Stay

Written by Katherine Lawrence

Coteau Books

978-1-55050-681-5

128 pp.

Ages 9+

April 2017

Stay is a simple middle-grade novel in its length, its form and its story.  But within those few pages and free verse form is a powerful story of a family in transition and a young girl’s need to make a family from its pieces, adopting a few more bits as required.

With her dead twin brother Billy as her sounding board,

My twin is buried in a wooden box
lined with white silk
soft as dandelion fluff, the stuff I blow
to the wind, to you,
Billy. (pg. 1)

pre-teen Millie attempts to survive the “family squalls” that have sent her father first to the basement and then to his own apartment. After helping to rescue a starving dog, Millie’s desperate longing for a dog becomes an obsession that pervades her days and nights.

Is love like a tree leaf that browns and drops to the ground? If I had a dog, I would love my puppy evergreen. (pg. 30)

But the two-residences situation is a stumbling block to getting a dog–Dad’s building has a no-animals policy and Mum refuses to be responsible when Millie and her older sister Tara are away–as well as to the copacetic custody of the girls, especially after Mom goes off on a weekend with her new love interest and Dad forgets it’s his weekend with his daughters.  Though Millie is convinced she will be saddled with a “companion named Baggage” for the rest of her life, a chance encounter with the compassionate Mrs. Irene Tootoosis, who’d adopted the dog Millie and her friend had saved, and an unexpected cancer diagnosis brings the family together in a new configuration.

Three tents, two canoes, one pup
sounds like a family. (pg. 115)

Though the plot of Stay is relatively straightforward, Katherine Lawrence’s writing is not.  An accomplished writer of several books of poetry for adults, Katherine Lawrence pens a novel in verse so profound and complex in its voice and subtle in its story that rereading Stay will be necessary to appreciate all the nuances.  She gives Millie the freedom to obsess about a dog, talk to her dead brother (and play soccer against his headstone), sneak reading of her mother’s cell phone texts, and  be a good friend, while still looking to reconstruct her family as it was or as it might be.  Stay may be a quick read but it’s one that should not be hurried.  As Millie might attest, staying with it is definitely the preferred option, though it might be a lesson that needs to be learned both by dogs and people.



(A version of this review was originally written for and published in Quill & Quire, as noted in the citation below.)

Kubiw, H. (2017, June). [Review of the book Stay, by Katherine Lawrence]. Quill & Quire, 83 (5): 35.

The Griffin of Darkwood

by Becky Citra

Coteau Books

9781550506914

173 pp.

Ages 8-13

July 2016

It’s not unusual for there to be hints of secrets untold in Becky Citra’s novels for young people.  Two past Forest of Reading nominated books, Never To Be Told (Orca, 2006) and Missing (Orca, 2011) are two perfect examples in which there are personal mysteries that need to be solved.  While The Griffin of Darkwood splendidly plays on this same theme, as well as that of loss, Becky Citra takes on a whole new dimension in her writing: fantasy.  And she draws you in that story effortlessly with the expertise of a seasoned writer.

Twelve-year-old Will Poppy and his mother Adrienna are writers.  They even have their own Muses: a knight and a woman from Ancient Greece respectively.  But just after Adrienna finishes her book, The Magical Night, and Will deposits it with her publisher, Mr. Barnaby, Adrienna dies and Will is spirited away unceremoniously by nasty Aunt Mauve to a castle called Sparrowhawk Hall with its two equally-scary servants, Mr. and Mrs. Cherry.  Except for his mother’s pencil box, which always seemed magical to him, and a package containing a photo of his mother’s parents and a piece of  cloth with the words "The Griffin of Darkwood" woven into it, Will brings little with him to Sparrowhawk, though, with his desire to write having disappeared, he needs little.

Sparrowhawk is a quaint, old-fashioned English village of cobbled streets and alleys, and Will soon discovers the bookstore of Favian Longstaff, Ex Libris, and meets the energetic Emma Storm and her dog Peaches and Emma’s friend, chef-in-training Thom Fairweather.  Through his new friends, Will learns of the centuries-old griffin’s curse–there are stories of a young girl dying and a murder–which explains the rather unwelcoming welcome Will and his aunt get from many of Sparrowhawk’s villagers.

But, the mystery only begins there.  Even though Will refuses to write, he is still a writer and he keeps his eyes open and has a lot of questions. Why does his aunt seem to be keeping important mail from Will?  How could she afford the castle when they were all as poor as church mice?  Why is Mr. Cherry sneaking around looking for a secret passageway? Should Will heed the predictions of poet Vespera Moonstone and Granny Storm?  And what of the magic he seems to witness: book characters come to life at the bookstore, the eye colour-changing Macavity the cat, falling into a crystal ball, and the light emanating from his mother’s pencil box?  With a host of new friends and a lot of magic, with a little writing mixed in, Will finds that he is the solution to this mystery in ways he could never have imagined.

Though a contemporary story, there’s an Old English feel to The Griffin of Darkwood that readers and lovers of medieval history will appreciate. From the castle with its tower, great hall and keep, as well as the story-telling tapestries and the village of Sparrowhawk, Becky Citra sets an atmospheric tale of mystery, deceit and redemption.  From a poor orphan who has lost his will to write and under the “protection” of a selfish aunt, to evil servants with malevolent intentions, and a mysterious creature, sight unseen,  that dominates the landscape, The Griffin of Darkwood is itself a tapestry.  The tale is rich in characters and setting and plot, all the essential components of a great story.  The Griffin of Darkwood will fill a reading void for early and middle-grade readers who are in want of a Harry Potteresque fantasy without the truly scary bits and a huge page count, and who appreciate the far-too-rare triumph over evil in our own world.  

Door into Faerie: The Shards of Excalibur, Book 5

by Edward Willett

Coteau Books

978-1-550506549

196 pp.

