Ontario Library Association
Evergreen Reading Award™ Program

NOMINEES FOR 2009

	Apples to Oysters: a Food Lover’s Tour of Canadian Farms Written by Margaret Webb Margaret Webb’s journey to learn more about those who produce our food has resulted in a inspiring, poignant and often very funny read. Each chapter introduces us to a different region of Canada and the challenges faced by these under appreciated “chefs of the soil and the sea”. “The author joins organic cowboys on a roundup, harvests scallops from an ocean farm and picks potatoes for back-breaking hours under the Yukon sun. But the journey also leads the author home, to moving reflections about her father and the fate of the farm she grew up on.” (http://www.margaretwebb.com). This is an astonishing and delightful read that will change the way you eat.
	The Calling Written by Inger Ash Wolfe Inger Ash Wolfe has written a novel that will grab your attention, hence the first line: “He was precisely on time.” Reading that first line draws you in wanting more. Readers who enjoy well written developed characters and a plot that keeps you turning the pages as fast as possible will enjoy this suspenseful book. Readers are introduced to an unlikely heroine in 61 year old Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef, acting chief of the Port Dundas police. Hazel has to investigate a recent murder in her small town. The victim? An elderly woman who once had an affair with Hazel’s father. Hazel who lives with her 87 year old mother, Emily, the retired mayor of Port Dundas provides some light humor and gives the reader some understanding to Hazel’s character development. An additional murder in a nearby town that draws similarities to the murder in Port Dundas draw Hazel further into this case where she suspects a serial murderer maybe on the loose, being drawn to his victims with one stunning similarity. The case becomes very personal for Hazel as readers continue to sympathize with the obstacles and frustrations that come along with being in charge of a murder investigation in a small town. Hazel needs to find out who the killer is before he harms anyone else that may stand in his way. Wolfe has created a unique and memorable character with a complimentary, suspenseful and page turning plot. The good news being if you enjoyed this book it is the first in a series featuring Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef.
	The Cellist of Sarajevo Written by Steven Galloway One day a shell lands in a bread line and kills twenty-two people as the cellist watches from a window in his flat. He vows to sit in the hollow where the mortar fell and play Albinoni’s Adagio once a day for each of the twenty-two victims. Meanwhile, Kenan steels himself for his weekly walk through the dangerous streets to collect water for his family on the other side of town, and Dragan, a man Kenan doesn’t know, tries to make his way towards the source of the free meal he knows is waiting. Both men are almost paralyzed with fear, uncertain when the next shot will land on the bridges or streets they must cross, unwilling to talk to their old friends of what life was once like before divisions were unleashed on their city. Then there is “Arrow,” the pseudonymous name of a gifted female sniper, who is asked to protect the cellist from a hidden shooter who is out to kill him as he plays his memorial to the victims.
	Coventry Written by Helen Humphreys Similar to her 2002 novel, The Lost Garden, Helen Humphreys’ sixth novel is concerned with finding one’s bearings in a world made unrecognizable by war. During the Second World War, on the night of the devastating Coventry blitz of November 14, 1940, widow Harriet Marsh finds herself navigating the streets of the town as German bombs explode around her. Alone, and still in mourning for the husband she lost in 1914, Harriet finds comfort amid chaos in the close companionship of a young man half her age, helping him search frantically through the burning streets for his mother. Through her use of actual historical records of the bombing, Humphreys evokes the wartime atmosphere of fear and dislocation with great poignancy, but her novel also emphasizes - especially through Harriet’s stoicism and resourcefulness - the resilience of the common individual during times of exceptional challenge. Out of her grief and anguish over the losses she has sustained in both wars, Harriet discovers a strength of spirit and a long sought-after sense of purpose that allows her to selflessly tend to the needs of wounded strangers and risk her own life to ensure that mother and son are reunited. Humphreys’ poetic language and imagery, though at times seemingly at odds with the narrative, frequently bring to vivid life the brutality and violence of that night in 1940. The repeated image of a ghostly white horse seen by Harriet and her companion during their search symbolically suggests the presence of peace and hope for the resurrection of Coventry.
