This was the book on the Canada Reads shortlist I was most excited to read, and by fluke, the first I read. I finished, wondering how any of the other books would surpass this one, and now, 3.5 books in, none have.

In part, the illustrations by Daniel Innes show us the evolution of the Kensington area of Toronto over time. Careful observers will notice that multiple illustrations on a page or spread will be showing the same space -- from different angles, at different times, or both (and they will also see a bottle collector on each page). We see streets and sidewalks overrun with vibrant, busy markets overrun by bland boutique shops. Even in black and white, we see the change in tone, and colour, and vibrancy.

Then a reader can turn it around (literally) and see a very human story of somebody navigating these changes. At the start of Denison Avenue, Wong Cho Sum loses her husband in a hit-and-run, and with the help of a friend, starts to collect cans. Like the illustrations, we see Kensington through her memories-- first arriving in Canda, the restaurant they went to when she got her citizenship, their favourite Sunday Congee place-- and the present. Relying on her husband to speak English, Cho Sum is excluded from the new gentrified development, but also the public engagement that informed them.

But even so, people do not forget Cho Sum. Her neighbours see her (the story is bookended by their POV), the librarians notice when her and her husband stop coming by. She laments that she and her husband See Hei (Henry) are to be forgotten, but also sees that somebody refreshes the flowers at the intersection where he died. Young people ask her where her can-collecting friend has been (she found them a basketball once!). Both sides of Denison Avenue show a complex story of human relationships against money-driven development. It shows Cho Sum and her community carrying forward through so much adversity and change, and is my pick for Canada Reads 2024.