The Door at the End of Everythingby Lynda MonahanPublished by Shadowpaw PressReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$19.99 ISBN 9781998273133 The metaphorical title of Lynda Monahan’s fifth poetry collection, The Door at the End of Everything, is lifted from her long, forthright poem of the same name. The piece is set in a mental health facility, and several of these saturnine new poems—particularly those in the book’s middle section, “Saying the Unsayable Things”—are based on the veteran SK writer, editor and workshop facilitator’s experiences as writer-in-residence at the Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert. I’d bet my snow boots that her facilitation of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Writing For Your Life group, and, much more intimately, personal and familial experience, also inspired these thoughtful poems. As Monahan writes, “there is poetry everywhere,” and bravo to her: she surely finds it. It’s on tattooed wrists that cover scars, the bulimic who “gorges even on [drinking water]”, and in the patient treated with ECT (Electroconvulsive therapy) who says he “returned home/like the dry cleaning/my mind pressed flat/as a pair of black dress pants”. These are plainspoken, powerful poems that speak to truth, hope and resilience, even when a donated coat (“buttons long since missing”)…

What If You Could?by Lynne Harley, Art by Kiram AkramPublished by Lynne Harley-Mastery for Life Coaching & ConsultingReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$16.99 ISBN 9781778218606 In my many years as a reviewer, I’ve noted that some of the best children’s stories are penned by those who bring professional knowledge—garnered after a career in a non-writing profession—to the page, and Lynne Harley’s a case in point. “After four decades as a social worker and transformational life coach, the former Camrose, AB writer, now living in Buchanan, SK, has now published her first children’s book, What If you Could?, and I’m certain any youngsters who find this colourful softcover in their hands will feel just as empowered to dream big as the story’s green caterpillar does. The story, told in rhyming verse, features a large-eyed caterpillar who is “Feeling bored” as he’s “munching and crunching” through leaves. On one “grey and gloomy day,” said caterpillar hears his inner voice, which suggests it’s time to turn over a new leaf (so to speak), and find “something new” in his life. Firstly, he begins observing the flora and fauna: “He saw squirrels, chattering noisily/playing a game of hide and seek,/and hungry baby robins gobbling/worms from…

What Fills Your House Like Smokeby E. McGregorPublished by Thistledown PressReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$19.95 ISBN 9781771872522 I must admit, the title of E. (Erin) McGregor’s debut poetry collection—What Fills Your House Like Smoke—greatly piqued my interest. I’m partial to similes and metaphors, and McGregor’s title was a poetic hook—what, exactly, does fill this Winnipeg poet’s house with metaphorical smoke? I guessed that butterflies and sweet peas wouldn’t be at the heart of it. McGregor holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia, and the sheer variety of poetic forms—prose poems; free verse; quatrains; couplets; concrete; and experimental, sound-oriented pieces—in the book is consistent with the range I’ve seen in other first books by creative writing students. What differentiates McGregor’s poetry, however, is its nearly singular focus on the theme of personal identity; often, first books “free range” across themes and subjects. McGregor’s poems weave pain into a story. McGregor is a “Euro-Settler/Métis,” and in her piece “Weeds”—another metaphor—she begins: “Don’t judge me too harshly/for not understanding the small things/that come with your blood”. In that same poem: “[white people] have me by the roots/it’s confusing”. The poet contends with her lineage, and,…

The Good Walk: Creating New Paths on Traditional Prairie Trailsby Matthew R. AndersonPublished by University of Regina PressReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$27.95 ISBN 9780889779655 Uncanny timing. I recently completed a pilgrimage walk—the 300-kilometer Camino de Santiago (Portuguese Coastal Route)—and not a week after my return from Europe I was reviewing a book about a very different—but much closer to home—set of pilgrimages. The Good Walk: Creating New Paths on Traditional Prairie Trails, by Swift Current-born and raised educator, author and Lutheran minister, Matthew Anderson (who’s also walked the Camino de Santiago), is compelling, exceedingly well-written and researched nonfiction concerning three ambitious Saskatchewan pilgrimages across Treaty 4 and 6 pastures, valleys, roads, ranches and farms, abandoned homesteads, brush belts, villages, First Nations’ reserves and more via the Traders’ Road/NWMP Patrol Trail (2015), the Battleford Trail (2017), and the Frenchman Trail (2018), and creating “healthy new stories” on the journey. “By walking,” Anderson writes, “our group was attempting to pay attention”. These “good walks” were undertaken by an eclectic assemblage—including clergy, writers, Elders, family members, a hydrologist, naturalist Trevor Herriot, and book dedicatee and Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society president Hugh Henry—to connect to the land and its stories while respecting the…

Ghost Hotelby Arthur SladePublished by Shadowpaw Press RepriseReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$14.99 ISBN 9781998273027 Ghost Hotel, the 2nd novel in prolific writer Arthur Slade’s Canadian Chills Series, is a spooky send-up for young readers and—abracadabra—it’s just been re-released. If you’re already a Slade fan, you may remember Ghost Hotel. First published in 2004, Shadowpaw Press Reprise has resurrected it … and lucky you if you have yet to discover it. The tone of this supernatural, middle years’ mystery—featuring junior detective friends “Wart” and Cindy—is light-hearted. Though the youthful leads are wise-crackers and the story’s a hoot, the author’s a serious writer with mad skills: you don’t have over thirty novels published if you’re a dabbler. Disclaimer: I know Arthur Slade. Back in the day, we wrote radio commercials in the same office. I read his first novel, Draugr, when it was still in manuscript form. I attended his wedding. As lovely as these things may be, they don’t matter as far as this review goes, for even if I was inclined to bolster a book on account of a long friendship, there’s no need to here: Slade’s books consistently win awards and fly off the shelves because he is simply…

