Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen: The Body Under the Piano

Written by Marthe Jocelyn

with illustrations by Isabelle Follath

Tundra Books

978-0-73526-546-2

336 pp.

Ages 9-13

February 2020
Reviewed from advance reader's copy

At the time, I did not see that a sequence was unfolding. One never does. Afterward, it was clear how the moments piled up, each leading naturally to the next, quietly altering the course of things. (pg. 4 in arc)

The events to which twelve-year-old Agatha Morton is referring are those that have lead to the death of their neighbour, the cankerous Mrs. Irma Eversham, at the dance studio of her sister-in-law Miss Marianne Eversham.  It's 1903 Torquay, England and the murdered woman has been discovered by Aggie the morning after the "Befriend the Foreigners" recital aimed at collecting clothes for needy refugees and immigrants, many of whom have fled persecution, hunger and political turmoil. Among the recipients will be Agatha's new friend, Hector Perot, a Belgium boy with impeccable manners and a brain blistering with reasoning, who becomes her compatriot in sleuthing.

When it is discovered that Mrs. Eversham has been given rat poison, Agatha and Hector lead their own investigation, sometimes with the assistance of Aggie's Grannie Jane, to ascertain who had the opportunity and the motive to murder the prickly widow who'd tried to control her daughter Rose's social life and disapproved of her sister-in-law's efforts to help newcomers and get the vote for women. But what of Mr. Roddy Fusswell who was interested in Rose and whose hotel had provided food and dishes for the charity drive event? Or the reporter Mr. Augustus Fibbley who keeps popping up and getting Aggie to reveal what she has learned? There are so many potential suspects and players in this middle-grade mystery that it's helpful that Swiss artist Isabelle Follath provides illustrations of 16 characters, including Aggie's dog Tony.

From Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen: The Body Under the Piano by Marthe Jocelyn, illus. by Isabelle Follath

If the reader is a fan of cozy mysteries, they will recognize the names of Agatha and Hector Perot and Grannie Jane as homage to writer Agatha Christie and her sleuths Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. But for our youngest readers for whom Agatha Christie is an unknown, author Marthe Jocelyn will snag them with an excellent murder puzzle and a host of rich characters in a unique historical context while introducing them to Christie through a detailed author's note and list of information sources. Aggie is a precocious child who is developing her investigative skills while she tries her hand at writing descriptions and scenarios that could become part of future books. She inserts herself into police investigations and processes what she sees and what she knows into a logical interpretation and ultimately a resolution that will amaze the professionals and dumbfound her family and others. As a reader, I am so pleased that Marthe Jocelyn chose to introduce us to her Aggie in the context of a soft whodunit–there is absolutely no violence to distract from the plot–and look forward, as we all should, to the series's second book, Peril at Owl Park, set for a fall 2020 release.

A Big Dose of Lucky

by Marthe Jocelyn

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-0668-9

249 pp.

Ages 12+

October 2015

"You may discover that going backward–discovering your past–will be the best route to the next chapter in your life." (pg. 31) 

This is what Malou, 16, is told as she and the other Seven girls in Orca’s Secrets books are released from the Benevolent Home for Necessitous Girls after a fire destroys it and they are given the barest of clues to their heritage.  Malou has never dreamed of having parents who might be monarchs or celebrities; she has only wanted an ordinary family that did things together.  The baby bracelet from St. Joseph's Hospital in Parry Sound with the name "Baby Fox" is her only clue to that family.  Though reluctant to leave, Malou heads by bus to Parry Sound, via Toronto, impressed by the diversity of people–her own skin colour had made her an anomaly in town where she was routinely identified as “the dark one or the little darkie or the colored girl” (pg.1)–and the newness of everything from pink popcorn to lemon meringue pie and grilled cheese.

In Parry Sound, Malou gets a bed at the local women's hostel and a job as a cleaner at the hospital, surprising considering her well-known untidiness at the Home, but "All it takes to be a cleaner? Don't be white." (pg. 70)  By way of a young orderly, Frankie, who shows an interest in her, Malou locates the stored records at the hospital and specifically the one for Sherry Fox who gave birth in 1948.  Along with an address, Malou finds a list of seven names which includes Sherry Fox's on the doctor's stationery and identified as A. B. cases.  Though her encounter with Sherry Fox, an Anishnaabe on the local reserve, reveals the bracelet was not Malou's but that belonging to, and taken from, Sherry's son Jimmy at birth, Malou makes an important connection with Jimmy and his classmate Pete and Pete's twin sister, Lucy, whose mother's name also appears on the list.

