In The Field

Lightning and Blackberries
by Joanne K. Jefferson
Elizabeth Evans lives on a farm with her Dad and her Mom in the Annapolis Valley. Her parents are originally from Boston but Elizabeth was born in Nova Scotia. Elizabeth’s gaol is to take over the farm when she gets older but her mom wants her to move back to Boston, go to school and find a nice husband to marry. One day Elizabeth gets lost in the woods during a thunderstorm. She stumbles across a secret cabin in the middle of the woods and rushes to it for shelter from the storm. To her surprise she finds a girl her age who speaks French and her name is Marie Madeline. Marie Madeline’s father storms into the room and scolds her in French and kicks Elizabeth out. After finally reaching home Elizabeth can’t stop thinking about Marie Madeline and why her father was so upset that she was there. Elizabeth spends all of her free time in the woods trying to find her new friend and their house. One day while picking blackberries Elizabeth finally come across Marie Madeline. The girls decided to keep their friendship a secret and find a beech tree hidden deep in the woods where they will meet and leave gifts for each other. The girls learn each others languages and as their friendship blossoms Marie Madeline explains to Elizabeth why her and her dad are hiding in the woods. This flips Elizabeth’s world upside down and she is now debating whether she should move to Boston.
I found this book difficult to read. I found there was not enough detail explaining some of the events that happened in the book. I also found reading the French parts of the book difficult. I am just learning to speak French so this was tricky but for someone who has no French background this would be challenging. I rate this book 2/5.

Keepers of the Pact is such a fun adventure that brings some life and mystery into a perfectly ordinary world.
I loved the messaging in this book, I’m actually sad that I didn’t realize that this held Indigenous themes a bit sooner, because I could have reviewed this book for Bridge to Publishing, but instead I did it for Digitally Lit . :/.
Other than that, I really enjoy reading fantasy books, and this one really reminded me of Kira’s Secret Secret by Orysia Dawydiak

I loved the messaging in this book, it was very heartfelt, very touching, very sweet, and very important. I love how Indigenous themes were woven into it, and how they were presented in a fun way for readers to learn. I feel like readers that are familiar with the information would also have a good time reading it, and so would readers that weren’t originally familiar with the information. There’s a lot of fun humor, fun adventure, mystery, and fantasy. I’ve no doubt that anyone who picks up this book will have a good time.

The characters were strong and well written, with a good plot to drive the story forward. If you go looking for adventure, you usually find it, and that’s something that I kept in mind for the duration of this book. If I was thinking that certain aspects of it weren’t realistic (because let’s be real for a moment, what 12yr old takes a boat out in the morning to sneak out into some sea caves), I always thought “oh this is only something that happens in books”…. well I hate to break it to you, but this is a book. Haha. It’s such a fun filled adventure where both the readers and the characters learn new things. It really feels like a real story, and I suppose it’s based on a real story, the elements that we don’t usually get to see that are within Indigenous myths, legends, and history. It’s safe to say that I really enjoyed Keepers of the Pact, and it’s truly a book that people of all ages can enjoy. I really hope that you check it out and that you have fun reading it!

My review of East Coast Nature by Jeffrey C. Domm and published by Formac:

A 5/5 star book! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

East Coast Nature is a compact guide to the natural world around us in Atlantic Canada. It details the many animals, bugs, flowers, mushrooms, and trees of the three Atlantic provinces (Nova Scotia, PEI and New Brunswick). It uses a mix of illustrations, symbols and short blurbs to help you identify species around you!

I absolutely loved this little book. The illustrations in it were extremely well done, and that accompanied by the many symbols used and the quick notes on the species make this book perfect for those looking to identify the living things around them. The colours used in this book were also very beautiful, and catch the eye quite easily!

The book itself is great because it’s quite small, yet it does any amazing job of detailing so many different species around the Maritime provinces that it makes the perfect beginners guide. This would be an amazing book to take on a hike through the wilderness in Nova Scotia and explore the amazing nature around you. I’ve taken this book birdwatching with me and it is makes it much easier to identify the birds around me, as it’s quick and easy to scan before the bird flies away! The compactness and conciseness of this book was a big factor in why I gave it 5 stars!

I recommend this book to anyone who’s just looking for a start in identifying nature around them, or seasoned spotters who are just looking for a quick guide! The details in this book are exquisite, yet an easy read because it’s all in quick and short blurbs!

This book presents insights on how “helping professions” affect Aboriginal peoples. It looks at how helping professions have not done enough to meet the needs of Aboriginal people. This is the outcome of inadequate attempts to include the opinions and traditions of the Indigenous people. The sharing circle is an Aboriginal way of helping that is covered thoroughly in this book. The author outlines the different situations in which this technique could be used to direct practices with people, families, and groups.

I loved how the book was informative, without an information overload, and also included personal anecdotes, stories, and case examples. Each anecdote/story included was significant in its own way. This book was eye-opening and taught me about things that I wasn’t aware of before, including a few Indigenous terms. However, I do wish that a pronunciation guide was included. One thing that the book was especially focused on was sharing circles, a practice often used by many Aboriginal helpers. It went in-depth into how they’re conducted, various people’s experiences with them, and more. I really enjoyed learning more about the sharing circle, its cultural importance, and its power to unite people.

This book was well-written. It seems like there was a lot of effort that went into this book. Other than the sharing and healing circles, the book discussed many other topics such as ontological imperialism, the Medicine Wheel, expropriation, and decolonizing social work. I felt like this book did a fantastic job of bringing attention to important subjects. Many readers can learn from this book.

This was an enlightening book, and I highly recommend this meaningful and informative read. This is the perfect read for those looking to learn more about sharing circles and other Indigenous foundations. Those pursuing “helping professions” such as social work could also benefit by reading this book.

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