Fourth Canada Reads book this year! Unless there is a miracle, I don’t see myself getting Life in the City of Dirty Water before next week. What Strange Paradise had been on my list since its publish date last year, but I don’t think I knew what I was expecting. The book follows a very young boy, Amir, on a journey across the Mediterranean sea and his escape from immigration detention on reaching a Greek island, aided by a teenaged girl named Vanna. It jumps back and forth: one chapter on the boat, one chapter of escape, which makes the book a very fast read. I liked it, and enjoyed the format as it kept the story very fast-paced. Throughout his journey, we see him experiencing kindness from strangers on the boat and on land, which meant the story wasn’t as dark as I expected. Compared to Scarborough, I didn’t find I felt nearly as strongly about the characters or their situation. Then I got to the end. A friend had warned me that it would change things, and it did. But I also don’t want to give too much away. The end forced me to re-evaluate the entire rest of the book, and see it in a completely new way. As a book on its own, I really enjoyed reading it and the end completely threw me for a loop (which I love out of an ending).  

But the real question is: how is this one book to connect us? I think this is a strong book, and I think it will win Canada Reads, but I don’t think it is the best book to connect us. I feel like in order to build connection with other readers, I need to feel passion and connection to the book, its stories, and its characters, and I just didn’t get that out of What Strange Paradise. If we both can find common ground in a passion for this book and what it made us feel, it is a foundation to build a connection over. It was a great book, but Scarborough remains my top pick to win Canada Reads this year.