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Throw Down Your Shadows
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Sixteen-year-old Winnie is a creature of habit, a lover of ritual and stability. If she had her way, not much would change. But when a new family moves to town, Winnie and her three best friends—all boys—find themselves changing quickly and dramatically to impress Caleb, their strange and charismatic new companion. Under Caleb's influence, Winnie and her friends test bound
...morePaperback, 272 pages
Published
June 30th 2020
by Vagrant Press
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This book follows the coming of age of Winnie, whose everything is nestled in Annapolis Valley. This is Winnie's childhood haven, rural and riverside, but where she also navigates the many tributaries of young adulthood along with three others: stargazer Tom, compass Jake and follower Sam.
Each one of their summers is spent doing the same things in the same places. But new and dangerous things arrive in the form of one more- manipulator Caleb (picture seventeen-year-old Iago with less … murdero ...more
Each one of their summers is spent doing the same things in the same places. But new and dangerous things arrive in the form of one more- manipulator Caleb (picture seventeen-year-old Iago with less … murdero ...more

*ARC provided via #netgalley
Winnie is a high schooler who lives in a small town nestled in the Nova Scotian valley. She has three best friends-Tom, Sam, and Jake. They are a close group who do everything together and feel superior to their fellow classmates, and everyone seems to be satisfied with this arrangement. When an alluring new student moves to town and befriends their group, Winnie struggles to deal with the growing fissures in her relationship with the boys.
It’s not always easy for ...more
Winnie is a high schooler who lives in a small town nestled in the Nova Scotian valley. She has three best friends-Tom, Sam, and Jake. They are a close group who do everything together and feel superior to their fellow classmates, and everyone seems to be satisfied with this arrangement. When an alluring new student moves to town and befriends their group, Winnie struggles to deal with the growing fissures in her relationship with the boys.
It’s not always easy for ...more

What does it mean, to do the wrong thing for the right reasons? 16-year-old Winnie, the self-reliant narrator of Deborah Hemming’s taut novel Throw Down Your Shadows, is about to learn that painful lesson. It’s summer, 2005. Winnie lives with her artist mother, Ruth, in Gaspereau, a small rural community next door to Wolfville, in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley: wine and apple country. Winnie, something of a tomboy, regards girls her age as shallow and uninteresting and wants nothing to do with
...more

I've been picking this up and putting it down for days now. Not my cup of tea.
Generally a Before/After structure is fine - except that much of Winnie’s self-reflection happens in the ‘Before’ sections. I also found the whole novel to be very preachy… I felt like I was getting a lesson about the history - social and economic - of the region.
One of the things that bothered me throughout the book was it not being firmly grounded in time. I deduce that the ‘action’ takes place around 2010… the fir ...more
Generally a Before/After structure is fine - except that much of Winnie’s self-reflection happens in the ‘Before’ sections. I also found the whole novel to be very preachy… I felt like I was getting a lesson about the history - social and economic - of the region.
One of the things that bothered me throughout the book was it not being firmly grounded in time. I deduce that the ‘action’ takes place around 2010… the fir ...more

A book I would have loved to read in high school but, who am I kidding, long out of high school this story still rings true and sheds light where darkness tends to be.
Having a group of four good guy friends and no real girl friends, Winnie thought her life was complicated but somewhat predictable. With many traditions including a trip to the market with her single mom and nights alone while her mother tried to find ‘the one’, lazy summers with her friends who were dependable and didn’t always ne ...more
Having a group of four good guy friends and no real girl friends, Winnie thought her life was complicated but somewhat predictable. With many traditions including a trip to the market with her single mom and nights alone while her mother tried to find ‘the one’, lazy summers with her friends who were dependable and didn’t always ne ...more

A marvelous debut by a Nova Scotian author! Deborah weaves a profound coming of age story that will probably evoke teenage memories and high school experiences. The story is authenticly set in the rich agricultural and beautiful Gaspereau Valley and the small university town of Wolfville. (Nova Scotia, Canada)
I really like how the story moves back and forth from the "Before" and "After" the winery fire. This book has all the elements for an extremely satisfying reading experience including a com ...more
I really like how the story moves back and forth from the "Before" and "After" the winery fire. This book has all the elements for an extremely satisfying reading experience including a com ...more

Deborah Hemming’s debut novel Throw Down Your Shadows, which is scheduled to released in July of this year, is a breathtaking tale of finding out who you are, learning lessons, and realizing that we truly never stop growing up. Hemming’s main character Winnie brings the reader through one of the biggest moments of her life and reveals how that experience shaped her into becoming who she is today, while also having Winnie remind the reader that growing up never truly ends.
Winnie is a sixteen year ...more
Winnie is a sixteen year ...more
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