Kalyna's Song

By Lisa Grekul

Book Overview

A beautiful coming of age story set in St. Albert. A young girl wrestles with her heritage and is for ever touched by a troubled family member. Shortlisted for the Books in Canada/ Amazon 2004 First... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1550503553
• ISBN13: 9781550503555
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: Coteau Books
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 5.0" x 0.5" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

A story as wonderful as the author

I had the privilege to not only read a great book by a Canadian author, but also be a student in her class, and the story of this Ukrainian girl transcribed on paper was just as real and thoughtful as woman I had the pleasure to meet. Kalyna's Song is a wonderful, heartfelt novel not just about a Ukrainian girl growing up in Canada, but more importantly about every person who grows up trying to bridge a gap between the country of their ancestry and living in the only one they have ever known- we are never just Canadian. This book is more than a story about identity; it is about taking your families, love and support and turning it into freedom. Kalyna's Song is a book about wings and having the ability to follow your heart and make everything possible. I love this book so much because it is true; through every page I could see my own childhood, my own feelings and my own history. I may not have been born a Ukrainian girl, but I grew up with very much the same cultural ties and family closeness- not to mention years of bagpipe lessons. Read this book not because my review flatters it, read this book because it speaks. It speaks loud and strongly about being yourself, and for once, in a small Canadian novel, I saw myself.

Fascinating

I loved this book - I found the beginning slow-going, as it's more difficult to relate to a younger character than it was to relate to Colleen as she grew older. But when she did you realised the beginning's importance to the rest of the novel. It was a great book, and really felt like you had experienced this girl's life with her.

Kalyna's Song -- an eloquent masterpiece!

Thoroughly enjoyed this great book & would recommend it!