Precious Cargo
Craig Davidson
- Meet the Canada Reads 2018 contenders
- Canada Reads 2018 Day Two: Watch the replay
- Greg Johnson on Precious Cargo's message of understanding
- Why school bus driver Dylynn Kempton related to Craig Davidson's Precious Cargo
Precious Cargo by Craig Davidson was defended by Greg Johnson on Canada Reads 2018. Forgiveness by Mark Sakamoto, defended by Jeanne Beker, was the winner of Canada Reads 2018.
One morning in 2008, desperate and impoverished while trying unsuccessfully to write, Craig Davidson plucked a flyer out of his mailbox that read, "Bus Drivers Wanted." That was the first step towards an unlikely new career: driving a school bus full of special-needs kids for a year. Davidson shows us how his evolving relationship with the kids on that bus, each of them struggling physically as well as emotionally and socially, slowly but surely changed his life along with the lives of the "precious cargo" in his care. This is the extraordinary story of that year and those relationships. It is also a moving, important and universal story about how we see and treat people with special needs in our society. (From Knopf Canada)
- Why Craig Davidson doesn't let criticism get to him
- How Greg Johnson is preparing for the Canada Reads debates
- Craig Davidson's best writing advice? Find a routine and stick to it
- Why Greg Johnson thinks Precious Cargo should win Canada Reads
- 4 things to read, watch, and listen after you've read Precious Cargo
Watch the book trailer
From the book
"So what's this amazing news?" I asked.
The boy cast a glance over his shoulder at his father. His voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper.
"Tell you later."
Ah. So it was to be a bus story. The bus was the confessional, the cone of silence, the chamber of shared confidences. After I got Jake on board, his wheelchair strapped down and his chest buckled in safely, he would tell me. He always did.
From Precious Cargo by Craig Davidson ©2016. Published by Knopf Canada.
Panellist interviews
Author interviews
The Canada Reads 2018 contenders
- Mozhdah Jamalzadah, defending The Boat People by Sharon Bala
- Tahmoh Penikett, defending American War by Omar El Akkad
- Greg Johnson, defending Precious Cargo by Craig Davidson
- Jeanne Beker, defending Forgiveness by Mark Sakamoto
- Jully Black, defending The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline