Jasper's Road

Written by Susan White

Acorn Press

978-1-773660981

164 pp.

Ages 8-12

May 2022

There are families by birth and those by invention. And sometimes, because of the families of birth, better families are created from disparate parts. The story of Jasper's Road is about such families.

 

When Jasper's Road begins, a large extended family is gathering to celebrate Amelia's day. Amelia Walton, who passed five years earlier, started taking in kids after she was struck with a neurological disease which motivated her to become a recluse. Opening her home to more than 100 kids over the years, for short- or long-terms, Amelia Walton left her mark with her heart, her wisdom, and her compassion. Now each year, many of those she fostered along with their own families gathered to share food, memories and trivia as Amelia would have liked.

Thirteen-year-old Jasper, who'd come to Amelia as a baby and now was part of Jodie and Zac Williams's family, had always felt welcomed but, because of a recent fostering of fourteen-year-old Jake Turner by his Aunt Rachel and Uncle Ryan, Jasper is feeling more vulnerable, especially about a facial abnormality that Jake ridicules as "Zipper Lip." But as Jasper tries to figure out how to deal with Jake, Jake himself is struggling with finding himself as a part of yet another foster family and without his little brother Tommy. Then near tragedy strikes and Jake forces Jasper and Jasper's 12-year-old brother Anderson to lie. Add to that the COVID-19 pandemic and the April 2020 mass killing in Nova Scotia and it would seem that everyone has some baggage that they're carrying around that confuses and confounds their relationships with partners and with their families, foster and birth.

New Brunswick writer Susan White, who has written YA and middle grade books including The Year Mrs. Montague Cried, winner of the Ann Connor Brimer Award, brings us into a complicated world of foster children, past and present, as they struggle and learn to make lives for themselves in the context of ever-changing relationships. Whether from abandonment or abuse, neglect or health concerns–including death of a parent–children enter foster care for a variety of reasons and just as varied is the care that they may receive. Some will find forever homes through adoption while others will bounce from one residence to another. In Jasper's Road, those fortunate enough to be taken in by Amelia Walton and subsequently by her "heirs" became part of something significant. And while it took me awhile to figure out all the characters and their relationships, including which were biological or otherwise, I realized it really didn't matter. Susan White gave us a rich community much like the one Amelia endeavoured to create, both complex and natural, saving herself and others in the process, and building something bigger than just a joining of individuals.

While this journey down Jasper's Road is complete, for now, I suspect that there are more travels ahead for Jasper, Jake, Tommy and their families, perhaps in New Brunswick or not, and I really hope that Susan White takes us down a few more of those roads by gifting us with their stories too.

I'm Good and Other Lies

Written by Bev Katz Rosenbaum

DCB

978-1-77086-632-4

211 pp.

Ages 13+

September 2021 

 

It doesn't take long for me to start feeling a constant pit of dread in my stomach. The future... (pg. 108) 

 

Seventeen-year-old Kelsey Kendler has every right to be anxious about her life. If the recent past is any indication, things are not heading in the right direction. And the COVID-19 pandemic hasn't even hit yet. There will be lots more to set her off kilter and how she manages is only partly up to her. Parents, friends, school, work and social media will all have a hand in taking her down or bringing her up.

Kelsey and her parents Hannah and Mark have just moved from fashionable and wealthy Rosedale to transitional Parkdale because of Kelsey's celebrity comedian mom's fall from grace. Perennially stoned, drunk or abusing her pain meds, Hannah Kendler, a former participant on "Those Crazy Comics" TV show, is now unemployable and a raging, confused mess. Sadly, Kelsey's dad is less than helpful, either arguing with his wife or avoiding the household altogether. Not surprisingly, Kelsey vows to make some meaningful connections outside of their rat-infested house. There's Molly, a classmate whose perfect family doesn't prepare her for meeting the out-of-control Hannah, and crush Luca, which whom Kelsey begins a textlashionship. But, best of all, Kelsey gets a part-time job at an ice-cream place called Soft Spot. There she meets Chelsea, Veer, Quinn, Ruby, and Lee in addition to Kira, the owner's stoned niece and ineffective manager. Except for the rats in the house, her sleep paralysis that turns her nights into terrors, her warring and oblivious parents, and missing her only friend from before, Makayla, now in LA, things are stable. Then the pandemic hits.

