Canada Reads American Style

Read Native 21 Finale

Shauna and Rebecca successfully completed the Read Native 21 Challenge!  They both found great value in discovering new authors (to them), reading quality literature, and learning more about Native American and Indigenous Peoples and their history, culture, and triumphs.

On another note, Shauna announces that she is stepping away from the podcast to explore new opportunities and challenges.  Rebecca and Tara from Ontario will continue to discuss books and interview authors while at the same time, fingers crossed, figure out how the tech side of this venture works.  Stay tuned for their first podcast in January 2022! 

Interview - Mark Critch and An Embarrassment of Critch‘s

Shauna and Rebecca have the distinct privilege and honor to interview an iconic Canadian comedian and television celebrity, Mark Critch.  While he may be best known for his work on the comedy series This Hour Has 22 Minutes, he is also the author of two best selling memoirs: Son of a Critch and An Embarrassment of Critch's.  He will also be starring in a new CBC comedy series beginning in January 2022 based on his first book.  Rebecca did her best not to laugh out loud during the interview! 

 

(We are Mark's FIRST US podcast--flag planted!)

November Read Native 21 Challenge update with Tara

Shauna, Rebecca, and Tara share the books they've read to date for their Read Native 21 Challenge.

Shauna: Read Native 21 Challenge Sheet-Complete List

Tara: Five Little Indians by Michelle Good; The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones; My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones; I place you into the fire by poet Rebecca Thomas.

Rebecca:  I Can Make This Promise by Christine Day; Taaqtumi: an Anthology of Arctic Horror Stories; Indians on Vacation by Thomas King; Murder on the Red Cliff Rez by Mardi Oakley; The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson; Trickster: Native American Tales; Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger; Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden.

Voice-over by Content Creator and Comedian Cameron Geller --TikTok & Instagram: @cameron.geller 

Music from Zapsplat.com

Interview - David Heska Wanbli Weiden and Winter Counts

Shauna and Rebecca are excited to chat with David Heska Wanbli Weiden about his award-winning book, Winter Counts.  While Rebecca asks a lot of questions about the historical facts she didn't know about Native American history, she wants to be clear that Winter Counts is a layered thriller with a flawed but moral main hero, Virgil Wounded Horse.  This is a compelling read about justice, love, and resilience.

David shared the following recommended books and TV series:

The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer (non-fiction)
The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
The Removed by Brandon Hobson
Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford
Crazy Horse's Girlfriend by Erika T. Wurth
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley 

Reservation Dogs

Rutherford Falls

https://davidweiden.com/

“This 19th-Century Law Helps Shape Criminal Justice in Indian Country.”  New York Times.  July 19, 2020.  Reprinted in Salt Lake Tribune, July 20, 2020.

 

Voice-over by Content Creator and Comedian Cameron Geller --TikTok & Instagram: @cameron.geller 

 

Music from Zapsplat.com

 

Read Native 21 Challenge with Tara

Shauna and Rebecca are excited to have Tara back as a guest reviewer and equally happy that she has agreed to participate in future podcasts! 

The books by Native American and Indigenous authors discussed include:

Shauna: Strangers (the first book in The Reckoner Series) by David Alexander Robertson 

Tara: Sugar Falls by David Alexander Robertson; 77 Fragments of a Familiar Ruin by Thomas King; Five Little Indians by Michelle Good; Braiding Sweet Grass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Rebecca: Raven Makes the Aleutians: Adapted from a Traditional Native Story, illustrated by Janine Gibbons; There There by Tommy Orange; Elatsoe by Darcie LIttle Badger

CBC Books: "21 books for kids and young adults to read for National Indigenous History Month"

Follow #CRASReadNAtive21 for recommendations! 

 

Voice-over by Content Creator and Comedian Cameron Geller --TikTok & Instagram: @cameron.geller 

 

Music from Zapsplat.com

Interview - Marcello Di Cintio and Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers

Shauna and Rebecca are thrilled to chat with Marcello Di Cintio about his latest book, Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers.  Marcello artfully tells the personal stories of hard working men and women who persist in carving out lives filled with passion, commitment, and success.  

Rebecca also reminds listeners to pick up Marcello's book, Pay No Heed to the Rockets: Life in Contemporary Palestine and then listen to their interview with him from January 2021.

 

Voice-over by Content Creator and Comedian Cameron Geller --TikTok & Instagram: @cameron.geller 

 

Music from Zapsplat.com

Interview - Heather Down and Not Cancelled: Canadian Kindness in the Face of COVID-19

Join Shauna and Rebecca as they interview Heather Down, author and publisher of Not Cancelled: Canadian Kindness in the Face of COVID-19 (co-author Catherine Kenwell).  Heather discusses how this beautiful, hope-filled anthology of stories came to be, while Rebecca expresses her expectation that the book will have significant value to future generations looking back at this unprecedented time in history. 

