Wednesday's Pick!

Joseph Boyden has won the 2008 Giller Prize for his novel Through Black Spruce. This is a follow-up to his award winning novel Three Day Road. Boyden is a gifted storyteller who writes about a vanishing way of life of the Cree in Moosonee, Ontario.

The story is told by two members of the same Cree family: Will Bird, who lies comatose in a hospital after a nasty confrontation with a violent criminal family and his niece, Annie, who leaves the community to search for her sister, Suzanne, who also may have met with foul play by the same criminal group. Will, was a bush pilot, whose painful past of loss is revealed to us in flashbacks. His niece, Annie's story unfolds at his bedside as she recounts deep secrets to his comatose form in an effort to get him to respond and come back to health and wholeness.

The traditional way of life invloving hunting and trapping and the harsh realities of comtemporary life, where alcoholism and crime threaten the lives of the native community form the backdrop of a very compelling and powerful novel.

Check back Saturday for another great pick!