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YA, I Read Book Club

Please note that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our YA, I Read club had been postponed until further notice.


 

YA, I Read is a young adult book club. Receive an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) of the selected title and read a book before it's even published. These books are pre-publication copies of books that are normally only available to industry insiders. On book club date, make sure you come back to the store to discuss what you've read with our other fantastic group members.

Next Winnipeg Session: TBA

 


Below is a listing of our most recent YA, I Read books our participants have reviewed and their reactions to them. 

Click here to see our full list of previously reviewed books. These are now available at a McNally's near you!


Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara (discussed February 26, 2020)
 Cover image for Djinn Patrol on the Purple LineDown market lanes crammed with too many people, dogs, and rickshaws, past stalls that smell of cardamom and sizzling oil, below a smoggy sky that doesn't let through a single blade of sunlight, and all the way at the end of the Purple metro line lies a jumble of tin-roofed homes where nine-year-old Jai lives with his family. From his doorway, he can spot the glittering lights of the city's fancy high-rises, and though his mother works as a maid in one, to him they seem a thousand miles away. Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line plunges readers deep into this neighbourhood to trace the unfolding of a tragedy through the eyes of a child as he has his first perilous collisions with an unjust and complicated wider world.

"Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is an intense mystery that uncovers the horror and tragedy of the large number of children that go missing in India. This is a brilliant novel that, although is heartbreaking, highlights a very important issue." -Callie

"Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line is a novel with a large impact bringing to light the issues of abductions in India. The novel follows Jai who is a nine year old boy who is trying his best to find missing children from his neighbourhood." -Catarina

"A mystery that tackles the huge number of children in India that go missing every day. Effectively told from a child's perspective, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line takes a deep look into how a neighbourhood reacts when children start to go missing." -Shannon

Furious Thing by Jenny Downham (discussed January 22, 2020)
Cover image for Furious ThingLexi's angry. And it's getting worse. If only she could stop losing her temper and behave herself, her stepfather would accept her, her mom would love her like she used to, and her stepbrother would declare his crushing desire to spend the rest of his life with her. She wants these things so badly, she's determined to swallow her anger and make her family proud. But pushing fury down doesn't make it disappear. Instead, it simmers below the surface waiting to erupt . . . And there'll be fireworks when it does.

 

"Jenny Downham does an excellent job of painting an atmosphere of psychological distress that bend Lexi's perception of what is real and what is not. This book is a difficult book to read as you feel Lexi's anger with her, but it is also impossible to put down." -Callie

"Furiously captivating. Jenny Downham has captured the complexities of a family and the courage it takes to make a change." -Bronwen

"A realistic novel which portrays the unhealthy family dynamic Lexi lives with everyday. Lexi is full of anger but doesn't know why. When she tries her best to keep it bottled up inside, sometimes the bottle just shatters." -Catarina

"Furious Thing is a fast-paced page turner full of emotion that will leave the reader just as furious as Lexi herself." -Maddy