Here are 7 books that showcase diversity.
The Ghost Collector (Annick Press, www.annickpress.com)
I loved The Ghost Collector by Allison Mills. I read it myself and then immediately read it to my 11-year-old son, who also loved it. Shelly's grandmother, who is lliliw/Cree, helps ghosts move on to whatever is next by wrapping them in her hair, providing them some comfort before watching them fade away. Shelly is also able to collect spirits and help them transition on, as can her mom. But unlike Shelly, her mom doesn't like to do it and does not want Shelly to surround herself with ghosts.
When her mom dies unexpectedly, Shelly waits for her mom to appear as a ghost. In the meantime, she begins hoarding spirits, trapping people, dogs and cats in her room.
This book is based on the author's great-grandmother, Louisa, who was asked by the police to help them find missing people in Chapleau, Ontario. Excellent read, great characters and a neat story.
Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin (Kids Can Press, https://www.kidscanpress.com/ )
In this picture book by Chieri Uegaki and Qin Leng, Hana announces to her family she has signed up to play the violin at her school's talent show. Her brothers laugh, but Hana is determined, practising the sounds her grandfather, a professional violinist, played for her when she visited him in Japan.
As the talent show creeps closer, can Hana learn to coax music from the strings of her violin?
This was a often-requested book from my son when he was younger. We loved Hana and her determination to play the violin despite her brothers teasing. The words of this story are beautiful, especially how the author describes how Ojiichan, Hana's grandfather, helps Hana see sounds and feelings in his music.
“Hana always asked for a song about a crow cawing for her seven chicks. Whenever Ojiichan played it, Hana would feel a shiver of happy-sadness ripple through her.”
I also love the illustrations by Toronto's Qin Leng.
The Mask that Sang (Second Story Press, www.secondstorypress.ca)
I also loved The Mask that Sang by Susan Currie. In this middle-grade book, we follow the story of Cass and her mom, who have always been on their own. One day Cass learns her grandmother, who abandoned her own daughter at birth and was never heard from again, has died, leaving them her home. Cass wants this house, but her mom wants nothing to do with it. The pair move in and Cass discovers an Iroquois mask in one of the drawers. She soon starts having strange dreams and hearing strange voices. With the help of her new friend Degan, Cass gets closer “to solving the mystery and making connections she never dreamed she had.”
This book touches on residential schools and finding family. Excellent ending.
Maya and the Rising Dark (Raincoast Books, www.raincoast.com)
This action-adventure book for kids in grades 5 to 7 features 12-year-old Maya, who notices the colour drain from her South Side Chicago neighbourhood. She is the only one to see it and the other weird happenings. Her friends try to explain it away, but to Maya, it sounds like one of the stories her papa shares with her or her favourite Oya comics. But one day her father disappears and Maya and her friends learn they are godlings, half orisha and half human. Maya's father is the guardian of the veil between this world and the Dark, where an army, lead by the Lord of Shadows, is ready to take over this side.
I found Maya and the Rising Dark to be boring and the choices made by a group of 12-year-olds a bit of a stretch. My 11-year-old son, on the other hand, loved this book and the powers Maya and her friends had. He didn't want to read anything else until this book was over and still talks about it.
My Day with Gong Gong (on sale Sept. 8, Annick Press, www.annickpress.com)
May isn't enjoying her trip into Chinatown with her grandfather, Gong Gong. Her grandfather walks slow, talks to everyone – in Cantonese, which she can't understand – and laughs at her with his friends. May just wants to go home and eat the delicious pork buns he purchased. When a bird poops on her, May has had enough, bursting into tears. Gong Gong helps clean up her coat and “surprises her with a gift that reveals he's been paying more attention than she thought.”
What a beautiful picture book by Sennah Yee of a granddaughter who gets to know and love her grandfather by spending an afternoon together. This picture book offers a handy Cantonese translation guide at the end.
Sign Up Here, A Story of Friendship (Second Story Press, www.secondstorypress.ca)
Sign Up Here is a series written by Kathryn Cole and illustrated by one of my favourite artists, Qin Leng (see Hana's violin above). The series – I have six books – all feature the same group of kids, each getting the spotlight in his or her own book. My son loved that. At the time (we read this series a few years ago), he thought it was so neat that the kids kept appearing in a new book. All of the books shine a light on an important issue for kids – making and keeping friends; touching; and reaching out for help. There is a story for kids and information for grownups at the back.
In Sign Up Here, Dee Dee tries to sign up for various clubs but for some reason or the other, she can't join – she is not a boy or she can't walk properly.
“So she comes up with her own club that includes everyone and shows her classmates how friends should treat each other.”
Swift Fox All Along (On sale, Sept. 8, Annick Press, www.annickpress.com)
Swift Fox's mom and dad decide she is old enough to go with her dad to see her extended family and learn how to be a Mi'kmaq. Usually when her dad comes to visit, they go to the park to eat ice cream. Swift Fox has butterflies in her stomach because she doesn't know how to be Mi'kmaq and worries she won't be liked or know what to do.
When Swift Fox doesn't know how to smudge, she runs away vowing never to come back. That is until she meets another boy, who like her has butterflies in his stomach. Together they find the Mi'kmaq inside of themselves.
In Rebecca Thomas' author's note, she talks about how her parents separated when she was young. Her dad lost his language and his Mi'kmaq culture after being forced to attend a residential school, yet he helped her and her siblings connect to their heritage.
“I am very proud of who I am and I'm learning to walk, talk, and think a little more Mi'kmaq with each passing year.”
Swift Fox All Along is an interesting book about embracing who you are. I wonder, though, why Swift Fox's mom decides now she is old enough to meet her family and learn her heritage. Shouldn't that be something done all along?
Diverse books for adults:
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows: Great read, but also upsetting in the way woman are treated. It's also not for the prudish.
Cafe Babanussa: Set in the 1800s, Ruby leaves her family behind in Toronto, to live her life in West Berlin, seeing racism and finding the meaning of being black, embracing love and friendship and experiencing mental health issues.
Lisa Day is the author of two book blogs, Book Time, where she reviews a variety of books for a variety of readers and offers author Q&As, and followsummer.com, book reviews that inspire armchair travel.
