Prairie Feast: A Writer’s Journey Home For Dinner by Amy Jo Ehman Published by Coteau Books Review by Shelley A. Leedahl $24.95 ISBN 978-1-55050-413-2 Amy Jo Ehman’s book is scrumptious. Part memoir, part “How To” (eat locally), part stand-up comedy, and part recipe book with glossy photos, Prairie Feast: a writer’s journey home for dinner is a literary, culinary, and, dare I say a cultural tour de force. From berry picking to fowl (or “fall”) suppers (“Choosing which [one] to attend is like choosing between movies when all the blockbusters are out”); from zucchini overload to the vagaries of small-town food festivals, this revelatory book is the very personification of Saskatchewan. Ehman grew up on a farm near Craik and her rural upbringing remains central to her heart. It also fuels her appetite for fresh prairie … well, everything. In 2005, Ehman and her husband embarked on a year of eating locally­­­ – almost everything they ate, from spices to mushrooms to the flour she baked with – had to be produced in Saskatchewan. Readers are privy not only to how the pair managed, but why it’s important to support local producers and grow one’s own food, and just how…

Interruptions in Glass by Tracy Hamon Published by Coteau Books Review by Shelley A. Leedahl $16.95 ISBN 978-1-55050-426-2 If there’s a theme in the stylistically-varied poems inside Regina writer Tracy Hamon’s second book, Interruptions in Glass, it might be that most of the pieces seem to ponder the question: “How do we lead a good life?” Smart woman that she is, Hamon doesn’t offer answers, but in disparate poems that follow trails of desire, loneliness, the seasons, and literary and mythic figures, she surreptitiously asks compelling questions while spelling out what it’s like to be a complex woman in a complex world. There’s a zinger of a phrase in almost every poem. She writes that “sentences chauffeured along” (“A Phone Call from an Imaginary Friend”); of the “gradual\winch of swollen lids” (“How to Walk the Road to Nowhere”); of boats that “hip-check the dock” (“After the Storm”); and, in this highly body-aware collection, of an “autumn arm\driftwood shoulder” (“The Heart Takes a Plunge”). The titles reflect the book’s sometimes somber tone, but Hamon juxtaposes these serious, reflective pieces with great dobs of humour, as demonstrated in “Something to do on your Birthday,” in which the narrator suggests placing an ad…

Danger in Dead Man’s Mine by Dave Glaze Published by Coteau Books for Kids Reviewed by Shanna Mann $8.95 ISBN1-978-1-55050-416-3 Danger in Dead Man’s Mine is a great book, especially for reluctant readers. The Mackenzie Davis Files (this book is third in the series) is set in 1912 on the prairies. The author does a terrific job of settling the reader into the era without being too obtrusive. It’s possible that the younger reader will not even notice the quaint details, like the fact that dishes are washed in a basin, not a sink, using soap flakes, not detergent, and the dirty water is carefully toted outside to water the vegetables. Mackenzie travels with his mother and sister to Lethbridge, so that his mother can take care of his pregnant aunt. Since his uncle is sick, his aunt is bedridden, and his mother has her hands full with the household, Mackenzie and his cousins are at loose ends. Unlike a lot of books, the author doesn’t make the mistake of allowing his protagonist to make extravagant changes and experience sweeping success. Instead, he shows the boys hunts gophers for a few pennies (there is a bounty on the tails) or…

The Practice of Perfection by Mary Frances Coady Coteau Books Reviewed by Gail Jansen $18.95 ISBN 978-1-55050-400-2 Perfection is an attribute few of us try to attain, but in the inner sanctum of a convent, it is above all else, something that is strived for. But who are these women whose aim is perfection? And how does the transformation from ordinary girl to reverent nun take place? These are the compelling mysteries regarding religious life as it was back in 1959 that Mary Frances Coady looks to unravel in her first book of short fiction, The Practice of Perfection. A collection of integrated stories told from separate points of view, each story looks deeply into the hearts and minds of young novice nuns, following them as they go about their day’s observances. A stylistic technique employed by Coady allows readers to truly see the struggle, doubt and perseverance each novice experiences from the inside out. She shows us through her writing that even as they aim for God’s perfection, beneath their habits lie the ordinary human failings that exist in us all. Evoking the stark and simple lifestyle of those cloistered with unembellished words and repeated images, Coady bestows an…

Euphoria by Connie Gault Published by Coteau Books Review by Shelley A. Leedahl $21.00 ISBN 978-1-55050-409-5 It’s no surprise that Connie Gault’s historical novel, Euphoria: A Novel, was shortlisted for the 2009 Book of the Year (Saskatchewan Book Awards). The Regina writer of stage and radio plays and author of two well-received short story collections is one of those (too rare) writers who takes the time to get each book right, and now, with Coteau’s release of Euphoria, Gault’s secured her place as one of Saskatchewan’s most talented. The structuring of time and place is especially admirable in this novel. The story itself is what’s sometimes referred to as a quiet novel; the focus is on character development rather than a dramatic plot (though the aftermath of the Regina “cyclone” of 1912 does figure prominently). It’s a testament to Gault’s literary finesse that she not only keeps readers interested in the “quiet” lives of these characters who live, work, oversee, and, in the case of Orillia Cooper, convalesce in boarding houses, but that she also successfully shuffles these many lives – forward and back – over decades and disparate locations, without missing a beat. The author begins with two central…

