Ice Storm by Penny Draper Published by Coteau Books for Kids Review by Donna Gudjonson ISBN 13:9781550504514 Twelve year old girls have complicated lives at the best of times, but for two cousins in Quebec during the devastating ice storm of January1998 everything most certainly changes without warning. Alice, a talented young figure skater from Montreal, finds herself stranded at home all alone during the first days of the crisis. She must quickly learn some grown up skills in order to survive in the cold and dark during the extended power outage caused by the storm. Later she heroically saves the life of one of her neighbours and finds ways to help out at the crowded shelter where she must wait out the storm. Sophie, her country cousin, finds herself pitching in to keep her family and their dairy cows from perishing in the extreme conditions and must function like an adult in a very difficult situation. Both girls’ priorities will be changed forever after the experience. The story begins just before the storm hits to give a snapshot of normal life for the two girls. Then as quickly as the storm front rolls in, the reader is taken through…

Walking Through Shadows—stories from the edge of the world by Tara Manuel Published by Thistledown Press Review by Sandy Bonny $ 16.95 ISBN-13: 978-1897235867 There was a time when, in a small town there was no such thing as privacy. People lived side by side, knew one another’s business, and mostly kept one another’s secrets. In her second collection of short stories from Thistledown Press, maritime actor and author Tara Manuel imports modern entertainment culture to a rural world peopled by characters both familiar and fascinatingly unique. There are The Committee Lady, The Housewife, and the local politician, The White Prince—but behind closed doors, television and Internet open windows to apparent anonymity, and outside closed doors, the town’s residents run freed of their usual audience. The mute Butterfly Girl finds a lover and a voice, but her bravery is neither seen nor heard. Few notice The Arab, raised in the town’s theatre and living now, in ironic permanence, in the shell of an abandoned bus. Walking Woman, who prizes solitary evening adventures, struggles against an imported culture of fear and finds solace only in the binding security of her husband’s arms. The gruff divorcee, Shadow Dancer, waltzes in the privacy…

The Strength of Women, Ahkameyimowak by Priscilla Settee Published by Coteau Books Reviewed by Donna Gudjonson $19.95 ISBN 13:9781550504569 Author Priscilla Settee is an Aboriginal scholar, educator, writer, and activist in Saskatchewan. In her book The Strength of Women she unfolds a collection of spellbinding stories told by fifteen Aboriginal women who have all struggled through great adversity to become unsung heroes, role models, activists, educators, artists and spiritual healers. The stories are presented in five categories: Beginnings, Work, Art, Spirit and Community. Though each story is unique there are underlying threads of injustice, racism, abuse, sexism and hardship seasoned with happier memories and anecdotes. As the book flows on we see how each woman’s path is shaped by her experiences. I found the first stories to be the most enlightening yet sorrowful to read but I found myself drawn deeply into each woman’s life and because it is written in her own voice and dialect it was like hearing her tell the story in person. The women spoke of how racism, poverty, violence and substance abuse affected their own families and communities. Each storyteller speaks of a personal struggle and a turning point when an opportunity presented itself to…