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SCARS aND OTHER STORIES

"Don Aker probes deep with his flawed characters, whose scars aren't always visible, their injuries often much deeper. The acclaimed young adult author will surprise you with his insights on small-town culture and how pain and fear motivate and change us in unexpected ways."
Atlantic Book News
Read the complete atlantic book news review of scars and other stories here
"Even for a country used to superb short story writers like Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, and Mavis Gallant, this is impressive stuff. As an example, Don Aker's 'The Invitation' plumbs the depths of childhood's loss of innocence as a man remembers exactly where he was the day JFK was shot. Social realities in small town Nova Scotia become achingly clear as a little boy--all too aware of his own precarious status in the playground pecking order--tries desperately to avoid a birthday party given by the class loser. The Kennedys--even in the midst of their tragedy--stand for the glamour missing in our lives, in ironic contrast to the disappointing Queen Elizabeth, 'an ordinary woman in a blue dress and hat that could have come from the Simpson-Sears catalogue.'"
The Globe and Mail review of The Journey Prize Anthology

SYNOPSIS

“The scar didn’t use to show,” says Daniel, the narrator of the title story. But scars have a way of manifesting themselves, visually or otherwise, and the stories in this collection illustrate a varied assemblage of characters indelibly marked in some way by their experiences. Having lost a breast to cancer, a young woman visits a psychic seeking answers to the questions in her life. A bullied boy finds solace in the arrival of another unfortunate who has attracted the attention of his tormentors. A divorced father attempts to shield his young daughter from the trauma of tragedy. An eight-year-old boy witnesses death for the first time, a massage therapist is unnerved by the discovery he makes about a new client, and a young widow flounders in her struggle to cope with the loss of her husband. These and other characters come to vivid life in stories told with the sensitivity and skill that have earned the author continued critical praise.
Q&A

RECOGNITION

  • Scars and Other Stories -- shortlisted for the 2018 Alistair MacLeod Short Fiction Prize
  • "The Invitation" -- First Prize in the 1989 Atlantic Writing Competition and longlisted for McClelland & Stewart's 1990 Journey Prize Award
  • "The Test" -- First Prize in Canadian Living Magazine''s 1990 National Literary Competition
  • "Scars" -- Third Prize in Dandelion Magazine's 1991 Short Fiction Competition
  • "Everything Gets Dead" -- Runner-up Prize in The Toronto Star's 2002 Short Story Contest
Copyright © 2023 Don Aker Publications Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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