BOOKWORM
AWESOME DAD
I Love Dad, arranged by Jackie Corley, Hatherleigh Press, $16.50. Not that we really need quotes to realize how awesome fathers are, but this collection underscores their multifarious roles in our lives.
“The lessons learned from a father become etched into our memory. No matter what the circumstance, we don’t have to ask, ‘What would dad do?’ We already know the answer,” writes Jackie Corley in her introduction. “It may have been by his words or by his quiet example...”
The selection of quotes in the slim volume say it all:
Any fool can have a child. That doesn’t make you a father. It’s the courage to raise a child that makes you father. – Barack Obama.
Not every successful man is a good father. But every good father is a successful man. – Robert Duvall.
CASE IN POINT
Proof by Beverley McLachlin, Simon & Schuster, $24.99. Attorney Jilly Truitt defends a woman accused of kidnapping her own child in a high-profile case.
Is the attorney who always prioritized her career as a criminal defence lawyer in danger of breaking a few cardinal rules by becoming too close to her client only because as a new mother herself, she feels what the woman is going through?
“It’s ‘poor man’ when Trist falls asleep supervising his child, but when Kate does it, she’s labelled a bad mother and loses custody. The double standard continues.”
But is Kate telling her the truth, sharing everything crucial to the case?
It’s such a fine mix of thriller and legal drama that at one point Jilly’s partner Jeff reminds her to stop treating the case like a detective novel and start thinking of it as a criminal trial!
Beverley McLachlin brings her years of experience as the former chief justice of Canada to this gripping page-turner.
KISS AND TELL
Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley, Doubleday Canada, $26. When she first meets Adam, Coralie is new to London and feeling adrift. Her first and only Guardian Soulmates date asks her if Australia had “any universities”.
Then she meets clever and witty Adam and his charming four-year-old daughter and they build a life together. But ten years on, something important is missing from Coralie’s life. Having gained everything she dreamed of, she has lost something she once had – herself.
Struggling to establish herself as a writer while Adam is churning out books, she says, “I can’t work full-time so you can post all day on Twitter!”
Coralie moves out in a desperate bid to find herself, and maybe, find her way back to Adam again.
It’s a sweet story that will resonate with women everywhere, even the parts that make them go eww!
“Mama!” Max wailed. “You didn’t see my poo.”
“Was it a funny shape?”
“No it had noodles in it that moved.”
SEASONS OF LOVE
The Summers Between Us by Noreen Nanja, Random House, $26. Lia Juma thought she had buried the secrets of her heart log ago, but when she’s forced to return to her family’s summer cottage, she comes face to face with her past – and Wes, the boy she left behind.
She was the perfect immigrant daughter, successful at fulfilling her parents’ aspirations for her. Parents, who don’t, can’t see a future for her with anyone other than from their own culture. And yet their romance blooms over several summers, based on friendship, above all else. Until, inexplicably, things get messed up.
And now she’s back, and confronting the choices they both made. Does the future hold a happy ending like in the novels from his grandma’s collection they used to read to each other as kids?
With only hints of torrid love scenes, there’s a refreshing innocence in the book that is missing in many of the other recent books in the genre. It’s also a lot more grounded in its desiness. Unlike books in which the token aunty or Indian snacks pass for culture, this feels more real.
Nanja captures teenage angst with humour.
Protesting got us nowhere. We spent the day in drudgery, doing Kumon workbooks and helping prep for dinner.
And the guilt trips.
My mother lets out a hefty gust. “You children these days. What is the point of travel at my age? I am only in this world now to wait for my grandchildren.”
Quintessentially Canadian, with cottage country staples and bio breaks at Tim Hortons.
But always with an understanding of what drives her parents.
My parents had come to the country with nothing, dreaming of security. They passed on a need to always do more and be more. “Work hard and then work harder.”
Lia’s mom calls her dhingli and her dad promises to take the family back to Africa, to India.
“You will like it,” he told me. “You are a Gujarati, just like me.”
“I am,” I said, even though I didn’t know what I was. It felt like sometimes I was born in the liminal space between two worlds.”
Readers will find themselves rooting for Lia and Wes as they recall similar experiences of their own.
NEW YORK! NEW YORK!
This Beautiful, Ridiculous City by Kay Sohini, Ten Speed Graphic, $33.99. On her first night in the city, Kay Sohini sits on the tarmac at JFK Airport, making a list of everything she’s left behind in India – her family, friends, home, and gaslighting ex-boyfriend.
She’s finally made it to the city of her literary heroes – she pictures Sylvia Plath and Joan Didion at the corner of Lexington – having been raised in post-colonial Kolkata where they studied Julius Caesar and Macbeth and had barely a nodding acquaintance with Anita Desai’s A Village By The Sea.
She realizes that the trauma she’s endured has created gaping holes in her memory. She could not have imagined “what the ripple effects of one’s memory and sense of reality being questioned one too many times could be in the long run”.
