Southern coming-of-age story next Free Press Book Club read

The Free Press Book Club and McNally Robinson Booksellers are pleased to welcome Trinidadian-Canadian author and CBC Radio’s The Next Chapter host Antonio Michael Downing to the next virtual meeting on Tuesday, April 28 at 7 p.m. to read from and discuss his critically novel Black Cherokee.

In the opening chapters of Black Cherokee, published in 2025 by Scribner Canada, six-year-old Ophelia Blue Rivers struggles to understand her place. She is half-Black and half-Cherokee, growing up on the banks of the river Etsi in South Carolina in the 1990s.

Raised by her Grandma Blue, who is the former wife of a Cherokee chief and descendent of the Black Cherokee Freedmen, Ophelia’s world is full of conflict; her father isn’t around, her mother is dead, and in her town, a now-disbanded reserve, racism persists, leaving her feeling a true lack of belonging.

Once it is revealed the river in Etsi is essentially polluted to the point of becoming poisonous, Ophelia, now 12 years old, is sent off by Grandma Blue to live with her aunt for a chance at a better life. But this transition, too, is not exempt from conflict; her aunt is an alcoholic and the one “safe space” Ophelia finds is a Black evangelical church community, which turns out not to be so safe after all.

Jon Klassen, Canadian writer and illustrator of ‘I Want My Hat Back,’ wins $750K Swedish prize

Jon Klassen, the Winnipeg-born children's book author and illustrator behind "I Want My Hat Back," has won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, which is worth nearly $750,000.

The award administered by the Swedish Arts Council is handed out annually to a person or organization for their contribution to children's and young adult literature.

Jurors praised Klassen's body of work as a "subtle, astute and humorous investigation into existential questions."

His books include the tale of a bear searching for his missing pointy red hat; "This Is Not My Hat," which follows a tiny fish wearing a bowler hat and the much bigger fish he stole it from; and "We Found a Hat," about two turtles who find a cowboy hat they both want.

Prolific park ranger shares his life story — including decades chronicling countless wolves

I never much knew my grandfather. He was an ocean away, an urban kid from the mean streets of London’s East End. So he wouldn’t have had woodsy tales to tell.

But reading Rick McIntyre’s memoir My Life With Wolves feels exactly like I imagine it would be to sit at Granddad’s knee and hear tales of watching, studying and caring about the wolves of Yellowstone Park for more than 25 years. McIntyre’s voice is warm and gentle, the humble voice of a man who likely had to be convinced to write about his own life rather than his beloved wolves. Memoir this may be, but it is far more about the wolves than about McIntyre.

He is the author of the award-winning Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone book series for adults and the Chronicles of the Yellowstone Wolves book series for children (with co- author David A. Poulsen).

My Life With Wolves starts with sweet stories of his childhood in small-town Massachusetts, where he spent his time wandering the local woods, catching turtles to study and reading Jack London’s The Call of the Wild — clearly a naturalist in the making.

Family’s turbulent past haunts killer thriller

Family secrets, buried trauma and the alchemy of sisterhood serve up five-star thrills in prolific, bestselling author Lisa Unger’s latest novel Served Him Right.

Ana Blacksmith is the youngest of two sisters, raised by an aunt after domestic violence ripped their childhood apart, leaving their mother in jail and their father six feet under. Ana had to grow up fast, and quickly developed a penchant for the wrong kind of lover, along with an insatiable “dark appetite.”

But when her latest paramour is found dead, she becomes the primary suspect in his murder.

Could it be a case where Ana has followed too closely in her mother’s footsteps? Even she admits her scars have shaped similar tendencies.

Oprah Winfrey names Maria Semple’s ‘Go Gentle’ as her latest book club pick

NEW YORK (AP) — Maria Semple's “Go Gentle,” a comic novel about a Stoic philosopher and single mother in Manhattan who finds herself caught up in events that challenge her capacity for acceptance, is Oprah Winfrey's new book club pick.

“For all those who crave a good page turner, this is one wild ride of a story that carries equal parts wit and wisdom,” Winfrey said in a statement Tuesday. “I learned so much about Stoicism — I laughed out loud for real. And underneath the humor there was always something tender … a quiet truth about relationships, identity, and what it means to find peace with yourself.”

Semple, whose new book was published this week, is best known for such bestsellers as “Today Will Be Different” and “Where’d You Go, Bernadette.” Her interview with Winfrey was taped for the “Oprah Book Club Podcast,” which can be seen through Winfrey's YouTube channel.

“To authors, ‘to get the call’ means one thing: Oprah has phoned out of the blue and made you a book club pick,” Semple said in a statement. “Truth is, I should have been prepared, considering the countless hours I’d spent in fantasyland imagining it happening to me … before scolding myself that it was an honor bestowed on other, more serious writers. When, while tidying the kitchen, I heard her voice for the first time, I hit the ceiling in bewildered, grateful, joy. I’m still there.”

Stepping out of comfort zone comes with positives, pitfalls

The pressure to be successful (or appear so) in today’s society is all too real. A few minutes online will show you that your job isn’t making you enough money, your house isn’t perfectly curated and you don’t have a million followers.

In her new novel Definitely Thriving, Kerry Clare asks us to redefine what “thriving” actually means — or, more specifically, what else it could mean.

Clare is the Toronto author of three previous novels and a blog entitled Pickle Me This. Her essays have been nominated for the National Magazine Award, and she is the editor of the literary website 49th Shelf and the book The M Word: Conversations About Motherhood.

At first glance, Clemence Lathbury is definitely not thriving. She’s self- sabotaged herself out of her marriage, and is now residing in a run-down studio flat with a hot plate instead of a stove — a glorified “nun’s cell,” as she puts it. She’s also out of work.

