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Reproductive Justice – Redpath Book Display, January 2025

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Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, we have continued to see reproductive freedom taken away at the highest levels of government in the United States. There has been a ripple effect in Canada, as some members of parliament have become more outspoken about limiting access to reproductive health in this country. As we begin 2025, let us take a moment to look at the breadth of literature on reproductive rights. Much of this display features writings from and about the Canadian context, but there are topics ranging from Victorian Toronto to present-day Mexico and everything in between.  

Some noteworthy works on the local history of reproductive health in McGill Libraries’ collection include: After Morgentaler : The politics of abortion in Canada, which examines the landmark 1988 decision of R. v. Morgentaler that struck down Canada’s abortion law; Shout your abortion, a hashtag that went viral in 2015 following the United States Congress’ attempt at defunding Planned Parenthood; and Portrait of a scandal: The abortion trial of Robert Notman, about the younger brother of Montreal’s noted photographer William Notman who arranged for a woman’s abortion. In consideration of how abortion has been utilized by both proponents for and critics of eugenics, we have also included works on the history of eugenics in Canada such as: Our Own Master Race Eugenics in Canada, 1885-1945 and In the public good : eugenics and law in Ontario. 

Beyond abortion, another theme explored in the display is the timely and hotly debated topic of surrogacy. Surrogacy in Canada: Critical perspectives in law and policy addresses the health and well-being of surrogates, as well as the lack of surrogacy regulation in Québec. In My body, their baby : A progressive Christian vision for surrogacy, author Grace Y. Kao draws on her experience as a surrogate mother and assess the ethics of surrogacy through feminist and Christian lenses. Intimate strangers: Commercial surrogacy in Russia and Ukraine and the making of truth examines the transactional and financial nature behind some surrogate births and the impact it has on women’s bodies.  

Redpath Book Display: Works of Fiction by BIPOC authors

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According to McGill’s International Student Services, as of the 2020-2021 academic year, there are 11,942 international students enrolled at McGill from over 150 countries. In order to celebrate our internationally diverse study body, this month’s Redpath Book Display is dedicated to works of fiction by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) authors from a wide variety of countries. Our physical book display in the Redpath Library features works such as:

Hot Comb, by Ebony Flowers, is a graphic novel and collection of stories that examine the coming of age of a young Black girl living in the United States.

Celestial Bodies, by Omani author Jūkhah Ḥārithī, won the Man Booker Prize and tells the story of three sisters growing up in the village of al-Awafi.

No Knives in the Kitchens of this City, by Khālid Khalīfah, is set in Aleppo, Syria, between the 1960s and the 2000s and examines the lives of one family during that time period.

Harbart, by Nabāruṇa Bhaṭṭācārya, is a beloved cult novel in India, translated from Bengali into English for the first time.

Ms Ice Sandwich, by Mieko Kawakami, is a novella by an up-and-coming Japanese author.

Blackass, by A. Igoni Barrett, is set in Lagos, Nigeria, and is about a Black man who wakes up on the morning of a job interview to discover that he has turned into a white man.

In the Pond, by Ha Jin, is a piece of satire about a Chinese factory worker who becomes famous for drawing a political cartoon.

Five Little Indians, by Michelle Good, is a timely look at Canadian residential schools by a Cree writer, poet, and lawyer.

In addition to our physical book display, we have also curated a list of works of fiction by BIPOC authors in e-book format on the OverDrive platform. If you are in the mood for some romantic comedies to read over the holiday season, or simply to give yourself a break during exam period, then be sure to check out works such as:

Take a Hint, Dani Brown, by Talia Hibbert

Once Ghosted, Twice Shy, by Alyssa Cole

You Had Me at Hola, by Alexis Daria

Heart Principle, by Helen Hoang

Dial A for Aunties, by Jesse Q. Sutanto

The Startup Wife, by Tahmima Anam

If you would rather read fast-paced thrillers and mysteries, then look no further than the following reads:

My Sister, the Serial Killer, by Oyinkan Braithwaite

When No One Is Watching, by Alyssa Cole

Leave the World Behind, by Rumaan Alam

The Case of the Missing Auntie, by Michael Hutchinson

Mexican Gothic, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

American Spy, by Lauren Wilkinson

The Other Black Girl, by Zakiya Dalila Harris

No matter your taste in literature, we are confident you will find a great read from one of these amazing BIPOC authors!

Fake News! Propaganda, Scammers, and Malarkey

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Fake news was named the word of the year by the Collins English Dictionary in 2017. Collins’ lexicographers said use of the term increased by 365% since 2016. In light of this, and in celebration of April Fools’ Day, McGill Library presents a collection of books that delve into the history of wartime propaganda, the psychology of lying, and the stories of fraudsters.

The term fake news is now synonymous with Donald Trump. To that end, we have included several recent publications about the current United States President. Donald Trump: The Making of a World View reveals how Trump’s worldview was formed and how it affects policy. Communication in the Age of Trump is a collection of essays that examine how Trump uses Twitter to speak directly to the public. Quand la clique nous manipule: Du Printemps érable à Donald Trump hits a little closer to home by examining the marketing behind the 2012 Québec student protests and how polarizing social movements that have come afterwards, such as the Make America Great Again rallies, have drawn on similar communications strategies.

The book display also highlights biographies, such as Stalin’s Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess, about a British diplomat and Soviet agent, and A Life in Secrets: The Story of Vera Atkins and the Lost Agents of SOE, a British intelligence officer who worked in France during the Second World War. Women Swindlers in America, 1860-1920 delves into the lives of women who were scam artists in the field of spiritualism, who told sob stories to get money, who ran matrimonial cons to increase their bank balances, and who swindled financial institutions by passing bad cheques.

Cinema and photography were heavily relied upon during the Second World War as forms of propaganda. Marketing the Third Reich: Persuasion, packaging and propaganda re-conceptualizes Third Reich propaganda through the lens of consumer marketing. Memoria e immaginario : la Seconda Guerra mondiale nel cinema italiano examines thematic traditions in Italian resistance cinema. Grand illusion: the Third Reich, the Paris exposition, and the cultural seduction of France touches on French reactions to Nazi culture in the 1930s and the Nazi party’s construction of German identity in Paris.

If you’re in the mood for a good novel set in a dystopian future that heavily features state propaganda, then rest assured that the display features some classics, such as The Handmaid’s Tale and Fahrenheit 451. We also have contemporary graphic novels that address fake news, such as the recently published and highly acclaimed Sabrina. No matter your taste, McGill Library has something to satiate your fake news fix!