If there's one time of year you want to lose yourself in a book that will make you shiver, it's October, when the light is fading and the spirits raise their voices loud enough that we can hear them.
Enormous thanks to the Ottawa Book Awards and the Ottawa Public
Library for including me! Here's the jury statement for Shantallow: "With its sparring prose, inclusive cast and difficult themes, Cara Martin’s Shantallow is crackling YA. It addresses themes of revenge porn, abuse, drugs and sex, but at its heart is a message all young people should hear: there’s life after transgression, and while it may not include forgiveness, personal amends can be made, behaviour changed and community rediscovered."