They'd all been hearing about the virus. Makayla's mom, an actress, gets sick, as do others on her film set, and Kelsey worries that her mom's coughing could be it too. But when school is cancelled after spring break and then returns in some mishmash of independent learning and then virtual lessons, and Soft Spot is closed, and she's stuck at home with her worthless parents, Kelsey is left untethered. She may be saying she's fine but dealing with a tenuous support system and mental health during the trauma of a pandemic with lockdowns is just a lie.

We all know how difficult living through this pandemic has been but it's more than just difficult for some. For a teen, when life is in flux as they transition from dependence to independence, it's even more challenging. And for someone like Kelsey, whose home life is painful, she has no respite from the stress. Couple that with sleep paralysis that pervades her nights, this girl has trauma upon trauma with which to deal. I'm surprised she's as sane as she is. Maybe that's the hope that Bev Katz Rosenbaum has written into her story, reassuring her readers that as crappy as things are, there are glimmers of normalcy and even brightness that can help pull you through and out. Whether it's a socially-distanced get-together, texting with a new friend, connecting with a psychologist or being honest about what you're going through, there is hope even while "learning to accept uncertainty" (pg. 182). I'm Good and Other Lies is a powerfully authentic account of a teen living with a multitude of challenges, both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sometimes Kelsey accepts the challenge and puts it down and sometimes she buckles, but it is always real and enlightening. With I'm Good and Other Lies, Bev Katz Rosenbaum has told us a story of not being fine but finding a way to make it so.

• • • • • • •

If you would like to hear author Bev Katz Rosenbaum talk about I'm Good and Other Lies, register for Future Shock (and Future Hope), a webinar with authors Wesley King and Eric Walters.

Date:  Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Time:  11 AM-12 PM, 1-2 PM

Registration costs:  School ($150), Class ($65), Home ($10)

Details:  https://www.storyninjawritingclasses.com/special-events

Sunny Days Inside and Other Stories

Written by Caroline Adderson
Groundwood Books
978-1-77306-572-4
176 pp.
Ages 8-12
August 2021

 

The world may be living under the shadow of the same pandemic but our stories are so different. In Sunny Days Inside and Other Stories, author Caroline Adderson takes us into one community, that of a Vancouver low-rise apartment building, and shares the stories of its residents from the eyes of its youth.

Sunny Days Inside relates the story of Danila's family who were finally going on a plane holiday to Días de Sol (Sunny Days) resort in Baja, Mexico, courtesy of her grandmother. Because of the disparity in wealth between their family and her mother's sister, a woman who travels extensively, the holiday becomes a source of conflict, with the children's aunt heading out on a cruise days before they leave. Then the pandemic hits. Danila's family makes their own indoor holiday but it's tinged with sorrow and guilt when her aunt gets COVID-19 on the ship.

Brothers Alek and Ivan decide they're going to become cave men, after all the barbershops close, in the story How to Be a Cave Family. All the strategies that Palaeolithic beings used to survive, from being afraid of everybody, to hunting and gathering and developing their own language, become their guide to getting through the pandemic.

In Reo and Juliet, Grade 7 peers from apartments 3D and 4B become friends across their balconies as Reo, the athlete, struggles with how to train and Juliet works at overcoming her shyness.

In the following four stories–I Like Your Tie, The Entrepreneur's Bible, The Two Harriets, and The Incredible Escaping Bra Man–young people are challenged with parents who are front-line workers, or those who have lost their jobs or closed businesses, or those impacted by illness, including cancer and anxiety. The kids make new friends, become spies and save a resident's life, and face their own fears about the virus, their families and friends, and their new realities. And it's all while adhering to lockdowns and pre-vaccine protocols.

In the final story, Imagine, the young residents and one special one come together in a socially-distanced and rebellious act that brings them together safely and outside.

Caroline Adderson has always written powerful stories (e.g., Very Serious Children, 2007; Middle of Nowhere, 2012; Norman, Speak!, 2014), though with a smidgen of humour that never distracts from serious issues like abandonment, parenting, foster care, and now COVID-19. Told from a variety of perspectives, the pandemic is viewed as an adventure, a source of fear and anxiety, an opportunity, or even a challenge. We've got kids who worry about their parents, who become superheroes, and those who gain perspective on their pre-pandemic lives. They are all different, as are their stories, but somehow young readers will recognize every one them and their issues, sure to see themselves within. These middle-graders are shy and athletic, Deaf and hearing, silly and serious, anxious and confident. Whether annoyed with a younger or older sibling, cooperating with working or non-working parents, cheering the lack of haircuts, or finding new ways to communicate without congregating, these kids are living through this pandemic. In fact, they're staring it in the face, mask securely on and two metres apart, and reclaiming their lives, albeit new configurations of them.

