Taking My Life by Jane Rule

"Autobiography," writes Canadian lesbian author Jane Rule, "may be a positive way of taking my own life. [...] I have never been suicidal, but often stalled, as I have been now for some months, not just directionless but unconvinced that there is one." And so Rule wrote about her younger years, from childhood up until she reached 21, which is before she moved to Canada from the U.S.A.

Rule died in 2007 without publishing this manuscript. It was found among her papers in archives at the University of British Columbia by Linda Morra in 2008, when she was researching Canadian women authors.

Rule's teen years in the 1940s are especially interesting. She found herself attracted to women once she reached high school. Her teachers could see what Rule could not: "No one ever mentioned that loving me would be a criminal offence."

Ann Smith, a young and married art teacher, became an intimate friend when Rule was 15. Rule visited her home almost daily. Smith asked Rule one day what she talked about with her therapist, and if she told him she was in love with her. "It wasn't the first time she'd kissed me on the mouth, but it was the first time I felt the ache in my gut turn to fire. 'You have to understand,' she said, holding my face in her hands. 'We can't make love. You have to make love first with a man, adjust to that, or you'll be a lesbian.'"

The cover image is a portrait done by Ann Smith when Rule was 20, during a time when they were lovers. The book offers a welcome look at the formative years of one of Canada's foremost authors.

Beauty Plus Pity by Kevin Chong

Beauty Plus Pity: the title comes from Nabokov's definition of art, reminding us that beauty is fleeting and that "the world dies with the individual." Malcolm Kwan's world collapses around him when two life-changing events happen in quick succession - his father dies and his fiance leaves him. Malcolm was born shortly after his parents immigrated to Vancouver from Hong Kong. He is now an aimless twenty-something pursuing a modelling career for lack of a better idea of what to do with his life. Hadley, a younger half-sister that Malcolm didn't know about until the day of his father's funeral, becomes a catalyst for change. Thanks to her, Malcolm is drawn out of his self-absorption and begins to pay more attention to the people around him.

Canadian author Kevin Chong has an ear for the inherent humour in human foibles. Beauty Plus Pity will appeal to readers interested in themes of identity, family secrets and the immigrant experience.

Readalikes: Anything by Douglas Coupland; Money Boy by Paul Yee (for the Chinese immigrant identity and family relationships); Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron (for the feeling of malaise as a young man sorts out his future, as well as the humour and family dynamics); and maybe Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine (which is in graphic novel format, and explores ethnicity and desire with an understated, spare style).

Mangaman by Barry Lyga and Colleen Doran

A character from the world of manga falls into an American graphic novel... it's not only a great concept, but well executed. Barry Lyga and Colleen Doran have created a clever and entertaining work of metafiction in Mangaman.

Government agents are trying to devise a way to send back Ryoko Kiyama after he comes through a Rip in the universe, but after several months without success, they decide to send him to a local high school while they work on the problem. Ryoko promptly falls in love with Marissa Montaigne, thereby causing a disturbance in her school's universe. It turns out that manga conventions came through with Ryoko. When he sees Marissa for the first time, flowers appear in the air around him and his eyes turn to hearts. The students who witness this are understandably freaked out. When Marissa's ex-boyfriend moves to defend her from this weirdness, Ryoko leaps with excitement: "Big time high school challenge! Awesome karate fight!" Motion lines ray outward from his entire body -- and these become black sticks littering the ground around him in the next scene. What fun!

Will Ryoko be able to return to the manga world? Will he want to?

Doran artfully combines East and West drawing styles. It doesn't matter whether you are a fan of one or the other, I promise you won't want to miss this.

Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay

In this epic fantasy, Guy Gavriel Kay brings an alternate Tang-era China to life. Shen Tai has chosen an unorthodox way to mourn his father's death. Shen Gao was a famous general, and that is why Shen Tai spends two years in a remote valley, burying the bones of long-dead soldiers. 40,000 men from two armies fell there; every night, Shen Tai hears the ghostly screams of the yet-unburied. His efforts yield an unexpected gift, one that is so valuable that it not only changes his life, but also the history of his country.

Under Heaven is an adventure saga with a richly described setting and a large cast of realistic characters. It will appeal to fans of both historical fiction and fantasy.

Readalike: Tales of the Otori series by Lian Hearn.

The Many Revenges of Kip Flynn by Sean Dixon

Family secrets, the bonds of friendship and the scourge of urban development are at the heart of this entertaining novel set in contemporary Toronto. Poor folk living and working in the Kensington Market area battle rich property developers who want to level it and put up high rise buildings there instead. Revenge based on mistaken assumptions gets carried beyond the grave when ghosts join the fight.

One of the joys of this quirky novel is the omniscient narrator who addresses the reader directly, at times, but not in the Victorian "dear Reader" style. On page 2: "Mani may not seem to be a particularly likeable character, but he is not going to be in this story for very long."

"'Why don't you sit down?' [Nancy said to Henry.] 'Have a glass of water. It's got fluoride in it.' 'That's because the government wants you dead,' said Henry. 'But at least they're killing you slowly,' said Nancy. 'There's time to sit down.'"

Find time to read this when you're in the mood to be charmed.

Readalikes: Come Thou Tortoise by Jessica Grant; Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King; The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender.

There Is No Dog by Meg Rosoff

Planets are won or lost in the galactic poker games of the gods in Meg Rosoff's There Is No Dog... which is how a dyslexic adolescent god named Bob came to be in charge of Earth, a "tiny, unproven" planet, "badly positioned -- miles off the beaten track in a lonely and somewhat rundown part of the universe."

Bob was lazy, but he could be creative when the mood struck him. "And, boy oh boy, did Bob go to town on the creatures. He put spines on some, and strange colours on others; he added feathers and scales and sometimes feathers and scales; savage teeth and beady eyes on some, and sweet expressions and razor-sharp claws on others. Some of the fowl were lovely to look at, with long graceful necks and luxuriant plumage, but others had the most idiotically large feet, or wings that didn't work. [...] And then Bob went on to create every creeping thing, and some that leapt and climbed and slithered and tunnelled as well, and he told them to be frantic and multiply, which they did by the most gobsmackingly weird mechanism ..."

Skip forward many millenia, to find that Bob has mostly lost interest in his Earthly creations. Except for a certain young woman, a human. Lucy is a zookeeper in contemporary England. She has no idea what she is in for when her world's god decides to come wooing.

There Is No Dog is imaginative, playful and witty. Highly recommended for Grade 7 through to adult.

Readalikes: The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams; Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips.

Money Boy by Paul Yee

Ray Liu is a closeted gay 18-year-old Chinese immigrant in contemporary Toronto. He came to Canada against his will four years earlier with his father and stepmother. Ray's English is still quite poor, he's a lackluster student and his main interest is online gaming. When his father discovers that Ray has been visiting gay websites, he kicks him out and locks the door.

Life on the street is a shock for Ray, who has been rather spoiled and sulky up to that point. Now, the only way that he can think of to support himself is by selling his body -- what's called being a money boy in Beijing. The poignancy of Ray's story is rooted in Paul Yee's realistic portrayal of Ray, the hard choices he must make, and the way his character strengthens over a short period of time.

I'm excited about booktalking Money Boy to a gay-straight alliance club at J. Percy Page high school tomorrow. Many of the students at that school were born outside Canada. The other books I'll be telling them about are listed here.