So begins a hunt by Malou and her new friends to locate the women whose names are on the list and find their connection.  A significant breakthrough comes from Pete's noting the physical similarity between Malou and a girl, Abby, who works summers at the marina.  And, with that, Malou and the other sixteen-year-olds are led to discover a program of artificial insemination at the hospital that involved an Jamaican intern named Andy Bannerman and probably others.  But this still does not reveal who Malou's mother may be.  Secrets long hidden may be being uncovered but it's only Sherry Fox's recollection of her own hospital visit that leads Malou to a mother she had long assumed dead.

The plotting by which Malou finds her mother is not as simple as that baby bracelet initially suggests, and for that I am thankful.  I should have given Marthe Jocelyn far greater credit, having read enough of her other books, including her young adult titles like How It Happened on Peach Hill (2007), Would You (2008), Folly (2010) and What We Hide (2014), to know the depth of her writing and the complexity of her storylines.  That plot is intense but secondary for me compared to Malou's experiences to become part of a world outside of the Benevolent Home for Necessitous Girls. Having  lived within the sheltered confines of the Home, Malou had little understanding, except via Joe the cook's small television, to glimpse the world of racial discrimination and the civil rights movement and multiculturalism, and her few experiences in town did little to expose her to all that world entailed.  Her discovery of the world and the freedoms that come with her departure from the Home are as much an eye-opener for the reader as they are for Malou.  She learns many things, none less than the price one must pay for freedom.

Freedom is harder than I expected.  Not the freedom part, but the making-decisions part.  Having a choice. (pg. 121)

All the girls in the Secrets series define themselves at the onset as orphans of the Benevolent Home for Necessitous Girls.  But ultimately, Malou learns “I’m not an orphan.  Not even half.” (pg. 249) and that she is very fortunate–there's A Big Dose of Lucky–having a family that is far more inclusive than ever imagined, except by Marthe Jocelyn.


SH...H...H...
Other books in the Secrets series are:

• Innocent by Eric Walters 
• My Life Before Me by Norah McClintock (Reviewed here)
• Shattered Glass by Teresa Toten (Reviewed here)
• Small Bones by Vicki Grant (Reviewed here)
• Stones on a Grave by Kathy Kacer
• The Unquiet Past by Kelley Armstrong

Short Stories Collections of youngCanLit: Book list

Not every reader or student is interested in reading full-length novels, and short stories offer the perfect alternative, with shorter reads that pack a punch in fewer pages.  Just as picture books are certainly not easier to write just because they are shorter (a caution to those wannabe writers who are convinced anyone can toss off a picture book!), short stories are definitely not lesser works of story-telling.  In fact, I defy anyone to write a short story, with adequate character development and plotting to sustain the attention and interest of readers of youngCanLit.  It can be a daunting challenge that not everyone can meet.  Thankfully, these 53 books of short stories and excerpts from novels demonstrate the strength of this type of writing in Canada, though I would like to see more published.  And I believe that these books, for all reading levels though many are for young adults, are valuable tools for teaching everything from history to writing to humour or just allowing readers to see themselves in their reading.

Check the recommended ages for which these short stories collections have been published, and I trust that all young readers and teachers will find something here to satiate their reading appetites.

101 Ways to Dance 
Written by Kathy Stinson
Second Story Press
150 pp.
Ages 12-15
2006
Fourteen stories about the joys and anxieties of sexual anticipation.

All Sleek and Skimming: Stories
Edited by Lisa Heggum
Orca Book Publishers
240 pp.
Ages 14+
2006
Stories by Gil Adamson, Diana Aspin, Gary Barwin, Martha Brooks, Ivan E. Coyote, Brian Doyle, Anne Fleming, Lee Henderson, James Henegan, Sheila Heti, Susan Kernohan, Carrie Mac, Derek McCormack, Janet McNaughton, Joe Ollmann, Michel Rabagliati, Stuart Ross, Arthur Slade, Susannah M. Smith, Ania Szado, Madeleine Thien and Tim Wynne-Jones

Apples and Angel Ladders: A Collection of Pioneer Christmas Stories
Written by Irene Morck
Illustrated by Muriel Wood
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
80 pp.
Ages 8-11
2001
Six stories emphasize Danish-Canadian pioneer traditions

Back of Beyond: Stories of the Supernatural
Written by Sarah Ellis
Simon & Schuster
144 pp.
Ages 11-15
1997
Twelve stories involving the supernatural.

