Independent Book Reviews for Independent Readers.
Written for middle-grade readers, TIMEFLIES takes the time travel trope in a different direction: the three children, Grizelda (Griz), Sam and his sister Alisha can only time travel to get answers to a question they pose. Once they get the answer, they are back in the present. Oh, and in their travels, they are three common houseflies. Different, isn’t it? And how do they get to perform this feat you ask?… Continue reading
Manbeena Bhullar Sandhu holds a degree in substance abuse and addictions, and a master’s degree in English literature. She is an addictions counsellor and currently lives and works in Toronto. This is her first book.
Layla in the Sky With Diamonds (2017, Archway Publishing) is a book containing several themes, but primarily the late 1960’s counterculture, drug addictions and the search for spirituality that followed the death of the Hippies.… Continue reading
Guevara was born in Barataria, Trinidad. She was shortlisted for the Small Axe Literary short fiction prize in 2012 and was also a finalist for the inaugural Burt Award for Caribbean Literature in 2014. She currently lives in Toronto where she works as an adult literacy and ESL instructor.
Under the Zaboca Tree (2017, Inanna Publications) is a Young Adult (YA) book that tells the story of Baby Girl (Melody) Sparks, and her trip to Trinidad and Tobago with her father Smokey (Nicholas) who has sole custody of her.… Continue reading
It has been two years since Algonquin Spring, was released (Book Two of the Algonquin Quest Series by Rick Revelle) but the timeline has advanced twelve years in Algonquin Sunset, which has allowed Anokì and Pangì, the children of the Algonquin warrior Mahingan, along with their cousins and other youngsters to grow into adulthood and bring them into new adventures as they meet with new tribes, both friend and enemy, in the present day area of the Great Lakes (Superior and Michigan) and even further west to the present day area of northern Minnesota where they meet up with a new fierce enemy: the Lakhotas.… Continue reading
Award-winning New Brunswick author Susan White’s newest young adult/middle-grader novel is Waiting for Still Water, a book centred around an extended family composed of foster children, past and present, who have been under the care of the redoubtable Amelia Walton, who owns a farm on Walton Lake on the Kingston Peninsula. Over the years, Amelia (a foster child herself) has fostered many children and has just one rule for her charges: “Do your part and spend an hour alone at the lake”.… Continue reading
World War II Internment Camp B70, better known as Ripples Internment Camp is a little-known part of New Brunswick (and Atlantic Canada) history. Located near the mining town of Minto, the camp existed from 1940-45. Little of it exists today; a concrete structure that supported a wooden water tower is the only permanent part of the camp still there. There is a walking trail through the area where the camp existed, and the Minto town hall hosts a museum containing hundreds of camp artefacts.… Continue reading
New Brunswick author Robert Rayner is the author of three adult novels, nine young adult novels, and five teen novels. His latest young adult novel is Black Water Rising (2016, Nimbus Publishing). His books have been shortlisted for the Ann Connor Brimer Children’s Literature Award and (four times) for the Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award. Six have been included in the Canadian Children’s Book Centre annual “Best Books” list, and one on the US Young Adult Library Services Association “Best Books to Get Teens Reading” list.… Continue reading
