“Haley seems uncertain how to talk to children, and sometimes the text reads as if she were lecturing from a blackboard.” Kimiko Murakami: a Japanese Canadian Pioneer by Haley Healey, illustrated by Kimiko Fraser (Victoria: Heritage House, 2023) $12.95 ISBN 9781772034677
Enchanting book ‘demonstrates a constructive way to go through the world.’
Alison Acheson reviews Emi and Mini, by Hanako Masutani (with illustrations by Stéphane Jorisch) (Vancouver: Tradewind Books, 2023) $21.95 / 9781926890203
“Not only does she tell us the history of the horse, but more particularly she describes the wild horses that roam the plains of North America and how their existence is under threat as the environment around them is changing.” Valerie Green reviews Wild Horses Running Free by Linda L. Richards (Victoria: Orca Book Publishers, 2023) $24.95 / 9781459825598
“Informing her adolescent readers but not leaving them feeling helpless is a delicate balance that Ridge achieves…” Ginny Ratsoy reviews Evolution under Pressure: How we Change Nature and How Nature Changes Us by Yolanda Ridge (Toronto: Annick Press, 2023) $17.99 / 9781773217529
When we launched The British Columbia Review — then The Ormsby Review — in September 2016, little did we expect that seven years later we’d post our 2000th review. I’m grateful to everyone — reviewers, publishers, authors, booksellers, and readers — for making it such a success and promoting BC writers, writing, and culture. It…
Read more No. 2000 for the BC Review!
Elf’s Family Tree by Ron Smith, with illustrations by Ruth Campbell Oakville: Rock’s Mills Press, 2023 $14.95 / 9781772442755 Reviewed by Troy Wilson * In the highly acclaimed 2007 picture book Elf the Eagle, a young eaglet named Elf marvelled at the vastness of the tree where he lived. And in this long-awaited sequel, Elf’s…
Read more Book for kids educates, entertains, and energizes
Gorgeous Gruesome Faces by Linda Cheng New York: MacMillan/Roaring Brook Press, 2023 $26.99 / 9781250864994 Reviewed by Zoe McKenna * All that glitters is likelier ghoul than gold in Linda Cheng’s K-pop-inspired debut novel, Gorgeous Gruesome Faces. Cheng was born in Taiwan, though much of her adolescence was spent moving between different cultures and continents….
Read more 1975 Ghoulish K-pop teen horror!!
The Morning Bell Brings the Broken Hearted by Jennifer Manuel Madeira Park: Douglas & McIntyre, 2023 $24.95 / 9781771623193 Reviewed by Valerie Green * In The Morning Bell Brings the Broken Hearted, southern Vancouver Island author Jennifer Manuel has written an outstanding book full of compassion and hope. The former college, elementary, and high school…
Read more 1944 Determination and hope
How to Be Found by Emily Pohl-Weary Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2023 $19.95 / 9781551529356 Reviewed by Rhea Tregebov * Emily Pohl-Weary’s YA novel, How to be Found, makes for propulsive, compelling reading. Sixteen-year-old best friends Michie and Trissa consider themselves sisters and offer each other both standard sisterly grief and fierce sisterly loyalty. Only-children…
Read more 1942 Teenage girls, ‘unredacted’
Out of the Dark by Julie Lawson Halifax: Nimbus Publishing, 2023 $14.95 / 9781774712344 Reviewed by Alison Acheson * “… just don’t get anything fancy. We are who we are”: words spoken by the main character’s mother in Julie Lawson’s middle grade/young adult novel Out of the Dark. The words reflect a theme to the…
Read more 1940 For YA readers: Halifax in WWI