Ages 13+

June 2016

Ariane Forsythe, the heir to the Lady of the Lake, and her  boyfriend Wally Knight, successor of King Arthur, are on their final quest to locate the fifth shard of Excalibur, the hilt, and reforge the legendary sword.  That is, unless computer magnate Rex Major a.k.a. Merlin and Wally’s sister Felicia a.k.a. Flish don’t discover the hilt first, allowing them to claim the whole sword.  With both sides endowed with magic and power and harbouring two shards, it’s anyone’s game in Door into Faerie, the final book in Edward Willett’s pentalogy.

Magical quests are easy; family is hard. (pg. 30)

Having been away for five months from his family, dysfunctional as it is–dad with his girlfriend, mom often off filming and his bullying sister now aiding Merlin–Wally convinces Ariane to transport them to Scotland where his mother is working on her lastest film project at Castle MacPhaiden, named for her side of the family.  Unfortunately, Rex Major and Flish are already there and Wally suspects that, because his mother is researching family legends, Rex Major believes she’ll discover something that will lead them to the hilt.  But Ariane and Wally are the first to realize that the treasure his Great Grandfather Knight had fled to Canada claiming to protect is actually that final piece of Excalibur.  So, the race to the grounds of the historic site Cannington Manor in Saskatchewan and unearthing of the hilt ensues, but not without a little frustration, a whole lot of magic, some familial obstacles, and a climactic battle.

While Edward Willett may not exactly conclude his Shards of Excalibur series with Ariane and Wally fulfilling their quest of retrieving the sword for the Lady of the Lake (you’ll need to read the book to understand that), Door into Faerie closes favorably in more ways than one and Excalibur is not the only entity that is rebuilt at its finale.  This fifth book is as forged with magic, conflict, action and travel, as well as a little history, as the earlier four books–Song of the Sword (Coteau, 2014), Twist of the Blade (Coteau, 2014), The Lake in the Clouds (Coteau, 2015), and Cave Beneath the Sea (Coteau, 2015)–but family, which has always been important, becomes paramount.  Brothers and sisters Merlin and the Lady of the Lake, and Wally and Felicia, as well as mothers Emily Forsythe and Jessica Knight, drive the story, and ultimately help resolve its plotlines, a monumental task in a fantasy based on the Arthurian legends.  Yet Edward Willett accomplishes this easily with his consistent intensity and fluidity of plot progression.  The rebuilding of Excalibur may be the final outcome but it’s the quest that is the journey that regales readers right through the series. 

Door into Faerie: Book launch (Regina, SK)

Author Edward Willett

concludes his YA fantasy series

The Shards of Excalibur  

Song of the Sword (Book 1)

Twist of the Blade (Book 2)

The Lake in the Clouds (Book 3)

Cave Beneath the Sea (Book 4)

with Book 5 

Door Into Faerie

Coteau Books

978-1-550506549

208 pp.

Ages 13+

May 2016

which launches

 on

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

at 

7 p.m. (CST)

at

Artful Dodger Cafe & Music Emporium

1631-11th Avenue

Regina, Saskatchewan 

From https://www.facebook.com/events/1711092289146493/

In the climactic fifth book of The Shards of Excalibur series, Ariane, Wally, Flish and Rex Major are on a collision course, converging on the resting place of the final piece of the sword: the hilt, long ago removed from its original hiding place by the descendants of King Arthur. When Wally uncovers its surprising location, far closer to hand than they’d ever guessed, it seems all Ariane and Wally have to do is claim it and reforge the sword to defeat Merlin forever.

Except...how, exactly, do you reforge a magical sword? Especially, how do you do it when the richest man in the world is on your trail and pouring all of his enormous resources into stopping you?

When the pieces of the sword are at last reunited, the results aren’t at all what Ariane and Wally imagined. With Excalibur whole again, the long-closed door into Faerie swings open wide. Who — and what — emerges from it may destroy everything and everyone Wally and Ariane have fought so hard to save — and allow Rex Major to snatch victory from the very jaws of defeat.

Fighting side by side, Ariane and Wally must draw on all their strength, courage, magic and love to save the world…and there’s no guarantee it will be enough.

Cave Beneath the Sea: The Shards of Excalibur, Book 4

by Edward Willett

Coteau Books

978-1-550-506396

213 pp.

Ages 13+

November 2015

Merlin incarnate, Rex Major, CEO of Excalibur Computer Systems, is ever hopeful of acquiring the four shards and the hilt of Excalibur so that he might open the door to Faerie and launch an attack. During the course of Song of the Sword (Coteau, 2014), Twist of the Blade (Coteau, 2014) and The Lake in the Clouds (Coteau, 2015), three shards have been located but Rex Major is only in possession of one.  Our fifteen-year-old modern-day Lady of the Lake, Ariane Forsythe, and her burgeoning boyfriend Wally Knight, heir of King Arthur, possess the other two shards and are determined to keep  Rex Major from getting his magical hands on any more.

But, just weeks before Christmas, Wally and Ariane’s search for the fourth shard has become more complicated because of Ariane’s missing mother and Wally’s sister Felicia a.k.a. Flish.  Travelling far and wide via magical water transport just to access the internet without tipping off Rex Major to their location (currently in Saskatchewan), Wally discovers photos of Emily Forsythe tagged at the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal in B.C.  While they pursue that lead, they are painfully aware that Flish, also an heir of Arthur, would be helping Rex Major to pull in the magic and locate the remaining shards.  Fortunately, that is also a blessing as it reveals to the two teens that Merlin and Flish are headed to Cacibajagua Island in the Caribbean, home of a saltwater cave fed by a freshwater waterfall, and undoubtedly the location of the fourth shard. And it’s a dangerous race to find the shard and liberate it from its watery hiding spot.