Don't Stand So Close to Me: Q & A with author Eric Walters

Don't Stand So Close to Me

Written by Eric Walters

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-2788-2 (pdf)
978-1-4598-2789-9 (epub)

116 pp.

Ages 9-14

June 2020

Yesterday author Eric Walter and publisher Orca Book Publishers launched an extraordinary middle grade novel and I was pleased to review Don't Stand So Close to Me here on CanLit for LittleCanadians.  Today I'm pleased to share with you some background into this unprecedented publication and launch via this Q & A with author Eric Walters.  Enjoy!

Eric Walters

HK:  If there was one thing that compelled you to write a story based on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, what was it?

EW:  Almost immediately I started receiving emails and twitter comments from students, teachers and teacher/librarians asking me if I was going to write a story about the pandemic.  At first, I simply told them it wasn’t something I was contemplating.  As those contacts reached over a hundred, I began to realize that there was both a desire and a need.  Young people needed to see something that reflected their present lives, to understand their situations, and teachers needed something to get their students engaged.



HK:  Though literature can be solely for entertainment and not harbour hidden messages to illuminate or educate, Don’t Stand So Close to Me cannot help but facilitate young readers’ understanding of the circumstances. If there was one message for them to take away from reading the book, what would you like it to be?

EW:  There were some very important pieces of information I wanted incorporated into the narrative including ‘flattening the curve’ and ‘exponential growth’.  I wanted these to be explained in a way that they could understand.  The overall message, however, is about changes, adapting, understanding what’s lost, acknowledging the anxiety of uncertainty, and perhaps more important, remembering what is still with us – family, friendship, human connection and hope.




HK:  Don’t Stand So Close to Me is more than “just” a book. It is an undertaking to involve young people in tackling the pandemic at their own level. It doesn’t require action but it certainly empowers them to look beyond the inconvenience and see the big picture of how they might help reduce the impact of this dangerous virus. If you could choose 3 actions that you would encourage them to take, what would they be?

EW:  It all stems from a basic understanding that, while we’re certainly not in the same boat, we are in the same ocean.  We have a deep connection, and need for that connection, with those around us.  Be kind.  Have faith.  Have hope.
a)    What can you do to show kindness to those in your family?
b)    How can you connect with others in your community to make their lives better?
c)    Change always starts with one person.  Be the person that helps to change your part of the world.



HK:  I applaud your characters who seem to follow the saying that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. But, we know that there are many for whom this pandemic is a struggle. As a former social worker and teacher, do you have any guidance for young people who might be struggling emotionally?

EW:  This pandemic has helped to expose the fault lines in our society.  We are not all blessed with the same support systems – either internally or externally.  Share a gentle word, encourage, make a phone call, a donation. Be kind to each other – and be kind to yourself.  Being kind to yourself may be the hardest.  Don’t judge – support.
    If you’re having problems, reach out to your parents, teachers and friends. It’s a sign of strength to know when you need help.  Be strong enough to reach out.




HK:  The book’s dedication is to your grandchildren whose names are coincidentally that of the three main young characters. But your grandchildren are far younger than Quinn, Isaac and Reese in Don’t Stand So Close to Me. Do the characters share any characters with your grandchildren or are they modelled after other young people you know or have known?

EW:  I love being a grandfather.  My grandchildren are all 2 or under.  Someday they’ll look at this story, see their names, and this will be part of my gift to them, to help bind them together.  You always invest bits of yourself or people you know in your stories.  I REALLY like these characters.  They are caring, capable, funny and thoughtful.  


HK:  Getting a book written and to press is usually a lengthy process. How were you able to complete this process so quickly, especially under the circumstances of everyone working remotely?

EW:  From the very beginning this was an act of trust and partnership.  With just a rough outline my publisher trusted me to craft and complete a novel on a tight schedule. While I was writing they were simultaneously editing, marketing, working on digital strategies, designing a cover and doing all the things necessary to publish a book.  We not only published in record time but created a marketing and promotion path that was more comprehensive than any plan previously attempted with any of my books – or any of their previous books!



HK:  Fingers crossed that this pandemic will be over, some time. Would you consider a sequel to reveal how Quinn, Isaac and Reese and their peers and families managed and look back at how this event has shaped them? Or would you perhaps write another book that addresses life in the aftermath of the pandemic? Or are you just as happy to let Don’t Stand So Close to Me be the end of this story?

