only reading Canadian authors that whole week! What are you scheduling? 

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.

CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOKS

4 stars

How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? by Mac Barnett, Jon Klassen 🍁 (Illustrator) September 12, 2023

While I was reading this, I really wished my 6 year old grandson could have been here with me. 
It is hilarious!
Of course it is. 
This duo create magic with everyone of their collaborations. 

Is there anyone who doesn't just adore Pigeon? 
Is there anyone who doesn't adore Mo Willems? 
Will that Pigeon really ride the roller coaster? 
Can I can please, please, please keep this book checked out of the library until the grandkids come to visit again?

MIDDLE GRADE GRAPHIC


Besties: Find Their Groove by Kayla Miller, Jeffrey Canino, Kristina Luu (Illustrator) September 27, 2022

I am thankful to Max @ Completely Full Bookshelf for writing about this mini series. It's a spin off from Kayla Miller's Click Series. I like that many of the characters from the main series are included here, but we are focused on two best friends, Beth and Chanda. A school dance is on the horizon and the two girls have to figure out how to make it their best night ever, navigate their way through the morass of what to wear and how to get a date. Do they even need a date? Both of the girls end up learning a lot about themselves and each other before it's over. 
I like how Chanda ended up apologizing for her behaviour. I like how she listened to Beth who has her own issues. I liked that both have older sisters and that those relationships, while they don't always run smoothly, are supportive. 


When Mary Kate Murphy is accepted into a pilot class focussing on Climate Change, she has no idea that she is going to learn about a lot more than the climate. She soon learns that the climate crisis and social justice and interconnected issues. 
There is a lot going on in this book. I really appreciated that the diversity of the ramifications of the climate crisis are explored. Mary Kate's best friend is ill and might be dying until her parents are persuaded to take her to a new doctor. She is finally diagnosed with a number of infections caused by a tick bite. She learns that tick numbers are on the rise because of warmer winters. (This is also why we have had an explosion in pine beetle numbers and the decimation of pine forests) 
I like how we get to know the different class members through their application to the program letters. Each one of them has different climate crisis related concerns. 
If I have any quibble with this book, it is that the existing mayor is a caricature. Nobody is that one dimensionally evil. 
Carrie Firestone's book, Dress Coded, is available from my library, and if I didn't already have so many books on the go, I would have started it as soon as I finished this. 

ADULT/YA FICTION


Ever since reading Dark Matter, I have been a fan of Blake Crouch. I planned to read this as soon as it was published, but other books and life interfered with it. I'm finally getting to it. Friends, this is why I create must read lists. 

This is a fascinating science fiction novel involving time travel. There are two main protagonists: neuroscientist, Helena Smith, and NYC cop, Barry Sutton. A case of false memory lands Barry in a strange hotel where he ends up revealing his worst memory. He comes to awareness in the middle of the memory and discovers that he reliving those events. He has a chance to change history and does. Helena Smith is the creator of the chair that enabled him to time travel.
Like any too good to be true invention, it is. In this case, the mess it creates is made worse by the plans for the machine being stolen and sold. Barry and Helena are forced to relive their lives in an attempt to find a way to stop the end of the world.

CURRENTLY

Take Back The Fight: Organizing Feminism for the Digital Age by Nora Loreto  🍁
Animal,
Mindy Makes Some Space by Nathan Fairbairn & MSASSYK (illustrator) 🍁

UP NEXT 

A New Season by Terry Fallis 🍁

Generation Dread: Finding Purpose in an Age of Climate Crisis by Britt Wray 🍁

I'm going to continue to tackle that pile of picture books..

READING GOALS 

#MustReadFiction 21/24 one in progress

#MustReadNonFiction 14/20 two in progress

Canadian Authors 44/75 

Indigenous Authors 20/20 

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 170/200 
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