In Cave Beneath the Sea, Edward Willett has created as exciting a read as the earlier books in the series, continuing to develop his characters and their relationships while the action-filled plot carries the reader to intriguing national and international locales.  Both Ariane and Wally feel the power of the sword, drawing them to its shards but also compelling their anger in those who have hurt them: parents, siblings, bullies, enemies. And while they struggle with those yearnings, they are finding their way to a hitherto-unknown girlfriend-boyfriend relationship that provides them the family they both crave.  It’s hard for me to decide which is the stronger foundation for the story, the characters or the plot, as both are substantial and intricate.  Regardless, Cave Beneath the Sea takes The Shards of Excalibur a fast-moving step closer to the Door to Faerie, the magical entity and Book 5 in the series.

Check this blog tomorrow for details about Edward Willett’s book launch of Door to Faerie early next month to be held in, you guessed it, Regina, Saskatchewan.

Small Displays of Chaos

by Breanna Fischer

Coteau Books

978-1-55050-661-7

102 pp.

Ages 13+

May 2016

It wasn’t supposed to be this way.  Everything in her life was supposed to be better when she was thinner. (pg. 50)

For Saskatoon teen Rayanne Timko, her eating disorder began with a Phys Ed class fitness goal of healthy eating and improved exercise regime to get a good grade to match those of her academic subjects.  But the recording of all foods and monitoring her physical appearance became a ritual she couldn’t let go, ever hopeful of finding “the person who she wanted to be…hiding somewhere underneath.” (pg.  9).

Now a high school senior, Ray’s life is a complex existence of school counselling sessions, community service at a dog shelter, crushing on Josh Reid who’d witnessed her purging at a party, and convoluted family dynamics with a twin sister, an angry father, a conflicted mother and an impending family wedding that requires her dreading her participation as a bridesmaid.  And I haven’t even mentioned the voice of her judgemental thinner self Edie for whom Rayanne never seems to be good enough.

But even with a referral to an eating disorder specialist, Ray doesn’t know what she needs and finds it hard to ask for help.  It’s not until the family wedding that the desperate teen realizes that she’s been in the “final stage of a grand Disappearing Act” (pg. 74) from which she wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone and could finally just give up.

With all the positive affirmations about body image and awareness campaigns about eating disorders and mental illness, Small Displays of Chaos is still a timely and relevant story that needs to be told and heeded.  Breanna Fischer has based Small Displays of Chaos on her own experience being diagnosed with anorexia with bulimic behaviours and convincingly shares her skewed thinking and dangerous pursuits with candor and insight.  Luckily both Rayanne and Breanna Fischer are able to survive their crises and find the words to astutely convey the depth of those crises to provide valuable lessons. 

Small Displays of Chaos: Book launch (Saskatoon)

Join 

Coteau Books

and 

debut YA author

Breanna Fischer

for the launch of

Small Displays of Chaos

by Breanna Fischer

Coteau Books

9781550506617

112 pp.

Ages 13+

May 2016

on 

Monday, May 2, 2016

at

7 p.m.

at

McNally Robinson Booksellers

3130 8th St. E.

Saskatoon, SK

A riveting, haunting novel about one teenager’s journey toward self-love and strength.

17-year-old Rayanne Timko is only a few months into her senior year of high school, and her biggest concern should be deciding on a university and career path. But while her classmates are filled with anticipation, nothing in her life seems to going smoothly, and Rayanne finds herself struggling to overcome anorexia. She has a new friend: Ed - the seductive and demanding presence in her head who insists she be as skinny as possible. With Ed around, Rayanne is blind to nearly everyone else in her life. But what happens when Ray begins to suspect she may be losing more than weight? Will she be able to save her family - and herself - before it’s too late?

Filled with complex relationships and realistic young adult tribulations, Small Displays of Chaos follows Rayanne as she struggles with the astonishingly common yet stigmatized disorder of anorexia nervosa. Throughout her story she fights to discover who she is despite her illness, and learns that by loving herself, she is better able to love those around her.

Retrieved from Coteau Books website at http://coteaubooks.com/index.php?id=1046 

on March 28, 2016.

Convictions: Book launch (Regina)

Join 

Coteau Books

and 

author of

The Secret of Sentinel Rock (Coteau Books, 2003)

The Secret of the Stone House (Coteau Books, 2005)

The Secret of the Stone Circle (Coteau Books, 2010)

Ghosts of Government House (Your Nickel's Worth Publishing, 2011)

Honouring the Buffalo with Ray Lavallee and Mike Keepness 

(Your Nickel's Worth Publishing, 2015)

Judith Silverthorne

for the release of her newest 

young adult historical fiction novel

Convictions

by Judith Silverthorne

Coteau Books

9781550506525

232 pp.

Ages 13+

May 2016

on

Saturday, May 14, 2016

at

1 p.m.

at

Sunrise Branch Library

Regina Public Library

3130 Woodhams Drive

Regina, SK

A gripping historical novel about believing in oneself and standing true to one’s convictions.

It’s 1842. 14-year-old Jennie Lawrence has been found guilty of stealing, and finds herself aboard one of the few women-only convict ships destined for Australia.

Jennie had been desperate – and, as she gets to know the other women on the convict ship – she realizes she’s not the only one. Many of the women she gets to know were trying to survive, and feed themselves and their families, before they were caught and sentenced to Australia.

It’s clear from the moment the ship sets sail that the conditions aboard are abhorrent – women are sea sick and ill from the lack of good food and water, they are beaten if they disobey orders, and sleep brings no reprieve – as bed bugs, rats, and other parasites attack them in the night.

The only way for the women to survive the boat ride is if they band together. And so, with the help of her new “family” - Sarah, Bridget, and Alice - and other convicts, Jennie battles the jailers, the ship, and the sea. But will it be enough to set them free?

