Set in a dark near-future where overconsumption and the climate crisis have come to a chaotic head, Ali Bryan’s young adult novel The Hill tells the story of Wren, the newly chosen leader of a secret clan of girls taught to survive by their own wits. Their home? A reclaimed garbage dump in the middle of the ocean called the Hill. Their bible? The Manual, which tells the girls everything they need to know about the world – or so they think. The gospel? Men and boys are dangerous.

When Wren makes the fateful decision to leave the Hill in search of a missing girl, she encounters boys for the first time in her life. What’s worse, they’ve been living on the other side of the island this whole time. Forced to question everything she’s ever been taught, Wren must sort fact from fiction, ally from enemy, and opportunity from threat in order to survive and lead the girls to safety – even if safety is an illusion.

The Hill explores gender, power, and access to truth in a world defined by scarcity and distrust and the consequences of consumerism and environmental neglect, while reminding us just what it takes to be a girl in this world.

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Owl’s Nest Books (Calgary) | Calgary Public Library

BE CURIOUSER

• Book Review: The Hill by Ali Bryan. –Literary Heist

Claudia, single mother of two young children, pines for her past independent life. Her ex, after all, has moved on to a new wardrobe, a new penchant for lattes—new adult friends. But in Claudia’s house she’s still finding bananas in the sock drawer, cigarettes taped to wrestling figures, and doodles on her MasterCard bills. Then Claudia receives the unexpected news that her mother has died.

As Claudia attempts to gain control of her life, she realizes that her fellow family members also struggle with uncertainty. Her brother’s family appears picture perfect—the children always clean, the puzzles never missing pieces—but he and his wife hunger for a break from parenthood. Her father has joined a curling team and seems to be active in the community. Yet he orders product after as-seen-on-tv product for his own empty nest.

Shared through the hilarious, honest, and often poignant perspective of a single mother, Roost is the story of a woman learning about motherhood while grieving the loss of her own mother. And as she begins to mend, she’s also learning that she might be able to accept her home—as it is.

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Owl’s Nest Books (Calgary) | Calgary Public Library