	Good to a Fault Written by Marina Endicott A minor fender bender becomes the catalyst for a major life change when Clara Purdy accidentally rams into another car. Up until then, Clara’s quiet life has been spent living on in her parents’ home after their deaths and going out to work as an insurance investigator. Although no one is seriously injured in the accident, it is immediately apparent that there is something wrong with the mother, requiring her hospitalization. When Clara learns that the family has been living in their car, her sense of responsibility motivates her to invite them to move in with her. After the hapless father decamps with some of Clara’s belongings and her mother’s old car, Clara is left to care for the rest of the family. This opens up her life in ways she could never have imagined. This deeply moving story will leave you caring about all of these characters long after the last page has been turned.
	In Spite of Myself: a memoir Written by Christopher Plummer A deeply honest self-portrait by one of the most celebrated actors of our time. In Spite of Myself is a fascinating account of Christopher Plummer’s colourful life in film and on the stage. He candidly writes of his early acting career with the Stratford Festival then in its infancy and about legendary colleagues including Sir Laurence Olivier, Peter O’Toole and Vanessa Redgrave. This is an extraordinary account of a life lived to the fullest that is sure to have something for everyone.
	The Killing Circle Written by Andrew Pyper Widower Patrick Rush’s life has been gradually crumbling since his wife’s death. Struggling to keep his job and taking on the role of both mother and father to his young son, he joins a local writing circle and in the process slowly becomes obsessed with a horror story by one of the group, that seems to have real life connections to a serial killer who Rush begins to suspect may in fact be a member of his group. (“A New York Times Crime Novel of the Year”)
	The Outlander Written by Gil Adamson In precise crystalline prose, Gil Adamson describes the heart thumping flight of nineteen-year old Mary Boulton, murderess, across the Alberta wilderness in the early nineteen hundreds. Gently-bred Mary marries the first man who shows any interest in her and heads west to live in a small cabin in the woods. Suffering from loneliness, anguish from the death of her infant son and post-partum depression, she kills her unfaithful husband. She flees into the wilderness, a mere step ahead of the law and her two brothers-in-law bent on revenge. Her retreat into the wild mountains parallels her bleak retreat into her haunted and tumultuous mind. A cast of unforgettable people help her: an outlaw lover, William Moreland, based on a real-life character, a preacher, a shop-keeper dwarf and a helpful Crow Indian. Adamson describes in minute detail the harshness and beauty of nature as Mary faces cold, starvation, bears, wolves and the ever present danger of the two stalking brothers. The novel ends, weaving together nature’s unpredictable hold on human lives and Mary’s fate, in an unforgettable climax of redemption and hope.
	Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth Written by Margaret Atwood Margaret Atwood offers us an unexpected look at the topic of debt, an appropriate topic given the current state of our economy. Atwood provides us with a highly entertaining and creative approach to a timely subject. She approaches the subject with intense curiosity and her sense of humour keeps you reading.
	Ragged Company Written by Richard Wagamese This story follows a group of characters as their lives are changed by a chance happening. Wagamese really gets inside the head of his main characters and lets the reader inside as well. Four of the main characters are homeless people, living in a large city: Amelia One Sky (also known as One for the Dead), Timber, Double Dick, and Digger. They have gradually found each other and now move through the major part of their day as a group. As the book begins, they decide to take refuge from the cold by going to a movie. They encounter the fifth main character, Granite, at the movie theatre, and continue to run into him as they keep going to movies. When Digger finds a cigarette package that still contains some cigarettes as well as money and a lottery ticket, their lives begin to change. The lottery ticket turns out to be a big winner, $13.5 million, but they can't claim the money as none of the four have identification. They bring Granite in to assist them. As their lives transform, we see how they adjust to their new situation. We also see how they got to be where they now are and how they deal with their pasts now. This book will have you looking at people in a new light.