Robyn Wheeler is a courageous woman. She writes openly about a condition that's not easy to talk about. For years Robyn has struggled with chronic anger, anxiety, and hopelessness until one day she was given a diagnoses that turned her life around. She has dysthymia.

It sounds exotic, doesn't it? But it's actually quite common, although most who have it might not be aware of it. Dysthymia is a chronic, low-grade, long lasting depression. It's the kind of mental disorder that still allows one to take care of their daily activities, their work, and their families, but the sufferer struggles with depression, anger, low feelings of self-worth, guilt, emotional pain, anxiety and thoughts of suicide.

Robyn's book is easy to read as she chronicles the events in her life that brought her to the point of seeking psychiatric help. She is candid and forthright about the things she's said and done, and the guilt and anxiety it has caused her. The purpose of her book is to inform so that others who may be suffering from this disorder can seek help and experience the peace and happiness she finally achieves through medication—in this case, the much talked about Prozac.

I was keen on the pages that stated the facts and symptoms of dysthymia, as well as the ways to cope with it. Apart from finding the right anti-depressant for her, Robyn also talks about her new-age spiritual beliefs. Although I didn't always agree with her viewpoint, I feel just as strongly that a relationship with God and belief in his Holy Word do make a difference for those fighting depression.

Robyn's book inspired me. Apart from dealing with mental illness in my work field, I know first-hand what it means to experience depression ever since I went through post-partum depression after the birth of my second child. Years later I still cope with this lingering illness but through natural remedies, and after reading this book I now have a name for what I'm up against!

I highly recommend this book to any who are interested in mental illness, for professional or personal reasons. Robyn has, in effect, written a book that is almost like a case study, using her life's journey to encourage others to get professional help. It's a captivating, insightful, and inspiring read.  

A Forest of Gold by Courtney Maika (for review from Scholastic)

It is the 1920s, and twelve-year-old Emily Pattersen lives in a logging community in northern Ontario — a place where lumber is king and the forests make many men rich. She, of course, has more important things to concern herself with: run-ins with know-it-all Tilly at school, dealing with her frustrating brothers, and trying not to roll her eyes at her very serious mother's penchant for assigning Duties.

A new set of worries comes to her when, against their parents' wishes, her hot-headed brother Joe sneaks off to work at a lumber camp. Emily is the only one who knows where he's gone. Scared and anxious, she gets the post every day to intercept Joe's letters, with word about his safety. Life has suddenly become complicated, as Emily struggles to remain an obedient daughter, while protecting her brother's secret.

Cat Found by Ingrid Lee (for review from Scholastic)

In Billy’s small town, stray cats are running wild, and some people want to get rid of them. The school bullies even throw rocks at the poor creatures! So when Billy finds a hurt starving kitten and sneaks her home, he has to be extra careful to keep her hidden while he nurses her back to health. However precious little Conga is to him, he knows his dad would take her away if he discovered her, cozy and warm, in Billy’s bedroom!

Can Billy and his friends face the cat bullies, show the town the importance of caring for abandoned animals, and find a safe haven for strays?

The Time Time Stopped by Don Gillmor (for review from Scholastic)

Ten-year-old Tristan Burberry has endured many hours of unpleasantness lately. Time spent pinned under the disapproving gaze of his new teacher, time spent trudging though the mall after his older sister, and time spent sitting with the school bully on the bus. Tristan hates time. So he makes it stop. Or so he thinks…

When the world comes to a confused standstill, Tristan thinks it's his fault. In actual fact, time has stopped because the Time Keeper, who has been making time for centuries, has quit, fed up with people's lack of appreciation. Then, unfortunately, the Time Keeper gets kidnapped by the nefarious Time Bandits. Tristan, along with his sister Bella, sets out on a long and complicated journey to find him, hoping to get time back.


Explorers Who Made It...or Died Trying by Frieda Wishinsky (for review from Scholastic)

Discover why each of these 12 intrepid explorers risked everything to conquer the great unknown.

Explorers have transformed the world with their curiosity. But with great knowledge comes great responsibility, and thriving on adventure has often lead to great danger.

