bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Circle Nine by A. Hetzel
Authors: Mead-Willis Sarah
Published: April 2016

Heltzel, Anne. Circle Nine. Somerville, Mass.: Candlewick Press, 2011. Print. Why are hapless females in YA novels always named Abby? I don’t know, the amnesiac narrator of Circle Nine would reply. That’s just what it says on my necklace.  So begins Anne Heltzel’s debut thriller: a teenaged girl awakens on the pavement outside a burning building with no memories and no name, save the one she wears in gold around her neck. With her is a mysterious, charismatic youth named Sam, who claims to be her friend. Sam persuades Abby to retreat from the fire and into the woods, where they hide in the safety of his “cave-palace”: a glittering subterranean paradise full of shimmering fabrics and sumptuous furniture. There, the two of them sip pomegranate wine, discuss fine literature, and forswear all contact with the outside world, which Sam likens to an Aleghierian hell (hence the book’s title). We suspect this a fantasy, invented by Abby to protect herself from an uglier cave and an uglier Sam, to say nothing of the ugly events occluded by her smoke-kippered memory. The question is: whose fantasy is it? What sixteen-year-old with cheap bling on her neck would retreat into a happy place wrought with literary allusion, Platonic cave metaphors, and Oriental carpets? This is clearly the reverie of the author herself, still in love with her various muses. Abby’s fantasyland, though out of character, is not necessarily a detriment to the novel itself. Indeed, we could do without the predictable combination of flashbacks and sleuthing by which Abby reconstructs her true identity, and abide instead within her doomed and darkly luminous otherworld. For it is there that Heltzel’s storytelling is at its boldest, her writing most sensuous and wild, and it is here that the novel promises—if only briefly—to be something other than the dreary chestnut about a naïve girl brought low by bad luck and sly men.Recommended with reservations: 2 out of 4 starsReviewer: Sarah Mead-Willis Sarah is the Rare Book Cataloguer at the University of Alberta's Bruce Peel Special Collections Library. She holds a BA and an MLIS from the University of Alberta and an MA in English Literature from the University of Victoria.
The Honeybee Man by L. Nargi
Authors: Mead-Willis Sarah
Published: April 2016

Nargi, Lela. The Honeybee Man. Illus. Kyrsten Brooker. New York: Schwartz & Wade, 2011. Print. This charming picture book chronicles the unconventional cottage industry of Fred, a Brooklynite who spends his spare time tending three colonies of honeybees housed on the roof of his townhouse. As the day unfolds, we follow Fred’s bees as they fan out across the borough, bringing back nectar from the herb gardens, flower pots, and even wild blueberry bushes flowering therein. Fred then harvests the honey and distributes jars of it to his neighbours. With this growing popularity of urban agriculture (and urban apiculture), Nargi’s story is a timely one, clearly aimed at progressive young families interested in the connection between local ecology and human community. The book is transparently but not disagreeably didactic: bee behaviour is examined and explained (both within the context of the story and in a two-page appendix), and the processes of beekeeping and honeymaking are illuminated through Fred’s perambulations within his apartment-cum-apiary. Brooker’s illustrations, a combination of gestural painting and collage, have a patchwork, handmade quality well suited to the book’s overarching preoccupation with all things organic and homespun. Her renderings of Brooklyn’s brownstone vistas are simple in their bright, flat planes of colour, but also satisfyingly dense with decoupaged texture and detail. Like the honey made by Fred’s “tireless Brooklyn bees,” her artwork is both a concentration - and a sweetening - of the teeming heterogeneity of urban life.Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Sarah Mead-Willis Sarah is the Rare Book Cataloguer at the University of Alberta's Bruce Peel Special Collections Library. She holds a BA and an MLIS from the University of Alberta and an MA in English Literature from the University of Victoria.
Sous ma roche par C. Duguay Mallet
Authors: Gomez Leticia
Published: April 2016

Duguay Mallet, Chantal. Sous ma roche. Bouton d’or arcadie. Collection : Étagère poussette. Acadie (Canada), 2015. Imprimé.Sous ma roche c’est l’histoire d’un entomologiste en herbe qui va à la rencontre des insectes. Il y découvre de petites créatures bien connues telles que la fourmi ou encore le forficule.Ce petit livre est très ludique et cela n’a rien d’étonnant quand on sait que Chantal Duguay Mallet est enseignante de la petite enfance, dramaturge pour la jeunesse et auteur de deux albums illustrés. Ses talents de dessinatrice lui ont aussi valu la chance de publier ses dessins dans le magazine Rocket Science, en France et par dessus tout elle travaille également comme aide-libraire. Ainsi, on comprend mieux pourquoi, Sous ma roche est un petit bijou qui fera sourire les jeunes lecteurs et atténuera peut-être l’entomophobie de leurs parents.Ce livre est un outil pédagogique idéal pour enseigner aux enfants quelques noms d’insectes très communs, rencontrés dans n’importe quel jardin canadien. Pour que le jeune lecteur retienne ce nouveau vocabulaire, l’auteur utilise de courtes phrases où chaque insecte rime avec un autre mot ce qui rythme le récit. Les illustrations de Danica Brine sont particulièrement bien faites et se marient à merveille avec le texte.Sous ma roche est donc une excellente introduction aux sciences naturelles et invite même le jeune lecteur à explorer son jardin puisque l’histoire se termine ainsi : "Et toi… qu’est-ce qu’il y a sous ta roche ?"Note : 4 étoilesAuteur de la critique : Leticia GomezLeticia étudie au Campus Saint-Jean depuis trois ans où elle effectue un baccalauréat en éducation secondaire avec une majeure en littérature. Elle écrit également des critiques littéraires pour le Franco, un journal francophone local.
The Great Katie Kate Explains Epilepsy by M. M. DeLand
Authors: Desmeules Robin
Published: April 2016