Time to Wonder – Volume 2. A Kid’s Guide to BC’s Regional Museums: Vancouver Island, Salt Spring, Alert Bay, and Haida Gwaii by S. Lesley Buxton and Sue Harper Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books, 2022 $22.00 / 9781771605069 Reviewed by Valerie Green * In view of the recent closure of Point Ellice House and Gardens in…
Read more 1921 Treasures from the past
The Wild By Owen Laukkanen Toronto: Underlined, 2021 $13.99 / 9780593179741 Reviewed by C.L. Shoemaker * YA fiction by mystery writer and Vancouver resident Owen Laukkanen, The Wild is a third-person dive into the thoughts and ideas of Dawn, a seventeen-year-old drug addict living with a drug dealer twice her age. When Dawn comes home…
Read more 1881 Grief, detox, murder, and wilderness tips
Shamus, The Urban Rez Dog, P. I. By Leslie Gentile Toronto: Cormorant/DCB, 2023 $14.95 / 9781770867079 Reviewed by Linda Rogers * Teacher, singer, and now writer Leslie Gentile’s second middle grade novel is Shamus, The Urban Rez Dog, P.I. There’s no doubt juvenile readers with an appetite for fiction to match Shamus shameless pursuit of…
Read more 1872 An ‘adventure-filled whodunnit’ (for kids)
Sophia’s Secrets By George M. Johnson (illustrated by Sara Casilda) New York: Clavis Publishing, 2023 $28.50 / 9781605376103 How Hope Became An Activist By George M. Johnson (illustrated by Danielle Grandi) London, UK: Dixi Books, 2020 $19.99 / 9781913680008 Marisa and the Mountains By George M. Johnson (illustrated by Chelsea O’Byrne) Vancouver: Simply Read Books,…
Read more 1867 ‘Altogether lovely’ books for kids
Welcome Trevor and Brett by Richard Mackie * On behalf of the Board of the Ormsby Literary Society and our Advisory Board I’d like to welcome Trevor Marc Hughes and Brett Josef Grubisic as interim editors of The British Columbia Review for the year May 1, 2023 to May 1, 2024. The position was made possible…
Read more 1813 Welcome Trevor and Brett
Last Winter by Carrie Mac Toronto: Penguin Random House Canada (Random House), 2023 $24.95 / 9781039005198 Reviewed by W.H. New * Readers who finish Carrie Mac’s Last Winter and then turn to her biographical note will recognize that many of the themes of her novel arise from lived experience: a declared identity as queer and…
Read more 1797 Choosing to speak
Dig Deep: Connecting Archaeology, Oceans and Us by Nicole F. Smith, with photographs by Alexander Mackie and others Victoria: Orca Book Publishers, 2023 $21.95 / 9781459826083 Reviewed by Grant Keddie * Over my 50 years as a curator in Archaeology at the British Columbia Provincial Museum-Royal British Columbia Museum I received numerous requests from teachers…
Read more 1792 The 164,000-year classroom
Knight of the Rails by Christine Welldon Toronto: Red Deer Press, 2022 $14.95 / 9780889956698 Reviewed by Ron Verzuh * Move Over Dickens: Meet a Canadian Pip and An Unusual Artful Dodger Novels for teenagers rarely cross my desk these days. In my youth I revelled in the adventures of the Hardy Boys until Mom…
Read more 1780 Move over Dickens
Elliot Jelly-Legs and the Bobblehead Miracle by Yolanda Ridge (text) and Sydney Barnes (illustrations) Victoria: Orca Book Publishers, 2023 $12.95 / 9781459833791 Reviewed by Cassidy Lea * In Canada, hockey is kind of our thing. A lot of us have played it, a bunch of us watch it, and if most of us were asked…
Read more 1775 The hockey talisman
Oscar and the Folding Airplane by Peter Chapman, illustrated by Carl Osberg, with Polly Wilson (book design), Brent Alley (photographer), and Tom Hellum (web design) Victoria: Privately printed, 2022 $18.00 / 9781777941505 Also available for free download here Reviewed by Candace Fertile * Peter Chapman’s children’s book grew out of father-son story-telling sessions, in the…
Read more 1768 Oscar and Sawdust take wing