Retrieved from Coteau Books website at http://coteaubooks.com/index.php?id=1047 

on March 28, 2016.

The Lake in the Clouds (The Shards of Excalibur, Book 3)

by Edward Willett

Coteau Books

978-1-550-506167

224 pp.

Ages 12+

2015

Two shards of Excalibur found, three to go.  Sort of.  Ariane has the first shard from the Northwest Territories (Song of the Sword, Coteau, 2014) and then, following the song she hears, discovers the second shard at a cave in France (Twist of the Blade, Coteau, 2014).  But bringing the two shards together produces a less harmonious song and more a discordant shrieking, except when Wally Knight brings the two together.  Yep, awkward Wally Knight has some serious King Arthur heir mojo going.  And that explains why Merlin, also known as computer software CEO Rex Major, has "encouraged" Wally to work with him, including stealing the second shard back for Major, rather than letting the seemingly out-of-control Ariane, the heir to the Lady of the Lake, keep it.  So instead of working with Ariane to recover the remaining shards of Excalibur, Arthur's magically-imbued sword, Wally is living with Rex Major at his condo in Toronto while Ariane seethes with anger and resentment for Wally's betrayal and watches over her Aunt Phyllis safely ensconced at their remote Saskatchewan cabin.

But, while Rex Major promises to never lie to Wally as Ariane has, he's taking off for Saskatchewan to use his Voice of Command on Aunt Phyllis and keep her hostage, threatening to kill her, unless Ariane finds him the third shard.  Ariane has no choice but to help Major, sending them to New Zealand in search of the next shard of the sword.  Wally, on the other hand, becomes tired of being restricted and guarded by Major's men, and hacks into Major's computer system, learning almost too late of the man's dishonesty, including Major’s tracking of Ariane's mother whom they all assumed dead.  With some clever manipulations of bank accounts, email and communication with Major's henchmen, Wally is able to escape and rescue Aunt Phyllis, and consequently learn that he has some fantastic powers of his own.

Much deception on everyone's part gets Ariane with Rex Major to Lake Putahi– Lake in the Clouds in Maori–and Wally there on his own, where everything does a flip, again.  Let’s just say that no one seems to leave with the one with whom they came. And, there may be three shards that have been discovered but the shards continue to change hands: sometimes stolen, sometimes surrendered, sometimes gifted.  Excalibur is getting closer to being reconstructed, and the characters’ roles are being redefined.

By continuing to develop his characters so that they never remain good or evil or secondary, Edward Willett has ensured that the plot doesn’t stagnate in a seemingly simple plot of finding the shards of Excalibur and having its power unleashed.  With Ariane and Wally both being affected by the shards and learning of new abilities, as well as other characters being drawn into the story in different ways, The Lake in the Clouds becomes a fuller story.  The plot itself continues to evolve and the adventure is grand, as travel by plane, bus, boat, limo, cloud (yep, that's Ariane) and water (her again) takes the characters from across Canada (Toronto, Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Emma Lake and Vancouver) and to Hawaii and New Zealand.  The journeys are part of the quest but hold on because your travelling companions are switching places and your next seat mates may be a surprise in Cave Beneath the Sea (Book 4, out November 2015) and Door into Faerie (Book 5, May 2016).

Twist of the Blade (The Shards of Excalibur, Book 2)

by Edward Willett

Coteau Books

978-1-550-505993

217 pp.

Ages 12+

2014

Teen protagonists Ariane Forsythe, heir to the Lady of the Lake, and Wally Knight may have outwitted Rex Major of Excalibur Computer Systems, a.k.a. Merlin, and rescued the first of five shards of the sword Excalibur in Song of the Sword (Coteau, 2014), the first book in The Shards of Excalibur series by Edward Willett, but there are still four more shards to be recovered.  That is, if the two are to trust the Lady of the Lake who has instructed them to do so to prevent Merlin from gaining control of the Faerie world.  But trust is a monumental issue in Twist of the Blade, and  Ariane and Wally begin to wonder who they should trust, who they can trust and if they can even trust each other.  

You see, both Ariane and Wally seem to be changing.  Ariane has started to feel the brutal power that the shards harness, violently defending herself against Wally’s sister Felicia and her "coven", landing Felicia in hospital.  On the other hand, Wally has become quite skilled at fencing and Rex Major is starting to believe the teen is heir to King Arthur of Excalibur fame.  Not surprising that, after being hospitalized because of a terrible fall and receiving no visitors (since his parents are separating and oblivious, Felicia is herself injured, and Ariane is recovering from her attack) except for Rex Major, Wally begins to wonder who's on his side and even how scrupulous Ariane is.  Regardless, the two set off for France to locate the second shard, Ariane travelling via the moisture in clouds and Wally flying there, while Ariane’s Aunt Phyllis hides herself off in her cabin in rural Saskatchewan.  

But it soon becomes evident that Ariane and Wally are making poor choices, doubting each other’s intents and sincerity.  Locating the second shard in a newly-discovered cave outside of Lyon, France is just the beginning of a conflict that has the two teens working at cross-purposes to the task set out for them by the Lady of the Lake in Song of the Sword.

While Edward Willett continues to weave the Arthurian legend into a Saskatchewan setting, he builds on the Merlin, Arthur and Lady of the Lake story by creating a magical sword that craves to be reconstructed and wielded as a weapon.  But Excalibur is more than a sword.  It is an instrument that exerts rage and strength and, as Ariane notes, attitude.

"...the shard was a piece of a weapon–its attitude was brutal and direct." (pg. 113)

Edward Willett capably brandishes the trust issues of teens, especially those related to their families, as the means to progress the story.  But it’s these same issues with which Merlin and Arthur had to deal.  However, without their anger and self-doubt, Ariane and Wally could not learn to believe in others and themselves as worthy of the challenge to bring together the shards of the legendary sword of King Arthur and complete the story of The Shards of Excalibur.