DeLand, M. Maitland. The Great Katie Kate Explains Epilepsy. Austin, TX: Greenleaf Books, 2014. Print.The Great Katie Kate Explains Epilepsy marks the fourth book in this educational series written by M. Maitland DeLand. As a radiation oncologist who specializes in the treatment of children, Dr. DeLand began this series as a way of helping children and their caregivers learn about the child’s particular condition. Each book in the series recounts a story of a child learning about their illness from the Great Katie Kate, a young, readheaded superhero who swoops in to answer their questions and help them combat the “Worry Wombat,” a furry manifestation of the child’s anxieties that only goes away once their questions are answered.Based on the premise that kids are sharp and that information can help them, this book provides concise and clear information about epilepsy. It documents the experiences of Jimmy, a young boy who has seizures and is taken to hospital. There, he encounters the Great Katie Kate, who takes Jimmy and several other young people on a journey where she and the other children explain epilepsy, its diagnosis, and its treatment.Overall, the book provides clear explanations of the types, diagnosis, treatment, and management of epilepsy. Any complex terms in the book are the actual medical names bound to be used by their treatment teams. Although the text may be too long or complicated for a very young child to read on their own it is of an acceptable level for 8-12 age range. The illustrations are colourful and generally informative.Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Robin DesmeulesRobin is an Academic Librarian Intern at the J.W. Scott Health Sciences Library at the University of Alberta.  Robin is an avid devourer of fiction of all kinds.
Wear a Helmet! Healthy Safety Habits by M.E. Salzmann
Authors: Borle Sean
Published: April 2016

Salzmann, Mary Elizabeth.  Wear a Helmet!  Healthy Safety Habits.  Minneapolis, MN: Abdo Publishing, 2015, Print.This small picture book is levelled to the third or “transitional” reading level defined in the Sandcastle series.  This series is designed for use in “shared, guided and independent reading and writing activities to support a balanced approach to literacy instruction”.  The subject of the book is health and safety.   Each photograph shows a child doing something that promotes safety:  wearing a bike helmet, a life preserver or a seatbelt.  Other children are shown washing hands, using a pot holder and seated at a computer to illustrate online safety.  The children featured are in the 7-9 age range and are named to allow readers to relate to them more easily.  Younger children will look up to older children pictured doing the right things. The text is short and very simple, designed for children who are not yet fluent readers.  However, for average readers, who might pick up this book in a library, the text would be most appropriate for the lower end of the recommended age 4-9 audience.   There is a brief quiz at the end of the book, aimed at a low comprehension level.  Strangely, some of the definitions in the glossary contain words that are well above the reading level of the book.  For example, the definition of the word “germ” includes the word “organism”.  While this book is designed for reading enhancement programs, it does model useful health and safety ideas, so would be a good addition for school and public libraries.Recommendation:   3 stars out of 4Reviewer:  Sean BorleSean Borle is a University of Alberta undergraduate student who is an advocate for child health and safety.
Take What You Can Carry by C. K. Pyle
Authors: Kulyk Tamzen
Published: April 2016

Pyle, C. Kevin.  Take What You Can Carry. New York. Henry Holt and Company LLC, 2012. Print. ​This graphic novel intertwines two different stories, set four generations apart. The two stories are told in alternating perspectives of the two main characters, Ken and Kyle. To emphasize and distinguish between the two different stories, Pyle uses two diverse colors to set them apart.  Ken’s story, in sepia tones, is set in 1941 when his family is sent to a Japanese Internment camp.  Kyle’s story, in blue watercolor, takes place in 1978 in Chicago when he moves to a new neighborhood, is making new friends and rebelling against his father. ​ At the beginning it seems as though the two stories may never connect.  Ken’s family has been uprooted from their home, his father is placed in jail, and he and his family are taken to an internment camp where they are treated like animals.  Ken is faced with many decisions and choices about how to deal with his new life.  Similarly, Kyle’s new friends begin stealing and they all become more reckless.  Although Ken and Kyle’s worlds are vastly different, they are both faced with strikingly similar choices.  Both teenagers are able to rise above, with the help of a wise adult, and take responsibility for their actions, and discover compassion and loyalty despite the hardships faced.  Ken’s story has no narration or text, only pictures.  This requires the reader to rely on the images to infer and make meaning from them.  As a result, Ken’s story can be difficult to understand and necessitates an experienced visual reader with an ability to draw conclusions from images, and a reader interested enough to reread sections.   Historical notes are provided at the end of the story to fill in the gaps and provide further context for the reader. Despite the shortcomings of having to put the pieces together, it does challenge the reader to think critically about this time in history and make connections to current day society.  A thought provoking read, with important messages for all ages about forgiveness and finding happiness even in the most destitute of situations.  Recommended for school library collections. ​ ​Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Tamzen Kulyk ​ Tamzen Kulyk is a teacher-librarian at two elementary schools in the Saskatoon Public School Division in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
The Best Birthday Party Ever by J. LaRue Huget
Authors: Feisst Debbie
Published: April 2016

