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[Canada Reads Finalist] The Age of Hope by David Bergen

“Jealousy was a form of desire”

The quote listed above is from David Bergen’s The Age of Hope and I think it might just be the perfect way to describe the the books protagonist, Hope Koop. As the title of this post indicates, The Age of Hope is currently a finalist in the upcoming CBC Canada Reads competition, running from February 11-14.

In an effort to inform readers of this blog about this “friendly” competition, let me give you a little information about the nation wide battle of the books. This year, things got a little interesting when it came to the battlefield, because CBC decided to target specific provinces, resulting in a terminology they’ve coined the “turf war.” 5 books, 5 regions and 5 celebrity panelists.  As Canada Reads website indicates,

“The author must be originally from the region or have spent a substantial amount of time in that region that their novel is nominated to represent.” Source

This was the second book I read to prep for the CBC debates (the first being, Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse) and I’m once again blown away by the calibre of talent participating in the 2013 edition of Canada Reads.

The Age of HopeWe first meet Hope Plett in the year 1930, in a small town outside of Winnipeg. She’s a striking young woman that believes the world is her oyster. She’s enrolled in nursing school, all set to conquer the world, until she meets Roy Koop. A young man who’s handsome, kind, gentle and is sure to provide a happy life for Hope, so she does the inevitable and drops out of school to become his wife. I understand as you’re reading this, you might be saying to yourself, “oh that nasty Roy, how could he tear her away from her dreams, her aspirations”. But it’s important to understand that Hope enters this life on her own accord, her decisions are her own. The thing you’ll quickly learn about Hope while reading The Age of Hope, is that she sometimes regrets the decision she made to become a wife and a Mother. That doesn’t make her a bad person and David Bergen certainly doesn’t write her character in a way that you’re meant to be frustrated with her, the beauty of Hope’s uncertainty is that one always wonders about the road not traveled.

From the year 1930 to the present, we travel with Hope down the road she’s chosen. A road that involves her cherished and ever loving husband Roy (who was probably my favourite character), four children, grandchildren and best friends. It was interesting to go with Hope on this journey, not because something specific happened, but because it was travelling along with a woman through her entire existence. Have you ever seen those YouTube clips of the people that have taken pictures of themselves (or their children) every day of their life, like the one shown below?

Those videos reminded me of this book, because you watch Hope grow and you watch her family grow. I read this book is a very short span of time, because I felt like I knew the Koop family, I needed to know who Hope and Roy’s children would grow up to be, I was intrigued in reading about how the economy changed, but most importantly, it was a fascinating, birds eye view of one particular person’s world.

Ron MacLean defends The Age of Hope by David Bergen

Ron MacLean will be the celebrity defending this book and the Prairies and North at the Canada Reads competition and I’m excited to hear his argument on why Hope Koop and her life-long journey should take the prize. It was interesting to learn the reasons on why he chose this book to defend, so be sure to check out his reasoning in a video posted on the CBC Books website.

Be sure to join the conversation on Twitter about all the Canada Reads titles by tweeting @cbcbooks or by using the hashtag #CanadaReads


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[Canada Reads Finalist] Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese

How Richard Wagamese packed such a powerful amount of words into 221 pages, I’ll never know. As the title indicates, Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese is a contender in the upcoming CBC Canada Reads competition, running from February 11-14.

Canada Reads 2013

Before I jump into my thoughts on Indian Horse, let me give you a little information about the nation wide battle of the books. This year, things got a little interesting when it came to the battlefield, because CBC decided to target specific provinces, resulting in a terminology they’ve coined the “turf war.” 5 books, 5 regions and 5 celebrity panelists.  As Canada Reads website indicates,

“The author must be originally from the region or have spent a substantial amount of time in that region that their novel is nominated to represent.” Source

Indian HorseThe first book I picked up to kick off the competition was Indian Horse, mostly because I’ve read Richard Wagamese in university and absolutely loved his writing style. He’s never afraid to tackle issues that can sometimes be difficult to talk about. This philosophy can be applied to this Canada Reads selection, which will be defended by celebrity panelist Carol Huynh in relation to the British Columbia & Yukon region. He introduces us to a young and scared little boy named Saul Indian Horse who faces many obstacles, more obstacles than many of us will ever have to face in our lifetime.

