The Naked Storyteller

Harry Tyke is a miserable, unkempt teacher on the verge of a monumental mid-life crisis when he ends up in a storytelling workshop taught by a creative, free-thinking storyteller named Olga. The workshop awakens Harry’s romantic side and hurls him into stories from his past, including his decision to give up on his dream of becoming a novelist, a regret he can no longer live with as he sags into his fifties. Harry says:“My roll of blubber––which was straining at the one-size-too-small shirt I had put on that morning––threatened to flop onto his desk like a fat fist.” From images like this one, to the shenanigans of Harry’s unruly sixth-graders and his skirmishes with parents and the school principal, the clever and well-timed moments of humour and lightheartedness in this story will have you rooting for this unlikely leading man from start to finish. With her second novel, Laura Michelle Thomas has proven she is more than just a mentor to future generations of young writers. She is also a diligent novelist who devotes herself to artfully fusing subject, form and audience expectations into a seamless, page-turning experience.