Be Afraid!: Tales of Horror
Edited by Edo van Belkom
Tundra Books
184 pp.
Ages 11+
2000
Fifteen scary stories by authors including Robert J. Sawyer, Monica Hughes, Tim Wynne-Jones, Ed Greenwood, Nancy Kilpatrick, Joe R. Lansdale, Ed Gorman, Steve Rasnic Tem and Richard Laymon.

Becoming Fierce
Edited by Allister Thompson
Fierce Ink Press
205 pp.
Ages 13+
2014
Ten stories by Chris Benjamin, Ben Boudreau, Gerard Collins, Alison DeLory, Jamie Fitzpatrick, Patti Larsen, Cale Liom, Chad Pelley, Lee D. Thompson and Jo Treggiari tell of becoming fierce so as to release them from the holds of fears, bullies, confusion, family, drugs, and even country.
Reviewed here

Beginnings: Stories of Canada's Past
Edited by Ann Walsh
Ronsdale Press
227 pp.
Ages 12+
2001
Fourteen fictional historical vignettes by Ann Walsh, Barbara Haworth-Attard, Beverley Brenna, Constance Horne, Margaret Thompson, Anne Metikosh, Carolyn Pogue, Margaret Florczak, Jean Rae Baxter, Catherine Goodwin, Victoria Miles, Susan Lee, Laura Morgan and Cathy Beveridge.

The Blue Camaro 
Written by R.P. MacIntyre
Thistledown Press
160 pp.
Ages 12-15
1994
Ten short stories dealing with youth and their problems and concerns.

The Blue Jean Collection 
Edited by Peter Carver
Thistledown Press
240 pp.
Ages 12-15
1992
Nineteen stories selected from a national writing contest.

The Book of Changes
Written by Tim Wynne-Jones
Puffin
160 pp.
Ages 8-12
1997
Seven stories about change.

Boys' Own: An Anthology of Canadian Fiction for Young Readers
Edited by Tim Wynne-Jones
Penguin Canada
320 pp.
Ages 9-14
2001
Twenty stories and excerpts from novels by authors including Sarah Ellis, Martha Brooks, Tim Wynne-Jones, Monica Hughes, Brian Doyle, Ken Roberts, Richard Scrimger, Jordan Wheeler, John Cuthand and William Bell.

A Christmas to Remember: Tales of Comfort and Joy (Dear Canada)
Edited by Sandra Bogart Johnston
Scholastic Canada
241 pp.
Ages 9-14
2009
Eleven stories of historical short fiction that revisit characters from the Dear Canada books including those of Carol Matas, Maxine Trottier, Julie Lawson, Sarah Ellis, Perry Nodelman, Jean Little, Karleen Bradford and Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch.

City of the Dead
Written by Sharon Stewart
Red Deer Press
240 pp.
Ages 12+
2002
Dark stories to scare and terrify.

Cleavage: Breakaway Fiction for Real Girls
Edited by Deb Loughead and Jocelyn Shipley
Sumach Press
192 pp.
Ages 12+
2012
Fifteen stories of girls navigating puberty and adolescence by Kellee Ngan, Wendy A. Lewis, Claire Tacon, Ann Sutherland, Lisabeth Jackson, Jennifer Filipowicz, Karen Krossing, Robin Stevenson, Marce Merrell, Amanda Hartley, Ev Bishop, Patricia McCowan, Anne Ptasznik, Anna Warje and Valerie Hunter.

Close Ups: Best Stories for Teens
Edited by Peter Carver
Red Deer Press
223 pp.
Ages 14+
2000
Stories by Bonnie Blake, Rick Book, Martha Brooks, Anne Carter, Gillian Chan, Brian Doyle, Sarah Ellis, Bernice Friesen, Linda Holeman, Jillian Horton, Sheley A. Leedahl, Alsion Lohans, R.P. McIntyre, Kevin Major, Kathy Stinson, Budge Wilson and Tim Wynne-Jones.

The Complete Chronicles Of Avonlea 
Written by L. M. Montgomery
Wilder Publications
350 pp.
Ages 8-12
2010
Stories from The Chronicles of Avonlea and The Further Chronicles of Avonlea, all based in the town of Avonlea on Prince Edward Island.

The Courtship 
Written by Budge Wilson
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
160 pp.
Ages 13-17
2003
Nine short stories about the trials and tribulations of life.

Dark Times 
Edited by Ann Walsh
Ronsdale Press
184 pp.
Ages 12+
2005
Twelve stories about young people’s experience of loss and grief with contributions by Sarah Ellis, Lee Maracle, Alison Lohans, Diana Aspin, Carolyn Pogue, Gina Rozon, Jessie Mae Keller, Libby Kennedy, Donna R. Gamache, Patricia McCowan, Betty Jane Hegerat and Carrie Mac.

