Paperback
978-1-77212-375-3Size: 6" x 9"
Pages: 176
epub
978-1-77212-427-9Pages: 208
Kindle
978-1-77212-428-6Pages: 208
Pages: 208
Downloadable audio file
978-1-77212-635-8Size: " x "
Pages: 176
Little Yellow House
Finding Community in a Changing Neighbourhood
By Carissa Halton
“Ma’am, you sound like a very reasonable person. Can I advise you to just move?”
Carissa Halton and her young family move into a neighbourhood with a tough reputation. As they make their home in one of the oldest parts of the city, she reflects on the revitalization that is slowly changing the view from her little yellow house. While others worry about the area’s bad reputation, she heads out to meet her neighbours, and through them discovers the innate beauty of her community. Halton introduces us to a cast of diverse characters in her Alberta Avenue neighbourhood—including cat rescuers, tragic teens, art evangelists, and crime fighters—and invites us to consider the social and economic forces that shape and reshape our cities.
Book details
Publication date: August 2018Keywords: urban studies; place; activism; activist; parenting; neighborhood; redevelopment; urbanization; gentrification; community leagues; city planning; diversity; socioeconomic; family; families
Subject(s): LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Canadian, Creative Writing, Creative Writing / Essays, Creative Writing, Creative Writing / Auto/biography & Memoir, Creative Writing, Creative Writing / Literary Nonfiction, Urban Studies, Urban Studies / Edmonton, Urban Studies / Inner City, LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Essays, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / Urban, Literary essays, Urban Studies / Inner City, Urban communities, Bestseller, Urban Studies, urban studies; place; activism; activist; parenting; neighborhood; redevelopment; urbanization; gentrification; community leagues; city planning; diversity; socioeconomic; family; families
Publisher(s): The University of Alberta Press
Book details
Publication date: August 2018Keywords: urban studies; place; activism; activist; parenting; neighborhood; redevelopment; urbanization; gentrification; community leagues; city planning; diversity; socioeconomic; family; families
Subject(s): LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Canadian, Creative Writing, Creative Writing / Essays, Creative Writing, Creative Writing / Auto/biography & Memoir, Creative Writing, Creative Writing / Literary Nonfiction, Urban Studies, Urban Studies / Edmonton, Urban Studies / Inner City, LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Essays, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / Urban, Literary essays, Urban Studies / Inner City, Urban communities, Bestseller, Urban Studies, urban studies; place; activism; activist; parenting; neighborhood; redevelopment; urbanization; gentrification; community leagues; city planning; diversity; socioeconomic; family; families
Publisher(s): The University of Alberta Press
Carissa Halton. Award-winning writer Carissa Halton lives with her family in an urban neighbourhood in Edmonton. People often ask, “Why do you live there?” This book is her answer.
"Halton clearly delights in interacting with people from all walks of life; her interest and empathy sparkle throughout. Her tone is factual, nonjudgmental, and often wryly funny. Little Yellow House is a balanced presentation of a diverse community in transition, complete with faults and growing pains."
"It’s books like this that remind us all… that community is more than about special events that happen once a year. It’s about connecting to people often and throughout the year. Doing so can and does result in some wonderful experiences." [Full article at https://www.stalbertgazette.com/article/community-in-a-little-yellow-book-20181010]
# 1 on Edmonton Non-Fiction Bestsellers list, October 19, 2018
"It's an illuminating and hopeful book that asks readers to think again about what makes places liveable, and also provides a wonderful glimpse of Jane Jacobs' proverbial sidewalk ballet."
"Great cities and neighbourhoods are containers for stories, just like this book is, and every one of these is delightfully readable and well-written right down to the sentence level. And Halton is not afraid of tension, of ambiguity and uncertainty, something living in the city teaches you, and so each of these stories is suspended in a careful place, not neatly packaged or simply concluded. Which gives their culmination the effect of a walk through a city street, of glimpses, moments, and changing scenes—a most satisfying and delightful excursion."
"This book is an excellent resource for communities wanting to create change. It can also be a starting point for discussion with students ... to focus on identifying Who are the vulnerable? Who gets to decide that they’re vulnerable? and What community-based solutions honour lifestyle choices? Little Yellow House shows readers there are ways of working and living together that really do respect diversity. I loved this book."
"In these stark and endearing personal essays, the author celebrates her life and lives fearlessly and fully with three children and a husband, despite a dystopian backdrop. Halton writes with humour, empathy, and spiritual maturity, and she doesn't judge the inner city world outside her yellow house."
