Denison Avenue
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Denison Avenue
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Narrated by:
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Christina Wong
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Written by:
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Daniel Innes - illustrator
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Christina Wong
About this listen
Shortlisted for 2024 Canada Reads
Longlisted for the 2024 Carnegie Medals for Excellence through the American Library Association
A moving story told in visual art and fiction about gentrification, aging in place, grief, and vulnerable Chinese Canadian elders
Bringing together ink artwork and fiction, Denison Avenue by Daniel Innes (illustrations) and Christina Wong (text) follows the elderly Wong Cho Sum, who, living in Toronto’s gentrifying Chinatown-Kensington Market, begins to collect bottles and cans after the sudden loss of her husband as a way to fill her days and keep grief and loneliness at bay. In her long walks around the city, Cho Sum meets new friends, confronts classism and racism, and learns how to build a life as a widow in a neighborhood that is being destroyed and rebuilt, leaving elders like her behind.
A poignant meditation on loss, aging, gentrification, and the barriers that Chinese Canadian seniors experience in big cities, Denison Avenue beautifully combines visual art, fiction, and the endangered Toisan dialect to create a book that is truly unforgettable.
This audiobook edition includes an accompanying PDF of illustrations on supported reading platforms. It also includes behind-the-scenes production notes from the author and the illustrator, detailing their inspirations for the story and their personal connections to the community and urban landscape of Toronto's Chinatown and Kensington Market.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2023 Christina Wong (P)2024 ECW Press
What the critics say
“Wong and Innes have created something truly special in this multi-faceted book. Innes’ detailed and beautiful hand-drawn illustrations depicting the changes in the community are eye-catching complements to Wong’s writing and can stand on their own.”—Booklist, starred review
“In Denison Avenue, we watch a recent widow desperately tread water in a city drowning under waves of gentrification. This tender lyrical novel is an anthem of grief, a swan song to cities as we know them and the loved ones we lose along the way.”—Catherine Hernandez, author and screenwriter of Scarborough, the novel and film
“With its intricate line drawings and poignant story, Denison Avenue transports me to a place I’ve never been, but also to a place that feels like home. From canned fried dace and butter cookie tins to the sonorous tones of the Toisanese dialect, this is the world of my ancestors—the lo wah kiu who flourished in Chinatowns all over Canada. And as we walk alongside Wong Cho Sum in her personal journey through grief, we grieve, too, for past generations and the loss of a once-thriving community.”—Teresa Wong, author of Dear Scarlet
What listeners say about Denison Avenue
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Roberta W
- 2024-03-02
Lovely
LOVED, LOVED, loved this book! So much to appreciate here. The story itself was touching. I enjoyed the characters, and it left me with a lot to think about in terms of respecting other cultures, aging, love and cities.
Listening to a graphic novel was also cool, this was better done than others I have tried. Be sure to download the visuals. A few of these are described at different points, and it is done well. For the first part of the book, I loved how these were woven together.
The only difficulty I had was towards the end, as I couldn’t figure out when the novel itself ended, and when additional content about the visuals started… the begins part way through what is labelled chapter 59 or 60. It confused me because it was still showing an hour or two left in the book (at one point I couldn’t figure out if the words were those of the protagonist or the authors postscript). The noted chapter numbers do not match the audio chapter numbers (even though the narration explained that the printed book does not have chapters and they were only added for this (audio) project (if so, why don’t they match up?!).
Sooooo….. I finally gave up trying to go back and forth sorting it, and just listened through to the end without needing to know … and was able to enjoy it again.
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2 people found this helpful