Huget, Jennifer LaRue. The Best Birthday Party Ever. Illus. LeUyen Pham. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books, 2011. Print. “My birthday is 5 months, 3 weeks, 2 days, and 8 hours away.  Today I started to plan my party.” And so the planning begins for the 5-year-old soon-to-be birthday girl in this charming picture book.  She has to start planning early if she wants the best birthday party ever.  She is going to invite all 57 of her friends including the mailman and the invitations will be sprinkled with fairy dust.  She will have 9 thousand balloons, streamers and napkins: all in pink.  On the menu is a 17-layer cake, each layer a different flavour, with 6 zillion candles on top.  Not only will there be: a magician, camel rides and a Ferris wheel, but each lucky guest will receive a hamster as a party favour. In a kid-friendly countdown style towards the big day, our sweet party planner gets more and more excited as her birthday approaches and the plans get more and more grandiose.  Only after her mother comments that this birthday party is “getting out of hand” does she agree to skip the sparkly necklaces.  The day finally arrives and while it may not be the party she dreamed of, she is appreciative and enjoys her day so much that she immediately begins plans for her next birthday. This beautifully illustrated read-aloud captures the excitement of a child as she looks forward to her special day and will appeal to lower elementary grades as well as preschoolers.  The whimsical mostly-pink drawings may be initially off-putting to boys but they are certain to relate and enjoy the story. Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Debbie FeisstDebbie is a Public Services Librarian at the H.T. Coutts Education Library at the University of Alberta.  When not renovating, she enjoys travel, fitness and young adult fiction.
The Enchantress by S. Michael
Authors: Roche Matilda
Published: April 2016

Scott, Michael. The Enchantress, New York : Delacourte Press , 2012. Print. Michael Scott's sixth, and final, book in his Nicholas Flamel series crashes to its conclusion with The Enchantress. Credit is due to Scott for colourfully evoking and drawing together many of the very interesting figures and cultural artifacts from history and mythology but in conception his books can be overtaxing. Reading the glib dialogue between Shakespeare and Prometheus as their saucer-shaped air craft, a Vimāna, is piloted into the side of the Yggdrasil tree doesn't strain credulity - this is a fantasy adventure - so much as it tramples vigorously on any sense of cohesive aesthetics. While the essential conceit is fun and entertaining, at this frenetic late stage in the series, many portions of the text read like an over-thought riff on "who I would invite to have tea/mead/drink blood together if I could choose anyone - including anyone imaginary". The strength in this series comes from Scott's characterizations. The women in this series benefit particularly from Scott's ability to combine momentum and brevity with enthusiastically lively and rich depiction. Perenelle Flamel, Virginia Dare and Scatach have genuine presence and the narrative hinges on their impressive abilities and intrinsic motivations. Scott's principals could benefit from a little more corporeal vulnerability. All his characters have trained in their respective arts for millennia and the perils that they face seems less then perilous to such champions, no matter how high the stakes are alleged to be. Scott's carefully structured universes and their integral relationships have always been on a mysterious trajectory and the narrative revelation at conclusion of The Enchantress is resonant and satisfying. It has formulaic elements but Scott has established his characters soundly enough that their presence lends immediacy to the more epic, mythological structures that Scott is simultaneously pursuing. While the quality of pacing and aesthetic of this ambitious and lengthy series have fluctuated over the course of its six volumes, the conclusion is cohesive, action-packed and worth the journey. The Enchantress is the sixth and final book in Scott's The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series. Recommended with reservations:  2 out of 4 starsReviewer: Matilda RocheMatilda spends her days lavishing attention on the University of Alberta’s metadata but children’s illustrated books, literature for young adults and graphic novels also make her heart sing. Her reviews benefit from the critical influence of a four year old daughter and a one year old son – both geniuses. Matilda’s super power is the ability to read comic books aloud.
How Martha Saved her Parents from Green Beans by D. LaRochelle
Authors: Genuis Shelagh K.
Published: April 2016