Born to a Ojibway family, his morals and beliefs are strong, especially since his Grandmother instills these beliefs into young Indian Horse. However, times were different in the 1960′s and Saul is eventually sent to live in a residential school. Because of his race, he and his peers are treated like second class citizens as they eat their gruel for dinner, while watching nuns and priests eat delicious looking meals. If there is any “funny business”, a child is sent to the Iron Sister, a chamber of sorts, in the basement. After visiting this cruel punishment, children come back forever changed.

Saul’s tactic to avoid the Iron Sister is to become secluded and quietly help out around the school. That’s when he discovered the sport of hockey. Sitting watching some of his peers play outdoors on the ice gets him intrigued. He was so enthralled, that he would wake up at the crack of dawn and practice with a hidden hockey stick in an effort to practice and be a part of something fun, for once in his life.

Hockey becomes his salvation. He understands the game, he lives for the game. When Father Leboutilier recognizes his talent, things start looking up for Saul. Opportunities that were once outlandish and obscure start becoming a reality, through the power of sport. But even with change and growth, a person is eventually forced to acknowledge their past. I believe in the theory that in order to move forward, you must accept your past, process it and move forward. Unfortunately, that’s not something Saul has done and this path to recovery is a rocky one.

What transpires is a beautiful coming of age story, filled with the importance of self worth, acceptance and perseverance.

Carol Huynh defends Indian Horse by Richard WagameseI’ll be interested to see how Carol Huynh represents this book based on the fact that she’s a competitor. For those of you that don’t know, she’s a Olympic medalist, who definitely understands the importance of recreational sports and perseverance. When I watched her at the Canada Reads press conference, I was blown away at how poised and prepared she was to represent this book. My thoughts are that this book will make it close to the end of the competition as it’s a strong contender that has lots of lessons for Canada to learn. Even if this book doesn’t win or make it to the end, it comes highly recommended from me as I thought it was a stunning read that any Canadian resident will enjoy!

Watch Carol Huynh defend her British Columbia & Yukon selection here.


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[Book Review] Born Weird by Andrew Kaufman

photo-1A book with a striking cover is sometimes reason enough to pick it up. A book that comes highly recommended by colleagues, Twitter pals and your Mother, that’s a must  read. Oddly enough, I’ve never read Andrew Kaufman. I’ve seen him at events, I’ve seen plenty of tweets from a certain someone (I’m looking at you @kingvonelk), I’ve even seem him in the RHC lobby, so it’s long overdue that I get on the Andrew Kaufman train.

Am I ever glad I did, because as a reader, you get thrown into a world of Weird. Why capitalize the W in the word Weird? Well that’s because this is the story of the Weird Family. A family that consists of five siblings (Richard, Lucy, Abba, Angie and Kent) and one very interesting grandmother named Annie. The story kicks off with Angie, who’s pregnant and forced to visit her grandmother when she learns that she’s checked herself into the hospital, claiming that her impending death is near, April 20th at 7:39pm (to be exact.)

Before I proceed, I’ll share with you the meaning of the word Blursing. As Book One indicates,

Blessing + Curse = Blursing

It’s important to clarify what a blursing is, because that’s what Grandma Weird has given to each Weird child. When they each entered the world, their Grandmother held them and provided them with what she thought was a blessing, but in turn and with a lot of aggravation, the Weird siblings “blessings” have now turned into major headaches. In an effort to protect the story’s richness, I won’t share with you what their “blursings” are, but let’s just say that sometimes  a cover can say it all.

Two weeks prior to April 20th, Grandma Weird explains to Angie that in order to lift their curses, Angie is to gather her four siblings and the five of them are to come to her on the fourth floor of the Vancouver and District General Hospital where each of their curses will be removed.

The problem lies in trying to gather all the Weird siblings. They’ve not spoke in years and the likelihood of trying to get them all to come together is probably not going to happen, especially when it’s to travel to hear what the “shark” (their lovely nickname for their Grandmother) has to say, or in this case fix. Angie’s got a huge responsibility ahead of her, but she’s sure that her Grandmother means business and so she sets out to travel the country of Canada to gather her siblings.

The slow and steady rebuilding of these relationships is way beyond what any Weird family member is willing to do, but Angie’s insisting ways makes each sibling sit up and take notice. What conspires is a journey of growth, family and love. A journey that takes you, the reader, on a journey across our beautiful country. As you read this novel, you’ll travel from West to East and back again. Andrew Kaufman’s ability to weave every aspect of Canada into his story, makes for a fantastic Canadian reading experience and a great selection to add to your Canadian Literature list and piles.

