This week is the Forest of Reading Festival. It’s Canada’s largest recreational reading program and even has its own awards. ParaNorthern and the Chaos Bunny A-hop-calypse was one of the nominees for the Silver Birch Fiction Award, and it was such an honour to be included.
The ceremony has been broadcast this week and my award category went live this morning. We didn’t wind up winning but just being a part of it was incredible. This honour put ParaNorthern in front of so many young readers, librarians, and educators and I couldn’t be more grateful.
Congratulations to Deadman’s Castle by Iain Lawrence for winning in our category. And congrats to the two honour titles, Alice Fleck’s Recipes for Disaster by Rachelle Delaney and The Language of Ghosts by Heather Fawcett. So well deserved and I cannot state this enough: I was so honoured to be included alongside these incredible books.
Here are all of the nominated books within our category. If you haven’t checked them out already, be sure to do so.
This is a bit late…we’re already nearly halfway through May. But I’ve finally gone through my reads from April and put together a list for y’all to check out. .
- Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons #1 by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Phil Jimenez – A jaw-droppingly stunning book filled with mythology and incredible art.
- Shirley & Jamila’s Big Fall by Gillian Goerz – A delightful follow-up to the first graphic novel in this series. I deliberately use the word “follow-up” rather than sequel since this is totally standalone (as is the first) and require any additional context to enjoy. The characters are engaging and relatable and I loved that the stakes rose in this story, revolving around privilege, bullying, and more. Goerz is excellent at adding in other subtle details exploring deeper themes and messages. Young readers will definitely enjoy this book and series, especially if they enjoy a good mystery to unravel.
- Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 1 by Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe – This manga took me by surprise! It’s D&D but what happens after the party ends their adventure and what comes after. The relationships formed and the connections shared and what happens to everyone when all but one are mortal. Surprisingly contemplative and beautiful, focusing on quieter moments in fantasy storytelling.
- Lightfall: The Girl & the Galdurian by Tim Probert – One of the most beautiful and extraordinary graphic novels I’ve read in a while. Top-notch art and colours pair perfectly with the story of two companions as they travel together on an epic quest. It feels cinematic and the art guides you around the page effortlessly conveying the tale. Truly wonderful and worth reading.
- The Deep & Dark Blue by Niki Smith – When a family is torn apart by a murderous play for power, young twins flee to the Communion of Blue where they hide until they can make a move to enact justice. However, along the way, each twin begins to discover more about themselves as they find their true places in the world. A beautiful story with stunning art and palettes. An exploration of identity, family, acceptance, and more.
- Piranesi by Susana Clarke – I know lots of people who love the heck out of this book…I was not one of them. It was fine but it felt so deliberately dense and I struggled to get through it. I did make it all the way to the end but even having completed it, I’m still not entirely sure what actually happened. I was definitely into the concept and the worldbuilding but there wasn’t enough of that for me overall.
And then a few things that I read but don’t have much to say about them:
- Best Friends by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham
- The Apothecary Diaries Manga, Vol. 1 by Natsu Hyuuga, Nekokurage, Itsuki Nanao, and Touco Shino
- The Cardboard Kingdom by Chad Sell and Various Contributors
- Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray
What did you read in April? Leave a comment or reach out on socials and say hello!
It’s already MAY!?!?! Well, I’m relieved that it’s starting to finally get warmer out so as I get outside more, this list will maybe get a bit shorter. But for April, it’s still a pretty hefty list. If you’re curious about the films I watched (no reviews though!), visit my Letterboxd page here. Otherwise, let’s dive right in!
- The Dropout – The theme this spring seems to be TV shows that put a spotlight on con artist women. There was Inventing Anna and now hot on its heels is this mini-series starring Amanda Seyfried. I enjoyed it in that sort of way where everyone is deeply unlikeable but you just want to see where it all goes. Definitely compelling though, and an interesting look at women who weaponize the fact that men want to be able to pat themselves on the back for uplifting them without doing any research whatsoever.
- Is It Cake S1 – Okay so 1) I hate the trend of cakes that look like stuff. I hate it. 2) This host drove me absolutely bananas, especially with how he cuts cakes…SIR, WHO RAISED YOU?! so I pretty much hate-watched this show and screamed at the TV the entire time. It was mostly background noise while I did some other things in my downtime but when I did watch, it was with a fiery dislike.
- The Ultimatum S1 – I couldn’t stop talking about this show for the entire time I watched it (aka over the course of two days). I love a show that makes me feel like I’ve got my life together. Anyways, what a concept! An absolutely bananas show from the people who brought us the equally bananas Love is Blind.
- Abbott Elementary S1 – Everyone said that this show was delightful and they were right. The Office but set at a deeply underfunded public school. A wholesome teacher wanting to make a difference, several jaded teachers who’ve been at it for too long, and a principal who doesn’t have a single thought in her head. *CHEF’S KISS*
- RuPaul’s Drag Race S14 – It’s no secret that I love me some Drag Race. This season was great and I loved pretty much all of the queens. I was super happy with the queens that made it to the final and without spoiling anything, I was really happy with the winner too. I think the runner-up maybe deserved it a smidge more but I was still pleased with how things shook out.
- Minx S1 – I watched this on a whim and wound up loving it. It’s a bit of a caricature of feminism at times but I think that it just really works for the character, the time period, and it was overall a really great show! I’m stoked about where they go from here although if they somehow write out Jake Johnson, I WILL RIOT.
- Heartstopper S1 – And finally, HEARTSTOPPER! which is aptly named. I love the comics so much and to see them adapted so beautifully made me incredibly happy. It was like…what if we made Skins wholesome? They gave me those teen beats bops throughout the show but with romance, light drama, and ALL THE FEELINGS. Except for the incredibly devastating ones where they kill off your faves (looking at you again, Skins…)
I didn’t include shows that I’ve been doing a rewatch of but I finished Gravity Falls S1 again as well as Schitts Creek S3. A+ highly recommend. I love them.
And that’s pretty much it for this month! What did you watch and enjoy?
This past week was Canadian Children’s Book Week and I had the honour of being one of the guest authors for the 45th Book Week tour. The wonderful team at the Canadian Children’s Book Centre paired me up with schools and libraries in Alberta, Quebec, and Nova Scotia.
We discussed Creating Graphic Novels, breaking down some of my work as well as what goes on behind the scenes when making comic books. I want to give a shout-out to the CCBC team as well as the wonderful coordinators and hosts who had me speak to their delightful students.
Thank you to Devon Public Library, Cochrane Public Library, Canmore Public Library, Heritage Hills Elementary School, Gaspesie Polyvalent, The Sacred Heart School of Montreal, Halifax Public Library, and the Hebrew Academy of Montreal.
I had such an incredible time speaking to you all and I want to thank you for your engaging questions and enthusiasm. I hope that you all learnt something and I was able to leave you with a little bit of my passion for comics and graphic novels. And should you want to make graphic novels someday yourself, I can’t wait to read them!
<3 <3 <3
