by Joan Acosta

The Coast-to-Coast Reader offers information about the daily lives of Canadians. It also includes some history and some information about the geography of the country.

The book is a collection of articles from the Westcoast Reader, a newspaper for literacy learners published in B.C. Articles are taken from daily newspapers and rewritten for the Westcoast Reader.

The most interesting sections of the book are Part 1 and Part 3. Part 1 includes articles about people in Canada. It highlights the experiences of immigrants, women doing non-traditional work, disabled Canadians, and a variety of people's interests and activities. Part 3 includes descriptions of the everyday lives of some Canadians with some instructions for keeping safe, keeping warm, and what to do in case of fire.

Part 2 highlights place names, Canada's coins, the RCMP and some of Canada's cities, but lacks the depth and interest of Parts 1 and 3.

All in all, the Coast-to-Coast Reader has enough interesting articles in it to be of use. It can be used selectively, depending on learners' interests and needs. It will be useful in raising some of the issues regarding immigrants' lives in Canada and non-traditional work for women.

A review by Nomi Wall, Toronto, Ontario