LaRochelle, David. How Martha Saved her Parents from Green Beans. Illus. Mark Fearing. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2013. Print.This imaginative picture book is a tale that will delight picky eaters and those who live with them. Written in LaRochelle’s signature dramatic hyperbole, this 2014 Minnesota Book Award finalist puts a humorous and absurd twist on the classic ‘eat your vegetables’ dinner time conflict.Despite parental encouragement to eat her beans, Martha knows, “Green beans are bad. Very bad.” She is proved correct when a rogue band of mean green beans swagger into town. They chase old ladies, throw rotten tomatoes, make rude noises and kidnap Martha’s parents. Initially Martha is thrilled. She throws her plate of cold green beans out the window and settles in for a late night of cookies and movies. By morning, however, she misses her parents. When Martha discovers them tied up and surrounded by laughing, dancing villainous beans, she is forced to confront her worst nightmare: Is she “too much of a coward to eat a green bean”?This story is hilariously illustrated by Mark Fearing. The expressive faces of Martha, her parents, those dreaded green beans and even Martha’s dog provide eloquent parallels to the text. While parents may appreciate a conclusion in which the family enjoys alternative vegetables, vegetable haters everywhere will appreciate LaRochelle’s provocative conclusion: “Everyone knows that there is nothing bad about a nice leafy salad.” This boldly illustrated adventure will make an entertaining addition to any public, school or personal library serving young children.Highly Recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Shelagh K. GenuisShelagh K. Genuis is an Alberta Innovates–Health Solutions Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Alberta’s School of Public Health. Although an avid reader of biography, she has never stopped reading children’s fiction
A Day at School / Une Journée à L’école by S. Cordier & C. Lacroix
Authors: Aitken Leslie
Published: April 2016

Cordier, Séverine and Cynthia Lacroix.  A Day at School / Une Journée à L’école.  Trans. Sarah Quinn. Toronto: Owlkids Books, 2013. Print. The format co-creators Cordier and Lacroix use in Picture My Day, Picture My World, and A Day at the Farm succeeds very nicely in this picture book as well.  Their success has much to do with both their sensitivity to the target audience (pre-school to grade one), and their anticipation of the book’s use. They provide abundant illustration, keeping the text very brief.  Short sentences or mere labeling hint at, but do not force, the storyline.  The latter is created, in large part, by the reader.This book would work very well in a one-on-one situation: one adult, one child.  The adult might prompt,“Where do you think they went on their holidays? What are they buying for school? How are they getting ready for their day?  I wonder where Mummy and the baby are going?  Let’s see where Daddy and the children are going.” and so forth.Inspired by an array of color filled drawings, even a non-reading child could flesh out the story, making it the same every time—for comfort’s sake—or different every time—for variety’s sake.   The key factor is the child’s involvement.The vocabulary used in the text is well within the range of the intended audience.  Most five-year-olds would begin to memorize the text after a few readings; most grade ones would actually recognize and read the words by the end of their first year at school.  In sum, A Day at School is an invitation to imagine, to create, to read and to learn.Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Leslie AitkenLeslie Aitken’s long career in librarianship involved selection of children’s literature for school, public, special, and university collections.  She is a former Curriculum Librarian at the University of Alberta.
Who Do I See? by S. Yoon
Authors: Oliphant Tami
Published: April 2016

Yoon, Salina. Who Do I See? New York: Random House, 2011. Print. Identifying five adorable animals and remembering five eye-catching colours are the challenges for toddlers and preschool children in Yoon’s book, Who Do I See?. The colourful illustrations are simple two dimensional cartoon drawings of familiar creatures including a fish, a tiger, a turtle, a ladybug, and a parrot. The illustrations of the animals are framed, and partially hidden, by cleverly placed cut out windows. The cut out windows allow readers to feel the shiny foil on the animal illustration such as scales on a fish, and, because the rest of the animal is hidden until the reader flips the page, children can try identifying the animal by thinking about common animal colours and shapes such as the black spots and red wings found on a ladybug. The text does not rhyme but playful repetition of the question and of the typical colours found on these animals will keep children engaged. The thick cardboard pages ensure that the book is not easily damaged. This interactive, guessing-game book will assist children in learning about different animals and different colours. Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Tami Oliphant Tami works as a research librarian at the University of Alberta Libraries and for the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta. She earned her Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of Alberta and her doctorate from the University of Western Ontario. She has worked in academic libraries, public libraries, communications and planning, and as a sessional lecturer and researcher at the University of Alberta and the University of Western Ontario.
The Rising by K. Armstrong
Authors: Feisst Debbie
Published: April 2016

