BOOKWORM
THE WILDNESS WITHIN
How To Survive a Bear Attack by Claire Cameron, Alfred A Knopf, $34.95. Claire Cameron confronts the rare genetic mutation that gave her cancer by investigating an equally rare and terrifying event – a predatory bear attack.
When Claire Cameron was nine years old, her father, a professor of Old English, told her he was dying. In the years after he was gone, she found a way to overcome her grief among the rivers and lakes of Algonquin Park, a vast Canadian wilderness area. Around that same time, in 1991, a couple was killed by a black bear in a rare predatory attack in the park. Claire was shocked and, never fully sure of what happened, the attack haunted her. Older, with children of her own, she’s diagnosed with the same cancer as her father. Caught in a second wave of grief, she was told by her doctor, “The ideal exposure to UV light is none”. No longer able to venture into the wilderness as she once had, with long scars on her back, she became obsessed with the bear attack in Algonquin Park again.
Only then do I understand – a predatory bear is hiding in my dreams.
She had grown up with the idea that the wilderness and the city are separate from each other, writes Cameron.
“The false border I drew between them helped hold my fear in place.”
How could terror rip through such a beautiful place? Could she separate truth from fiction?
She’s navigates the fine line between demonizing a creature or diminishing it to a cute and cuddly plush toy. Because “while in the last twenty years, just over one person per year has been killed by a black bear in North America... when the value of a life is taken into account, and a large dose of love is added, statistics became drained of their meaning. Life is all or nothing.”
Witnessing her sons shoot up over the course of a summer, leaving their lanky limbs exposed, she wonders if her husband Dave would notice short pant legs.
“Doubtful. I had a thought, almost teasing myself, that I had to stay alive until the boys were full-sized or else their ankles would forever be exposed.”
Cameron quotes the first line from The Go-Between by LP Hartley.
The past is a foreign country. They do things differently there.
As Cameron investigates her past to better understand grief, family, cancer, the wilderness, animals and so much more, the line stays with me.
As do the questions she asks when she hears about the protections around a wild place: From what? For whom?
Seamlessly weaving together nature writing with true crime investigation, this unflinching account of recovery is at once an intimate portrait of an extraordinary animal, a bracing chronicle of pain, obsession, and love, and a profoundly moving exploration of how we can understand and survive the wildness that lives inside us.
CUT TO THE CHASE
The Last Secret by Maia Caron, Doubleday Canada, $25. From Deremnytsia in Ukraine to Krakow, Berlin, England and Vancouver. Nikolai Belyakov is relentless in his pursuit of Savka and Marko Ivanets.
What is it that he wants so badly?
His description and his actions are so reminiscent of the villains from old Hindi movies that I expect him to say, “Belyakov khush hua” accompanied by a cruel laugh any minute. Which doesn’t take away from an absorbing, spine-chilling read.
The Last Secret is based on true events in the history of Ukraine – and their perceived support of Germany in their fight against Russia.
But at its heart, it is the story of Savka and Jeannie.
Savka, who wrestles with an impossible choice that Belyakov leaves her with even as decades pass.
Did she still love her husband enough to save him from the Soviets? Or could she send him to his death in the hopes of getting Taras back?
Taras, the son Belyakov snatched from her.
Jeannie, who, drugged by her “caregivers” struggles to remember her past.
Until a mysterious stranger appears, sparking memories and love.
Maia Caron gives voice to survivors of unspeakable horror and presents a tale of hope.
REMEMBER WHEN?
Into the Uncut Grass by Trevor Noah, Doubleday Canada, $34.95. Trevor Noah is that funny guy who is sometimes in hot water for his take on world events.
Into the Uncut Grass is likely to garner only love and accolades. The sweet tale of a boy who wants to run away with his toy bear to escape the long list of chores his mother has lined up for him on a Saturday is inspired by a conflict, Noah shares in the introduction.
“Specifically, the never-ending war between me and my mother... She would tell me to tie my shoelaces, I would argue that the knots made it harder to get my shoes off.”
Illustrated beautifully by Sabina Hahn, it is more than a children’s book. It’s a book for parents and kids to share – as parents recall some of their own escapades!
CULTURAL BAGGAGE
The Confines by Anu Kandikuppa, Veliz Books. A man’s seemingly innocent gesture at a party unravels buried tensions in a marriage while a husband searches for signs that his wife is settling into her new life.
The hooks looked expensive. They were made of metal and ceramic and were hand-painted with an intricate green motif. Who took time to pick nice coat hooks if they were miserable?
A grieving doctor chronicles the peculiar ailments of an elderly couple yearning for their absent son and notes signs of neglect and sorrow in his patients.
I’d instead note her drooping back and uncared-for nails and the kumkum that flared red in the parting of her hair, calling attention to what had to be an empty marriage.