The explorers profiled here will give younger readers a fascinating survey of the history of this most dramatic of pastimes. The themes that are explored are: what motivated these explorers? What were they looking for, and what did they actually find? How did their journeys change their lives and the lives of the people they met?

Savvy investigative work and scientific knowledge combine to answer perplexing questions and to uncover long-unknown truths. Using a trail of evidence — clues, careful observation, laboratories and new testing protocols — scientists reveal intriguing answers to such questions as: What really killed Beethoven? Are the Hitler diaries real or fakes?

The stories and sidebars show how scientists collect clues, analyse them, test theories, and arrive at solutions — or gather enough evidence to support further investigation. The cases involve branches of science as wide-ranging as astronomy and biochemistry to geology and physics.

These are gripping high-interest stories for middle-grade non-fiction lovers, with Canadian content throughout. A helpful index and glossary are also provided.

We loved sentences like:

Thought followed by action has made our world a better place.

You can choose how you want to feel.

You have a super mind!

Use your super mind to bring happiness into your life.

My son said this book made him feel happy, it made him feel good. I think this book is good to help build a child's self-esteem. It gave us an opportunity as we read it to discuss how thoughts can affect us, especially if we are having a bad day. It also helps a child to imagine what he or she can do in life, just as the great inventors did. And if we focus on a thought or idea, the possibilities will be more apparent to us on how to make it happen.

This is a beautiful book, both because of its message and its bold, and bright illustrations. It would make an ideal gift. Recommended!

Disclosure: Thanks to MediaGuests for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.

I unexpectedly liked this book more than I thought I would. Author James V. O'Connor managed to pull me in with a story that deals with work ethics, extramarital affairs and personal integrity.

Ted McCormick, a professional home organizer, thinks he's a happily married man to his beautiful wife, Mary, of 12 years. However, he's caught off guard when he's attracted to one of his female clients, Janet, a single mom who was recently divorced. Janet is fun, attractive and imaginative. She's also intuitive and flirtatious, giving Ted plenty of opportunities to make the first move. Meanwhile, Ted is also hired by Jim Smith for a big project to purge the huge Victorian house of Smith's deceased and once eccentric father. Smith has reasons to believe he will find a treasure in his father's cluttered and spooky house. The mystery builds as Ted and his team deal with weird rooms and strange noises.

Right off the bat, I didn't care for Ted's wife Mary, and I knew something was wrong with their marriage even though they treated each other well. On the other hand, I instantly liked Ted and Janet, and of course, I was torn because I could see how Ted, who was faithful and loyal, was beginning to have an emotional affair with Janet even as he battled with his physical attraction to her.

There was a lot of sexual tension throughout the book. It was so palpable. I wondered why Ted didn't run home and make love to his wife. Throughout the two months that the story takes place, they only made love once! A healthy couple with no kids? I wondered why Ted didn't clue in that something was wrong. Ted's wife is beautiful, he (and other men) find her attractive, he claims to love her and is faithful to her, yet doesn't really question why they barely make love although he's obviously sexually frustrated?

A friend once told me that her Italian grandmother used to say, “Don't question where a man gets his appetite, as long as he comes home to eat.” Well, Ted's appetite was definitely stimulated, but he rarely ate at home. No wonder he was starving! Sexual relations within a marriage is a sign of love, good communication, and a healthy relationship. Ted seemed a little naive not to have figured that out in his passionless relationship with his wife. But besides Ted's lack of perception, he was such a likable character, I could easily see how women were attracted to him.

I raced through the last half of the book, wondering if Ted would find any treasure in Smith's house and in his own life as he faced his marital problems. The two situations (Ted's love entanglement and his job with the Victorian house) merge as the story builds in suspense and tension. The plot was well developed and comes to a satisfying and unexpected ending. O'Connor skillfully keeps the reader emotionally engaged and succeeds in creating a story that explores the value of morality in all relationships, whether marital, parental or work-related. This book would engender a good discussion for book clubs. It also motivated me to organize my house better!

Note: There are two explicit sex scenes in this novel and two instances of religious expletives. 