Armstrong, Kelley. The Rising. Toronto: HarperTeen, 2013. Print. Ontario-based award-winning writer Kelley Armstrong, author of the New York Times and Globe and Mail bestselling Darkest Powers young adult urban fantasy trilogy, brings us the third and final title of her Darkness Rising trilogy.  The first in the trilogy, 2011’s The Gathering, was previously reviewed in the inaugural issue of Deakin, Vol. 1 No 1 and the second, The Calling, was reviewed in Vol. 2 No. 4. As with the previous book in the trilogy, this book is not meant to be read on its own, as again the author’s recap on events and characters is minimal. I felt the need to revisit the second book and familiarize myself with the plot before I started in on The Rising as it had been a year between books, the price of being a fan of series fiction. Sixteen-year-old supernatural, Maya Delaney, and her fellow supe friends are assumed dead after an apparent helicopter rescue-turned-crash leaves them running for their lives.  With no one they can trust to turn to, the teens are truly in harm’s way as their supernatural abilities start careening out of control. Corey’s headaches are increasing, Nicole’s mental state is fragile at best and even Maya is concerned that she herself may be regressing. Like it or not, the friends need assistance from the rival networks that seek to exploit their abilities. Maya’s biological father, Calvin Antone, plays a larger role in this book and again, his intentions are often unclear. The intensifying romance of the previous book does indeed lead to the expected supernatural YA love triangle, but it feels forced and formulaic, as if the author’s fans would expect it and so it was hastily written in. There is a continued lack of storyline that seems to centre around the characters’ need to run and hide, which is echoed in Armstrong’s other works. I am giving this book three stars out of four because true Armstrong fans will enjoy the series as a whole as well as the tie-in to well-loved characters in her Darkest Powers trilogy and devour it regardless of its limitations.  The epilogue will be particularly satisfying. I would not be surprised to learn of yet another spin-off series with Maya or some of the new characters introduced in the series. Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Debbie Feisst Debbie is a Public Services Librarian at the H.T. Coutts Education Library at the University of Alberta.  When not renovating, she enjoys travel, fitness and young adult fiction.
At the Heart of It: Dene dzó t’áré by R. Taniton & M. Willett
Authors: Campbell Sandy
Published: April 2016

Taniton, Raymond and Mindy Willett.  At the Heart of It: Dene dzó t’áré.  Markham, On:  Fifth   House, 2011.  Print. Indigenous author Raymond Taniton is a member of The Sahtugot’ine, or the “people of Great Bear Lake”.  In At the Heart of It, Taniton invites readers into his world.  We meet his family, see the Sahtu Region where he lives, meet the elders in the community, learn how to make a traditional hand drum, learn some games and read some of the stories.  The stories are particularly important. This book is the most recent in Fifth House’s “The Land is Our Story Book” series, all co-authored by writer Mindy Willett. Taniton concludes this volume by saying, “The land is our storybook. It is our school, our library, our church. It is where we learn our stories and where we discover who we are as true Dene people. The land is at the heart of it all”.  And in this book Taniton and Willett do succeed in helping us to understand “the land”. This is a picture book, an educational book and a celebration of what it means to be Satugot’ine. Tessa Macintosh’s photographs are used throughout. The top of each page has a border image of the beaded toes of twenty-one moccasins. Often a large image will form the background of a page with text and other images superimposed.  For example, for the story “The Lake is the Boss”, the background is an image which looks out through the mouth of a cave.  The story is about a giant wolf that lived in the cave. The text, along with smaller images of the island that the wolf became when he turned to stone, is superimposed on the cave photograph.  The images and text, taken together, form many lessons for young people.  The stories provide metaphorical and philosophical lessons, but the book also provides practical lessons, such as the illustrated steps to making a drum.  As a whole, the book celebrates Raymond Taniton’s family, the Sahtugot’ine people and their way of life.   Highly recommended for elementary school and public libraries. Highly Recommended:  4 out of 4 starsReviewer:  Sandy CampbellSandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines.  Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.
Enrique's Journey: The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunite with His Mother by S. Nazario
Authors: Romilly Alexa
Published: April 2016

Nazario, Sonia. Enrique's Journey: The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunite with His Mother (Adapted for Young People). New York: Delecorte Press, 2013. eBook.Enrique’s Journey, is the true story of a young boy’s dangerous journey from Honduras to join his mother in America. Enrique’s mother, Lourdes, left her two young children, Belky, 7, and Enrique, 5, in the care of family members in order to move to the United States as a means of financially supporting her two young children. Once their mother left Honduras, Belky found security and love with her mother’s family. Enrique struggled in school and constantly rebelled at home and began to sniff glue. As a result of Enrique’s behaviour, he was passed from family member to family member to raise. Enrique feels abandoned by his mother, and unloved by his extended family, but he dreams of reuniting with his mother in America one day.Meanwhile, Lourdes has met a man in America and has had a child named Diana. As an illegal immigrant, Lourdes struggles to support herself and her young daughter, but sends money home to her family whenever she can. She constantly thinks of her children that she has left home in Honduras and longs to be reunited with them. She calls home whenever she can, and promises to return home for Christmas every year, but she never fulfills her promise to her children. Lourdes’ unfulfilled promise leads Enrique to resent his mother even more.After twelve years of separation from his mother and having become clean and sober, Enrique decides to try and join his mother in America. All Enrique has with him is his mother phone number and a little bit of money, but he is sure that he will eventually be with his mother again.Enrique’s journey is a dangerous one. He is constantly trying to stay ahead of Mexican immigration officers, avoid drug dealers who will try to rob him, and struggles to find food and water along the way. He eventually makes it to America and reunites with his mother, but after such a long separation, Enrique struggles to connect to the mother that he barely knows, and adjust to life in America. Can Enrique and his mother find their way back to each other? Will Enrique adapt to his new life in America? Will he fall back into his drug habit?While Sonia Nazario wrote her book based upon firsthand accounts from interviews with Enrique, his family, and people Enrique met during his migration to America, the book is written like a novel. Nazario takes the reader into Enrique’s world, and describes his harrowing journey in great detail. Nazario tells a story of hope, despair, fear, loneliness, and love, which is well suited of children 15 and up.Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Alexa RomillyAlexa Romilly is Grade 5 French Immersion teacher in Coquitlam, BC. Is is currently working on her Masters of Education in Teacher-Librarianship. She loves sharing her love of books with her students.
The Shadows that Rush Past by R. A. Qitsualik
Authors: Campbell Sandy
Published: April 2016