Dead Man's Gold And Other Stories
Written by Paul Yee
Illustrated by Harvey Chan
Groundwood
104 pp.
Ages 11+
2003
Ten ghost stories of Chinese immigrants struggling to make new lives in North America.

Feeding at Nine
Written by R.P. MacIntyre
Thistledown Press
187 pp.
Ages 14+
2006
Fourteen short stories about adolescence.

First Times
Edited by Marthe Jocelyn
Tundra Books
191 pp.
Ages 11-15
2007
Fourteen stories by Martha Slaughter, Curtis Parkinson, Susan Juby, Alan Cumyn, Susan Adach, Ted Staunton, Richard Scrimger, Gillian Chan, Bill Habeeb, Nancy Hartry, Bill Richardson, Tim Wynne-Jones, Marthe Jocelyn and Sarah Ellis.

Fractures: Family Stories
Written by Budge Wilson
Penguin Canada
195 pp.
Ages 13-17
2002
Twelve stories about families and dealing with family issues.

Garbage Creek and Other Stories 
Written by W. D. Valgardson
Groundwood Books
132 pp.
Ages 8-12
1997
Eight short stories involve children coming to terms with a variety of problems.

Girls’ Own: An Anthology of Canadian Fiction for Young readers
Edited by Sarah Ellis
Puffin
360 pp.
Ages 9-14
2002
Twenty stories and excerpts from novels by a variety of Canadian authors including Cora Taylor, Jan Hudson, Kit Pearson, Deborah Ellis, Joan Bodger, Jean Little, Teresa Toten, Joan Clark and Linda Holeman.

Glory Days and Other Stories 
Written by Gillian Chan
Kids Can Press
118 pp.
Ages 12-15
1996
Stories about high school.

God Loves Hair
Written by Vivek Shraya
Illustrated by Juliana Neufeld
Arsenal Pulp Press
110 pp.
Ages 14-17
2014
Twenty-one stories about sexuality, gender, racial politics, religion, and belonging.

Golden Girl and Other Stories 
Written by Gillian Chan
Kids Can Press
119 pp.
Ages 12-15
1994
More stories about high school.

Henry Chow and Other Stories
Edited by R. David Stephens
Tradewind Books
134 pp.
Ages 14-17
2009
Stories of Asian Canadian writers Annie Zhu, Kwai-Yun Li, Marty Chan, Evelyn Lau, Kellee Ngan, Tony Wong, Fiona Tinwei Lam, Paul Yee, Hanako Masutani, Kagan Goh, Taien Ng-Chan, Linda Mah and Kentaro Ide.

How We Were
Written by Teddy Jam
Illustrated by Ange Zhang
Groundwood Books
64 pp.
Ages 8-13
2008
Four illustrated stories of Canada in the past century.

Laws of Emotion 
Written by Alison Lohans
Thistledown Press
208 pp.
Ages 14+
1993
Eleven short stories that deal with young people’s emotions.

Leslie McFarlane’s Hockey Stories
Written by Leslie McFarlane
Edited by Brian McFarlane
Key Porter Books
138 pp.
Ages 10-12
2005
Four hockey stories from 1930s Canadian towns.

Lord of the Fries and Other Stories
Written by Tim Wynne-Jones
Groundwood books/Douglas and McIntyre Ltd.
208 pp.
Ages 10-14
1999
Seven stories perfect for middle grades.

Lunch with Lennon and Other Stories
Written by Deborah Ellis
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
169 pp.
Ages 12-17
2008
Ten stories dealing with drugs and addictions.

Metis Spirits
Written by Deborah L. Delaronde
Pemmican Publications
106 pp.
Ages 8-10
2006
Six short stories with time travel or ghost elements to them.

Notes Across the Aisle 
Edited by Peter Carver
Thistledown Press
188 pp.
Ages 12-15
1995
Seventeen stories from the 1994 cross Canada Young Adult Short Story Competition.

Opening Tricks 
Edited by Peter Carver
Thistledown Press
177 pp.
Ages 12+
1998
Thirteen humourous stories from Cheryl Archer, Karen Krossing, R.P. MacIntyre, Eric Nicol, Jacqueline Pearce, Diana C. Aspin, Sharon Stewart, Beverley Brenna, Shelley A. Leedahl, Barry Mathias, Janice Scott, Jennifer Taylor and Ed Yatscoff.

Paradise Cafe and Other Stories
Written by Martha Brooks
Thistledown Press
110 pp.
Ages 12+
1988
Fourteen stories about teens.

