Book Reviews

From the Catalyst, Summer 2017

Wrongs to Rights: How Churches Can Engage the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Edited by Steve Heinrichs

Mennonite Church Canada, 2016

Reviewed by Amie Nault

There has been a lot of discussion lately about how to best respond to the calls to action presented in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Final Report. For many of us, we are left with the desire to do something, but remain unaware of what that something is.

From the Catalyst, Summer 2017

After the Sands: Energy and Ecological Security for Canadians

By Gordon Laxer

​Douglas & McIntyre, 2015

Reviewed by Karri Munn-Venn

After the Sands is a fascinating, if dense, history of Canadian energy policy, offered by prominent Alberta political economist, Gordon Laxer.

At its core, After the Sands is a call for a fundamental reorientation of government approaches to energy policy and societal understanding of the urgency of the climate crisis.

From the Catalyst, Summer 2017

Better Now: Six Big Ideas to Improve Health Care for All Canadians

By Dr. Danielle Martin

Allen Lane, 2017

Reviewed by Sally Guy

Better Now will likely find itself preaching to the choir. That is not to say that Martin is ever preachy—in fact, her style is conversational and unpretentious. But those that really need to read this book, sadly, won’t. Many of the ‘big ideas’ would hinge on the participation of all levels of government, and would require a fundamental shift in the way many Canadians understand the rights of citizenship.

From the Catalyst, Summer 2017

Finding Home in the Promised Land: A Personal History of Homelessness and Social Exile

By Jane Harris

J. Gordon Shillingford, 2015

Reviewed by Darlene O’Leary

“I fought my way out of the wilderness, but I still wear cuts inside my body and soul.”

In Finding Home in the Promised Land, author Jane Harris shares her deeply personal story of domestic violence, poverty, homelessness, and social exile. She also offers a narrative and historical glimpse of her Scottish immigrant ancestors, particularly her great-great grandmother. Their struggles in the new “promised land” of pre- Confederation Canada both parallel and contrast Harris’s own quest for home.

From the Catalyst, Summer 2017

Hopeful Realism in Urban Ministry: Critical Explorations and Constructive Affirmations of Hoping Justice Prayerfully

By Barry K. Morris

Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2016

Reviewed by Lee Hollaar

To all involved in any seemingly overwhelming ministry, this is an important and refreshing read. While dealing with issues of poverty, marginalization, and the politics of exclusion, it’s easy to move beyond naive optimism and approach a sense of futility. While the author looks through the lens of ministry in urban settings, this book speaks with equal cogency to the work of social justice—and any ministry, for that matter.

From the Catalyst, Summer 2017

How Did We Get Into This Mess?: Politics, Equality, Nature

By George Monbiot

Verso Press, 2016

Reviewed by Joe Gunn

George Monbiot is a maddening writer.

He baits the reader, starting off each of the 50 short essays in this book with a totally outrageous proposition. Then the long-time columnist for the Guardian newspaper describes some unthinkably brutish environmental injustice, military madness, political skullduggery, or economic corruption. And finally he stuffs right into our faces the shame at how we never guessed this could be happening today, under our unsuspecting noses.

From the Catalyst, Summer 2017

The Lightless Sky: A Twelve-Year-Old Refugee’s Harrowing Escape from Afghanistan and His Extraordinary Journey Across Half the World

By Gulwali Passarlay

HarperOne, 2016

Reviewed by Bolu Coker

The Lightless Sky is an inspiring personal account of a twelve-year old boy’s journey to safety from Afghanistan to Europe. Gulwali Passarlay tells a story that brings to life the precarity of refugees’ living conditions on their journeys to refuge.

Fearing the Taliban, Passarlay’s mother arranges for him and his brother to be smuggled out of the country. The brothers are separated early on, leaving Passarlay at the mercies of smugglers and other refugees he encounters along the way. Upon hearing of his brother’s arrival in England, Passarlay defies all odds— smugglers’ extortion, multiple imprisonments, and even a near-death experience— to be reunited with his brother.

From The Catalyst, Summer 2016

Children of the Broken Treaty: Canada’s Lost Promise and One Girl’s Dream

By Charlie Angus

University of Regina Press, 2015

Reviewed by Will Postma

Children of the Broken Treaty is a highly readable account of the indigenous young people of James Bay. Angus outlines their struggle for an education equal in quality and funding to that of other Canadian youth.

From The Catalyst, Summer 2016

Disarming Conflict: Why Peace Cannot Be Won on the Battlefield

By Ernie Regehr

Between the Lines, 2015

Reviewed by Jennifer Wiebe

“Peace, no less than politics, is the art of the possible,” writes Ernie Regehr (O.C.). Regehr is widely respected as a peace researcher, security and disarmament specialist, and co-founder of Project Ploughshares. In this book, he unravels our deeply-entrenched assumptions about both the inevitability and efficacy of military force in resolving conflict.

From The Catalyst, Summer 2016

Flight and Freedom: Stories of Escape to Canada

By Ratna Omidvar and Dana Wagner

Between the Lines, 2015

Reviewed by Kathryn Teeluck

In Flight and Freedom, Ratna Omidvar and Dana Wagner give a human voice to what has become a political issue. An issue that has been lost in a barrage of incomprehensible statistics and photos of faceless crowds crammed into boats. They weave together a narrative of the common themes faced by many refugees. But the authors still maintain the distinctiveness and uniqueness of each individual’s experience.