Set in India and the US, the stories explore love, loss, and resilience, uncovering the compromises and hopes that shape our search for happiness.
Some women lie in dark rooms with their eyes closed when sad. They soak themselves in their sadness and pickle themselves in it.
Or, “they tell happy stories about love and marriage so convincing that their children and grandchildren get married, too”.
In the keenly observed stories, there’s black humour, too.
Sarla went smoothly from her body to the enormous photo propped up against the TV cabinet.
Fresh and provocative, the twelve stories in The Confines deliver us into the cultural expectations, hierarchies, and taboos that define and limit our lives, especially the lives of women.
INTO THE VORTEX
Spiral by Bal Khabra, Berkley Romance, USD19. Elias West-brook, a newly-drafted hockey player for the Toronto Thunder, is facing the challenges of fame and media scrutiny. As he struggles to make his first career goal, the media is more interested in his love life.
Enter from stage left Sage Beaumont, an aspiring ballerina with dreams of joining Nova Ballet Theatre. But her lack of popularity online leaves her at a major disadvantage for securing a lead role.
Will pretending to be a couple get the media off his back and get her the likes she needs?
Bonus for fans of Khabra’s Collide, Aiden Crawford and Summer play a starring role and the others in the hockey family move in and out, too.
Bonus for Torontonians: Familiar landmarks form the backdrop.
I know as much about hockey as I do about ballet – which is nothing – but the lives and pressures of both feel very real.
Spiral is funny.
“I’ve never wanted anything more than to have retractable body parts,” thinks Sage when a creepy date stares at her feet – beat up from ballet rehearsal – for an uncomfortably long time.
And sweet. Elias bakes Sage a cake for her birthday and cupcakes for her kid brother Sean.
And it embraces body positivity. “You don’t become a ballerina without every instructor from the age of eight telling you can stand to lose a few pounds. Or that beauty is pain, and that starving yourself is a part of that pain.”
The one thing that had me a tad baffled was the absence of any desi element. Any book by a desi author in this genre has some. Either both or at least one is desi and desi food (and aunties) are liberally sprinkled throughout. Not in Spiral. Though Sage is described variously as brown or tanned. And then she tells Elias that her middle name is Hakima – “It means wise, just like Sage”.
MAGICAL
The Mistletoe Mystery by Nita Prose, Viking, $28. When a Secret Santa gift exchange at the Regency Grand raises questions about who Molly can and cannot trust, she dives headfirst into solving her most personal mystery yet.
This little novella is, strictly speaking, a “Christmas” story. But the sweet tale from the bestselling author of The Maid is a lesson in love for all times. That it references that other timeless tale, O Henry’s The Gift of the Magi, makes it all the more magical!
SPOOKY
Give Me Something Good To Eat by DW Gillespie, Delacorte Press, $24.50. Pearl is a town obsessed with Halloween, the spooky decorations, the costumes, the candy.
No one seems to notice that every October 31, a kid goes missing. But Mason Miller does, and when his sister goes missing, he must use every ounce of bravery he has to rescue her.
THE CAT’S WHISKERS
This Book Is Literally Just Pictures of Cute Cats Who Are Plotting To Kill You, Smith Street Books, $21.95. And that’s all it is. Really. Unbelievably cute pictures. For everyone who can’t help but go awww at every cat they spot.
BUT WHAT IF...?
The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook for Kids by David Borgenicht and Justin Heimberg, Quirk Books $17.99. The best-selling and wildly hilarious Worst-Case Scenario series is back with 40 extreme survival tips for kids! For all the adults who have a kid (or know one) who asks the most confounding questions. “What if the plane falls into the sea?” or, “Will bears attack us?” Finally, a book you can hand to the child and say, “Why don’t you read up all about it?”!
Erupting volcanoes, ravenous sharks, even pooping in the woods... the authors have you covered!
TEEN REVIEW
By PARTH BHASIN
Brief Answers to the Big Questions by Stephen Hawking. Penguin Random House, $36.00. Brief Answers to the Big Questions is a book about physics, space, the quantum world and a little philosophy.
Written by one of the most accomplished scientists of the 20th century, Stephen Hawking, the book is his gift to humanity, shedding light on topics in an innovative way.
He explores some questions which few have attempted to answer, and takes on some of the most challenging problems in modern-day physics, while ensuring a layperson can comprehend the book.
Hawking tackles ten of the “big questions” in a clear and accessible manner, ranging from “Is there a God?” to “Will artificial intelligence outsmart us?”
He blends his vast knowledge of physics with his philosophical insight and optimistic approach.
Hawking challenges the readers to think about where humanity is headed, to consider the impact of science and technology on future generations.
It is a captivating read and a thought-provoking tribute to one of the most brilliant minds in physics, offering a final glimpse into Stephen Hawking’s perspective of the world.
• Parth Bhasin is a youth volunteer at Brampton Library.