Canada Reads is the great Canadian book debate! You can find it on CBC March 28-31. What is the one book that all Canadians should read? This year’s theme is, “One book to connect us.” I’ve finished all five short-list books so you can scroll down for an introduction to this year’s line-up! They are in no particular order.
Wow, the five short list books this year are all great reads. It’s going to be hard to know which one to root for! Two indigenous stories, one fiction and one memoir, a social work focused novel set in a community of Toronto, a post-slavery globe trotting romp, and a refugee story of a little boy who is sole survivor from a migrant ship.
It’s hard for me to choose which one I think should win, but since I usually do, my all around favourite is Five Little Indians. However, that was a tough choice because all the books are compelling, easy to read, educational, and important. Canada Reads makes me proud to be Canadian! Enjoy the books and the debate!
‘Five Little Indians’ by Michelle Good
Christian Allaire, Ojibway author and Vogue fashion writer, is championing Five Little Indians. This book is both hard and easy to read. With compassion and insight, this debut novel chronicles the desperate quest of residential school survivors to come to terms with their past and, ultimately, find a way forward.
Five Little Indians is about five children, Kenny, Lucy, Clara, Howie and Maisie, who were taken from their families and sent to a residential school when they were very small. Barely out of childhood, they are released without resources and left to establish adult lives in Vancouver. Haunted by the trauma of their childhood, the five friends cross paths over the decades and struggle with the weight of their shared past. It’s a fiction that draws us into the lives of five residential school survivors, but of course that comes with it the reality of incredible cruelty and abuse. Good’s award winning storytelling transports us into an experience that, as Canadians, we need to understand, but it does so in a simple straightforward style that is very moving. Michelle Good gives her characters such grace and dignity.
Michelle Good is the daughter and granddaughter of survivors who were taken away from family to be brought up in residential schools. She is a Cree writer and retired lawyer, as well as a member of Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. Good holds an MFA and a law degree from the University of British Columbia and, as a lawyer, advocated for residential school survivors. Five Little Indians has won multiple awards and has appeared on various prize lists.
‘Washington Black’ by Esi Edugyan
Mark Tewksbury, playwright, performer, author, and Olympic champion backstroke swimmer, is championing Washington Black. This is an epic tale of a boy on the run in the post-slavery era.
Washington Black tells the story of 11-year-old Washington Black, who was born into slavery on a Barbados sugar plantation. His master is Christopher Wilde, a man obsessed with developing a machine that can fly. The two develop a bond, but when a man is killed, Wilde must choose between his family and saving Washington’s life — and the choice results in an unforgettable adventure around the world. I have never read a slavery story quite like this. And I was curious about the octopus on the cover! This literary page turner is full of beautiful writing, delightful characters, interesting quests, and thoughtful reflection on humanity and the meaning of freedom.
Esi Edugyan is an award winning author who has won the Scotiabank Giller Prize twice! Washington Black won the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize and was a finalist for the 2018 Man Booker Prize and the 2018 Rogers’ Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. Washington Black is currently being adapted into a TV series.
‘Life in the City of Dirty Water: a Memoir of Healing’ by Clayton Thomas-Müller
Suzanne Simard, author and professor in the department of forest and conservation sciences at the University of British Columbia, is championing Life in the City of Dirty Water. This memoir by a cree activist, is a gritty storytelling journey through trauma, healing, and Indigenous uprisings. The city the book speaks of is Winnipeg.
Life in the City of Dirty Water covers different versions of the author, from playing with toy planes as a way to escape the intergenerational pain of Canada’s residential school system, to spending time in juvenile detention and later becoming an activist in the fight against colonial racism, environmental degradation, and violence. The road is rocky for Thomas-Müller, yet through it all he remains tied to his Cree heritage and spirituality. I strongly recommend watching this CBC Short Doc about Clayton’s life before reading the book. It gives a great context for the man and his journey.
Clayton Thomas-Müller is a member of the Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, located in Northern Manitoba. He’s campaigned on behalf of Indigenous peoples around the world for more than 20 years, working with numerous organisations engaged in social activism and the environmental justice movement.
‘Scarborough’ by Catherine Hernandez
Malia Baker, actor and activist and youngest Canada Reads panelist ever, is championing Scarborough. It’s a novel about community–how a community can be weighed down by the burdens of urban challenges, but also how community can bring dignity, help, and healing. This book should be required reading for anyone who lives in Toronto.
Scarborough is the multi-voiced story of a culturally diverse neighbourhood that refuses to fall apart in the face of poverty and crime. Catherine Hernandez’ resilient neighbourhood in Toronto inspired this vibrant and emotional debut novel. She weaves together the stories of three children growing up in difficult circumstances, with the stories of three adults who are doing their best to help them out.
Catherine Hernandez is a queer theatre practitioner and award winning writer. Of Filipino, Chinese, Spanish and Indian descent, Hernandez has lived in Scarborough off and on for most of her life.
‘What Strange Paradise’ by Omar El Akkad
Tareq Hadhad, former Syrian refugee now living in Antigonish and entrepreneur (Peace by Chocolate), is championing What Strange Paradise. This is a migrant story that reads like a literary thriller. It is at once poignant and compelling, and reminds us there are human stories behind the headlines.
What Strange Paradise is a novel that tells the story of a global refugee crisis through the eyes of a child. Nine-year-old Amir is the only survivor from a ship full of refugees coming to a small island. He ends up with a teenage girl named Vänna, who lives on the island. Even though they don’t share a common language or culture, Vänna becomes determined to keep Amir safe.
Omar El Akkad is a Canadian journalist and author who currently lives in Portland, Oregon. He also wrote American War which was championed on Canada Reads in 2018. The author explains why What Strange Paradise was structured in alternating chapters titled Before and After. It’s the story of Peter Pan inverted and recast as the story of a contemporary child refugee.
Joanne's Reading Blog 