††††††††††††††††

Watch this space for my next post, a review of Lake in the Clouds, the next book in The Shards of Excalibur series.

Between Shadows

by Kathleen Cook Waldron

Coteau Books

978-1-55050-612-9

100 pp.

Ages 8-12

April 2015

"When we lose people we love, we need to remember how they lived, not just how they died.  Life is more than shadows, it's the light behind those shadows." (pg. 12-13)

Ari Martin's memories of his 9th summer at his Gramps' cabin are filled with learning how to swim, paddle, and picking mushrooms and berries.  That is, until an accident with a logging truck takes his mother's life and Ari and his father never return.  Finally, Ari is 12 and set to visit Gramps alone this summer. Then his grandfather dies.  So what had been a perfect plan becomes Dad and Ari flying from Toronto to meet with Dad's sister Laurel and go to the cabin, now painted in the colours of the rainbow, to settle Gramps' estate.

But, regardless of Gramps' will which leaves the cabin and 160 acres on Canoe Lake to Ari, everything can be sold by his father and aunt if they decide to do so and put the money into a trust for him.  And Aunt Laurel, who'd already put up a locked gate to the property, has arranged for a realtor to appraise the property and is talking to a developer who wants to put up a resort and golf course.

However, Ari is out there reliving the summer with his Gramps and making the acquaintance of a girl named Tam who knew his grandfather–seems like everyone nearby did and really liked the man–and shares with Ari a secret way to a secluded beach that his grandfather allowed locals to use.

The family they once were–with Mom and Gramps–is gone, now in the shadows, and only ever briefly do Ari, Dad and Aunt Laurel come together to act as a normal family.  But Ari is holding out for a family and friends and a place to call home more than his father and aunt realize and, with a little help from new friends and Gramps, he's going to do it.

I'm sorry I missed Between Shadows when it first came out because it is a great read: inspiring and honest and pitched perfect for a middle-grade readership.  While still dealing with difficult issues of death and grief and family dynamics, even dysfunctional ones, Kathleen Cook Waldron gets inside Ari's head and knows what a kid–and he could be any child from 8 to 12–wants and needs without having him become precocious or demanding.  He's just a kid who wants to feel the love of family and the safety of home and friendship.  That's not asking that much.  And by getting Ari to see Between Shadows for the good stuff that was out there and within his grasp, Kathleen Cook Waldron provides a cheery reminder that sometimes things work out just fine.

250 Hours

Written by Colleen Nelson

Coteau Books

978-1-55-5—641-9

152 pp.

Ages 12+

September 2015

“I don’t want to set them. But it’s like if I don’t do it, something worse will happen.  Watching something burn means I’ve saved a different bad thing from happening.”  He knew it sounded crazy, but maybe she’d understand because there was hurt inside of her too. (pg. 68)

And Jess Sinclair is right.  The hurt that compels him to set fires, hence his 250 hours community service, is also in 18-year-old Sara Jean whose grandmother’s garage is being cleaned out by Jess.  But, while both deal with abandonment issues–Jess by his father eight years earlier and Sara Jean at two months of age by her mother–and have significant relationships with their grandmothers, Jess’s hurt is wrapped up in living with the double-edged discrimination of being Métis as Sara Jean deals with being shackled to small-town life as primary caregiver to her 450-lb. grandmother, Gam.

While the two teens attempt to accept their responsibilities to their families and communities, they yearn to become independent of the hurts that define their lives, and they find themselves drawn to each other, particularly after Sara Jean discovers memorabilia of her Grandpa’s teaching at the local residential school.   But everyone seems to be keeping secrets and the discrimination Sara Jean detects from her boyfriend and his family, her own Gam and Aunt Mim towards Jess and Aboriginal People compels her to learn more, especially after she finds a small pair of moccasins that, unbeknownst to her, Jess is convinced his kokum had made.

Colleen Nelson tells another powerful story (see my review of The Fall, Great Plains Teen Fiction, 2013) in 250 Hours, but focuses on small-town mindedness, the injustice of the residential schools, and family expectations in such a way that the reader will sympathize for Jess and Sara Jean who feel trapped by the stifling suffocation of their histories.  How do you break free to make a new life for yourself when there is so much holding you back?

There’s always a reason to stay.  I guess there has to be better reasons to go. (pg. 69)

Don’t be surprised if you feel enraged by the injustices perpetrated against these young people and against Aboriginal people.  That’s good because we all should be.  I suspect that 250 Hours is a truer reflection of life for many who experience blatant discrimination, whether wholesale as evoked by the residential school situations or  randomly by ignorant individuals, and for youth limited by the influence of family and peers.  Not surprising that everyone seems to know what's best for others. Thankfully, Colleen Nelson makes sure that Sara Jean's and Jess's stories are told, albeit in a fictionalized tale, to give them voice, freedom and limitless possibilities to be themselves.  It’s a powerful story of redemption where none seemed possible.

Book Launch: 250 Hours (Winnipeg)

Author of

Tori by Design

Great Plains Books, 2011

and

The Fall

Great Plains Teen Fiction, 2013

Reviewed here

Colleen Nelson

and

Coteau Books

launch her newest book

250 Hours

250 Hours

by Colleen Nelson

Coteau Books

978-1-55050-641-9

200 pp.

Ages 12+

For release September 2015

on 

September 19, 2015

at
7 p.m.

at McNally Robinson Books
Grant Park in the Atrium
Winnipeg, MB

Here's the blurb from the McNally Robinson website:

Jess and Sara Jean couldn’t be more different. He’s a loner with a criminal record; a Metis raised on the Reserve; the son of a residential school survivor. She’s from nearby Edelburg, a conservative small town. Abandoned by her mother, Sara Jean cares for her obese grandmother and writes to escape.

