AuRoaring Reviews columnist Vanessa Ratjen is a reader and a writer. She's done both in Nova Scotia, the Yukon, and on Vancouver Island, where she currently resides in a yurt.
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Vanessa Ratjen
Issue: 2018-05-30, PHOTO: courtesy of Penguin Random House Canada
The ecological web: A story of salmon caught in the middle
The Yukon River holds many roles—the namesake of a territory, the history of peoples for thousands of years and home to the world’s longest salmon run. Salmon: a global commodity that, like so many others, has become a supermarket convenience... Read more
Issue: 2018-05-02, PHOTO: courtesy of Freehand Books
A raw and real experience of the war in Syria
In 2010, nine-year-old Abu Bakr al Rabeeah and his family moved from Iraq to Syria. Their home had become politically unstable, and the threats of violence were turning into reality – but Syria was supposed to be safe... Read more
Issue: 2018-03-14, PHOTO: Vanessa Ratjen
Bridging the Divide
Kate Harris grew up geeking out on Mars. But when it became apparent that visiting the red planet meant cutting out such creature comforts as breathing fresh air, Harris decided there might be some benefits (like sufficient oxygen supply and more... Read more
Issue: 2018-01-24, PHOTO: Vanessa Ratjen
A new narrative on gold rush history
On the surface of national history, the Yukon is primarily known for events that happened more than a hundred years ago: the Klondike Gold Rush. Residents of the Territory today know, intimately, how much more there is to the region than its... Read more
Issue: 2017-12-06, Credit: Amazon.ca
Through dark to the light
A boy is born, unbreathing, the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. With his first croak of life, his mother sighs in relief. But after this early brush with death, her intuition warns her that “winter” will arrive prematurely in her son’s life.. Read more
Issue: 2017-10-25, PHOTO: Amazon.ca
Canada’s first superheroine saved from obscurity
There’s no need to be a closet comic nerd anymore. The genre has exploded into accepted popularity over the last 10 years and it’s definitely something worth openly celebrating. If you’re like me, however, and relatively new to the scene, you... Read more
Issue: 2017-09-27, PHOTO: Vanessa Ratjen
At Home at Sea
“Ship’s logs, myths, stories of quiet exaltation and wrenching lamentations can all become poetry when the experience resonates deeply with the rhythm of the human heart…”— Anita Hadley in the introduction to Spindrift: A Canadian Book of the Sea... Read more
Issue: 2017-09-06, PHOTO: amazon.ca
A Satirical Race Through a Parallel Universe
In the aftermath of getting kicked out by his wife, Jack Vesoovian begins a cross-country search for his missing friend, Petronius Totem. But there’s nothing straightforward about finding anyone in a world where a multi-national fibre optic... Read more
Issue: 2017-08-30, PHOTO: Amazon.com
Slap on a Hat, Slip into this Book
Every summer, Rose and her family pack up and head to their cottage in Awago Beach. There, the long days melt into lake swims and beach fires, counting stars, five-cent candies, watching movies and running around with her summer-sister, Windy. Read more
Issue: 2017-08-02, PHOTO: Amazon.com
Ordinary Bones of Extraordinary People
Henry is an introvert. He leads a fairly simple and solitary existence; works at a mechanic garage for wages and collects bones to assemble into bird skeletons for fun. He lives alone, quietly playing different supporting roles for the few people... Read more
Pixabay
Wild Edibles: From Curiosities to Staples
Of course there are many books on plant identification, but finding one specific to your climate and region is, well, essential. A time-tested book is Edible and Medicinal Plants of Canada by Andy Mackinnon (2009) – and there’s a whole related series Read more
Issue: 2017-07-19, PHOTO: Harbour Publishing
Wilderness Living with a Canine View
Alert: For the dog lovers out there! Patient, boisterous, loyal and stubborn, every dog has a singular personality with a combination of unique traits; but there are certain qualities — like good with people, comfortable in the wild, can carry a... Read more
Issue: 2017-06-28, PHOTO: Pixabay
A Naturalist’s Guide to Spirituality
It’s no secret the demands of modern western cultures are increasingly detrimental to our natural environment and swiftly changing the social fabric of our communities. And change is constant. Read more
Issue: 2017-06-14, PHOTO: Amazon.com
A Feast of Living Off Canada’s Northern West Coast
Bordering on a genre of its own, Susan Musgrave’s cookbook-cum-community memoir, A Taste of Haida Gwaii is filled with the author’s joyful confidence in the unpredictable nature of things. But that’s simply one of its many charms. Musgrave lives... Read more
Issue: 2017-06-07, PHOTO: House of Anansi Press
A book Canadians “must read”
A vicious attack leaves two girls hospitalized. Their families, reeling, draw together, looking for answers. In her arresting debut novel, The Break, author Katherena Vermette, a Metis writer from Treaty One territory, weaves together the stories... Read more
Issue: 2017-05-31, PHOTO: Pixabay
The Things that Weather You, Shape You
Often touted as a fairytale for adults, Alaska author Eowyn Ivey’s debut novel, The Snow Child, is a vividly depicted story about the heartache of life’s trials and the healing we are capable of. Set against the backdrop of 1920s Alaskan frontier... Read more
Issue: 2017-05-17, PHOTO: Amazon.ca
Playing in the Dark
Rumbling with dark humour, real life and bewitching characters, Eden Robinson’s latest novel, Son of a Trickster, is a confident coming-of-age story with a beautifully rhythmic cadence. Set in Kitimat, British Columbia, which is the town adjacent... Read more
Issue: 2017-05-03, PHOTO: Amazon.com
A Contemplative Celebration of Place
Our environment says much to those who will listen, and author Stephen Hume is all ears. Distilled from curiosity and personal ruminations, Hume ponders the wonders and uncertainties of life in British Columbia in his book A Walk With the Rainy... Read more
Issue: 2017-05-03, PHOTO: Amazon.com
Of Breasts and Beyond
Breasts, boobs, tits, tatas. Mind the title, because, yes, this really is a story about tits, but it’s also, oh! so much more than that. Because, what are breasts to women? I won’t overstep boundaries and assume to know everyone’s relationship... Read more
Issue: 2017-04-19, PHOTO: Goodreads.com
Superhero Highschool
Growing up is hard. And the microcosm of high school — with its changing expectations and responsibilities and the push-pull of social dynamics, while, at the same time, you’re trying to establish emotional coping mechanisms and, above all... Read more