No, it’s a roundup of the best to come this spring from This Is Not A Reading Series. Check out www.pagesbooks.ca for up-to-date info.

Skim (Groundwood, 144 pages, $18.95) by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki, interviewed by Jessica Westhead, March 24. Adolescent angst. We’ve all lived it and the idea of revisiting the era inspires skin-crawling dread and dry heaves for most adults. The cousins Tamaki bravely go back in time to the early ’90s for their debut graphic novel meant for the teen set. Were you the only goth-Wiccan in your all-girls’ school? Statistically, you probably weren’t. Still, the story of Kimberly “Skim” Keiko Cameron approaches the best work of Joss Whedon and is perfectly paired with Jillian Tamaki’s artwork, which manages to be both spare and decadent.  

Stunt by Claudia Dey (Coach House, 220 pages, $19.95), in conversation with Michael Winter, with performance by Ron Sexsmith, April 23. Playwright Dey turns novelist with the story of a nine-year-old abandoned by her father. Dey’s writing moves with speed and brilliant economy while flush with hidden zings that you almost miss. Her whimsy may be made of tangents into the surreal — in this case overnight aging, postcards from outer space, a shoulder-pad factory explosion — but there’s a core of substantial darkness that’s not easy to shake.

Toronto Noir (Akashic, 300 pages, $15.95 USD) edited by Janine Armin and Nathaniel G. Moore, April 28. Speaking of darkness, Akashic’s city-noir series descends upon Toronto during the height of spring. With all the talk of blank-topias, it’s good to remember the sexiest one: dystopia. Top-shelf contributors like Michael Redhill, Andrew Pyper and 14 others get inside of Toronto’s self-loathing psychogeography for a detour to the dark side. Such attitudes among our citizenry might not make for livability or relaxed subway rides, but they are the grist for great fiction. As an added bonus the editors have managed to photograph the CN Tower’s elusive “evil twin” for the cover art.

The Withdrawal Method by Pasha Malla (House of Anansi, 256 pages, $29.95), evening concluding with dance party, May 28. Toronto Noir contributor Malla launches his own collection of short stories near the end of this season’s series. Malla’s been quietly building a reputation with writings for McSweeney’s and The Withdrawal Method should prove to be just as witty and generous as those.

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