# 2 on Calgary Herald's Non-Fiction Bestsellers list.
"In this rich blend of stories, Carissa Halton captures the spirit of her downtown neighbourhood while sharing fresh ideas about justice and injustice in city life. Take a stroll down the street with her, meet her neighbours, and join an inspirational conversation about the true nature of home. Halton writes with clarity and tenderness about a place she loves."
Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize, Canada
Short-listed
2019
2 | Better to Call 311
3 | Drug Houses Make Bad Neighbours
4 | Unlikely Space Flight
5 | Hell Is Other People
6 | May the Punishment Fit the Crime
7 | The Case of the Missing Hundred Bucks
8 | Friend Stalking
9 | Billian’s Safe House
10 | This Neighbourhood Does Not Tolerate Crappy Infill
11 | Smells Like a Deal
12 | Bug Economics
13 | Food Politics
14 | Local Sex Economics
15 | Rub and Tug in the City
16 | Penis Slash and Other Lessons
17 | Aboriginal Dance
18 | We Are All in This Together
19 | A Salmon’s in the Koi Pond
20 | Taking Over the Streets
21 | Predators Invade
22 | Privacy’s Found in the Basement
23 | Canvassing 101
24 | The Pendulum Swings
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Sources
Carissa Halton. Award-winning writer Carissa Halton lives with her family in an urban neighbourhood in Edmonton. People often ask, “Why do you live there?” This book is her answer.
"Halton clearly delights in interacting with people from all walks of life; her interest and empathy sparkle throughout. Her tone is factual, nonjudgmental, and often wryly funny. Little Yellow House is a balanced presentation of a diverse community in transition, complete with faults and growing pains."
"It’s books like this that remind us all… that community is more than about special events that happen once a year. It’s about connecting to people often and throughout the year. Doing so can and does result in some wonderful experiences." [Full article at https://www.stalbertgazette.com/article/community-in-a-little-yellow-book-20181010]
# 1 on Edmonton Non-Fiction Bestsellers list, October 19, 2018
"It's an illuminating and hopeful book that asks readers to think again about what makes places liveable, and also provides a wonderful glimpse of Jane Jacobs' proverbial sidewalk ballet."
"Great cities and neighbourhoods are containers for stories, just like this book is, and every one of these is delightfully readable and well-written right down to the sentence level. And Halton is not afraid of tension, of ambiguity and uncertainty, something living in the city teaches you, and so each of these stories is suspended in a careful place, not neatly packaged or simply concluded. Which gives their culmination the effect of a walk through a city street, of glimpses, moments, and changing scenes—a most satisfying and delightful excursion."
"This book is an excellent resource for communities wanting to create change. It can also be a starting point for discussion with students ... to focus on identifying Who are the vulnerable? Who gets to decide that they’re vulnerable? and What community-based solutions honour lifestyle choices? Little Yellow House shows readers there are ways of working and living together that really do respect diversity. I loved this book."
"In these stark and endearing personal essays, the author celebrates her life and lives fearlessly and fully with three children and a husband, despite a dystopian backdrop. Halton writes with humour, empathy, and spiritual maturity, and she doesn't judge the inner city world outside her yellow house."
# 2 on Calgary Herald's Non-Fiction Bestsellers list.
"In this rich blend of stories, Carissa Halton captures the spirit of her downtown neighbourhood while sharing fresh ideas about justice and injustice in city life. Take a stroll down the street with her, meet her neighbours, and join an inspirational conversation about the true nature of home. Halton writes with clarity and tenderness about a place she loves."
Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize, Canada
Short-listed
2019
2 | Better to Call 311
3 | Drug Houses Make Bad Neighbours
4 | Unlikely Space Flight
5 | Hell Is Other People
6 | May the Punishment Fit the Crime
7 | The Case of the Missing Hundred Bucks
8 | Friend Stalking
9 | Billian’s Safe House
10 | This Neighbourhood Does Not Tolerate Crappy Infill
11 | Smells Like a Deal
12 | Bug Economics
13 | Food Politics
14 | Local Sex Economics
15 | Rub and Tug in the City
16 | Penis Slash and Other Lessons
17 | Aboriginal Dance
18 | We Are All in This Together
19 | A Salmon’s in the Koi Pond
20 | Taking Over the Streets
21 | Predators Invade
22 | Privacy’s Found in the Basement
23 | Canvassing 101
24 | The Pendulum Swings
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Sources
