Riel Nason
Riel Nason
A beautiful celebration of small town life, friendship, and opening up to change! Hope’s world is shaken when her parents announce that they’re leaving their small New Brunswick town and moving to Toronto for her father’s job.Hope’s anxiety, manageable before that point, skyrockets as she fears making new friends and leaving her beloved ocean, and the sea glass that she has been carefully nurturing for years. At least there’s a tremendous diversion for her final summer — her village of St. David’s is one of five entrants in a nationwide TV contest that celebrates “Canada’s Tiniest Treasures.”In the countdown to the summer’s end — and the move date —Hope and her best friend, Willa, dedicate themselves to the St. David’s campaign, celebrating what is unique about small town life, and their friendship.
A perennial favourite. "Charming, wry, and believable." - Quill & QuireRiel Nason's novel The Town That Drowned debuted in 2011 to glowing reviews and a flurry of awards, including a Commonwealth Book Prize. Nason's evocation of the awkwardness of childhood, the thrill of first love, and the importance of having a place to call home made the novel an instant classic. Now in celebration of its 10th anniversary, The Town That Drowned will be released in a special anniversary edition, with an afterword, a fresh design, and an online book club guide.In the town of Haventon, Ruby Carson's embarrassing fall through the ice ruins a skating party and prompts an unfortunate vision: her entire town - buildings and people - floating underwater. As orange-tipped surveyor stakes begin to turn up, the residents of Haventon soon discover that a massive dam is being constructed and that most of their homes will be swallowed by the rising water. Suspicions mount, tempers flare, and secrets are revealed. As the town prepares for its own demise, 14-year-old Ruby Carson sees it all from a front-row seat.
Finalist, New Brunswick Book Award for FictionA novel of absence and adolescence by the author of the award-winning The Town That Drowned.It's 1977. Seventeen-year-old Violet is left behind by her parents to manage their busy roadside antique stand for the summer. Her restless older brother, Bliss, has disappeared, leaving home without warning, and her parents are off searching for clues. Violet is haunted by her brother's absence while trying to cope with her new responsibilities. Between visiting a local hermit, who makes twig furniture for the shop, and finding a way to land the contents of the mysterious Vaughan estate, Violet acts out with her summer boyfriend, Dean, and wonders about the mysterious boneyard. But what really keeps her up at night are thoughts of Bliss's departure and the white deer, which only she has seen. All the Things We Leave Behind is about remembrance and attachment, about what we collect and what we leave behind. In this highly affecting novel, Nason explores the permeability of memory and the sometimes confusing bonds of human emotion.
Winner, Commonwealth Book Prize (Canada and Europe) Winner, Frye Academy Award Winner, Margaret and John Savage First Book Award Finalist, CLA Young Adult Book Award Finalist, Red Maple Award Finalist, University of Canberra Book of the Year Longlisted, IMPAC Dublin AwardLiving with a weird brother in a small town can be tough enough. Having a spectacular fall through the ice at a skating party and nearly drowning are grounds for embarrassment. But having a vision and narrating it to the assembled crowd solidifies your status as an outcast. What Ruby Carson saw during that fateful day was her entire town - buildings and people - floating underwater. Then an orange-tipped surveyor stake turns up in a farmer's field. Another is found in the cemetery. A man with surveying equipment is spotted eating lunch near Pokiok Falls. The residents of Haverton soon discover that a massive dam is being constructed and that most of their homes will be swallowed by the rising water. Suspicions mount, tempers flare, and secrets are revealed. As the town prepares for its own demise, 14-year-old Ruby Carson sees it all from a front-row seat. Set in the 1960s, The Town That Drowned evokes the awkwardness of childhood, the thrill of first love, and the importance of having a place to call home. Deftly written in a deceptively unassuming style, Nason's keen insights into human nature and the depth of human attachment to place make this novel ripple in an amber tension of light and shadow.