The Way We Tell OUR Stories

The triumph of Saga Boy is the triumph of Blackness everywhere – the irrepressible instinct for survival in a world where Blacks are prey."
–Ian Williams, Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning author of Reproduction

Antonio Michael Downing's memoir of creativity and transformation is a startling mash-up of memories and mythology, told in gripping, lyrical prose. Raised by his indomitable grandmother in the lush rainforest of southern Trinidad, Downing, at age 11, is uprooted to Canada when she dies. But to a very unusual part of Canada: he and his older brother are sent to live with his stern, evangelical Aunt Joan, in Wabigoon, a tiny northern Ontario community where they are the only black children in the town. In this wilderness, he begins his journey as an immigrant minority, using music and performance to dramatically transform himself. At the heart of his odyssey is the longing for a home. He is re-united with his birth parents, who he has known only through stories. But this proves disappointing: Al is a womanizing con man and drug addict, and Gloria, twice abandoned by Al, seems to regard her sons as cash machines. He tries to flee his messy family life by transforming into a series of extravagant musical personalities: “Mic Dainjah”, a punk rock rapper, “Molasses”, a soul music crooner and finally “John Orpheus”, a gold chained, sequin-and leather-clad pop star. Yet, like his father and grandfather, he has become a “Saga Boy”, a Trinidadian playboy, addicted to escapism, attention, and sex. When the inevitable crash happens, he finds himself in a cold, stone jail cell. He has become everything he was trying to escape and must finally face himself.

Richly evocative, Saga Boy is a heart-wrenching but uplifting story of a lonely immigrant boy who overcomes adversity and abandonment to reclaim his black identity and embrace a rich heritage.

Lawrence Hill has poured so much of his celebrated wisdom, wit, and storytelling magic into these pages; and the result is a book to treasure and share across generations." –David Chariandy, author of Brother and I’ve Been Meaning To Tell You

Beatrice, a young girl of uncertain age, wakes up all alone in a tree house in the forest. How did she arrive in this cozy dwelling, stocked carefully with bookshelves and oatmeal accoutrements? And who has been leaving a trail of clues, composed in delicate purple handwriting?

So begins the adventure of a brave and resilient Black girl’s search for identity and healing in bestselling author Lawrence Hill’s middle-grade debut. Though Beatrice cannot recall how or why she arrived in the magical forest of Argilia – where every conceivable fish, bird, mammal and reptile coexist, and any creature with a beating heart can communicate with any other – something within tells her that beyond this forest is a family that is waiting anxiously for her return.

Just outside her tree-house door lives Beatrice’s most unlikely ally, the enormous and mercurial King Crocodile Croc Harry, who just may have a secret of his own. As they form an unusual truce and work toward their common goal, Beatrice and Croc Harry will learn more about their forest home than they ever could have imagined. And what they learn about themselves may destroy Beatrice’s chances of returning home forever.

It takes extraordinary courage and vision to induce social change in a single lifetime, and Jallow has done just that.” –New York Times

Written with award-winning journalist Kim Pittaway, Toufah is the story of an inspiring young woman who launched an unprecedented protest movement.

In 2015, Toufah Jallow was the 19-year-old daughter of the second wife in her Muslim father's polygamous household. Her mother, outwardly conforming, had made sure that her daughter was educated and had ambitions of her own. Dreaming of a scholarship, Jallow entered a presidential competition designed to identify the country’s smart young women and won.

Which brought her to the attention of Yahya Jammeh, the country’s dictator. First, he proposed marriage. When Toufah turned him down, Jammeh drugged and raped her. Toufah could not tell anyone what had happened. Not only was there no word for rape in her native language, Jammeh’s critics were routinely imprisoned, tortured, and murdered. To protect herself and her family, she escaped across the border to Senegal, eventually finding refuge in Canada. 

Then Jammeh was deposed and, in July 2019, Toufah Jallow became the first woman in The Gambia to make a public accusation of rape against him. Her testimony sparked marches of support and launched a social media outpouring of shared stories among West African women, setting Toufah Jallow on the path to reclaiming the future that Yahya Jammeh had tried to steal from her.