Clearwater
Coteau Books / 3 April 2014

Clearwater by Kim McCullough Published by Coteau Books Review by Alison Slowski $19.95 ISBN 978-1-55050-565-8 The novel Clearwater tells the difficult coming-of-age story of a young woman and her friends who go with her on a journey of self-discovery, and ultimately of hope for the preservation of memory. Claire is a fifteen-year-old when she first moves to a small airport town up in northern Manitoba with her mother and her older siblings Daniel and Leah in the early 1980’s. Here she meets Jeff, a solitary figure who lives next door with his parents. As Claire and Jeff’s friendship develops and they spend a great deal of time together, Claire doesn’t notice how unhappy her sister is with the move, though her brother does. As two violent acts happen, bringing events to a head in the small Northern town, life begins to spin out of control for Claire, Jeff, Daniel, Leah, and Leah’s boyfriend Shane. The group of young people begin to question their grip on reality, their place in the world, and their place among each other as friends and family. McCullough’s delicate dialogue puts the reader right into the action, showing the tenuous, tense conversations with one suffering from…

The Adventures of Caraway Kim … Right Wing
Thistledown Press / 4 February 2011

The Adventures of Caraway Kim…Right Wing by Don Truckey Published by Thistledown Press Review by Kim McCullough $10.95 ISBN 978-1-897235-43-0 Set in the dead of a 1960s Alberta winter, The Adventures of Caraway Kim…Right Wing is the story of eleven-year-old Kim and his race to become Top Scorer of the Caraway hockey team. Kim was first introduced in author Don Truckey’s first ‘Caraway Kim’ novel for middle years readers: The Adventures of Caraway Kim…Southpaw, published in 2005. To win the title of Top Scorer, Kim he has to beat Brad Rooks, the local troublemaker. The boys’ rivalry continues off-ice, forcing Kim to confront his own sense of right and wrong, as well as stand up for himself against Brad’s overbearing ways. In Kim, Truckey continues to follow a likeable young hero who makes realistic choices. Truckey’s clear rendering of a time he calls “before now” makes life in the 1960s come alive. Young hockey fans interested in the old days of the Original Six will be thrilled with the detailed descriptions of the difficulties players faced back in those days: the rough ice; the biting cold; and the thin, not-so-protective equipment that left heads, knees and throats vulnerable to injury….

The Adventures of Caraway Kim…Right Wing
Thistledown Press / 21 April 2010

The Adventures of Caraway Kim…Right Wing” by Don Truckey Published by Thistledown Press Review by Kim McCullough $10.95 ISBN 978-1-897235-43-0 Set in the dead of a 1960’s Alberta winter, The Adventures of Caraway Kim…Right Wing is the story of eleven-year-old Kim and his race to become Top Scorer of the Caraway hockey team. To win, he has to beat Brad Rooks, the local troublemaker. The boys’ rivalry continues off-ice, forcing Kim to confront his own sense of right and wrong, as well as stand up for himself against Brad’s overbearing ways. In Kim, Truckey has created a likeable young hero who makes realistic choices. Truckey’s clear rendering of a time he calls “before now” makes life in the 1960’s come alive. Young hockey fans interested in the old days of the Original Six will be thrilled with the detailed descriptions of the difficulties players faced back in those days: the rough ice; the biting cold; and the thin, not-so-protective equipment that left heads, knees and throats vulnerable to injury. The play-by-play action of the hockey games will keep young readers engaged and interested. The Adventures of Caraway Kim…Right Wing is more than just a sentimental journey back to “the good…