Andrew Kaufman

PHOTO CREDIT: LEE TOWNDROW

More importantly, Kaufman makes sure that you know the Weirds, that you really get to know them and that you begin to understand what each and every one of them is all about. They’ve experienced many obstacles, some together, most separately. Many of their separate experiences, mixed with their blursings have resulted in defining them who they are. Their self worth and their decisions are all taken into account and each sibling is forced to face their past and make decisions that could have a direct result in changing everything they’ve ever know.

At the core of this stunning novel, is the importance of family. In today’s day and age, whether it be gadgets, hectic schedules or silly excuses, we forget about the importance of being true to ourselves and to each other. Andrew Kaufman has written a novel that brings light to what’s really important in the grand scheme of things. It’s gripping, funny and sad all at the same time.

As mentioned before, this book came highly recommended by anyone who’s read it, so I’m paying it forward and saying to each and every one of you,

Read Born Weird by Andrew Kaufman. It’s guaranteed to make you smile and maybe shed a tear, or two. 

henry


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Review: The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen – Susin Nielsen

The ever so talented Susin Nielsen, author of “Word Nerd” and “Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom” has done it again in her newest novel “The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen“. What do I mean when I say she’s done it again? I mean that Susin Nielsen has the ability to create characters that stay with you for quite sometime, you become the character when you read her words, you feel the essence of why they do the things they do.

Her newest novel is slightly “darker” (if you will) because it’s dealing with a much heavier topic than past novels, bullying. The impressive thing about this novel is that it focuses on the aftermath of bullying and how it effects a person’s family and friends when tragedy occurs. After IT happens (this is how Henry typically refers to the tragedy involving his brother) Henry is forced to see Cecil a psychologist who has a stinky, small office. He has no desire to be there and usually resorts to using his Robot voice to avoid any serious conversations. Cecil suggests that it might be best if Henry documents his feelings in a journal, thus the reluctant journal of Henry K. Larsen is born, but not without some hesitation, in the beginning he writes, “This journal is stupid” at 2:30am.

However, Henry’s journal turns into a source of consistency and it begins to help him process his thoughts, his new school, his new friends and the past. The beauty of the journal is that it showcases a little boy who has had to grow up faster than his peers, but still manages to keep his innocence and youth intact, by  sharing his love of “Saturday Night Smash-Up” a wrestling show that he and his entire family loves to watch.

Susin Nielsen has written a fabulous story, her best yet in my opinion, because she’s showcases the effects of bullying in a way I’ve never seen done before. It’s a story that’s enriched with fabulous characters and important lessons from beginning to end.

9780771047961


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Review: Up and Down – Terry Fallis

When I heard that a new Terry Fallis title was in the works, I moved heaven and earth to get my hands on a copy. Why you ask? Because Terry Fallis knows how to write great AND funny literature. His new book, Up and Down is guaranteed to make you laugh out loud, so be prepared for weird looks if you read this book in public.

First things first, as many of you know I’m a huge twitter user, my career is all about social media, so I always love reading novels that are able to weave the crazy world of social media into a story. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that Terry did just that brilliantly, as he has a huge online presence, especially when it comes to his podcasts and his activity on Twitter.

When David Stewart moves from Ottawa to Toronto to help care for his Mother, he lands a job at Turner King, a PR firm that is vying to land a marketing campaign to reposition the NASA brand. When David’s put on the hot spot to come up with a marketing plan, he suggests having two civilians (from Canada and the United States) travel with astronauts to space. He suggests having entrants apply to win using different ways to enter the contest, Facebook, Twitter, snail mail; thus, making sure that the NASA brand is spread all over the internet. It’s a brilliant and unique idea that  lands them the account.However with success, comes trials and tribulations, in this case, those trials and tribulations take the form of overpowering managers, media hiccups and a twist that causes everyone involved to do a little nail biting.

To give too much away would be an injustice to you as a reader, but I can tell you that this is one book that every Canadian literature fan should be reading. It’s funny, witty and it’s sure to become a permanent fixture on everyone’s bookshelf.

*When you do read it, send me an email or tweet me and we’ll have a good giggle over the homemade spinning device.*

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