When Jess is found guilty of arson, he’s ordered to complete 250 hours of community service, starting with Sara Jean’s neglected garage. Sorting through boxes left by her grandfather, they discover that the secrets keeping their communities apart are the very things that will bring them together.

Looking forward to reading this one!

Villains: Guest post by author Catherine Egan

I am quite thrilled to be helping author Catherine Egan launch Bone, Fog, Ash & Star, the final book of The Last Days of Tian Di series, with a review yesterday and a guest post today. Today's post, Isn't he scary? Isn't he beautiful? will be the first in her blog-series about villains. Check in at her blog for more details about these posts, including a giveaway that will accompany each.

Catherine Egan grew up in Vancouver, Canada, and wrote her first novel at age 6. It was about a group of kids on a farm who ran races. Each chapter ended with “Cathy won the race again!” Since then, she has lived in Oxford, Tokyo, Kyoto, a volcanic Japanese island that erupted and sent her hurtling straight into the arms of her now-husband, Beijing, an oil rig in China’s Bohai Bay, and now Connecticut, where she is still writing books (but Cathy doesn’t win every race anymore). Her first novel, Shade & Sorceress, won a 2013 Moonbean Children’s Book Award (Gold) and was named an Ontario Library Association Best Bet for 2012 in the Young Adult Fiction category.

You can connect with Catherine Egan through these social media links:

Website: www.catherineegan.com
Blog: bycatherineegan.wordpress.com
Twitter: @bycatherineegan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byCatherineEgan

Now, I welcome author Catherine Egan. 

Isn't he scary? Isn't he beautiful?

by Catherine Egan

I was sitting at the big kitchen table writing, because that’s what I like to do, and my three-year-old was sitting next to me sticking toothpicks in a lump of play-doh, because that’s what he likes to do. He showed me his creation and said, “Look, it’s a spiky monster!” Of course it was a monster. He is all about monsters. Looking over his toothpick-spiked play-doh monster with immense satisfaction, he said: “Isn’t he scary? Isn’t he beautiful?” Yes, I said, yes, he is both of those things.

The first germ of an idea for the Tian Di books began with Eliza (my beloved heroine) and Nia (my beloved villain) in conversation and in conflict. I knew that they were in some kind of prison, but I didn’t yet know how they got there or even really who they were. Still, much of the scene I wrote is right there, barely changed, near the end of the the first book:

“Look at you,” said Nia with an affectionate little smile, not putting down her teacup. “Adorable! A child with the barest smidgen of Magic and the sad delusion that you could last five seconds against me.” She stood up and bent close to Eliza. Eliza could smell the sugary tea on her breath. “Well, little smidgen, you’ve come running straight into the only place left where I still have power, eager as anything, and now that you’re here, what fun we’re going to have!”

Nia was wonderfully freeing to write. Every scene she was in came so easily. She could say or do anything. I wanted her to be sympathetic but monstrous at the same time, and whether or not I succeeded for the reader I can’t say, but for myself, she was pure joy to write. I felt about her just as my little boy felt about his spiky play-doh monster. Isn’t she terrible? Isn’t she wonderful?

The best villains terrify us, yes, but they beguile us too. In the ultimate Good vs. Evil story, Milton’s Paradise Lost, Satan is so charismatic – his rage, rebelliousness and pride providing all the best poetry – that William Blake claimed Milton was “of the Devil’s party without knowing it.” While the Emperor in the original Star Wars trilogy is perhaps the truer villain, the movies are dominated by the terrifying figure of Darth Vader, who represents not only a physical threat but a spiritual one – the dark, seductive power Luke must resist, the evil good men fall may fall prey to. Volde… sorry, He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named is and will remain the uber-villain for generations of young readers – and he is all the more horrifying because he is so deeply connected to our beloved hero Harry. They may be complex, comic, or simply terrifying, but they captivate us, these villains. Think of Lady MacBeth, unable to scrub the blood from her hands; the murderous Captain Hook, smoking two cigars at once; Dracula, the bloodthirsty (sorry) seducer, setting off a love affair with vampire literature that has lasted more than a hundred years; Bluebeard with his roomful of murdered wives; the wicked witches and vicious stepmothers that make fairytales such dark fare; the Big Bad Wolf – as primal as it gets – all those teeth! The mad, the miserable, the megalomaniacal and the vengeful – villains have a way of swaggering onto the page (or the screen) and taking over.

The villain comes along and says to the hero: OK, now you have to be the hero, because here I am. Or maybe the villain whispers in the hero’s ear: You think you are the hero, but are you, really? Deep down, aren’t you just like me? Maybe the villain says, suddenly, at some crucial point in the story: Actually I am your father / mother / sister / lover – surprise! And then you (the hero) have to figure out what to do with that tangle of love and fear, of loathing and longing. Maybe the villain just thinks you look tasty and wants to gobble you up or drink your blood, and maybe some part of you actually takes that as a compliment, which is weird, but people are  weird. Maybe the villain is so unrepressed, so powerful, gleeful and sexy and leaving destruction in his or her wake, that you wish… I mean not really but you sort of wish that you could be like that too. That you didn’t care so much. That you didn’t feel so much.

It can be simpler than all that, of course. Maybe when the Big Bad Wolf opens his jaws and you see those rows of teeth, it is like staring at death, but at a remove – because this is a book, or a movie, or maybe your grandma is telling you the story, but anyway, it’s not real. That’s what you keep telling yourself under the covers at bedtime – it’snotrealit’snotrealit’snotreal – but you see this shadow move across the wall and you think you can hear something breathing.

I don’t have any grand philosophy about villains. I just love to write them, and I love to read them, and I recognize the same shivery pleasure in my children when we read some horrible tale and they huddle saucer-eyed on either side of me. Sometimes I’ll think, hmm, maybe this is a little too much, but we get to the end and I look at them and they look at me and they whisper: Read it again.

