By Yolanda T. Marshall

Summer continues to tease us with sprinkles of warmth, while winter and spring remind us to keep our coats close by. Amid the ever-shifting weather, many of us are bidding farewell to the Caribbean legend, Harry Belafonte. He wasn’t only a pioneer and singer; he was also a civil rights activist. Belafonte once stated, “Each and every one of you has the power, the will and the capacity to make a difference in the world in which you live in.” I hope this message finds you well. Here is this week’s reading list.

The Forest Keeper– The true story of Jadav Payeng

Written by Rina Singh, an award-winning children’s book author who holds an MFA in creative writing. Singh resides in Toronto with her family. This book was illustrated by Ishita Jain.

“What can one person do in the face of global environmental degradation? Indian Jadav Payeng has proven that every one of us can make a difference. As a boy, he began planting trees on a sandbank in the state of Assam. Nobody believed that he would succeed in doing so. But since 1979, a forest the size of Central Park has emerged, offering a home to countless animals and plants. It was not until 2007 that a photographer accidentally discovered the forest and made Payeng known to the world beyond India. Rina Singh has sensitively retraced the story of young Jadav. In Ishita Jain’s picture book debut as an illustrator, readers feel immersed in the spectacular habitat whose existence borders on a miracle come true.”- NorthSouth Books, 2023.

Suite as Sugar: and Other Stories

Written by Camille Hernández-Ramdwar an author and scholar who divides her time between Toronto and Trinidad and Tobago.

“From Winnipeg winter scapes to Toronto’s condo culture, from Havana’s haunted streets to Trinidad’s calamitous environs, the stories in Suite as Sugar are permeated with the violence of colonial histories, personal and intimate, reflecting legacies of abandonment and loss. The veil between the living and the dead is obscured, chaos becomes panacea, and characters take drastic measures into their own hands. Survivors of all kinds seek strategy and solace: a group of homeless people organize an occupation of vacant condos, a new resident to a disturbing neighbourhood tries to make sense of madness, and a dog investigates the sudden disappearance of his owner. The five intertwined vignettes in the title story are set in a Caribbean country where the spectre of the sugar plantation haunts everyone. Tying this collection together is the casual brutality of our everyday lives, whether seen through the eyes of animals, spirits, or human beings.” – Rare Machines, Dundurn Press, April 2023.

The Negroes Are Congregating

Written by Natasha Adiyana Morris, an award-winning storyteller of Jamaican heritage, born in Winnipeg and raised in Toronto.

“In this unapologetic and sharp-witted perspective about the evolving Black experience in Canada and around the world, a rhythmic fusion of spoken word, satire, and soulful dialect emerges steady as a heartbeat through a journey of raw truths and deep-rooted questions. How does a racialized group teach future generations to unlearn internalized self-hatred? What is the essence of Blackness beyond skin colour? Is it possible to be free living in present-day systemic racism? Designed to ignite necessary conversations, this powerful collection of engaging scenes that range from church to Black Twitter to Africville aims to construct an understanding of what it means to be Black.” – Playwrights Canada Press, April 2023.

The Crabs Were Running

Written by Fred Thornhill a Trinidadian Canadian author. Some of us who are born in the Caribbean will relate to his short stories. For anyone seeking to embrace the complexities and celebrations of Caribbean culture, this book is a great choice.

“A series of short stories based on the adventures of a boy living in rural Trinidad during the 1940s. What happened when his father allowed him and his two brothers ages seven, five and two, to drive the family car? How this boy caused a ruckus in his classroom when the crabs he had in his pocket escaped? His journey into town with his siblings and grandmother to have their portrait taken. It tells of his holiday in Tobago where he witnessed the arrival of survivors of a British vessel that was torpedoed by a German U-boat. It gives insights into how he dealt with the untimely death of his father, which precipitated his family’s move to San Fernando.” – Independently published, 2023. Visit Amazon.ca

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