I have held off from reading this book because of its sad element, but when I saw the movie trailer and then heard the author is coming to Montreal, I knew I wanted to read the book. Although this was a sad story, I truly loved reading it. The author succeeds in interweaving a modern story with one that takes place 60 years prior. She captivated my interest throughout.

Julia Jarmond, an American journalist married to a Frenchman and living in Paris discovers the shameful Vel' d'Hiv' event that took place in France in 1942. As she investigates, she discovers a long-held secret connected to her in-laws and to Sarah, a girl who was torn from her home in Paris in 1942 and sent to a concentration camp. Julia's probing and tenacity to learn more about Sarah gives her courage to face her own issues and her husband's infidelity and to bring about changes in her life.

The short chapters alternate between the two time periods and for me this eased the heavy sadness of Sarah's heartbreaking story so that I felt I could absorb it better in little chunks. It also built suspense, kept me turning those pages at break-neck speed and culminated well with Julia's story.

This story is beautifully written, flows well, and offers the reader a historical look at yet another horrific, and perhaps not so well-known event associated with the Holocaust. An absorbing and compelling read. Highly recommended.

I will count this book toward the following challenges: Support Your Local Library Challenge, Reading the World

Harris succeeds in bringing the setting to life for me, from the dusty, hot trails bordered by cliffs to the small Mexican town of San Miguel with its whitewashed mud houses and sandstone church. I learned about Texas Rangers and their role at a time when boundaries between countries were not so clear and disputed. Harris writes with confidence about the Old West and she infuses her narrative with subtle humour. It's clear she is comfortable writing about politics and the military.

Although I enjoyed this novel, there were a few things that I questioned or that didn't jive with me. Elizabeth sees her brother (with whom she was close) get shot and die just before she is abducted, but from the time she's rescued a few days later there is no mention of her mourning him at all. It was as if he never existed. Instead she is quickly enamoured with Jake, giggling with him, settling back into normal life and dating him on her return home. She never cried once for her brother or the dire circumstances of her family. It's like nothing happened. She has a little niece (her brother's daughter) with whom she lived and again there is very little mention of her seeing or comforting the child who just lost a father and had lost a mother not a year ago.

The romance seemed to take precedence over everything, making some situations very unrealistic and it was the least exciting aspect for me. The dialogue seemed awkward at times and did not always suit the characters. I think this book needed better editing. Elizabeth is a senator's daughter brought up in Washington as a socialite, yet she comes to the small town of El Paso and adapts without mishap to life in the rugged, dangerous West on her own, without a maid or chaperone. She cannot cook she declared and we see this when she dumped a whole pack of rice in boiling water and made an inedible mess, but not a month later she cooks meals for ten hearty Ranger men?

As much as I liked the setting, I did not care too much for the characters. There was no tension in their relationship and they felt like a “modern couple” rather than characters who lived in the 18^th century. The enemy Diego shows up a few times but didn't come across as a real danger, even if he did want to kill Elizabeth, which seemed a little far-fetched since she did not publish anything to warrant this in the newspaper business she took over from her deceased brother. Incidentally, this too was very little explored in the story although it was supposed to play a major role. Too bad, because I was looking forward to seeing how a woman tackled journalism in a world where men dominated. Instead, it was glossed over. Everything came across as easy for Elizabeth, with not much internal or external struggle.

Overall, this was a fast, simple read. If you like romantic antics within the setting of the Old West without caring too much if the plot is good, this book will do.

Disclosure: Thanks to Bethany House for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.

The Whole Truth by Kit Pearson (Rated: C)

HarperCollins Canada

ISBN: 978-1554688524

Published August 8, 2011

Hardcover, 256 pages

Kit Pearson, one of Canada's best children's author has done it again. With superb storytelling, Pearson has captured the time period of 1932 in Vancouver through the eyes of a 10 year-old in her historical fiction novel, The Whole Truth.

Newly orphaned Polly and her older sister, Maud leave their home in Winnipeg to go live with their grandmother and other family members on Kingfisher Island. She and her sister share a life-altering secret they promise never to reveal. As they adapt to their new life, the secret becomes harder to keep as each of the sisters learn new things that threaten to test their loyalty to each other and their family.