So I do.

 * * * * * 
This is the first in a blog-series about villains – you can follow along by checking my blog http://bycatherineegan.wordpress.com next week. Each post will include a giveaway. Let me know in the comments: who are your favorite fictional villains? Choose villains from books / movies / comic books / TV – just not real life! A winner will be selected by random number generator (I’ll post a screenshot) and I will send you a book bundle – all three books in The Last Days of Tian Di series – chock-a-block with villains and their villainy.

-Catherine Egan

Bone, Fog, Ash & Star: The Last Days of Tian Di, Book Three

Written by Catherine Egan

Coteau Books

978-1-55050-593-1 (pbk)

978-1-55050-594-8 (pdf)

312 pp.

Ages 9+

For release October 2014

When Catherine Egan began her high fantasy series The Last Days of Tian Di with Shade &Sorceress (Coteau, 2012), everything was new to twelve-year-old Eliza Tok: who: learns she is the Shang Sorceress, as were her mother and grandmother; discovers her Magic; clashes with the Nia, the entrapped Xia Sorceress; befriends Charlie, the shape-shifting Shade; and connects with Faeries, Mancers, Witches, Cra, Dragons,and other assorted characters.

Now turning 16, Eliza continues to study Magic with the Mancer Foss in the Great Sand Sea, the home of her father's people, the Sorma. After The Unmaking (Coteau, 2013), Eliza is loathe to have any part of the Mancers at the Citadel, most especially Kyreth whose aim has been to control her and her powers. Unfortunately, Kyreth has other plans, including sending fog-like assassins, the Thanatosi, to murder Charlie and force Eliza back to the Citadel, where he would orchestrate her marriage to a Mancer and ensure an heir, a new Shang Sorceress.

To keep Charlie safe (though he has now lost his ability to shape shift), Foss and Eliza take him and Nell to the Realm of the Faeries where Jalo, a Faery smitten with Nell, gives them sanctuary. Too bad Jalo's mother, Tariro, hates humans and is determined to murder Nell to keep her son away from her.

Foss and Eliza return to the Citadel, with Eliza ready to take on the war they've chosen with her.  Even with a new Supreme Mancer, Aysu, Eliza realizes that Kyreth is still at work.  Exploring, she discovers her grandmother and Kyreth's wife, Selva, alive but under a Curse. Granddaughter and grandmother help each other and Eliza is sent to gather the Four Gifts of the Ancients, the Gehemmis, one of which Selva had been stealing when cursed.

So begins Eliza's newest quest, to retrieve the four Gehemmis and learn of the Magic contained within, and to find her future, wherever or with whomever it may rest.

If Shade and Sorceress is all about newness, and The Unmaking looking deeper into those that appear to be good or evil, then Bone, Fog, Ash & Star is about loss.  It's about making choices that may cause pain to others or heartbreak to one's self, that may confuse or antagonize those who are your allies, and may result in turning one's back on the innocence and trust of youth.  While Eliza grows into herself as a Shang Sorceress, finally recognizing the Magic she can accomplish and the hard choices she must make, she has lost some of the wonder of her youth, the wonder that allowed her to share in new worlds wholeheartedly, regardless of the possible dangers.

"You don't remember the loss, not exactly, but you cling to those you love with such ferocity, you would die for them, because the memory of the first loss is buried within you, and it defines you." (pg. 240)

Nia may be pointing out Eliza's loss but others in Bone, Fog, Ash & Star will undergo similar experiences, ranging from small sacrifices and mishaps to life-altering ruin and the ultimate loss, death.  Nell, who'd been amazed at the grandeur of the Faery Realm's Illusions, begins to lose some of her wonder of the supernatural. Charlie, who loses that which defined him as a Shade, must find a way to reconcile that loss with what is left for him to be.  There's the Blind Enchanter who gave up his sight and song for seeing the Sparkling Deluder. And Rea, Eliza's mother, who gave up and still gives something important up to be with her husband.  Loss is the substance of life. It is only luck that keeps it at bay as long as possible. Or the pen of a true spellbinder, like Catherine Egan.

Though Catherine Egan does provide a short epilogue with a joyous scene to close The Last Days of Tian Di, the reader will also feel a great loss. It's inevitable. We've followed and cheered for Eliza, afraid for her goodness and choices, and longing for the love she feels to be realized.  After travelling alongside this young Shang Sorceress and woman through three epic volumes, we can only hope that her unwritten life is as prodigious as this written one has been.  For that, we can only thank Catherine Egan for the courtesy she has extended to us in sharing it.

*  *  *  *  * *  *
Check in tomorrow when CanLit for LittleCanadians welcomes author Catherine Egan for a guest post about villains titled, "Isn't he scary?  Isn't he beautiful?"

Now you have to read the whole series, don't you think?

Song of the Sword

by Edward Willett

Coteau Books

978-1550505801

224 pp.

Ages 12+

May, 2014

While fifteen-year-old Ariane Forsythe's life is definitely soaked in the reality of a mother who disappeared from a psych ward, an aunt battling cancer, and the torment of mean girls Shania McHenry and Felicia Knight at her new school, Edward Willet has bathed Song of the Sword in an ethereal quality that may or may not allow Ariane to ride out her burdens.  Readers will certainly hope she can, though I'm not too sure Ariane has the imagination to believe this, yet.