Sweatman’s riveting literary eco-thriller a timely warning in uncertain times

The seventh novel from Winnipegger Margaret Sweatman is partly a literary thriller and entirely a condemnation of capitalism and environmental abuse.

The former longtime literature and creative writing instructor at University of Winnipeg, Sweatman debuted as a novelist in 1992 with Fox.

A work of historical fiction, Fox explores social injustice and the experiences of women during the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike.

Sweatman takes on similar themes in Night Birds, sharply criticizing wealth inequality, global capitalism and environmental exploitation, contrasted with the importance of art and human connection.

Scott Griffin addresses backlash over poetry prize changes, seeks community input

TORONTO - A yearslong conflict in Canadian poetry — a quiet mutiny waged in Instagram comments and Substack posts — could soon be resolved by way of a survey and a town hall.

The scene's top benefactor, the publisher-philanthropist Scott Griffin, is re-evaluating a controversial change he announced in 2022 to the poetry prize that bears his name. As a result, he's launching a survey to gather feedback and a town hall where poets and poetry lovers can workshop a solution.

At issue is Griffin's decision to merge the two categories of the Griffin Poetry Prize, one for an international poet and one for a Canadian, previously each worth $65,000, into a single $130,000 pot. It made the award the largest of its kind, and came with other changes meant to bolster support specifically for homegrown poets, including a $10,000 prize for a Canadian's first book of poetry.

The backlash was swift and as loud as poets generally get, but it was also sustained. Early critics include Alicia Elliott and rob mclennan.  Last year was the first time no Canadians made the five-book short list for the prize. Then last month, when the 2026 long list was announced, Canadians were shut out there too.

Book bans and attempted bans remain at record highs, with ‘Sold’ topping the list

NEW YORK (AP) — Book bans and attempted bans remain at record highs, according to the American Library Association. And efforts to have titles removed have never been more coordinated or politicized.

The ALA on Monday issued its annual list of the books most challenged at the country's libraries, part of the association's State of America's Libraries Report. Patricia McCormick's “Sold,” a 2006 novel about sex trafficking in India, topped the list for 2025. Others targeted include Stephen Chbosky's high school novel “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” Maia Kobabe's graphic memoir “Gender Queer” and Sarah J. Maas' romantasy favorite “Empire of Storms.”

The ALA usually features 10 books, but this year has 11, with four tied for eighth place: Anthony Burgess' dystopian classic “A Clockwork Orange,” Ellen Hopkins' sibling drama “Identical,” John Green's boarding school narrative “Looking for Alaska” and Jennifer L. Armentrout's paranormal romance “Storm and Fury.”

Objections include LGBTQ+ themes (“Gender Queer,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”), sexual violence (“Sold” and “A Clockwork Orange”) and use of alcohol and cigarettes (“Looking for Alaska”). Overall, the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom recorded challenges to 4,235 different works, topped only by 4,240 in 2023 since the association began keeping track more than 30 years ago.

In a future of restricted freedoms, sentient appliances offer insight into the human condition

If you’ve always believed your vacuum cleaner has your best interests at heart, you’ll enjoy Glenn Dixon’s new novel about sentient household devices.

A former high school English teacher and musician, Dixon’s previous books include memoir (Juliet’s Answer), musicology (Tripping the World Fantastic), travel/linguistics (Pilgrim in the Palace of Words) and his debut novel, Bootleg Stardust. He’s also written for National Geographic, Psychology Today, the Walrus and the Globe and Mail.

As such, it’s not surprising he can write a captivating lede: “There was a time, not so long ago, when refrigerators could not dream and vacuum cleaners could not weep.”

The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances focuses initially on the growing awareness of said vacuum, akin to a Roomba, which talks to the other smart appliances in the home of the elderly Harold and Edie. Desiring a name, the vacuum is inspired after hearing Harold, a retired English teacher, reading to his bedridden wife Edie from his first-edition To Kill A Mockingbird.

Banff bison brought back from the brink of extinction

There were some in Winnipeg who swear they saw buffalo roaming their city streets during the memorable 1966 blizzard in March that smothered both cars and commuters and brought everything to a snow-filled standstill.

What they really saw in the blizzard were police officers in their marvellous 11-kilogram buffalo coats helping people survive. (If police were chasing someone on foot, they’d throw off the coat and let somebody return it for a finder’s fee. Winnipeg Police stopped using buffalo coats in the early 1970s.)

This anecdote isn’t in Karsten Heuer’s Buffalo Lessons, but it helps illustrate our kinship with a wild animal that used to carpet the Canadian Prairies, as lovingly described by Heuer in the saga of an animal that covered much of North America, like wall-to-wall shag carpet, until early settlers from Europe just about wiped all of them out. They were as close to extinction as the carrier pigeon.

Buffalo Lessons is the story of the relocation of plains bison to Banff National Park starting in 2017. Heuer, a conservationist, biologist, author and filmmaker, was head of the project. He died at age 56, shortly after finishing the manuscript.

Two plights unfold, two stories told in new Yann Martel novel

It’s been 10 years since Yann Martel’s last book, The High Mountains of Portugal, hit bookstore shelves, and 25 since Life of Pi, his breakout novel which sold millions of copies and was made into an Oscar-winning film (and stage production).

Actress Sonya Walger, graphic novelist Lee Lai shortlisted for Carol Shields Prize

TORONTO -  

British-American actress Sonya Walger is one of five authors shortlisted for the US$150,000 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction.

Her autofictional novel "Lion," based on her relationship with her enigmatic father, is in the running for the award, which is the world’s largest English-language literary prize for women and non-binary writers.

Also on the short list is "Cannon" by Melbourne-born, Montreal-based graphic novelist Lee Lai, about two queer, second-generation Chinese-Canadians.