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Good reads for the month of April
Author of the article:
By Pat St. Germain , Postmedia News
Published Apr 21, 2025
3 minute read
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April is a great time to catch up on some great Canadian reading — just like every other month on the calendar.
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The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) celebrated its centennial in 2024. In 2025, the RCAF Foundation has its sights set on the next 100 years of flight. On April 1, it launched Aviation Nation, aimed at school kids in the Grade 4 range — a.k.a. “future aviators.”
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Illustrated by Josh Rivers, the book is colourful, accessible and concise, with punchy chapters covering all the bases, from bush pilots to astronauts, and air cadets to rocket scientists, Snowbirds and musicians in the RCAF Band. There are stories of flying aces Billy Bishop and William Barker, pioneers like engineer Elsie McGill, who was dubbed “Queen of the Hurricanes” during the Second World War and today’s high-tech NORAD Santa trackers.
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Look for the book in school libraries, aviation museums across the country and online at rcaffoundation.ca, where teachers can find information about downloadable classroom resources for Grades 4-8.
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Sadly, the book’s release is especially timely in Black-Morsette’s home province, Manitoba, where four victims of a serial killer have now been identified. The remains of two women, Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, were discovered recently in a landfill on the outskirts of Winnipeg, and in late March, a victim formerly known as Buffalo Woman was identified as Ashlee Shingoose.
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“Julie Chan has nothing. Her twin sister has everything. Except a pulse.”
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Best. Blurb. Ever. Now I have to know how supermarket cashier Julie Chan fares in this debut thriller after she pretends to be her late twin sister, influencer Chloe VanHuusen. Will Julie fake it till she makes it? Or will she fall victim to the same secret menace that killed her sister?
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Irish-Canadian novelist Emma Donoghue (Room, Learned by Heart, Slammerkin), is often inspired by women and events from history. This time out, she was captivated by photographs of the 1895 train crash disaster at Paris Montparnasse station.
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Her fictional train journey is populated by a diverse cast of multinational characters who are literally divided by class — from luxury first-class riders to standing-room travellers in the third-class car — as well as politics. There’s an anarchist onboard, and the dramatic tension builds with every minute as the train makes its way from the seaside town of Granville to Paris, less than eight hours away.
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