I knew I was going to have to read this book when I saw the cover. I didn’t even know what it was about, but I knew I needed this. As it turns out, Hope Never Dies is a pretty good mystery featuring Joe Biden and Barack Obama as a crime solving duo. Uncle Joe narrates the story of his friend Finn’s suspicious death on an Amtrak line in Wilmington, Delaware. Writer Andrew Shaffer, in this his first mystery, unravels a tale of railway life, […]
“Stray bullets and consequences are landing on our unsuspecting bodies even now.“
There There is an innovative and engrossing first novel from Native American writer Tommy Orange. Through his multiple character narration, he explores the question of what it means to be an “urban Indian” in the US. The title There There comes from a Gertrude Stein quote that is often taken out of context and misunderstood, much like Native Americans. In referring to Oakland, California, where Stein grew up and where the action of There There takes place, Stein wrote that there was no there there […]
Passion Play
I had hoped to have this review in for Canada Day, but if I’m lucky, I’ll have it ready before Robbie Robertson’s birthday (July 5) is over. Robertson is a musician perhaps best known for his songwriting and guitar playing for the Band, and in this memoir, he describes his journey from a 16-year-old school drop out on the road with Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks through his successful but tumultuous years with the Band. I picked up the book because I was already familiar […]
Children and War in Afghanistan
This graphic novel was adapted from a film version of Deborah Ellis’ novel The Breadwinner. The novel is actually part of a series much acclaimed in Canada, and based on this graphic novel version of the first volume, I can understand why. It is visually gorgeous, and the story, which is based on things Ellis learned while touring an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan in 1997, is gripping. The Breadwinner is the story of an 11-year-old girl named Parvana who has to disguise herself as […]
Skillfully tackling serious issues in a YA graphic novel
This short (about 140 pages) graphic novel was created by the same Canadian cousin team that gave us This One Summer. In fact this graphic novel was their first. Nominated for an Eisner (among other awards), Skim is the story of Kim (aka Skim), a Japanese Canadian teen who is struggling with a variety of issues, including matters related to sexuality, depression and suicide. The story is told in three parts. Part I: Fall, takes place in fall but is also about falling. Kim serves […]
The magick continues
The detective/noir/occult tale continues! Volume 1 introduced the reader to Rowan Black, Portsmouth Police detective who is also a witch. She has a good relationship with her work partner Morgan and with her friend (lover?) Alexandra Grey, who is also a witch. These relationships are in peril, however, as a series of crimes shows that dark forces are at work, and they are targeting Rowan. The first installment ends with a shadowy group of technologically savvy investigators tracking down Rowan. We cannot yet guess who […]
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