My daughter and I simply savoured this book. We read it together every night. It opened up a whole new world for my daughter because of the setting, the era of the Great Depression. Pearson knows how to build characters so real they jump off the pages. Her story captures the essence of childhood in the 1930s, making it not only a very refreshing story to read but one we learned from. Pearson builds the suspense without losing the wonderful and realistic details of the character's lives.

Bits and pieces of the truth about Polly's father are revealed as the story progresses, but my daughter and I were still left wondering about something that happened before Polly was born. It has to do with why Polly's parents fought with her grandmother and left the island. The grandmother explains it as not a topic to discuss with children and Polly feels she will probably find out one day. For this reason, my daughter hopes for a sequel, for the story to continue. As an adult, I appreciated that sometimes we only reveal things to our children when they are older and more ready.

This book deals well with many issues that are serious: what parents will do to ensure their children's safety, the knowledge that all adults do things that are wrong, learning to forgive, and the burden of carrying a great secret. It's a rich story with good characters, a memorable setting and a well-paced plot. I could easily see it as a movie. Highly recommended.

As I began to read this book, it quickly became apparent that it was not a light, fluffy read. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it definitely surpassed my expectation of a cute YA book. Hannah is the daughter of two gorgeous movie star parents. She lives in Los Angeles and is about to begin eighth grade after the summer. But then things change. She is transferred to a private school, her mother gets cancer and suddenly Hannah loses herself. She is no longer the bold and fun girl who “jumps in with both feet”. Now she sees herself as ugly and fat, afraid of speaking up, especially when she gets in with a group of nasty, fashionista girls.

In essence, Reasons to Be Happy is about a young girl who copes with her stress by becoming bulimic. She binges on food and then throws it all up. I knew a few things about eating disorders before reading this book, but Kittle does an amazing job of bringing the horrors of bulimia to life through the story of Hannah. It was an eye-opener for me. It was also hard to read at times because I really felt for Hannah and all the new hard changes in her life she had to adapt to. I empathized and understood her pain and her need to find a way to cope.

Kittle does not mince words or skim the surface of bulimia. She paints a realistic portrait. It's clear the author wants to warn young girls from the dangers of eating disorders. Through Hannah's journey, which also takes her to Ghana, Africa, we see her struggle to let go of this addiction and we rejoice with her even in the smallest of successes. Hannah also keeps a list of reasons to be happy, which gives the reader insight into her thoughts. It changes as she changes. And it's a beautiful list, reminding us that there are many reasons to be happy, from the feel of “cat purr vibrating through your skin” to “dancing like an idiot when no one is watching.”

As a parent, I appreciated reading this book for its insightful topic and its honest portrayal of a teen in crisis. It was well-written and had me anxiously turning the pages as my heart ached for Hannah, but also shared in her triumph of winning a hard battle and finding herself again.

LCR: Welcome to Library of Clean Reads, Katrina!

KK: Thanks so much for hosting me, Laura. I really appreciate the opportunity.

LCR: You tackle the topic of bulimia in this book, which is not an easy one to do. Some scenes were hard to read as they were honest and forthright about this eating disorder. Was there a specific reason why you chose to explore this topic?

KK: I'd studied classical ballet very seriously when I was younger, so I'd seen firsthand some varying levels of eating disorders. Then, when I was teaching middle school and high school, I had the experience of working with therapists and parents when my students fell into such behavior as well. I've long been fascinated with all kinds of addiction, and, really, an eating disorder is a kind of addiction. Often, the girl will want to stop the behavior but feels powerless to do so. I found that the majority of people don't understand eating disorders at all, and there's often disdain, impatience, and judgement thrown at girls with bulimia and anorexia. There's this pervasive sense of, “Well, why don't you just eat?” or “Why don't you just stop binging?” as if it's a matter of will power only. 