Qitsualik, Rachael A.  The Shadows that Rush Past.  Iqaluit:  Inhabit Media, Inc., 2011.  Print. Rachael Qitsualik is an Inuit who was “born into the traditional 1950’s culture of iglu-building and dog-sledding”.  She is now a renowned re-teller of Inuit folktales, as well as a translator, writer, scholar and aboriginal rights activist.  This book, which contains four tales of scary creatures, shows Quitsualik demonstrating her mastery of story telling.  In her introduction, she tells us that the stories “[defy] death and decay, they are songs of immortality.”  Her stories are full of wisdom.  For example in Nanurluk, she tells us “that even the oddest personality quirk can turn out to be a gift in the right situation”. All the stories come from a time when there were many strange creatures in the Arctic world:  half-human, half-animal monsters who ate people, animals that spoke to humans and giant insects that could strip a body to a skeleton in a matter of hours.  It was the time when the world was forming.  “These were the days, you see, when human beings recognized the Land as one might a dear relative; and the Land, in turn, recognized humankind.” In each of the stories, Qitsualik engages the reader through vivid detail.  For example in Nanurluk, the hunter, Nakasungnak rushes headlong into the mouth of the giant maurading polar bear.  “Nakasungnak fell forward, into the bear’s throat.  It was probably a good thing, since the bear’s response to having a person in its mouth was to snap its jaws closed, and if Nakasungnak’s legs had still been dangling outside the mouth when that had happened, well, a pair of boots might have fallen to the beach, feet still in them.” (26) Qitsualik also engages readers by speaking directly to them.  In Amautalik”, she says, “I warned you that I would tell you what was under her parka.  Wriggling among the flaking folds of her skin were lice. The size of puppies.” The stories are illustrated with 19 full page illustrations by Emily Fiegenschuh and Larry MacDougall.  Fiegenschuh has used full-colour illustrations to create realistic images of the mythical world.  The cover illustration of the amautalik, with her one blue eye and one brown eye, being driven mad by the snow bunting is Fiegenschuh’s work.  MacDougall illustrated two stories with bi-colour drawings, sepia tones for the creatures and humans and blue for the ice and snow.  Though quite different styles, both illustrators help to evoke the fear and wonder that the stories are meant to convey.  This is an excellent selection for upper elementary readers. Highly recommended:  4 stars out of 4Reviewer:  Sandy CampbellSandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines.  Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.
Orchards by H. Thompson
Authors: Huck John
Published: April 2016

Thompson, Holly. Orchards, New York: Delacorte Press, 2011. Print. Orchards is a poetic novel written by Holly Thompson. It tells the story of Kana Goldberg, an American girl, half-Jewish and half-Japanese, who is sent to spend the summer with her mother’s family in Japan working on their mikan farm. (Mikan is a type of Japanese orange.) A school-mate, Ruth, has committed suicide and Kana is a member of the group of girls who had excluded and locked horns with the girl over a boy, not realizing at the time that she suffered from bi-polar disease and that she was reaching out to the boy for support. The book is less about Kana accepting responsibility for her involvement in the confrontation with Ruth than it is about mending relationships and the process of Kana overcoming her anger and feelings of guilt. The book challenges us to set aside our own pre-conceived notions about bullying and consider the idea that everyone is vulnerable to depression, and that what gets sensationalized in the media as bullying is not always a black and white case of cruelty, but is sometimes a case of misunderstanding that escalates in dramatic fashion when emotions are mixed in. Kana’s fixation on Ruth and the pressure of a community that blames her and the other girls constitute an invisible burden that puts her at risk of the unthinkable, too. “Suicide can spread like a virus,” Kana’s grandmother warns. Kana’s ‘exile’ to a strange country turns out to be a chance to ground herself amongst her family, make peace with the presence of death in life, find confidence in who she is, and learn how to make a difference in the world of the living. Readers expecting a remorseful narrative may feel unsatisfied, but because the book reads quickly and the language is pleasurable, they may also decide to re-read it for a second impression. The reason it reads quickly is that Thompson has chosen to tell the story in a kind of free-flowing verse. Stanzas of varying lengths define sentence-like sequences, with the breaks between stanzas replacing the conventional sentence demarcators of full stops and capitalized first words. Line breaks play the role of commas, controlling the flow without impeding it. These syntactic arrangements complement the imagistic and uncluttered style of the writing, giving an inward, contemplative feel to the story. Because it is a subtle book, it would be most suitable for an older teen who is perceptive and has literary sensibilities. Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: John HuckJohn Huck is a metadata and cataloguing librarian at the University of Alberta. He holds an undergraduate degree in English literature and maintains a special interest in the spoken word. He is also a classical musician and has sung semi-professionally for many years.
If You Happen to Have a Dinosaur by L. Bailey
Authors: Aitken Leslie
Published: April 2016

