Yes, and Back Again by Sandy Marie Bonny Published by Thistledown Press Review by Shelley A. Leedahl $19.95 ISBN 978-1-77187-052-8 I didn’t know Yes, and Back Again was going to be that kind of book. I picked it up in the evening, intending to read only the first ten pages or so, then planned to devote the following day to it. Well, I finally put it down on page 110, and only because it was hours past my bedtime. This novel swept me up like the roaring South Saskatchewan River snatches debris off banks in the springtime. Saskatoon writer, artist, and educator Sandy Marie Bonny has crafted an ambitious story that melds history and the present, addresses cultures (specifically the Métis), and makes friends of wildly disparate people. There’s also a strong Tim Horton’s presence, text messaging, online police bulletins, and Facebook: talk about keeping it real. Bonny unrolls two parallel stories: one concerns a young high school math and Life Skills teacher, Neil, and his writer\researcher wife, Tanis. They’re tired but excited. They’ve just purchased an old home on Saskatoon’s west side (Avenue L), and their daily life includes making the former rental house livable (ie: removing the wheelchair…

The Sometimes Lake by Sandy Bonny Published by Thistledown Press Review by Alison Slowski $18.95 ISBN 978-1-897235-99-7 “My daddy used to say things about what we’re made out of to make my mom roll her eyes. Like crystals vibrating. Also energy balls.” – “Marrow”, by Sandy Bonny Sandy Bonny, a Saskatoon-based writer, creates a compelling collection of stories from all corners of life in The Sometimes Lake. These are funny, moving stories of real people in contemporary settings. They warm the heart with dynamic characters the reader can’t help but want to know more about. These stories include a pair of young, bereaved children in the exotic mountains of a Buddhist nunnery in India; the bored girlfriend of a beekeeper devoted to his vexing family; a new teacher trying to get his bearings-culturally and otherwise-with a Northern Canadian Dene community school; two lesbian university students brought together by a special mutual friend; and a little girl’s musing upon death and loss after her grandfather passes. Myth and belief intertwine when a young man who is situated at a commune becomes trapped and unable to leave, and when road builders from bygone days explore legends of their past. Bonny’s love of…