EXPLORATION OF GRIEF THROUGH CHILD’S EYES
Loss inspires Edmonton author's moving book for middle-school audience
A personal experience with grief a decade ago was the impetus for a new book from Edmonton author Sarah Everett.
She wrote The Probability of Everything partly due to the death of her uncle, a devastating and shocking moment in her life and she channelled that experience with grief into her latest book.
Kemi is an 11-year-old who lives and breathes science, talking with her dad about the probabilities in everyday life. Unfortunately, her world is turned upside down by the arrival of the asteroid Amplus-68, which has an 84.7 per cent chance of hitting the Earth in four days and ending life on the planet as we know it. Kemi puts together a time capsule to deal with her emotions, remembering her family and processing the grief of saying goodbye.
“As much as we would like to protect kids from topics like grief and death, it's very much a part of life and something they will encounter anyhow,” says Everett. “My feeling is that encountering those themes through books and fiction is a safer way to explore and be introduced to some of these harsher realities of life.”
But it was more than just personal loss that drove Everett. The book was also the product of another form of grief, of racial injustice across North America awakened by the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man. It allowed her to look at grief through the lens of racial violence and inequality.
That grief helped Everett craft a story so beautiful its appeal stretches beyond the intended audience of middle school children, a moving story that has captured readers of all ages.
“What's interesting is that there was never much doubt in my mind who this book would be about or who it would be for. The character Kemi sort of popped into my mind fully formed as this probability-loving 11-year-old,” says Everett.
The Probability of Everything, released June 27 from HarperCollins Canada, is Everett's fifth book. It's her first foray into writing for a middle-school audience, while her previous releases were focused on older teens.
Go to saraheverettbooks.com for more information.
EDMONTON FINALISTS FOR PROVINCIAL BOOK AWARDS
Edmonton publishers have been nominated for a number of awards in the annual Alberta Book Publishing Awards.
Edmonton publisher NeWest Press picked up eight nominations, including two for Ghost in a Photograph, by local author Myrna Kostash. NeWest has also been nominated for the Mel Hurtig Publisher of the Year award.
University of Alberta Press was nominated for four awards, including Gavin Bradley's poetry collection, Separation Anxiety while Athabasca University Press is up for five awards.
The shortlists were released at the end of June by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta and winners will be announced at a gala event Sept. 21 in Edmonton. For more information, or to get tickets to the gala, visit the BPAA website, bookpublishers.ab.ca.
STARFEST ANNOUNCES 2023 LINEUP
One of the biggest literary festivals in Alberta announced its lineup, which includes a few local authors.
Jessica Johns and Melanie Gall will both be speaking at St. Albert Reader's Festival, known as STARFest, in the fall. Johns will bring her book Bad Cree, about a woman from Northern Alberta who struggles with terrifying new dreams and must figure out what they mean, with a little help from her family.
Gall will be talking about her book Deanna Durbin, Judy Garland and the Golden Age of Hollywood, a biography of the young woman from Winnipeg who took Hollywood by storm but then disappeared into obscurity. Gall will also be performing a one-woman show about Durbin featuring songs from her movies.
STARFest runs Sept. 24 to Nov. 1 and features a dozen events. Tickets go on sale Aug. 14, and can be found along with more information at starfest.ca.
HEALTH- CARE WORKERS' COVID STORIES
A trio of Edmonton contributors are part of a collection of stories from health-care workers on the front line of the COVID pandemic.
The COVID Journals: Health Care Workers Write the Pandemic, published by University of Alberta Press and released last month, details the experiences of health-care workers from across the country while dealing with the pandemic. Through art, poetry and stories, they recall a wide variety of emotions and experiences from the past few years.
The three local contributors are Marisa Webster, Manisha Bharadia, and Ewan Affleck.
For more information about The COVID Journals, visit uap. ualberta.ca.
MARK LISAC'S DREAM HOME
A former political columnist and Edmonton Journal writer has released a new novel.
Dream Home, Mark Lisac's fourth novel, is about a woman named Viv and her husband living in a city that resembles Edmonton. Frustrated by her condo board, Viv decides to run for board president, while also considering a move into her own home.
The book can be read as a satirical portrait of a prominent figure, as a parody of a well-known work of fiction or simply as a story that stands on its own. Dream Home was self-published and is available at Audreys Books and through Amazon. Lisac has written a number of non-fiction books as well.
For more information about the author, go to marklisac.ca.
As much as we would like to protect kids from topics like grief and death, it's very much a part of life and something they will encounter.
SALTY TALES FROM SEA MAIDENS
A local editor is about to publish another alliterated collection of stories and tales of fantasy.
Saltwater Sorrows, coming Aug. 2 from editor Rhonda Parrish, is a collection of stories about women and the sea, whether they are drawn to the water or left on shore.
Parrish has published a number of collections in the past, books of short stories always focused around a central theme and often with alliterative names.
Find more about Parrish and her work at rhondaparrish.com.