Former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi shares 6 books to build your empathy
CBC Books | Posted: February 21, 2024 4:03 PM | Last Updated: February 21
The community builder is championing Denison Avenue by Christina Wong and Daniel Innes on Canada Reads 2024
If you've read Denison Avenue by Christina Wong and Daniel Innes, you know that it's an unforgettable and heartbreaking story that follows an aging Asian Canadian woman as she grieves for her husband and changing city.
A community builder who loves a book that puts himself in other people's shoes, former mayor Naheed Nenshi is thrilled to be championing Denison Avenue on Canada Reads 2024 — and he's got more recommendations that will pull at your heartstrings.
In the lead-up to the great Canadian book debate, he wrote to CBC Books with stories that build empathy and give new perspectives.
My Own Blood by Ashley Bristowe
When Ashley Bristowe's second child is diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, she gives everything she has to save his life and her own.
This raw blistering memoir from a mother raising a disabled child will make you think differently. - Naheed Nenshi on My Own Blood
"This raw blistering memoir from a mother raising a disabled child will make you think differently when you think 'Why doesn't she control that child?,'" said Nenshi.
419 by Will Ferguson
419 is a dark thriller that weaves together point-of-view and place to explore the notorious Nigerian internet scams from all perspectives. It won the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2012.
It helps you understand so many different kinds of people - Naheed Nenshi on 419
"This book is terrifying," said Nenshi. "But it helps you understand so many different kinds of people — elderly folks who get scammed, the scammers, the families they support."
Reuniting with Strangers by Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio
Reuniting with Strangers was a book Nenshi considered for Canada Reads. "It helps that the author is a rare and powerful talent with a knack for channeling different voices," said Nenshi.
The author is a rare and powerful talent with a knack for channeling different voices. - Naheed Nenshi on Reuniting with Strangers
The linked story collection follows five-year-old Monolith who arrives from the Philippines to join his mother in Canada. Once he arrives, he lashes out, attacking her and destroying his new home. The characters in Reuniting with Strangers are all dealing with feelings of displacement and estrangement caused as a result of migrating to Canada seeking opportunity.
"We know the abbreviation TFW (temporary foreign workers)," said Nenshi. "Now meet the woman behind those letters."
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
In The Berry Pickers, a four-year-old girl from a Mi'kmaq family goes missing in Maine's blueberry fields in the 1960s. Nearly 50 years later, Norma, a young girl from an affluent family is determined to find out what her parents aren't telling her. Little by little, the two families' interconnected secrets unravel.
A whole new view into Indigenous life and intergenerational trauma, written in a gripping style. - Naheed Nenshi on The Berry Pickers
"Just read it," said Nenshi. "A whole new view into Indigenous life and intergenerational trauma, written in a gripping style."
The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr
"You haven't read it yet? Why not?" said Nenshi. "It deserves every gram of praise it has received. And it has received a lot."
It deserves every gram of praise it has received. - Naheed Nenshi on The Sleeping Car Porter
The Sleeping Car Porter tells the story of Baxter, a Black man in 1929 who works as a sleeping car porter on a train that travels across the country. He smiles and tries to be invisible to the passengers, but what he really wants is to save up and go to dentistry school. On one particular trip out west, the train is stalled and Baxter finds a naughty postcard of two gay men. The postcard reawakens his memories and longings and puts his job in jeopardy.
Cantata & The Extinction Therapist by Clem Martini
"This is actually two plays, the first of which, Cantata, I was honoured to write the foreword for after having been blown away by seeing the play," said Nenshi. "It makes you think hard about that term caregiving. Who is giving the care and who is receiving it? And how do the elderly and the disabled people in our neighbourhoods get the care they need?"
It makes you think hard about that term caregiving. Who is giving the care and who is receiving it? - Naheed Nenshi on Cantata
The Extinction Therapist tells the story of Dr. Marshall, a group therapist for those threatened with extinction, including the smallpox virus and a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Naheed Nenshi's comments have been edited for length and clarity.