Canada Reads 2011

Set and costumes from Jerome: A Historical Spectacle

When I first began following Canada Reads it didn't even occur to me to read the books. I was following it because I had spent some time with author Ami McKay and her family at Ross Creek Centre for the Arts in the summer of 2008. I was the Assistant Director for their summer camp programs and Two Planks and a Passion Theatre were performing Ami's Jerome: A Historical Spectacle which was done with a kind of dynamic sideshow charm.

I read The Birth House that summer and enjoyed it immensely. It was the kind of book that acts as a doorway into another existence. When I picked it up I became an observer of another life that took place all around me. My memories of the book are as tangible as things that have actually happened to me. It gently took hold of me, even to the extent that I started collecting jars full of herbs and reading up on their uses. The magic of Ami's words are something I rarely experience as an adult reader and I was thrilled to see The Birth House in the final two selections for Canada Reads 2011.

Quickly realizing that the Canada Reads program was intended to act as an incentive for Canadians to actually read, I went about placing holds on a few of the books at the Stratford Public Library. While I was waiting for my holds to come in I headed over to the website of Terry Fallis, author of The Best Laid Plans. Having had difficulty getting this gem published Terry recorded it and released it as a free podcast. It started gaining momentum and wouldn't you know, it is now the winner of both the Steven Leacock Award for Humor and Canada Reads 2011.

The book was fresh, well-crafted, and very amusing. Terry has excellent elocution and it was great to hear the novel told in the author's own voice. His anecdotes rolled gently along, building, like a wave approaching the shore until they broke leaving me in fits of laughter. While it may be the only political satire I ever read, it was a wonderful story that I won't soon forget.

The next time I was in the library there was a hold waiting for me. My excitement bubbled up and I tried to contain myself. The librarian disappeared and when she returned she was carrying a book as thick as an encyclopedia. Only slightly daunted I took hold of it, finding it lighter than expected, and carried it home in my arms. It was Essex County by Jeff Lemire.

The book is a graphic novel trilogy depicting the lives and histories of interconnected families growing up in Essex County Ontario. Their stories are touching, more-so than one would expect from a graphic novel if you consider the genre as a whole. The historic breadth and depth of character that the author has constructed make it a timeless piece and I have no doubt that it has won a place as the first significant graphic novel in the history of Canadiana. The illustrations, also done by Jeff Lemire, are what bring the story and the feelings it evokes to life. They are simple and emotive, the way the novel itself comes across. I enjoyed spending time with this book, like a distant relative who encompasses another side of your own story. I'd like to add to my library.

In The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou, the reader experiences a glimpse into the lives of two young and promising athletes as they prepare for the Olympic games. Their strength and ambition is contagious but as the tides turn and life begins to interrupt their regimented training schedule questions arise regarding the purpose and value of a life dedicated to athletics. The book was short and fast paced like swimming lengths of a pool. It tied me into the characters and left me empathetic, contemplating many of the questions they themselves struggled with.

Out of the top five Canada Reads finalists of 2011 the one book I have not yet read is Unless by Carol Shields. After reading summaries of the book I have to admit it appeals to me because I know I'll relate to Norah, the 19-year-old daughter of a successful writer named Reta Winters. Something happens to Norah to make her give up her semi-charmed life. She goes from the security of a loving family, boyfriend, and potential university degree to living on the streets of Toronto, a sign reading "goodness" hanging around her neck. The story is of Reta's struggle to understand her daughter's actions and the relation between goodness and happiness.

Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield's FreakAngels

I used to think that comics were stupid. Really. I didn't want to read about superheroes and crime-fighting gadgets. I thought the whole genre was for stinky, acne-ridden, anti-socialites.

Then my friend lent me Alan Moore's Watchmen, a literary masterpiece. (This was before the annoying smudge-faced, sticky-fingered, dirty-diapered baby brother of a movie started tagging along.) It opened my eyes to an entire genre of genius works.

