The Gift

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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o Country of Poxes is a book that targets a very niche audience, and reading this book I was trying to figure out if I fit that audience. Country of Poxes is a very informational and educational book. It’s great if you want to read up about modern medicine, and the past, and I was learning a lot about the different diseases that were present and are still present today.

Some new things I learned were how the British and the French brought in diseases, and the indigenous were blamed for passing them. I thought this was really interesting, and an example of how things were back then. Indigenous used to be to blame for everything, and the British and the French continued to do pretty much whatever they wanted to.
There was a section on syphilis as well, and I actually learned what syphilis was for the first time, so that was good. I will say that the section on syphilis is very long and it was a lot of words. I had a hard time retaining all of it, and I feel like it could have been written better. Maybe like a textbook. With pictures! Pictures are good.

I will say that I expected this book to be a little bit more on Indigenous themes, especially since in the synopsis it really puts emphasis on how these diseases affected both colonial and Indigenous life, but I didn’t find as much of that as I expected? I genuinely questioned whether this book fit into my B2P (Bridge to Publishing) qualifications at times, due to the lack of mentions of Indgenous issues and history.

I liked how in-depth this book went, and one chapter was over 60 pages. Which is a VERY long chapter. I feel like it would have been better served as different parts with each chapter being a different section about that specific part. And I think that was a drawback while trying to read this book; information is presented in one solid slab. And there are no pictures. I think I would have benefitted from some illustrations covering the main points. And honestly, I have trouble identifying the main points in this book. I read it like a school textbook, but the problem was that it wasn’t quite like a school textbook, because at least with a textbook it’s points come across easily. The prose wasn’t bad, but from a casual reader’s perspective, I wasn’t able to absorb all of the information. I guess I would call this “too wordy” in a certain way.

I did like how this book looked at not only the past, but also the future. Predictions of what the world will be like from the perspective of someone who sees a lot of things and gets a lot of different perspectives in his daily life. I also like how this book is told from a perspective that I don’t have, which furthers my understanding of how others view the world. I think this also ties into the Indigenous ways of knowing, like two-eyed seeing, and although I may not have understood all of it, I can tell that this book challenges a lot of things.

I was very surprised to learn that infections are more common than you might think, the history of smallpox and other diseases like chickenpox, monkeypox, I about how certain diseases spread, and just how dangerous a lot of them are.

Honestly, I don’t have that much to say about this book, other than it’s really good if you want to learn more about medicine, and the history of medicine. I’m honestly not too sure what I thought of this book, but I give it 4 stars because I think it’s useful and it serves it purpose well. I don’t think I was the intended audience for it, but I tried to read it as best as I could, while also soaking up all of the information in it.