Reuniting with Strangers longlisted for 2024 Toronto Book Awards

Douglas & McIntyre is pleased to announce that Reuniting with Strangers is longlisted for the City of Toronto’s 2024 Toronto Book Awards.

Reuniting with Strangers  (Douglas & McIntyre, $22.95) is a novel of linked stories that shines a light on the complexities of family reunification across the Filipino-Canadian diaspora. By exploring the tenuous relationships between caregivers and their kin from Canada to the Philippines, the novel subverts expectations of the Filipino immigrant experience while revealing the journey of a caregiver's mysterious young son.

• Author statement: I’ve been working with newcomers for my entire career. After starting out as a Settlement Worker in Schools, I became a community-based researcher and journalist, and then a school board consultant through my initiative, Filipino Talks. I’ve now surveyed over 1200 Filipino high school students across the GTA, and for many of them, dealing with family reunification was the hardest part about being in Canada, and it impacted everything, from home life to academics to mental health. This book is a testament to all of the newcomer families who kept me awake at night.

Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio is a Filipina-Canadian author and the founder of Filipino Talks—an initiative that builds bridges between educators and Filipino families. Her work as a school board consultant, researcher, journalist, and school settlement worker inspired her first novel, Reuniting with Strangers. For a full picture of this remarkable writer: About — Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio (jennileeaustriabonifacio.com) Follow @jennilee_a_b

This is the 50^th Anniversary of the Toronto Book Awards, established by Toronto City Council in 1974. The Awards honour works of literary merit that are inspired by the city and its residents, and showcase the creativity and diversity of Toronto’s literary community. The shortlist for the 2024 Toronto Book Awards will be announced later this summer and a winner will be named in a prize ceremony November 7, 2024.