Emergencies, faith, truancy, and poverty intersect in this wry debut that volunteers a transfusion of the unpredictable for those who yearn to transition beyond a muralized Olive Garden world. Stevie Howell's [Sharps] takes its cue from an Egyptian hieroglyph used interchangeably to represent "waters," the letter N, and all prepositions within a sentence. Similarly, Sharps alters its structure and functionality from page to page. The Queen launches an advertising campaign to procure our envy. The last unicorn crochets a sweater out of the sisal cords of the book. The falsity of Billy Joel's New York propaganda is grounds for libel. We discover the one thing you can do "With a sawed-off rifle, a low IQ, and curiosity/about human biology." From certain angles, [Sharps] embraces the possibilities of poetry -- from others, it engages in a protracted street fight with language. Stevie Howell's poetry and criticism have appeared in publications such as The Walrus, Maisonneuve, The Globe and Mail, and National Post. She is from Scarborough, lives near the Mink Mile, and studies psychology.