Canadian Literature

Lawrence Hill’s novel Someone Knows My Name was first published in Canada in 2007 under the title The Book of Negroes. This work of historical fiction was published with its new title in the United States in 2008. The novel won the 2007 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the 2008 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize.Inspired by the historical document the “Book of Negroes,” a record of escaped African slaves who found freedom in Canada, Hill set... Read Someone Knows My Name Summary

Son of a Trickster is a 2017 young adult realistic fantasy novel by Eden Robinson. The first book in Robinson’s Trickster trilogy, it was shortlisted for various Canadian awards and was a Canadian bestseller. Set in Robinson’s hometown of Kitimat, British Columbia, the story is informed by the author’s Haisla and Heiltsuk heritage. The novel contains mature themes including addiction, abuse, and self-harm.Plot SummaryThe protagonist is 16-year-old Jared, a Native boy who lives with his... Read Son of a Trickster Summary

Son of the Mob is a young adult novel by Gordon Korman, published in 2002. It is a comedic adventure story that concerns a teenaged boy named Vince Luca, and his attempts to come to terms with his Mafia family.Vince’s life is a mixture of mundane teenaged concerns (girls, grades) and adult criminal activity. This is established in the first chapter of the book, when he takes a girl named Angela out on a date... Read Son of the Mob Summary

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Published in 2014, Station Eleven is the fourth novel by Emily St. John Mandel (The Glass Hotel, Sea of Tranquility). The book won the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Toronto Book Award, and was shortlisted or nominated for several others. Set in a post-apocalyptic future where a flu outbreak decimates the world’s population, the book is sometimes categorized as science fiction, although it does not feature any fictional technology; its protagonists’ involvement in a traveling... Read Station Eleven Summary

Published in 2005, Still Life is Louise Penny’s debut novel, the first in a series of mystery novels set in rural Canada featuring detective Armand Gamache. Penny won multiple awards for Still Life, including a Crime Writers’ Association Dagger Award, a Barry Award, an Arthur Ellis Award, an Anthony Award, and the Dilys Award. A made-for-TV film adaptation produced by PDM Entertainment aired in 2013. This guide is based on the 2006 Minotaur Books edition.Content... Read Still Life Summary

Stone Mattress: Nine Wicked Tales is a 2014 collection of nine short stories from Canadian author Margaret Atwood. While Atwood has published fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, she is probably best known for her dystopian novel, The Handmaid’s Tale. Other works by this author include Cat’s Eye, The Testaments, and Oryx and Crake. Atwood often tackles the power of the written word in her work. Many of the characters in Stone Mattress: Nine Wicked Tales are... Read Stone Mattress Summary

Such a Long Journey, written by Canadian-Indian author Rohinton Mistry, follows Gustad Noble as he navigates interpersonal conflict and political scandal in early 1970s India. Indira Gandhi’s corrupt government and India’s war with Pakistan provide the story’s political backdrop. Critics widely praised the novel’s compassion and humor. It was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction.A strong and capable man, Gustad Noble carries a personal history of sadness. He lives in Bombay with his... Read Such a Long Journey Summary

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Jonathon Auxier’s Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster (2018) is a work of fiction written for middle grade readers. It tells the story of the brave Nan Sparrow, a young chimney sweep who is given the gift of a golem—a protective monster—by her father figure, the Sweep. Nan navigates cruelty and poverty in her journey to achieve a fairer life for herself and her friends, forming a loving pseudo-family along the way... Read Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster Summary

Swindle is a middle-grade novel published in 2008 by Canadian American author Gordon Korman. In the story, 6th-grader Griffin Bing enlists a group of his classmates to retrieve a rare Babe Ruth baseball card from an unscrupulous collector known as Swindle, who has conned Griffin out of the card. The book is the first of eight books, as of 2019, in the popular Swindle series. Nickelodeon made a film of the same name based on the novel in... Read Swindle Summary

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The Adventures of Augie March is a 1953 novel by Saul Bellow. In the novel, Bellow’s third, the eponymous title character chronicles his eventful life from an underprivileged childhood in Chicago to his waning wanderlust in Paris. The novel is critically acclaimed and won the 1954 National Book Award for Fiction. Bellow was a lauded author in his lifetime, winning prestigious awards like the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution... Read The Adventures of Augie March Summary

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, by Mordecai Richler, originally published in 1959, follows the exploits of a working-class Jewish boy growing up in a turbulent neighborhood and family in Montreal, Canada. Told in four parts, the novel chronicles Duddy’s relentless pursuit of higher social status and monetary success. Duddy travels on both sides of the law in his business dealings, keeping company with moguls and outlaws alike. He ends up working in industries that he... Read The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz Summary

The Back of the Turtle (2014) is a bestselling novel by Canadian American author Thomas King. King is of Cherokee Greek descent and has garnered acclaim for his novels about Indigenous Canadian experiences, including The Inconvenient Indian and Green Grass Running Water. The Back of the Turtle won King the Governor General’s literary award.The narrative follows Gabriel Quinn, a member of the First Nations community of Lethbridge, Alberta, as he returns to his family’s home... Read The Back of the Turtle Summary

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“The Bear Came Over the Mountain” is one of Alice Munro’s most popular works and tackles themes of infidelity, love, and hypocrisy. The short story was first published in The New Yorker in December 1999 and was later included in Munro’s Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage short story collection in 2001, her 10th collection. “The Bear Came Over the Mountain” received a movie adaptation titled Away from Her in 2006. Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage... Read The Bear Came over the Mountain Summary