The Genius Hour Projectby Leanne ShirtliffePublished by Thistledown PressReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$16.95 ISBN 9781771872577 As a sexagenarian, I never imagined I’d so enjoy a novel featuring an eleven-year-old protagonist, but here’s the thing: good literature is good literature, and Leanne Shirtliffe’s juvenile novel, The Genius Hour Project, certainly fits the bill. This engaging and realistic book was a distinct pleasure to read, with compelling characters and interesting relationship dynamics, and a few serious subplots (divorce, depression) that elevate it leagues above many middle-grade novels. It’s refreshing to read a story for this age group that doesn’t rely on slapstick humour or silly hijinks—the cast may be young, but they’re mature and intelligent. Shirtliffe’s a longtime educator, a school counsellor and parent who writes credibly about the school and home life of Francine (aka Frazzy), a self-deprecating only child and audiophile with a passion for vintage vinyl albums like The Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers. Frazzy’s mother is the busy mayor of “Riverdale,” and her dad stays at home, upcycles lampshades and sells items at flea markets—he also suffers from depression. The Calgary author’s deft treatment of how this manifests for Dad and how his family and friends deal with it…

Dentists Are No Big Dealby Debbie Kesslering and Ashley VercammenPublished by Home Style TeachersReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$25.00 ISBN 9781778152986 Writer and publisher Ashley Vercammen has teamed with another Saskatchewanian, Debbie Kesslering, of Viceroy, on a new title in Vercammen’s “No Big Deal” series of illustrated books for children. Vercammen is also a Registered Behaviour Technician, and it’s this position and her “belief that, with practice, some scary things can become No Big Deal” that are the impetuses behind the series. Kesserling, a mother of four who’s worked with “many World Class Dental Therapists, Dentists, Hygienists and Assistants,” dedicates the story to her “fellow ‘sugar bug catchers’”. The brightly-illustrated tale begins with young, bespeckled Nora waking with a smile to her dad’s announcement that on this “special day,” the girl’s going for a dental check-up. Nora knows that visiting the dentist is “no big deal,” but she’s not sure what the check-up’s about. Her father reminds her that “every morning and night we brush our teeth so we don’t get sugar bugs. But they are very sneaky!” What’s unusual—and wise—is that the father and daughter go through a pre-appointment practice session, and Rosie, “a bright red teddy bear,” gets to…

Haircuts Are No Big Dealby Ashley Vercammen, Illustrated by Putut PutriPublished by Home Style TeachersReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$20.00 ISBN 9781778152955 Here’s one young writer who’s on quite the roll. Saskatchewan children’s author, English as an Additional Language teacher, and Registered Behaviour Technician Ashley Vercammen has once again taken an ordinary experience—this time it’s getting a haircut—that can be scary for some children and she’s created a cheerful, step-by-step, illustrated guide to help the experience go more smoothly. Her softcover book Haircuts Are No Big Deal is good news for anxious children, accompanying parents, and barbers/stylists! It’s also fun to read and look at. The story—brightly-illustrated by Indonesian freelance illustrator Putut Putri in a cartoonish, round-eyed-character-style—is another in the Home Style Teacher series, and it will be especially helpful for youngsters or youth diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who don’t like to be touched, are anxious in unfamiliar situations and/or are uncomfortable with certain sounds. As we follow shaggy-haired Charlie and his mother through their discussion of his pending haircut, we see that the author’s employed the formula of a) creating a predictable schedule b) breaking down tasks into small and simple steps c) actively engaging a child’s attention…

Into the Continentby Emily McGiffinPublished by University of Regina PressReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$19.95 ISBN 9780889779891 I wasn’t sure how to begin Emily McGiffin’s poetry collection, Into the Continent, with its similar but opposite-side-up covers, front and back, and a Page 1 at either end. On one cover, a bayonetted rifle on a creamy background. On the other, a “Big Old Axe” against the same. As I chose a side (the rifle) to start my reading, I hoped I’d find the answer to why the book—praised by Jan Zwicky and Tim Lilburn—was structured thus. What is McGiffin, author of Between Dusk and Night and Of Land, Bones, and Money: Toward a South African Ecopoetics, metaphorically saying with this either way-ness and dramatic images? What I do know is that the University of Regina’s Oksana Poetry & Poetics book series, of which this book’s a part, concerns titles that “[probe] discussions of poetry’s cultural role”. I mined the internet and learned that the author/academic’s work “concerns the interplay of extractivism, empire, and expressive arts,” and she self-describes as “a multidisciplinary environmental humanities scholar researching arts, extraction, and environmental justice”. Currently a Research Fellow at University College London, she’s also studied and…

The Downloadedby Robert J. SawyerPublished by Shadowpaw PressReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$19.95 ISBN 9781989398999 Robert J. Sawyer is well-known in the science fiction realm. He’s written over two dozen novels and won the sci-fi world’s Big Three: the Hugo, the Nebula, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. His novel, FlashForward, inspired a same-named ABC TV series, and he also scripted the finale of the web series Star Trek Continues. Sawyer’s also a member of the Order of Canada. I don’t ordinarily read science fiction, but I am indeed aware of Robert J. Sawyer. I heard him present at a Saskatchewan Writers Guild conference decades ago, and remember thinking that his brand of sci-fi was something this fan of realistic literary fiction just might enjoy. Fast-forward to the present: I recently read his 2024 novel, The Downloaded, and appreciated how this talented author has created a reality where humans are still basically the same as the ones who currently walk the earth: they have complicated feelings, they make mistakes, they crack jokes. And, in the case of the twenty-four astronauts and thirty-five ex-cons who populate The Downloaded, they also make frequent movie references. The story is relayed through a series…