Book
Room by Emma Donoghue (HarperCollins, $30)
If you’ve been avoiding the much-lauded Room because it seems too contrived, too tearjerker-y, too bookclub-ish or too disturbing, no need. A measured celebration of the resiliency and heroism of maternal love, it’s narrated by a charming five-year-old boy named Jack, whose whole world is the 11 x 11-foot room that he is confined to with his mother. —Melissa Carter
“I rarely have a chance to read, but I stayed up almost all night to finish this. There was a well-balanced honesty and authenticity to the mother.” - Stephanie Nara, mom of Oliver, 3, Vancouver