Like all addictions, the only way to stop it is to truly examine and explore why it began and what the person is getting from it. Until you recognize the source, or the need it fills, treatment will be very ineffective. It's necessary to find something else to fill that same need…but that's not possible until you know what it is. Eating disorders are just that: disorders. It's very complicated psychology. So, while I say I'm fascinated with addictions, I think I'm mostly fascinated by stories of human resilience. I think all my books share that theme. I'm interested in stories about the way people have been broken, but then become stronger at those broken places. I was inspired to capture the resilience of students I'd seen come through an eating disorder on the other side (which can take years and years), and possibly stop further girls from having to go through that horror at all.

LCR: I loved reading Hannah’s experiences in Africa. Are her adventures based on your own trip to Africa?

KK: Yes, they are! And I'm so glad you loved reading about them. I had the amazing gift of traveling with a group of high school students to Ghana, Togo, and Benin, in West Africa. It was a life-altering experience for me. Many of Hannah's reactions to the sensory overload of Africa were mine! I was enthralled by the voodoo markets, intimidated by the bartering over prices, and yes, I really did have a night like Hannah's in the village of Tafi Atome (I don't want to spoil anything...but right down to the “creative” use of a plastic grocery bag and the surprise guest!). The scene where the village chief teaches Hannah to bargain actually happened to me, and I still have that gorgeous piece of purple and white kente cloth. By the end of the trip, I was bargaining like a master! 

The food, the school in Tafi Atome, and the lost brass figures are all real...as are those pesky, noisy Mona monkeys (one stole my sunglasses). I did meet a beautiful young woman named Modesta, but the story of her life in Reasons to Be Happy is entirely fictional. I think it can be a real life-shifter for well-off, privileged American students to be immersed, even if briefly, in a third world culture. It's impossible to take our many luxuries for granted afterward. It's also impossible not to come away from a trip like that without realizing how happy we can be with so much less than we thought we needed. There is a photo album of my Africa trip on my website. 

LCR: Thank you, Katrina, for sharing all this with me and my readers! 

For more info on Katrina and her book, visit:

Sourcebooks is offering a copy of Reasons to Be Happy to one of my readers. Entering is easy:

I will count this book toward the following challenges:  YA Reading Challenge

Disclosure: Thanks to Sourcebooks for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.

Take a great cast of characters, add the setting of an old house on the Cornish coast, throw in some time travel and romance, and finally put it all between the pages of a beautiful book cover. And voilà! You get Susanna Kearsley's new novel, The Rose Garden--a book I got lost in so easily, that transported me away and left me sad that it ended. I didn't want it to end!

I simply loved this book. From Kearsley's beautiful writing to the mysterious time travel. When Eva Ward's sister dies, she returns to their childhood summer place in Cornwall, England to scatter her ashes. Mark, Susan and Claire are like family to her and they welcome her back. As Eva finds comfort in the childhood memories stirred from returning, she experiences periods where she believes she is hallucinating. Instead she is time travelling back to 1715 where she meets Daniel Butler, a smuggler caught up in the dangers of political intrigue.

Kearsley weaves a fantastic tale as she blends the present with the past, keeping the reader guessing as to how it will all work out. In time travel novels there is always the question as to how going back in time will actually change the future. Kearsley handles this well with plot twists and a wonderful cast of interesting characters that add great dimension to the whole story. Everything in the story is essential to its satisfying ending. In time travel novels I tend to like the story in the past better than the one in the present, but Kearsley does such a wonderful job of melding the two together. When the story ended and stayed in my mind, I was able to discern how every scene was important.

I have been eyeing Kearsley's Marianna for awhile now, and Sandra's high regard for Kearsley's last novel The Winter Sea (read her review here) has now elevated these books on my list of must-reads. Susanna Kearsley has now made my list of favourite authors. If you're itching to read a well-written “I need to escape into” novel, look no further. This one is a winner.

Note: There are a few religious expletives in this novel.

Back Row (Left to Right):

This book is only available in Kindle edition at Amazon.com. The author has offered to give five copies away to five winners. US only.

Entering is easy. Just leave a comment stating what you like about the circus. Email mandatory. Giveaway ends October 22, 2011.

Note: I have not read this book.

Every Saturday, Booking Mama hosts a feature called Kid Konnection—a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, visit Booking Mama.

