The End of the Line

by Sharon E. McKay

Annick Press

978-1-55451-658-2

128 pp.

Ages 8-11

August, 2014

When the Germans occupied Amsterdam in May 1940, not everyone, and certainly not elderly brothers, Hans and Lars Gorter, were adversely affected immediately.  The two Dutch bachelors, both in their 60’s, continued to live in the home they had once shared with their mother in a quiet cul-de-sac across the road from her friend, Mrs. Vos, now 80.  They continued to work on a city tram, Hans driving it and Lars collecting tickets.  And they continued to keep to themselves and their routines, though they were becoming perplexed by the hatred being directed at the Jewish people and the Nazis insistence that suspicious behaviour of any sort be reported.

But in 1942 when a woman on the tram separates herself from the little girl accompanying her and is taken away by the Nazis, Lars claims the young girl as his niece and, with a quick release of the hand brake, Hans distracts the Nazi who leaves without the girl.  Hours later, the two men, befuddled as to what to do with the child, take her home.  That simple act, including taking her hands to walk her across the street, has Lars and Hans becoming unofficial uncles to little Beatrix.

To Lars it was as if the curl of a wave had come to rest in his palm To Hans it felt as if the gentlest creature on earth–a baby bird, perhaps–had nestled in his hand.  In that moment both felt the intense pride that comes with great responsibility as they guided the child safely across the street. (pg. 22-3) 

The brothers and Mrs. Vos raise her as Beatrix Gorter and have her schooled in Catholicism. Neighbours are encouraged into silence with polite threats of secrets to be revealed, and a new neighbour, the young Mrs. Lieve van der Meer, taking a special role in Beatrix’s education and upbringing.  And as Beatrix grows, and the persecution of the Jews escalates, and food shortages and strikes make life virtually impossible, the years pass, Beatrix ever hopeful that her mother will return.

This could have been another story of surviving the Holocaust but Sharon E. McKay doesn’t do the same as everyone.  It’s not about escaping or surviving.  It’s the story about naively opening one’s home and one’s heart to a stranger and finding both enriched in unexpected ways. The End of the Line is such a simple story about two unlikely and even reluctant heroes who jump in to help a little girl and find their lives changed forever.  What makes the story all the more poignant is the way in which Beatrix’s unofficial adoption creates a lovely new family of anomalous individuals.  And even with the horrors of Nazism and the persecution of the Jewish people and the Dutch under occupation, Sharon E. McKay is able still to provide moments of sweet tenderness and a reassuring ending that will fill one’s heart with gladness and one’s eyes with tears.  

War Brothers: The Graphic Novel

by Sharon E. McKay

Illustrated by Daniel LaFrance

Annick Press

978-1-55451-488-5

176 pp.

Ages 14+

February 2013

My story is not an easy one to read.  The life of a child soldier is full of unthinkable violence and brutal death. . . .There is no shame in closing this book now. ~ Kitino Jacob

With his opening letter, Jacob, the narrator of this story, prepares the reader for the horror that begins with his abduction by the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda at the age of fourteen. 

Taken in the night with all the boys at his boarding school and marched continuously day after day, night after night, Jacob believes that rescue is imminent, that his father and the government will rescue the boys soon.  Meanwhile, though, they are "instructed" in the ways of the Lord's Resistance Army that purports to serve God and uphold Christian beliefs, aiming its actions against the evil government.  This is especially problematic for these boys who come from a seminary school, where they receive religious instruction.  In fact, Tony, one of Jacob's friends, may have considered becoming a priest.  But, when Tony is threatened, shamed and brutalized into beating an injured boy to death, he begins to see the horror in himself while the LRA sees him as a soldier, worthy of food and water.  Those who have yet to prove themselves as soldiers continue to do without, snatching whatever they may find, edible or not, along their travels.

When they learn that Joseph Kony, the infamous leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, has been trying to negotiate with the government for guns and other arms in exchange for the boys' release,  Jacob and his friends may feel they have some degree of safety.  But they still must endure the mistreatment and strict "decrees" of the LRA, never knowing when one of them may become the victim of a cruel commanding soldier, such as Lizard who seems to target Jacob regularly. From Tony to Hannah, the serving girl who has had both her ears removed, to new children abducted by the LRA, Jacob can see how the LRA manipulates with fear and twisted reasoning, but he holds tight the premise that his small group of friends are his war brothers and he will act as needed to save them, even when he feels abandoned, by God, his father and the government. 

Winner of the 2009 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Juvenile Crime Novel, Sharon E. McKay's novel War Brothers (Puffin, 2008) is a gritty read, graphic in its story premise, in its details, in its reality.  Sadly, it's a story that is easily adapted to the graphic novel format, especially when illustrated so capably by Daniel LaFrance.  But be prepared for the darkness - there are few moments of lightness, except at the beginning before Jacob's abduction and somewhat at the book's conclusion.  And Daniel LaFrance's illustrations successfully instill that atmosphere.  Sharon E. McKay has wrapped the details of Jacob's abduction and life as a child soldier in the innocence of a young boy with a reasonable hope for a "normal" life, until the LRA hijack it away from him.  There is no happy ending but one that may satisfy somewhat, knowing that Jacob escapes.  But, Sharon E. McKay and Daniel LaFrance make it clear that there may never be a resolution to the horror of the LRA as long as there are those who've been transformed, even temporarily, from victim to criminal.

While I can encourage the reading of War Brothers: The Graphic Novel, I cannot share with you the intimacy of the story as experienced by Sharon E. McKay.  However, a recently uploaded video from Annick Press has Sharon E. McKay and Daniel LaFrance discussing adapting the book to graphic novel format.  The link to AnnickPress' trailer called Sharon McKay and Daniel LaFrance discuss "War Brothers"can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFrfJ5NaQX4.  Be sure to get this different perspective.