I wanted to do a little more for the CBR Canada Day reads, but it just didn’t happen. So here, I thought why not cross off a CBR10 bingo square of reading a novel from my home country, but double down and make it related to the history of Canada as well: a historical fiction, but indeed related to missionary communities and tribal warfare in the early 17th century. The great thing about our local library is that all books by Canadian authors will have a […]
“This Isn’t a Wonderful Place for Boys to Play and Have Adventures”
Earlier this year I read another one of Christina Henry’s novels, The Mermaid, which is also a reimagining of a classic story or myth (in that case, of PT Barnum’s infamous Feejee Mermaid). While it was a good read though not super captivating, upon looking at some of Henry’s other works, I was drawn in by a series of covers for the UK versions of her various novels to date, which included this one pictured for Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook. And you know […]
No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross
As you might imagine, this memoir is not a fun one to work through, but that fact doesn’t mean it is not a good or doesn’t have significance. I was drawn to reading it after just finishing a YA novel focused on sexuality in a majority Mormon community, only to see that the trailer for the film adaptation for Boy Erased just dropped. And watching it was a lot to handle at a moment where I was already emotionally compromised, but I figured it would […]
“This is How We Reveal Ourselves […] the Reactions We Can’t Hide”
It seems like I’ve been on a bit of a YA romance kick this year, and I think it’s because there is nothing quite like a sweet story about first loves. And this thoughtful novel by writing-duo Christina Lauren delves not only into this area of young love, but also largely focuses on what it means to grow up queer in a largely religious area that doesn’t support this facet of humanity. Autoboygraphy is largely from the point of view of a teenager named Tanner, who […]
Children Can Experience Racism at Any Age, So There Isn’t Really Such Thing as Being “Too Young” to Learn About It
I could see this book being involved in some good classroom discussions. I can also see certain communities resisting this, and not for the right reasons. From what I can see, Jewell Parker Rhodes’ body of work consists largely of novels dealing with current events and social commentary, aimed at children, and Ghost Boys is no different: in this novel, we follow the spirit of a young black boy named Jerome, after he has been shot by a police officer while playing with a toy […]
Oh, the Many Cages We Find Ourselves In
Coincidentally the second piece of media released recently that I’ve taken in having to do with the historical figure of PT Barnum; one more and it’s a pattern. But in The Mermaid, the story is not per say about him, but rather about a fictional recounting of a mermaid who finds herself in his exploitative employ (inspired by the infamous Fiji mermaid hoax). But despite the magical elements therein, this novel is more of an introspective exploration of personhood, freedom, and human cruelty. The Mermaid begins with […]
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