IG: @winterticklepress

Podcast: After the Book Ends

 

Voice-over by Content Creator and Comedian Cameron Geller --TikTok & Instagram: @cameron.geller 

 

Music from Zapsplat.com

Interview - Nelly Buchet and Cat Dog Dog: The Story of a Blended Family

Shauna and Rebecca are thrilled to chat with Nelly Buchet, their first children's picture book author (illustrated by Andrea Zuill @zuillmonkey).  CAT DOG DOG is a deceptively simple story, but as you will hear in the interview, Nelly's vision was clear from the start.  This is a story for the whole family!  

After the interview, Nelly said, “the coolest thing is the book is now considered an "early reader" because little kids are learning to read with CAT DOG DOG. One parent told me his daughter was so proud that she could finish a whole entire book on her own :).”

According to her website, CAT DOG DOG has received the following accolades:   The Story of a Blended Family (Random House Kids, 2020) is a 2021 ALA Notable Children’s Book and Irma Black Award nominee. It is also a Junior Library Guild, Indie Next 2020 List, 2021 CCBC Best of the Year List, Amazon’s “Best of 2020 for ages 3-5,” Chicago Public Library “Best Fiction for Younger Readers of 2020” and Iowa Public Radio “Best New Books for Children and Teens” selection.

 

Voice-over by Content Creator and Comedian Cameron Geller --TikTok & Instagram: @cameron.geller 

 

Music from Zapsplat.com

Read Native 21 Challenge

Join Shauna and Rebecca as they officially kick off the American Indian Library Association's Read Native 21 Challenge!  There are 26 prompts for adults and 24 for children. 

Rebecca mentions the following books that she has read to date:  When My Brother Was an Aztec by Natalie Diaz; Tilly and the Crazy Eights by Monique Gray Smith; Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead; and Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard.  She also highlights Native American storyteller, Pun Plamondon's "Fathers & Figures" on YouTube.

Shauna has completed the "horror" category with Joseph Bruchac's Skeleton Man.  She says it's "creepy".  

Also, you can identify which Native lands you now occupy with this map.

 

Voice-over by Content Creator and Comedian Cameron Geller --TikTok & Instagram: @cameron.geller 

 

Music from Zapsplat.com

Interview - Adam Shoalts and Beyond the Trees

Shauna and Rebecca are excited to chat with Explorer-in-Residence at the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and best-selling author, Adam Shoalts.  Rebecca asks questions about Adam's latest title, Beyond the Trees: A Journey Alone Across Canada's Arctic as well as his first book, Alone Against the North: An Expedition into the Unknown.  She has still to read A History of Canada in Ten Maps: Epic Stories of Charting a Mysterious Land. There was some talk of bears... :D

Website: https://adamshoalts.com/

IG: @adam_shoalts

FB: https://www.facebook.com/shoalts

 

Review of Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots

Shauna and Rebecca wrap up their last review of the 2021 CBC's Canada Reads contenders.  Rebecca makes an announcement and Shauna leads the discussion.  With whom will you agree??

Review of Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead

Shauna and Rebecca review another contender for the 2021 CBC’s Canada Reads annual competition. Is it as graphic as some readers have stated on the CBC’s Canada Reads Facebook group?  Is it a book that transports us?  Spoiler alert: read the book, then come back for the discussion.

 

Special thanks to @wearebeautifulwords book club for creating thought-provoking bookmarks that you can purchase to enhance your reading adventure! Buy yours today at https://www.wearebeautifulwords.ca/ 

Review of Two Trees Make a Forest by Jessica J. Lee

Shauna and Rebecca review the second book on their list for 2021 CBC's Canada Reads, Two Trees Make a Forest by Jessica J. Lee.  Rebecca makes a comparison between the grandmother in Two Trees with the mother in the graphic novel The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui.

Review of Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi

Shauna and Rebecca review another shortlist book for the 2021 CBC’s Canada Reads annual competition. As a talented baker, Shauna has an affinity for the beautiful descriptions of food, while Rebecca outlines a plotline that she was convinced would play out.

 

Special thanks to @wearebeautifulwords book club for creating thought-provoking bookmarks that you can purchase to enhance your reading adventure! Buy yours today at https://www.wearebeautifulwords.ca/ 

Interview - Roger Mooking, CBC's Canada Reads Defender

Shauna and Rebecca are excited to chat with Roger Mooking, chef, restaurateur, television host, author and award-winning recording artist, who is championing Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi for the 2021 CBC's Canada Reads competition.  They are so touched by Roger's comments on librarians.