She empathizes with Ashima in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake, while also finding a sense of home in New York. She shares lessons from Shah Rukh Khan movies and gems from her grandparents’ love story add a rare beauty to the tale.
This graphic memoir traces the journey of an immigrant woman who rebuilds her life in New York City while recovering from an abusive relationship.
More than a muse, it seemed to me that the city served as a fix for slightly broken people.
MOMENTS OF BEAUTY
The Japanese Art of Living Seasonally by Natalie Leon, Watkins Publishing, $28.95. Our books celebrate conscious, passionate, wise and happy living, reads the little blurb for the publishing house.
Natalie Leon does exactly that as she extends an invitation to celebrate every day. She shares that her mother introduced her to the wonders of nature in a small village in Hertfordshire, England, and later, she was inspired by Japan’s 72 micro seasons.
Seasonal markers, seasonal words, the seasons of Japanese poetry, all come vividly to life in her evocative writing as Leon guides readers on nature walks in their mundane lives.
Look for moments of beauty in the everyday – in overgrown gardens, rusting hinges, peeling paint chips and petals in the gutter.
And this month, delight in the seasonal words for summer:
Kunpu – A fragrant summer breeze that carries the scent of seasonal flowers.
Hashi-i – Sitting on a veranda or cooling off on the porch in the summertime.
ALL THAT I AM
Kaua ‘i Storm by Tori Eldidge, Thomas & Mercer, $16.99. After ten years as a national park ranger in Oregon, Makalani Pahukula is back in Kaua ‘i for her grandmother’s birthday.
The disconnect with her people is profound and so is her need to reacquaint herself with everything she left behind. News that two of her cousins are missing draws her into a desperate search. She fears something ominous is at play and is determined to solve a mystery that poses a greater threat than anyone imagines. For Makalani, Hawai’i is in her blood.
As it is in author Tori Eldridge’s. In the preface she shares that she was born and raised in Honolulu and is of Hawaiian, Chinese and Norwegian descent and Kaua ‘i is her favourite island.
Her intimate knowledge of the landscape, history, and culture of the setting makes for an immersive read.
WISE AND WONDERFUL
I Dream of Ganesha by Sonali Zohra, Bala Kids, $24.95. Maya dreams that she is lost in the jungle and can’t find her way home.
Ganesha, a wondrous elephant-headed boy guides her through the wilderness with wisdom, love and bravery.
When a bunch of monkeys attempt to lead them astray, Ganesha tells Maya to listen to her heart.
Think for yourself – never follow the crowd
Trust your inner voice without being proud!
Showing Maya his broken tusk, he assures her that tripping and falling and making mistakes is more than okay.
Filled with gentle lessons about respecting those we meet along the way and how to handle fear, it is a sweet tale that parents will love to share with their little ones.
SISTERHOOD OF SURVIVAL
Bindi Babes by Narinder Dhami, Puffin Books, $16.99. “If people envy you, they are not pitying you. If people envy you, they’re not looking at you and remembering what happened to your mum. Our mum died.”
Amber (Ambajit), Jazz (Jaswinder) and Geena are three sisters, learning to navigate life after their mother passes away. At school, they are stars, acing tests, loved by all the teachers. At home, they follow an unwritten rule, fake normalcy until everyone believes they’re doing okay. They do not talk about their mom, not among themselves, nor to their father.
Everything is seemingly fine until one day their father’s sister shows up to help take care of them.
The sisters decide they don’t need any looking after – and certainly not from someone they believe their mother wasn’t too fond of.
They put into motion several ideas to send her packing but aunty beats them at their game. The sweetest, funniest tale of sisters I have come across in a long time.
TEEN REVIEW
By ZOEY WILSON
Five Survive by Holly Jackson, Penguin Random House, $19.99. Five Survive by Holly Jackson is a thrilling young adult mystery that traps six friends in an RV on a road trip gone wrong.
What begins as a fun journey turns into a deadly game when their RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere, and they realize they’re being watched – and hunted.
Jackson masterfully builds tension with clever plot twists and sharp dialogue. Each character has a distinct personality, which adds depth to the group’s dynamics as secrets unfold. The real-time pacing creates an immersive experience, making you feel as though you’re stuck with the characters, fighting to survive.
While gripping, some plot points feel predictable, particularly for those familiar with Jackson’s previous works, like A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. The novel’s strength lies in the psychological tension, but at times, the repetitive conflicts between characters slow the momentum.
Compared to One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus, Five Survive is more intense and claustrophobic focusing on immediate survival rather than uncovering long-buried truths.
The takeaway is that trust is fragile, and danger can come from outside and within. A heart-pounding read for mystery fans who love edge-of-your-seat suspense.
• Zoey Wilson is a youth volunteer at Brampton Library.