The Book Review Club (April 2022)

Welcome to the April 2022 edition of The Book Review Club. You are in for a treat! My little sister, Sheilagh, wrote today's review. That's her picture on the right.  Cute, eh? When she was a baby, I used to bring kids home from school to look at her. :) Under her review are links to everyone else's reviews. Enjoy!

EIGHT DAYS by Teresa Toten 
(contemp middle grade novel, friendship, family, personal growth)

A little bit of fun background info from Barrie: I mentioned EIGHT DAYS to my very thoughtful sister who happens to have a memory like a steel trap. Basically, I was whining that the book was being released in Canada (where she lives) before the US (where I live). In the midst of exciting wedding-dress shopping with her eldest daughter in London, Ontario, my sister nipped into a bookstore and bought EIGHT DAYS for me! Of course, she read it first I would've done the same! She enjoyed the book so much, she wrote this review.... 

About the author: Teresa Toten is a Canadian children's book author who writes everything from picture books to middle grade to young adult. She's that kind of talented. Her young adult novel, THE UNLIKELY HERO OF ROOM 13B, won the Governor General's Award. 

The premise of EIGHT DAYS: Samantha (Sami) has just found out her mother died suddenly in a drug rehab centre in Chicago. The catch: Sami was told her mother died 10 years ago. 

More about EIGHT DAYS: Sami lives in the very diverse Thorncliffe Park area of Toronto. She lives with her recovering alcoholic grandfather (her mother’s father), Carl. Following the shocking news, Sami and Carl, along with Aggie, a motherly neighbour, set out on a life-altering eight-day roadtrip (Toronto to Chicago to Toronto) to recover Sami’s mother’s body.

During the trip, Sami deals with her grief by staying in contact with close friends, Nilofer and Tarek and by being useful. As Sami says, she is not a crier. She's a responsible, helpful person. This is her tried-and-true strategy for getting people to keep her around. Along the way, Sami gains insight into her relationship with her mother and her mother’s reasons for disappearing, as well as her mother’s love for her. She learns new ways to navigate her relationship with Carl, as Carl learns to accept the past and the very different present in which he lives.

Recommendation: Yes, yes, yes! A great read for the 10-14-year-old crowd. The passages about grief ring very true, as does Sami’s fear of abandonment. The author doesn't shirk from difficult topics like drugs, alcohol, death, but addresses them in a wholly appropriate middle-grade way. And, as a Torontonian, I can attest to the authenticity of the Toronto setting with Sami visiting such locations as the Eaton Centre, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Home Hardware. Her entourage follows the Gardiner/ QEW to leave Canada.

And now....onto the rest of our reviews. Please click through. You won't want to miss a single one! 

MIDDLE GRADE/YOUNG ADULT FICTION BOOK REVIEWS

Phyllis Wheeler: 365 DAYS TO ALASKA by Cathy Carr (contemporary middle grade)

Jody Feldman: PRIDE AND PREMEDIATION by Tirzah Price (young adult mystery)

ADULT FICTION BOOK REVIEWS

Jenn Jilks: GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon (time travel, romance)

Linda McLaughlin: WHILE JUSTICE SLEEPS by Stacy Abrams (legal thriller)

 

Lucy Sartain: THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt Haig (time travel)

Sarah Laurence: NERUDA ON THE PARK by Cleyvis Natera (contempt, adult)

Scott Parker: THE LIGHTNING ROD by Brad Meltzer (mystery/thriller)

NONFICTION REVIEWS

Margy Lutz: THE RIDE OF HER LIFE by Elizabeth Letts (biography)

Ray Potthoff: AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARK TWAIN by Mark Twain (autobiography)

Note to Reviewers: Any errors (broken link, missed review, etc), just shoot me an email or leave a comment. Thank you so much for your reviews!

The Book Review Club (April 2020)

Welcome to the April 2020 edition of The Book Review Club. These covid-
19 times are scary and disconcerting and anxiety provoking. Not everyone could post this month. But we're happy to offer you at least some reviews for books we enjoyed and think you might enjoy, too. My little sister, Sheilagh Scott, very kindly (not surprising as she does all sorts of kind things for people) wrote this month's review. That's my sister on the left!

999: THE EXTRAORDINARY YOUNG WOMEN OF THE FIRST OFFICIAL JEWISH TRANSPORT TO AUSCHWITZ 
by Heather Dune Macadam 
(nonfiction, Jewish Holocaust History)

Over the years, I have read many moving books about Auschwitz, but 999 by Heather Dune Macadam stands out for me. This is the story of the first transport to Auschwitz, which was entirely female.  

The author certainly did her research. She interviewed several survivors, their relatives and consulted the USC Shoah Archive and the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Centre in Israel. Did you know that this first transport was all unmarried women under the age of 36? This is their story. It’s a shocking story, but also a story of solidarity and sisterhood. 

In March 1942, in the Slovakian towns of Humenné and Prešov (towns that had large Jewish populations), all unmarried Jewish women were called to report for government work. These young women eagerly reported, thinking they were embarking on a great adventure. They quickly learned otherwise, as they went through one dehumanizing experience after another. 

What touched me most was how the women helped each other at great risk to themselves. Most of the young women were deported with sisters, cousins, long-time friends and neighbours. When one in the group had a problem, the others helped. In winter, women stole shoes from the piles of confiscated goods taken from prisoners to give to those with poor footwear. (Interestingly, the women referred to these piles as "Kanada" because Canada was considered the land of plenty.) Women helped each other find less exhausting work stations, especially when a friend was frail. A woman assigned to undergo medical experiments was hidden among her usual work crew as they headed out for the day. The courage of these young women is amazing.

Why was the first transport all women? As Heather Dune Macadam notes, wouldn’t the Nazis want men to do the hard labour? Moreover, many of these women were teenagers, not likely to be used to doing much work at all. As it turns out, according the author, many more women perished in Nazi death camps because the Nazis felt that to eliminate future mothers would hasten the demise of Jews more quickly. 

999 is a heartbreaking account and one that is not well known. It honours the young Jewish women of the first transport to Auschwitz. Their experiences tell the story of humanity triumphing over terror. Definitely worth the read. 

(Dear FCC: library. My sister's library card is well worn.)

And now....onto the rest of our reviews. Please click through. You won't want to miss a single one! And I can't say it enough: please take care of you and yours and stay safe.

PICTURE BOOK/MIDDLE GRADE FICTION BOOK REVIEWS

Jody Feldman: MARIANNA MAY AND NURSEY by Tomie dePaola (PB)

Phyllis Wheeler: IGGY AND OZ: THE PLASTIC DINOS OF DOOM by JJ Johnson (MG,
                                                                                                                                 Adventure)


ADULT FICTION BOOK REVIEWS

Linda McLaughlin: THE CHAPERONE by Laura Moriarty (historical)


NONFICTION REVIEWS

Jenn Jilks of Cottage Country: RESISTANCE IS FUTILE by Julie Lalonde (memoir)

Jenn Jilks of Cottage Country: THE SKIN WE'RE IN by Demond Cole (memoir)

Lucy Sartain: IN ORDER TO LIVE by Yeonmi Park (memoir)

Ray Potthoff: OLD MAN RIVER by Paul Schneider (American History)



Note to Reviewers: Any errors (broken link, missed review, etc), just shoot me an email or leave a comment. Thank you so much for your reviews!