Canada Reads 2021 Finale: Watch the replay
On the Canada Reads 2021 finale, chef, TV host and recording artist Roger Mooking, championing novel Butter Honey Pig Bread, faced off with actor and filmmaker Devery Jacobs, championing novel Jonny Appleseed, for the crown.
Watch the recap of the finale on this page or find other ways and times to tune in here.
The champions and their chosen books are:
- Olympian and broadcaster Rosey Edeh champions The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk
- Singer-songwriter Scott Helman champions Two Trees Make a Forest by Jessica J. Lee
- Actor and filmmaker Devery Jacobs champions Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead
- Actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee champions Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
- Chef, recording artist and TV host Roger Mooking champions Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi
This year's host is comedian Ali Hassan.
For the final day of Canada Reads 2021, Mooking and Jacobs were tasked with convincing fellow panellists Scott Helman, Rosey Edeh and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee why their contending book is "the one book to transport us."
Butter Honey Pig Bread, the novel Mooking is championing, tells the interwoven stories of twin sisters, Kehinde and Taiye, and their mother, Kambirinachi. Kambirinachi feels she was born an ogbanje, a spirit that plagues families with misfortune by dying in childhood to cause its mother misery. She believes that she has made the unnatural choice of staying alive to love her human family and now lives in fear of the consequences of that decision.
"I was aware of reading a very, very well crafted book. I want to be sure that I can represent Francesca Ekwuyasi, who is a debut author," said Mooking during the Canada Reads 2021 finale.
The novel Jonny Appleseed, championed by Jacobs, is about a two-spirit Indigiqueer young man who has left the reserve and becomes a cybersex worker in the city to make ends meet. But he must reckon with his past when he returns home to attend his stepfather's funeral.
"While I really love Jonny Appleseed to my core, pun intended, I honestly never imagined that I could do it justice enough to make it this far in Canada Reads. But I feel like I've had a driving force behind me during this debate. It's the perfect novel with poetic imagery, gripping heartbreak and honest writing that lifted my spirit," said Jacobs during the Canada Reads 2021 finale.
The debate featured discussions of the literary merit, themes and storytelling style of the contending books. After one hour of debate, the five panellists voted a fourth book off the show.
Here are all the places you can watch the debates online:
- Day One: CBC Books, CBC Gem, YouTube, Facebook
- Day Two: CBC Books, CBC Gem, YouTube, Facebook
- Day Three: CBC Books, CBC Gem, YouTube, Facebook
Here are some other ways you can tune into Canada Reads 2021:
ON RADIO: Canada Reads will air on CBC Radio at 11:05 a.m. ET, CT, MT, PT at 1:05 p.m. in AT, and at 1:35 p.m. in Newfoundland and Labrador.
ON TV: CBC TV will broadcast Canada Reads at 1 p.m. ET, CT, MT, PT; at 2 p.m. in AT; and at 2:30pm in Newfoundland and Labrador.
PODCAST: New episodes of Canada Reads will be posted daily on CBC Listen. You can also download them wherever you get your podcasts.
ONLINE: CBC Books will livestream the debates at 11 a.m. ET on CBCBooks.ca, YouTube, Facebook and Gem. The debates will be available to replay online each day. The livestreams on YouTube and Facebook will be available to watch outside Canada.