EW:  Until you asked this question, I hadn’t thought about it at all!  Maybe I better call Orca before I answer. 
          This story ends with hope.  It’s the best possible place for any of us right now.  I’ve always believed in the power of hope.  At the same time, I strongly believe that you prepare for the worst and pray for the best. 
           I enjoyed those characters so much I would like to revisit them in another story.  I think what the story might be well be dictated by what’s going to transpire in the world.  I choose to believe it will be better. 
          You have to have hope.

•••••••••••••••

Many thanks to author Eric Walters for inviting me to be part of the process of getting Don't Stand So Close to Me to young readers during this challenging time.  

Thank you also to Leslie Bootle at Orca Book Publishers for allowing me to share in this amazing journey to launch.

Don't Stand So Close to Me

Written by Eric Walters

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-2788-2 (pdf)
978-1-4598-2789-9 (epub)

116 pp.

Ages 9-16

June 2, 2020

978-1-4598-2787-5 (pb) 
Available September 22, 2020

In a novel for right now, Eric Walters has found a way to reassure, inform, educate and entertain about life during the COVID-19 pandemic, and all within the safety of a new digital book for middle grade readers.

Thirteen-year-old Quinn along with her neighbour and best friend Isaac and their classmates in Grade 8 are anticipating their spring break and planning their spring dance when the COVID-19 pandemic hits North America. The young teens show a variety of responses to the news that spring break will start a little early and last for three weeks: ambivalence, concern, joy and anxiety. Not unlike most young people, their responses are varied and often contingent about what they hear from family and on the news. Because Quinn’s dad is a doctor and Isaac’s mom is a police chief, these two friends get a very different perspective on staying out of school. 

As the kids begin to accept their new reality which includes online schooling and social distancing, all the COVID-19 related issues are touched upon in a meaningful and authentic way in Eric Walters's story. We read about Dad’s need for PPE and consequent skin reactions, his long working hours and the need to isolate from Mom and Quinn. The very social Isaac must deal with the loneliness of staying at home by himself and find safe ways to connect with others. Their friend Reese is unable to visit with her grandmother in a long-term care facility but the kids find a way to reach out after learning how to make masks. The young people learn of the positives of social distancing and strategies for keeping spirits up and bodies healthy. They are exposed to misinformation and those who disregard protocols and protesters who want to reopen businesses.

When the rest of the school year is cancelled except online, the kids decide to stage a spring dance on their street that abides by the rules of social distancing (chalk drawn boxes on road, with kids bringing their own phones, ear buds, water and snacks), and made possible with a little help from parent chaperones, police, and a neighbourhood that gets on board with making it special. With a highly appropriate playlist including the titular "Don't Stand So Close to Me," Isaac DJ’s the night away, saving one final dance with Quinn.

I loved this story. It covers everything middle graders might be experiencing right now, especially the confusion with different perspectives about the COVID-19 pandemic, from parents, peers, news, social media, etc. and their anxiety for their new routines. Their concerns are very real though they are so different from those of the adults in their lives. Still the kids find a way to do the right thing time and time again and I applaud these fictional characters for their responsibility and humanity. I wondered how the story would end, knowing that we don’t really know how this pandemic will ultimately play out. But Eric Walters's ending was more sweet than bitter and I even cried when Quinn’s dad tells her:

...Don’t underestimate what you did. It was much more than a dance. Tonight, wasn’t normal, but somehow you made it work, and for a few hours, you gave hundreds of people some happiness.  You gave them joy.  You helped them to forget for a little while. And, not just your classmates, but hundreds and hundreds of people on our street.  You gave them hope. You gave me hope.  (pg. 114)

Don't Stand So Close to Me is a positive story about a very negative event. It will take middle grade readers into the pandemic of their experiences, offering them reassurance and hope while educating them about helping everyone survive this pandemic. (The discussion about what flattening the curve means is especially brilliant.) I suggest parents and teachers help bring this novel to the young readers in their lives to offer them the hope and wisdom we all need to get through this.

 😊•😊•😊•😊•😊•😊•😊

Look for my interview with author Eric Walters next here on CanLit for LittleCanadians and learn more about Don't Stand So Close to Me and getting this relevant book written and to press with remarkable efficiency.

😊•😊•😊•😊•😊•😊•😊

Information for teachers and schools:
Orca Book Publishers is offering classroom and school licenses to accompany the ebooks. A teacher who wants to use this book in their Google Classroom platform or enable their whole class to access it from home can buy one copy of the book with a classroom license for $29.99. A school license (so multiple classes in one school would have access to the book) is available for $59.99.  See details at the publisher's website at https://www.orcabook.com