Book details

Publication date: August 2018
Keywords: 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, Essays, Creative Writing, Auto/biography & Memoir, Creative Writing, Literary Nonfiction, 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."

Rachel Jagareski, Foreword Review


"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]

Scott Hayes, St. Albert Gazette


# 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."

49th Shelf


"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."

Kerry Clare, author of Mitzi Bytes


"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."

Judith Kulig, Alberta Views Magazine


"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."

Linda Alberta, Prairie Books Now


# 2 on Calgary Herald's Non-Fiction Bestsellers list.

Calgary Herald

"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."

Linda Goyette


Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize, Canada
Short-listed
2019
1 | Avoid This Place at Night
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
ISBNs: 9781772123753 978-1-77212-375-3 Title: little yellow house ISBNs: 9781772124279 978-1-77212-427-9 Title: little yellow house ISBNs: 9781772124286 978-1-77212-428-6 Title: little yellow house ISBNs: 9781772124293 978-1-77212-429-3 Title: little yellow house ISBNs: 9781772126358 978-1-77212-635-8 Title: little yellow house