The second thing I read was Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan. The work was crass, dirty, hard, critical, eye-opening. It felt like the cutting edge. It shadowed the Bush/Gore election scandal that at the time I was still hopping mad about. Spider Jerusalem is the unapologetic lead character, a gonzo journalist who's returned to the filthy metropolis to fulfill a book contract. I've seen it described as "mind-bendingly cool" and I whole-heartedly agree.

Warren Ellis is a media-tracking machine. He rips through news feeds like a mechanical velociraptor, biting off huge chunks, ripping them apart, and spitting the relevant stuff out here.

His most recent comic project is FreakAngels. He's teamed up with Paul Duffield and they're releasing it a week at a time online--for free. It reminds me of John Wyndham's The Chrysalids but with post-apocalyptic cyberpunks instead of kids. Anyway, it's got some adult content so watch the little ones: FreakAngels Episode 1.

I read to the end of book five in two days. He's on the last book.

Donate Food With the Click of Your Mouse

The Hunger Site has been around for over ten years. With the click of a button visitors can contribute one cup of food per day to the United Nations World Food Programme.

When I found out about this site I was astonished. I was sixteen years old and couldn't comprehend how the click of my mouse could translate into food for hungry people overseas.

The site is sponsored by Mercy Corps, Feeding America (formerly Second Harvest), and Millennium Promise. All advertising revenue is donated to charities through the site owner the GreaterGood Network. Fairly-traded gifts are also sold through the site support the communities in which they are made.

Sister sites that run on the same click-to-give system support Breast Cancer Research, Child Health, Literacy, Rainforest Preservation, and Animal Rescue. They can be found on tabs at the top of the website.

Free Rice, an initiative of the UN World Food Programme, is another click-to-give style site. This one is a quiz game with different levels of difficulty as well as different categories that include geography, math, chemistry, and languages. I can (and do) play this for hours.

To provide a hot meal to someone in Haiti you can take the Haiti Hunger IQ quiz.

The ways to contribute to an increasingly global community are numerous and sometimes as easy as clicking a button. If you want to contribute daily, set your browser's homepage to one of these sites by (in Firefox) clicking Tools --> Options, then copy and past the URL (www.thehungersite.com) where is says Home Page.

Happy Clicking!

The Hockey Sweater Revisited

In public school, whenever we visited the Welland Public Library, before we even got to smell the books, our class would be ushered into the AV room. As we took our seats on the floor, the librarian would roll out the film projector and welcome us to the library. She'd flick the light switches and the projector would start rolling...3....2....1....blink...and the screen would come alive with a story from the National Film Board-stories that are woven into the fabric of our Canadian identity.

This Christmas, I worked at Family & Company, the most wonderful toy store one could imagine. The wooden floors creak, Frosty and Soldier Boy dance in the windows, everywhere there are beautiful and unique items that are virtually undiscoverable in regular departments stores. The staff sing Christmas songs throughout the season and offer you a teacup full of hot apple cider as they lovingly wrap your gifts.

This year we offered a very special item homegrown in St. Mary's called the Hockey Sockey, made by the creators of the Pook Touque. Hockey Sockeys are toques meant to look like hockey pants and they come in colours for each of the NHL's teams.

One fateful day a woman came in to buy a small boy a Hockey Sockey. "What team would you like?" I asked expectantly and the woman replied, "...well his coat is red so I'll get that one." She pointed at the red and white one, the Detroit Red Wings. I inhaled sharply, failing to hide my shock and surprise. It was the NFB's film The Sweater all over again:

http://www.nfb.ca/playlists/hockey_movies/viewing/sweater/

Foreword

The intention of this blog when it was created in 2008 was to create a body of work that would one day, perhaps, come together as a novel. Over the span of a few years, the author dabbled in self-reflective and obtuse writings that nobody would really want to read. Ashamed, she kept it a secret and finally converted them into a word document and threw them into the vault.

While this blog is no longer a platform for the evolution of the novel, the author insists the title be kept despite the confusion this may cause for people now and down the road.

A Novel Evolution is intended to be a platform for creativity, critical thinking, encouragement, sharing of life experiences and perhaps the occasional rant. It is meant to be something you will enjoy reading and the author hopes that you do.


Cheers,
Ravioli Ralph,
Writer of Forewords