Evocative story telling about the late 70s in Little Portugal, Toronto. De Sa captures the rapid (<1 year) and heart breaking transition in the life of a 12-year-old, from blissful innocence (well, not quite complete innocence because these are young boys), from simple adolescence to the knowledge that the world is a tough and gritty place with sinister characters. The nature of the time with rampant homophobia is described vividly. Thanks Steph, for this recommendation. De Sa’s previous book, Barnacle Love, has some back story but is not as good as Kicking The Sky.
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The Unspeakable by Meghan Daum
A collection of essays that are introspective, insightful and (apparently) honest appraisals of life in general and the author’s life in specific. Two of the essays on mother-daughter relationships and motherhood are sensational. Overall the writing is breezy and ironic. Note: this title is from Lola’s Literature Lounge, so thanks Chris.
The Wondrous Woo – Carrianne KY Leung
This is a really excellent coming-of-age story of a Chinese-Canadian family in the late 1980s-early 90s. It is essentially a story of sibling relationships with strong emotions like alienation and grief with some magic was well. An intriguing story line: after the death of their father, two of the children acquire special gifts/abilities, but the third sibling does not. This “magic” is accepted without explanation or even much discussion: it is what it is, and this is very satisfying to the reader. (thanks Steph, for this recommendation).
Nocturne by Helen Humphreys
(thanks to Amy/Steph). Really excellent writing; book was read in one setting so clearly I was engaged by the story. The book describes the experience of the author’s life together with her brother, and details after his death. Perhaps I was primed by the [Miriam] Toews AMPS [All My Puny Sorrows] but I have a personal preference for introspective and insightful writing. Humphreys captures the cruelty of disease and the numbness of grief. She writes: fear the worst because the worst has happened” (first Matthew and then Anne).
What David Read 