Bailey, Linda.  If You Happen to Have a Dinosaur.  Illus. Colin Jack. Toronto: Tundra Books-Random House of Canada, 2014. Print.Author, illustrator, and publisher, here, have produced a winning fiction for the child who is going through his or her “dinosaur phase.”  All manner of dinosaurs – bipeds and quadrupeds, giants and midgets, winged and horned, parade through this picture book in glorious color.  We are invited to consider a quite exhaustive list of uses for these creatures – should we happen to have any “lying around the living room.”  A typically delightful illustration features a bright blue brontosaurus (otherwise known as an “apatosaurus”) being used to jack up the family van; it is just one of countless suggestions for dinosaur usage.Technically, the book is perfect for its intended audience.  The drawings are clear, well defined and boldly colored.  The font is large.  The text is perfectly married to the illustrations.  It is also well within the spoken vocabulary of kindergarten and primary school children.  The pre-reader will probably memorize it fairly quickly.  The beginning reader will see in context those words that are not part of the early reading curriculum, and, after a time or two through with adult help, should be able to read the book independently.All in all, this book is a romp.  Find your inner seven-year-old, read it, and have a good giggle.Reviewer: Leslie AitkenHighly Recommended: 4 out of 4 starsLeslie Aitken’s long career in librarianship involved selection of children’s literature for school, public, special, and university collections.  She is a former Curriculum Librarian at the University of Alberta.
Awards, Announcements, and News
Authors: Sulz David
Published: April 2016

The Canada Council for the Arts announced the various winners of the Governor General’s Literary Awards. On the English side, The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen by Susin Nielsen won for Children’s Text and Virginia Wolf by Isabelle Arsenault won for Children’s Illustration. For French works, Un été d’amour et de cendres by Aline Apostolka won for Children’s Text while La clé à molette won for Children’s Illustration. See the details here: http://ggbooks.canadacouncil.ca/en If you have not heard of 49th Shelf, it is worth taking a gander at http://49thshelf.com. It is a joint project of the Association of Canadian Publishers and Canadian Publisher’s Council with some funding and sponsorship from government and industry. Its goal is to help find Canadian books and bookstores that sell them. Aside from being able to search by category (including several sub-categories of children’s fiction and non-fiction) or author, it features an intriguing map search to locate books related to geographic areas to help with your own “100-mile book diet”:  http://49thshelf.com/map. In addition, 49th shelf has an invitation out for librarians and educators to get access to some specialized content http://49thshelf.com/librarians. Some award announcements since the last issue include: National Book Awards for Young People’s Literature (books published in USA by US citizens) won by William Alexander for Goblin (see the 2012 finalists at http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2012.html#.UOcvSW9wV8E)Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize won by Frank Cottrell Boyce for The Unforgotten Coat (see the 2012 longlist at http://www.guardian.co.uk/childrens-books-site/gallery/2012/jun/08/childrens-fiction-prize-longlist-gallery)Costa Children’s Book Award for writers based in the U.K. and Ireland won by Sally Gardner for Maggot Moon (see the 2012 longlist at http://www.costabookawards.com/media/6956/shortlistrelease-forthewebsite.pdf) Upcoming in January should be the announcements for the various awards from the Association for Library Service to Children division of the American Library Association which include the Newbery, Caldecott, and several others. Finally, we do like to note University of Alberta and Edmonton connections when possible. Thomas Wharton, the author of The Fathomless Fire (reviewed in this issue) is an associate professor here and also recently gave a wonderful, engaging guest talk for a Greater Edmonton Library Association evening event. David Sulz, Communications Editor
Fostergirls by L. Shaw
Authors: Sivak Allison
Published: April 2016