Shadow Boxing by Sherie Posesorski Published by Coteau Books Reviewed by Shanna Mann $12.95 ISBN 978-1-55050-406-4 Meet Alice Levitt. She’s a 16-year-old “high functioning depressive” who lives with her egotistical criminal lawyer father. Alice deals with her beloved mother’s death and her disgust of her distant father by working compulsively –she has an A+ average and two part-time jobs. To calm the screams inside her head, Alice cuts herself. Her only lifeline is her cousin, Chloe, who takes care of her infected cuts and begs her to stop. But Chloe can’t help Alice much when she already has so many problems of her own. In fact, her main value to Alice is to give Alice someone to care for and think about so she won’t have to examine her own questionable behavior. Like the shadow boxes of the title, Alice’s world is starkly compartmentalized and monochromatic. When events are narrated by Alice, there is a palpable sense of the rage and futility she struggles ceaselessly against. The monocular focus on details like the bag people on the streets, the smell of local Yiddish take-out blended with the acrid stench of the tobacconist’s, and the irrelevant histories of local landmarks demonstrate…

Terrible Roar of Water by Penny Draper Published by Coteau Books Review by Karen Lawson $8.95 ISBN 978-1-55050-414-9 Penny Draper once again hits the mark with her latest young adult novel in the Disaster Strikes Series. This exciting story is set in a remote fishing village in Newfoundland and focuses on the tsunami that hit there on November 18, 1929. Draper is a gifted writer who understands how to combine historical facts and fiction. It is obvious that she conducts a great deal of in-depth research in order to maintain historical accuracy in her book. Draper weaves a page turner of a story that merges fictional characters and authentic historical facts. She also explores the culture and traditions of a fishing village to show what life was like at that time. The hero of her tale is Murphy, a twelve year old boy who loves the sea and the life of a fisherman. He lives in a small outport with his aunt, uncle, and cousins. The life of a fisherman is full of struggle and danger but Murphy embraces it with passionate enthusiasm. Murphy’s life is turned upside down in a matter of minutes one night when his community is…

Fight for Justice by Lori Saigeon Published by Coteau Books Review by Shanna Mann $7.95 ISBN 978-1-55050-405-7 Fight for Justice, a middle years novel by Regina author and inner-city elementary teacher Lori Saigeon, is unique in giving authentic voice to bullying in urban schools and vividly portraying bullying behavior as a precursor for gang involvement. It was easy to sympathize with Justice’s motivations; his machismo, his responsibility as man of the house and his need to protect his twin sister Charity. Students and adults will identify with his slippery slope of bad decisions that leads to his isolation from the protection of adults and further vulnerability to the bullies. But Justice isn’t stupid. He asks for advice, he studies the adults around them and assesses their behavior. How will they react if he tells them about being bullied? Will they do something dumb (from his perspective) like simply tell Trey to stop it? With maturity and clarity, Justice assesses the people in his life and puts them into categories. Are they his allies, does he protect himself from them, or is he their protector? Lori Saigeon is deadly accurate in her portrayal of not only the instigation and escalation, but…

Fight for Justice by Lori Saigeon Published by Coteau Books Review by Ryan Melnyk $7.95 ISBN: 978-1-55050-405-7 School for a child can be one of the most terrifying places he or she might go. In the case of Justice, the main character of Fight for Justice, every corner is one worth worrying about. We all know that school is full of bullies and it is said that if you just mind your own business, no one will bother you. However, the modern bully in an elementary school these days has changed; it is now rare that one will do anything wrong without a group of people to help conceal his or her actions and torment the victim. They also do not resort to physical conflict without reason because they know more trouble will come if the victim had been physically hurt. Even the appearance of bullies today is different; you might think that the biggest kid on the playground is the one who picks on everyone. Bullying today is often mental abuse and even spiritual abuse. Bullies are good at finding kids’ weak points. Fighting for Justice deals with every kind of bullying children might face in the early years…

Claudia by Britt Holmström Published by Coteau Books Review by Sandy Bonny $21.00 ISBN-13 987-1-55050-395-1 Britt Holmström’s fourth novel Claudia moves along the fine boundaries of appearance and private truth. An upper middle-class widow living in Regina, Claudia Hewitt has framed her life perfectly. Childhood poverty in Sweden with her Latvian refugee mother is far behind her, as are the embarrassments of her ‘too big’ nose and adolescent chubbiness. Her grown children’s mishaps are glossed by white lies, and Claudia has carefully protected her family and aging mother from the fact that she has witnessed three brutal murders – first as a teenager in Sweden, later while backpacking in Spain, and finally from the window of her beloved husband’s study in Regina. Does bearing witness make her complicit in these tragedies? Does her silence? And what secrets, out of love or fear of judgment, have Claudia’s mother and children kept from her? Claudia is written in a world where violence is inevitable, where female sexuality can corrupt and degrade as well as empower, and where love can nourish healing. Moving backward and forward in time, and between Winnipeg, Regina, Sweden, Spain, and Latvia, ‘Claudia’ covers a lot of ground. Details…