Bookworm, no. 153
Daryl Wakunick on Tyson Stewart’s “The Return of the Nish.” Miriam Lafontaine on Jesse Winter’s “Wild Fire.” From Margaret Sam-Cromarty’s “James Bay Memoirs and Other Stories.” Inside the June issue.
The Return of the Nish
Tyson Stewart
Cormorant Books
238 pages, softcover and ebook
In the summer of 1979, Gerry Smith is conceived on the shores of Ontario’s Red Squirrel Lake, by the high school students Dale King and Amy Smith. “On that day,” Tyson Stewart writes in The Return of the Nish, “she didn’t know that they would no longer be together, and by May of the following year the baby would be born without a father in the picture.” Gerry doesn’t meet Dale until March 2008—a moment that sets off a turbulent chain of events that tests the bonds of family.
Stewart’s debut novel is about reconnection. Gerry first rediscovers his Anishinaabe roots through his father’s extended family. Then he reunites with Dale, who is smuggling drugs after failing to make it in the NHL. From there, Dale enlists Gerry, a successful commercial pilot, to help him move product. Though their first run goes smoothly, Gerry decides he must turn Dale into the authorities.
Stewart beautifully captures the complicated nature of family. His characters may make frustrating choices—Dale leaves his pregnant partner, Gerry cheats on his wife with a flight attendant, father and son transport cocaine from Mexico to Canada—but they are also honest and true to themselves. Through their messy reunion, these two men learn the importance of taking responsibility for their own actions in a world where it is much easier to shift blame onto others.
—Daryl Wakunick
Wild Fire: Dispatches from a Country Ablaze
Jesse Winter
HarperCollins
320 pages, hardcover, ebook, and audiobook
From the Tsah Creek wildfire in northern British Columbia to the historic blaze that struck Jasper National Park in Alberta, Jesse Winter’s Wild Fire transports readers to the front lines of Canada’s most devastating conflagrations in recent years. The award-winning Globe and Mail photojournalist was first drawn to the beat while covering an inferno near Peachland, British Columbia, for the Toronto Star in 2018. That assignment sparked an new obsession: Why have megafires become so common? In an attempt to understand and find solutions, Winter shadows firefighters and interviews academics as well as frustrated homeowners—like those in North Shuswap, where trust in the BC Wildfire Service has eroded to such a degree that evacuation orders go ignored as neighbours battle flames with makeshift fire trucks.
Winter criticizes longstanding policies of fire suppression. By avoiding fires at all costs, authorities have created a “debt” through the buildup of dry swaths of forest, including many positioned next to picturesque homes. Combined with changes in weather patterns—the drop in rainfall, rise in droughts, and lightning strikes that are increasing every year—these spaces are “dumping gasoline on the pile.”
Wild Fire is more than an account of heroic resilience. It’s also an argument for transformation. Monster fires may be the new normal, but they don’t have to be. Authorities can instead work with local residents and Indigenous leaders to fireproof their communities. Improved employment conditions can help retain labour and build institutional knowledge. We can invest in prevention. The task ahead is daunting, but as long as the political will exists, it isn’t insurmountable.
—Miriam Lafontaine
Book Tasting: Margaret Sam-Cromarty’s James Bay Memoirs and Other Stories
A Storm, a Blanket, Grandpa, and Me
I was five years old.
This magic time I had
with Grandpa,
a storm, and a blanket.
I remember pouring rain,
peals of thunder, one after another.
A loud thunderclap
sent me hurrying to Grandpa.
Lightning glowed everywhere.
My mother handed my grandpa
a warm blanket.
Grandpa wrapped me, held me close.
Grandpa and me,
we huddled together.
The storm passed,
but not my memories of that storm.
Grandpa passed away.
When I see a storm,
I know he is near.
1989
Excerpted with permission from James Bay Memoirs and Other Stories (University of Manitoba Press), edited by Isabella Huberman and Élise Couture-Grondin. Read more about this book in a physical copy of the June 2026 issue of the magazine.
Inside the June Issue
“Of the three Toronto papers, the Globe was the best one to deliver. It was lighter than the afternoon papers. Most days it folded neatly in four, and on your bike you could hit a porch from the sidewalk. Unlike the Star and the Telegram, it also left you free to play baseball or chess after school.” Gary Ross reminisces about the paper route that changed his life.
Amanda Perry reviews two literary authors from Quebec dabbling in genre fiction.
“The book will, I predict, be divisive for readers, even those accustomed to Martel’s storytelling games. By this I mean that you might be annoyed by the structure. Perhaps you find footnotes clever but distracting; if so, you’re probably not going to like Son of Nobody itself.” Randy Boyagoda unravels Yann Martel’s new novel.
And much more!