Rude Stories 
Written by Jan Andrews
Illustrated by Francis Blake
Tundra Books
88 pp.
Ages 6-9
2010
Eight irreverent stories from around the world.

A Season for Miracles: Twelve Tales of Christmas (Dear Canada)
Edited by Sandra Bogart Johnston
Scholastic Canada
256 pp.
Ages 8-13
2006
Twelve stories of historical fiction from Dear Canada authors by Jean Little, Kit Pearson, Michelle Trottier, Gillian Chan, Sarah Ellis, Barbara Haworth-Attard, Julie Lawson, Karleen Bradford, Janet Lunn, Carol Matas and Sharon Stewart.

Secrets
Edited by Marthe Jocelyn
Tundra
184 pp.
Ages 9-12
2005
Twelve stories by Susan Adach, Anne Carter, Gillian Chan, Nancy Hartry, Marthe Jocelyn, Julie Johnston, Dayal Kaur Khalsa, Loris Lesynski, Anne Gray Sarndal, Martha Slaughter, Teresa Toten and Elizabeth Winthrop

Some of the Kinder Planets
Written by Tim Wynne-Jones
Groundwood Books
136 pp.
Ages 10-13
2000
Nine stories full of humour, surprise, fear and wonder.

Stories at the Door
Written by Jan Andrews
Illustrated  by Francis Blake
Tundra Books
80 pp.
Ages 6-9
2007
Fun stories based on tales from around the world.

Take the Stairs
Written by Karen Krossing
Second Story Press
184 pp.
Ages 12+
2003
Fourteen stories of limitations experienced by inner-city teens who live at 64 Wilnut Street.  A teacher's guide is available http://karenkrossing.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/take-the-stairs-teachers-guide.pdf

Takes: Stories for Young Adults
Edited by R.P. MacIntyre
Thistledown Press
152 pp.
Ages 15 +
1996
Fourteen short stories present a character’s take on an unfamiliar or negative experience.

A Time for Giving: Ten Tales of Christmas (Dear Canada)
Edited by Sandra Bogart Johnston
Scholastic Canada
216 pp.
Ages 8-13
2015
Ten stories as epilogues to the Dear Canada books of Jean Little, Barbara Haworth- Attard, Sarah Ellis, Susan Aihoshi, Norah McClintock, Karleen Bradford, Janet McNaughton, Carol Matas and Ruby Slipperjack.

Toxic Love (originally Saying Goodbye, 1995)
Written by Linda Holeman
Tundra Books
184 pp.
Ages 10+
2003
Stories about love and the various ways it can express itself.

Traveling On Into the Light and Other Stories
Written by Martha Brooks
Scholastic
146 pp.
Ages 12+
1994
Eleven stories about teens facing adversity.

Up All Night
Edited by R.P. MacIntyre
Thistledown Press
160 pp.
Ages 15+
2001
Fourteen stories from Thistledown’s young adult short story competition.

Weeds and Other Stories 
Written by Jacqueline Pearce
Thistledown Press
208 pp.
Ages 13-16
2003
Twelve stories about teens and their relationships with others.

What Happened This Summer
Written by Paul Yee
Tradewind Books
178 pp.
Ages 13+
2006
About the turbulent lives of Asian-Canadian youth.

What If...?: Amazing Stories
Edited by Monica Hughes
Tundra Books
208 pp.
Ages 10+
1998
Stories that answer and ask, “What if?” by Alison Baird, Edo van Belkom, Lesley Choyce, Joan Clark, Charles de Lint, Sarah Ellis, Marcel Gagné, Priscilla Galloway, James Alan Gardner, Monica Hughes, Jason Kapalka, Eileen Kernaghan, Alice Major, Robert Priest, Jean-Louis Trudel and Tim Wynne-Jones.

When Apples Grew Noses and White Horses Flew: Tales of Ti-Jean
Written by Jan Andrews
Illustrated by Dušan Petričić
Groundwood Books
72 pp.
Ages 7-10
2011
Three stories based on Ti-Jean, Quebec’s traditional folktale hero (or perhaps anti-hero would better describe him).

When I Went to the Library: Writers Celebrate Books and Reading
Edited by Debora Pearson
Groundwood Books
128 pp.
Ages 8-12
2002
Nine stories about books and libraries and reading by authors Sarah Ellis, Budge Wilson, Ken Roberts, Celia Barker Lottridge, Jean Little, Ken Setterington, Paul Yee, Marc Talbert and Tim Wynne-Jones.