Hotline

Inspired by the author's mother, Hotline is the story of a single-parent fleeing war-torn Lebanon in the 80ies to settle in Montreal. We follow along as Muna and her son hit all sorts of hurdles in their new life, from appropriate winter jackets and first ice storms to the difficulty of not having the right French accent to find a job. I liked how day-to-day the story was, and how hopeful a picture it paints. Canada Reads is a great thing all around.

A solid story about the aftermath of war, loss and having one's life being entirely uprooted featuring a very compelling and human character. Muna is endearing without coming across as too perfect to be real and her story is multilayered in a way that makes it come across as very real.