The Only Way to Paradise by G.G. Vandagriff (Rated: C)

The Orson Whitney Press

ISBN: 978-0983623212

Published June 6, 2011

Trade paperback, 254 pages

Four women from Oakwood, Ohio decide to ditch their group therapy and fly off to Florence for a month to rediscover themselves and heal. There is Mackenzie whose family is falling apart when her husband suddenly left them six months ago. Roxie is a beautiful journalism professor who shuns men because she thinks they only want her for her J. Lo looks. Sara is a doctor, but she hates her profession and would rather be a violinist but does not want to disappoint her parents. Giorgia, the glamourous violinist, is still coming to terms with the recent death of her husband.

I really liked the setting of Florence, the seat of the Renaissance, and there is a good amount of Medici history explored throughout the novel. This was the most interesting aspect of the book for me. It made me nostalgic for Italy. The story has a slow start as the reader gets to know each character. Each chapter alternates with one of the character's point of view and so there is no main protagonist. There are many characters in this novel and each have their own very complex story.

The author tackles the issues of post-traumatic stress, sexual abuse, bi-polar, depression, and unhealthy dependance--conditions some of the characters suffer from but that the reader discovers only at the end of the novel when the characters finally come to realize by themselves or with the help of a friend what their problem really is. Mental illness is not a trifle issue. I have worked in this field and I know how difficult these conditions are to live with, to accept, to diagnose properly and to recover from. I'm not convinced the author is fully familiar with these sensitive issues. Throughout the novel I felt more like the characters had behavioural issues rather than complex mental illnesses.

For this reason I felt these issues were dealt with superficially and the characters seemed too contrived. Too much going on in this book. It wasn't realistic to me, and I wasn't pulled in. The message that agape (unconditional love) and phillia (sisterly and brotherly love) are balms that heal is true and worthy of exploring, but most definitely more is involved when it comes to mental illness. Usually, there is much anger, mental anguish, lashing out, and emotional breakdown. All this was glossed over a little too easily. Mackenzie finds out her teen son is admitted into a locked down drug rehab center back in Ohio and she can still gallivant in Florence? And her husband comes to realize he's bi-polar? Roxie's new love, Stefano, decides (after doing some reading and Internet research) that Roxie must be suffering from severe post-traumatic syndrome because he suspects she was sexually abused as a child, figuring this out just like that and telling her she needs to have surgery? After knowing her a few weeks? I could go on but suffice it to say, I had a hard time accepting some of the stories.

The author's message is a very good one, that love is the only way to paradise, but acceptance, diagnosis and recovery is never quick or easy with mental illness. It's a long painful process, even when love is involved.

I Am Canada: Deadly Voyage: RMS Titanic by Hugh Bewster (for review from Scholastic)

Fourteen-year-old Jamie Laidlaw is returning to Canada from England aboard the Titanic. In his four days on board, he busies himself with new friends, finding ways to explore the ship's forbidden areas, and generally landing himself in trouble.

When disaster strikes and the horrifying scramble for survival ensues, Jamie is on the front lines — struggling to help free the lifeboats and get people on board them. When a huge wave washes over the ship's sloping deck, it's time for Jamie to take action — and take his fate into his own hands. With hundreds of others, he dives into the sea, hoping he will find a way to survive.

Dear Canada: That Fatal Night: The Titanic Diary of Dorothy Wilton by Sarah Ellis (for review from Scholastic)

It is May 1912, one month after the horrific sinking of the Titanic, and twelve-year-old survivor Dorothy Wilton is sent home from school in disgrace when she strikes another student. Although she's expelled, her sympathetic teacher encourages Dorothy to write an account of her experience on the ship, with the hopes that it will help Dorothy come to terms with her trauma.

And so begins a truly remarkable story, which reads like a time capsule of the era: Dorothy writes about visiting her bohemian grandparents in England before setting sail back home, the luxurious rooms and cabins on board, a new friend she makes, and the intriguing people they observe. However, amidst all of this storytelling, a shadow lurks, a secret Dorothy is too traumatized to acknowledge — a secret about her own actions on that fatal night, which may have had deadly consequences.

So what did you get in your mailbox last week?