Dark Times

For ages 12+. The result of a cross-Canada contest for the best short stories about young people's experience of loss and grief, 'Dark Times' is a superb anthology about a topic that often remains hidden but is crucial in the development of a child's sense of identity. The stories explore highly contemporary situations: a First Nations boy mourns the death of his mother; a girl copes with the loss of her grandmother to Alzheimer's disease; a boyfriend's death takes a girl through the five stages of grief; a destitute family loses their home; a daughter loses a parent when her mother leaves; a foetal alcohol syndrome child is lost to his family when he is sent to prison; a boy loses the brother he loves to mental illness; the death of a small child challenges a girl's belief in God; and a young girl discovers her father in an affair and confronts him -- with devastating results.