Don't Be Afraid By Steven Hayward, Vintage Canada, 312 pages, $22
Shy, chubby, 17-year-old Jimmy Morrison is first on the scene when the local library explodes, and his life turns even further upside-down when his older brother turns up missing. The police investigation is not satisfactory, so Jimmy and his father begin their own.
Bride of New France By Suzanne Desrochers, Penguin Canada, 292 pages, $16
Laure Beauséjour, an orphan living among prostitutes and the insane, is shipped in 1669 to New France as a fille du roi, one of the single young women sent to be wives to French traders, farmers and soldiers in the colony, where she remains determined to make a success of her life.
The Jew is Not My Enemy Unveiling the Myths That Fuel Muslim Anti-Semitism, by Tarek Fatah, Signal/M&S, 243 pages, $18.99
Fatah, founder of the moderate – some would say liberal – Muslim Canadian Congress, tracks the history, politics and theology of the antagonism between Muslims and Jews, finding the roots in hate literature dating back to the seventh century. He concludes that hatred is anti-Islamic, and suggests courses of action to reduce hostility.
Bossypants By Tina Fey, Reagan Arthur/Back Bay, 275 pages, $17.50
Tina Fey – multi-award-winning actor, comedian, writer, producer (and deadly Sarah Palin impersonator) – reveals all in this ridiculously funny and much-praised memoir of her life and her meteoric career in the entertainment industry.
Caveat Emptor By Ruth Downie, Bloomsbury, 336 pages, $17.50
In her fourth novel featuring physician and investigator Gaius Petreius Ruso, Ruth Downie takes her leading man and his new wife, British tribeswoman Tilla, to the town of Verulamium. Tax collector Julius Asper has vanished, as has a great deal of money. Desperate for ready cash, Ruso reluctantly investigates.