Shaw, Liane. Fostergirls. Toronto: Second Story Press, 2011. Print. The first-person narrator of this novel, Sadie, tells the story of her placement in a group home for girls with few options left open to them. She has lived with several foster parents over the years, and knows nothing about her birth family, other than that she has a brother, and they were both abandoned by their mother. Now Sadie is 15, and due to problems with her latest “pseudofamily,” as she calls them, has been moved to a small town, living in a group home with two workers and five other girls. Sadie is cynical about the move, and cynical that the move will bring any positive changes to her life; she is biding time until her next birthday, when she can apply for emancipation. Sadie's voice reads as authentically adolescent in tone and language, with the exception of the lack of actual swearing, which I find always renders teenage characters as unrealistic.  There is a density to the writing as well, in which Sadie’s thoughts are immediately followed by her explanation of those thoughts. This serves to tell too much about Sadie’s feelings, rather than allowing space for readers to interpret Sadie’s reactions on their own. In this way, the novel at times can read didactically, directing readers towards understanding; it would have benefited from more space for the writing and the characters to emerge without being pushed by the text. Novels about marginalized characters require a more delicate touch, in order to avoid presenting as heavy-handed. Overall, the novel is an honest effort to shine a light on some of the difficulties and stigma that foster kids face, which will likely be interesting for readers who have not had these experiences, and may very well appeal to those who have. Recommended: 3 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Allison SivakAllison is the Assessment Librarian at the University of Alberta Libraries. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Library and Information Studies and Elementary Education, focusing on how the aesthetics of information design influence young people’s trust in the credibility of information content.
The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen by S. Nielsen
Authors: Oliphant Tami
Published: April 2016

Nielsen, Susin. The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen. Toronto: Tundra Books, 2012. Print. Susin Nielsen is the acclaimed author of Word Nerd and Dear George Clooney: Please Marry My Mother. She has won several writing awards and has consistently created compelling, charismatic, and fully drawn characters. In her new novel, The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen, Nielsen explores dark and uncomfortable themes such as mental illness, bullying, violence, tolerating differences, and the quiet desperation felt by those who must refashion their lives after a tragedy. For readers concerned that the novel will break their heart, it does. And then it fills that broken heart with joy. Through his affecting journal entries, readers come to know 13-year-old Henry K. Larsen. His therapist recommends that he write about his thoughts and feelings in the aftermath of “IT”—hence the ‘reluctant’ diary. However, Henry’s diary entries are laugh out loud funny on one page and provoke tears on the next. Henry has an extraordinary voice that is unlike any other narrator. He is angry, confused, saddened, shamed, and lost after “IT” happened. He has moved with his father to Vancouver to try to piece together a new life but in reality, his family barely manages to make it through the day. Henry is leery of other people, pushes them away, and he cannot find a place for himself or make sense of his emotions after “IT.” The last thing that Henry anticipates is that he will open up to anyone about “IT”—not to his wonderful new friends Farley and Alberta, to his therapist, or to his two new neighbours. However, incidents at school and at home force Henry to talk about Jesse and the “IT” that changed everyone’s lives forever. The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen is a quick and deeply satisfying read. This book is required reading. Despite the darker themes, the emotional payoff is not only gratifying, but inspiring. Highly Recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Tami OliphantTami Oliphant works as a research librarian at the University of Alberta Libraries and for the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta. She earned her Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of Alberta and her doctorate from the University of Western Ontario. She has worked in academic libraries, public libraries, communications and planning, and as a sessional lecturer and researcher at the University of Alberta and the University of Western Ontario.
Ruby’s Baby Brother by K. White & M. Latimer
Authors: Chan Liza
Published: April 2016

White, Kathryn and Miriam Latimer. Ruby’s Baby Brother. Cambridge, MA: Barefoot Books, 2013. Print.Ruby’s Baby Brother is a delightful new entry in the “Ruby’s” series, in which Ruby experiences new activities and situations (Ruby’s School Walk, Ruby’s Sleepover). This third installment is particularly for young children who may relate to the roller coaster feelings of excitement, uncertainty, jealousy and joy when facing the prospect of an additional member to the family.  The book reads with remarkable rhyming and dancing texts on each page.  Latimer’s illustrations introduce readers to a loving young family, living in a colourful and cozy home. Inside this home is Ruby, with cute curly ponytails, waiting anxiously by the window as her parents walk to the house from their red car.  She has a strong negative impression of babies, and is honest in her thoughts: “Babies are smelly;…and Leon is bound to snatch all my toys”. To solve this paramount problem, Ruby imaginatively plans to use magic to let her brother fly away as a bat or be blasted up to the moon in a rocket that she makes. One wonders if better preparation would have helped this little girl’s “strange” and “scary” feelings.    Ruby also articulates her fears and vulnerability toward her new baby brother, Leon.  “What if he says to me, ‘This is My house./ So Ruby, I’m turning you into a mouse.”  However, when she gets a chance to hold and cuddle with Leon, she realizes her brother is actually harmless, “warm and small”.  And she embarks on a courageous quest to include her brother in all her adventures as “a queen and a knight” to the sea, the sky and outer space.  She would even protect him from night time witches and wizards. Accompanying this fanciful big-sister journey is the adorable depiction of a family’s new-baby reality: new crib and toys in nursery, mommy breast-feeding and daddy changing diapers.  The charming stick people drawings on opening and closing pages reassure readers that little baby brother is no longer a distant figure separated from the family at the other side of the house, and he is welcomed into the arms and affectionate gaze of a happy Ruby.Recommended:  3 stars out of 4Reviewer:  Liza ChanLiza Chan is a Research Librarian, cross-appointed at Alberta Innovates – Health Solutions and University of Alberta John W. Scott Health Sciences Libraries.  She is also a proud auntie to 2 nephews, with whom she often enjoys visiting local libraries.