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Beautiful isn't it!

It's funny ... the more I read, the more I find that I haven't read and want to read! Many of the most recent books I've read have been "assigned" through various University courses, and I am thankful because many of these would not have found their way to my little hands without the 'requirement.'

Now Reading....

Young adult literature is a genre that deserves mention. There are some extremely talented authors who write specifically for the young adult. One who has had a lot of attention lately is Deborah Ellis, celebrated author of The Breadwinner trilogy, whose final instalment Mud City was released in September 2003. CM: The Canadian Review of Materials features an in depth interview with the author whose next book is due for publication in 2004.

Looking for X winner of the 2000 Governor General's Literary Award for Children's Fiction, is the story of Khyber, a spirited young girl who lives with her mother and her twin brothers in a small apartment in an inner city area of Toronto. She is fiercely loyal to and protective of her younger brothers who have autism. Khyber dreams of being a world explorer and spends time planning great trips to faraway places. Khyber has no friends except for a homeless woman she calls X. When Khyber is blamed for vandalism that happens in her school, she runs away in search of her friend who can help clear up what really happened. At times hilarious (the wedding in the park), and always moving, it is an excellent read.
Ms Ellis, whose day job is a women's mental health outreach worker, She has been involved with the peace movement and women's issues since the mid-1970s. She is also the founder of Women for Women Afghanistan.

In Before Wings, award-winning author Beth Goobie, has given us a powerful story of Adrien, a fifteen year old girl who survived a brain aneurysm two years earlier. She is sent to work with her Aunt at a summer camp where she receives a haunting message from five young women who died several years earlier. Beautfifully written, the novel is both poetic and fast paced. Goobie gives us a story filled with believable characters and a landscape that brings the reader to lake side summers.
"Since her aneurysm, Adrien had seen spirits. Perhaps her brain circuitry had altered, or the worlds had rearranged themselves to giver her a taste of the afterlife. She didn't see them constantly, but there was often the hin of something smudging the corner of a room, shifting behind a tree, wailing across a lake. This didn't frighten her, just made it difficult to focus on the here and now. it was like being pulled in different directions. She was standing in a shadow land between two worlds and was being asked to choose, but didn't know how to take those stpes toward the humans reaching out to her, their voices calling, "Come, come." (c 2001, Goobie)

Now Reading....

I don't think I will ever look at bugs or the sky again the same way after reading Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy. From the first pages of The Golden Compass to the last lines of The Amber Spyglass , I was completely captivated, by the new worlds the author created. Definitely spiritual and religious undertones, sometimes not so subtle, always compelling. I read the series in quick sequence, my heart racing to find out what happens. Absolutely engaging, I encourage everyone to read this series and get to know its heroine, Lyra.
I am now revisiting some French Canadian Classics including Un homme et son peche, by Claude-Henri Grignon, and Les filles de Caleb, by Arlette Cousture. A film version of Grignon's classic tale of "Seraphin" has recently been relased on DVD. I am looking forward to "pleurer des chaudes larmes" for Donalda.



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