When suspended from school for fighting, Ariane heads to Wascana Lake to hide out from her Aunt Phyllis. An eerie singing draws Ariane to the water, allowing her to almost walk on it and then descending an aqueous stairway into the lake.  Wally Knight, fourteen-year-old younger brother and whipping bag of witchy Felicia, is also finding some refuge at Wascana Lake when he happens to witness Ariane's water-walking, and follows her.  A woman of rippling water, calling herself the Lady of the Lake, informs Ariane that, as her heir, she must prevent Merlin from restructuring the shards of the famed Excalibur sword which would allow him to unite the Faerie and human worlds.  Seems Ariane's mother was first offered this task several years ago, just before she disappeared, but had refused.  Bestowed with the Lady's power with water,

"Let the waters live within you, and you within the waters.  The power be yours" (pg. 37)

Ariane realizes that she may be able to find her mother. Although he knows that it will infuriate his sister, Wally insists on helping Ariane, as the Lady recommends. Crushing on Ariane probably has something to do with it too.

"The more he learned about Ariane, the more he liked her.  The fact that he and she had a magical quest to complete was just gravy."(pg. 53)

Enjoying having someone with whom to share, Ariane is pleased that Wally becomes a fast friend and the two work together to learn more about Merlin.  After being followed repeatedly by a man in a Ford Focus decaled with an ECS logo and some scary computer activity, they suspect that Merlin is the incredibly wealthy Rex Major, the head of Excalibur Computer Systems. And when Rex Major is reported to be heading to the Northwest Territories to check out a diamond mine, Ariane is sure that the first shard of Excalibur will be found there.  Learning how to use the Lady's water magic and about some family secrets, Ariane and Wally accept the challenge to get to the Northwest Territories and recover that shard before Rex Major does.

Because Edward Willett ensures that there is a lot of action in Song of the Sword as well as emotional issues of family and trust, it's a fantasy that will grip teens of both genders.  I'll bet that Ariane's travels by water magic–moving between any interconnected conduits and sources of fresh water–will provide some intriguing imagery, and quite a few laughs, especially when she has Wally in tow.  And Edward Willett blends the humour with the ethereal fantasy of Song of the Sword so easily.  As Ariane realizes, it can all seem so silly (life, that is, not the story).

"It's just – it's all so silly.  We're on a quest to find a mystical sword and save the planet from the most powerful sorcerer of all time – but we can't get to it right now because we have to clean our rooms!" (pg. 65)

Readers will be right in there, cheering for Ariane and Wally, worried with every obstacle that jumps into their path, hopeful that the bad guy won't prevail.  Luckily, Edward Willet has only just begun The Shards of Excalibur series.  There are five books set for the series, with Book 2, Twist of the Blade, set for release in September.

If you're fortunate to be in Regina, the setting for the series, on September 25, 2014 (7 p.m.), consider attending the book launch for the series and Twist of the Blade at the Assiniboia Gallery on Smith Street.  And I'll get onto Twist of the Blade as soon as I can to share whether the two major ripples at the end of Song of the Sword become typhoons, heaving against and between our young heroes.  Let's hope not.

Taking the Reins

by Dayle Campbell Gaetz

Coteau Books

978-1-550-505528

232 pp.

Ages 10-14 

2013

Though only fourteen, Katherine Harris has already felt the need to take the reigns, figuratively- and literally-speaking, in order to help her family who'd come from England to make a new life for themselves in Canada.  The family's hopes had been dwindling, along with their savings, since an extended stay in San Francisco (before they reached Hope, BC) when they all had fallen ill and Katherine's older sister Susan died.  Then starting their farm, for which they are sorely ill-prepared, Katherine's father is mauled by a bear and requires medicine, and Katherine must retrieve her nineteen-year-old brother George who has run off in search of gold in the Cariboo.  Returning home on her bay mare, Nugget, Katherine's adventure masquerading as a boy and travelling with a guide, William, must be forgotten as she must return to behaviour befitting a young girl and think about selling Nugget for some much needed money.

Fortuitously, the man who purchases horses from miners returning from the Cariboo and takes them to Victoria for wealthy buyers is Mr. Charles Roberts, the very man who had given her Nugget as a thank-you for her sister Susan's devotion to his niece Baby Rose when his brother's family was also travelling from England.  Katherine hatches a plan with Mr. Roberts to enlist her parents to care for his store so that he might travel to Jamaica to visit his brother and family, that her parents might leave the farm even temporarily (though George would remain behind to tend to it), and that she might go to school in Victoria. And since Nugget would be sold in Victoria, Katherine might have opportunities to visit him.

Meanwhile, Emma Curtis, who is just shy of 14 years of age, is gifted with Nugget from her newly-found father, Tall Joe, who'd left her and her mother in England to find his riches in the new world.  Left destitute, and her mother dead, Emma had accepted the  opportunity to travel to Canada via brideship, although she skirted marriage by taking a position at the home of Governor and Mrs.Douglas.  Still too proud, too angry and too scared to show herself as she is, Emma is reluctant to accept Nugget, though her father insists she learn to ride as he intends to travel to the interior next spring to start his own farm.

Emma and Katherine become acquainted at Beckley Farm, where Nugget is boarded, and become friends, though they each keep secrets about themselves, afraid of being judged for their heritage, their weaknesses, and griefs.  But the two girls must sidestep those issues in order to work together to find the happiness they both deserve.

You will hear me say time and time again that I am not a horse person.  My greatest affinity is to cats.  And, though I will always share an affection and compassion for all animals, my understanding of horses is negligible.  But Taking the Reins allowed me to share in the bond between Katherine and Nugget, while understanding Emma's initial trepidation for this large animal.  Even more, though, Dayle Campbell Gaetz made Taking the Reins into a story about facing an uncertain future in the context of prejudice and insecurity, emotional and financial, and allowing others into your life so that you might move forward.  Nugget is the bridge that allows Katherine and Emma to share of themselves and see beyond their needs and instead focus on what others need.  It's an inspiriting story that could be from any time, but told especially well in the tumultuous settlement times in British Columbia in the 1860's when new ways had to be built on the land and between people in order to survive.  Fortunately, women such as Katherine and Emma, as well as Susan and Mrs. Douglas, showed the courage and good will to take the reigns for more than just themselves.