Milo the Knight

Written by Grégoire Laforce

Illustrated by Charlotte Parent

Milky Way Picture Books

978-1-990252-35-8

48 pp.

Ages 4-8

October 2024

 

Milo is a brave knight who comes from a long line of knights. His armor means everything to him, and he is proud to wear it. And he always wears it just in case a dragon attacks their colony. Those silly jesters could waste their time on frivolous activities, but Milo is determined to keep everyone safe from the bad out there.

From Milo the Knight, written by Grégoire Laforce, illustrated by Charlotte Parent

One day while outside the castle walls, Milo is caught in a horrific rainstorm. It goes on and on, raining and raining, and Milo keeps going. It's only when the rain stops, and Milo is still struggling to keep going that he realizes that his beautiful armor has rusted until it seizes completely.

From Milo the Knight, written by Grégoire Laforce, illustrated by Charlotte Parent

A wandering jester offers Milo help, but he initially refuses. After all, he is a knight and not a silly jester. But the jester suggests that the only way to help Milo is for Milo to remove his armor. Even though he is both shocked to consider this and fearful of not being able to protect the colony–something which he already could not do–Milo opens his visor, looks into the jester's eyes and is moved to tears.

From Milo the Knight, written by Grégoire Laforce, illustrated by Charlotte Parent

But the armor does not survive, falling into useless pieces, while Milo emerges for the first time to feel the warmth of the sun and the stirring of the wind. By shedding his armor, Milo also sheds his fears and his mistrust.

 

Gatineau's Grégoire Laforce, former military, seems to have something to say about the roles we play in a community, from the protectors to the entertainers. No one is only one thing. And to restrict yourself by putting on a shield of armor that keeps you separate from others and from experiencing a life that is full and varied can be harmful. Milo only knew about being a knight, as did his ancestors. He didn't know otherwise. It was only the jester with his own perspective and suggestion that Milo remove his armor–an armor that was doing him harm at that point–that Milo becomes open to another life. Perhaps this was Grégoire Laforce's experience too, going from the military life of service and security to having kitchen parties with his family at home, as his bio reveals. It probably wasn't as easy as just removing a uniform but, as with Milo and the jester, a little outlook can bring big change.

From Milo the Knight, written by Grégoire Laforce, illustrated by Charlotte Parent

Montreal artist Charlotte Parent, who illustrated Mireille Messier's The Magic Cap, uses coloured pencils to give Milo the Knight both a bright contemporary feel as well as a medieval tone appropriate for a story about a knight. Her use of colour that range from pinks and purples to oranges and greens keeps the story light and bright as do the patterns she uses to decorate borders with floral motifs and scenes of activity. Milo the Knight could've been a darker tale of perceived fears and wariness of others and even injury, but Charlotte Parent makes it a story of revelation through her radiant colours and emotive lines and shapes.

Milo the Knight thought his life had been determined and he would serve as he had been born to do so but a change in circumstance and an openness to see beyond the obvious gives him the opportunity for more in his life. His service was admirable, but it was time to live for himself and enjoy that which he'd never experienced before. Whether he becomes Milo the Jester or Milo the Vagabond or something else entirely, he's taken off his armor and left himself free and receptive to more possibilities.

 

The Outsmarters

Written by Deborah Ellis

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-857-2

248 pp.

Ages 9–13

August 2024

 

We refuse to outmean them and we can never outspend them. We have to outsmart them. (p. 14) 

When you live in a small town and everyone knows your business, you have to be smart or even smarter to get through. Twelve-year-old Kate has to be very smart because her life is so convoluted, and she doesn't even know the half of it. She lives with her Gran after Kate's mom Alyssa abandoned her for her latest boyfriend and her addiction, but Gran is as curmudgeonly as they come. For a woman who runs The Junk Yard, a junk business that carries everything from toys to books, hardware and kitchen stuff, Gran is hardly a people person, and she passes on the hard lessons on life and business that she's learned to Kate. So, to make some money, Kate decides to set up a Philosophy Booth in an old shack on the property and charge "seekers" $2 to get answers to life's questions. Using a roulette wheel and cards with quotes from 32 philosophers from Buddha to Ovid, Kate starts making and saving her money so that she can help Mom leave her latest boyfriend, if she ever gets back in touch.

 

Through her six-week suspension from Grade 6 and into the summer, Kate reads a variety of people, from the crusty Ms. Prawn, their neighbour, who is always complaining about them and their cat Bargain, to junk yard customers Mrs. Doris Blight and Mrs. Jean Rutherford, and a teen Landon who needs advice about getting "them" off his back. Her advice always seems pertinent, and some seekers take it to heart. Without knowing it, Kate is opening up her world to new people and even friends, whom she's going to need when she learns some truths about her mother, Gran, and others.

That's the trouble with thinking. One you get started, it's damn hard to stop. (p. 73) 

Deborah Ellis has always tackled challenging issues in her writing, whether it be non-fiction or fiction and even short story collections. Her most recent books (e.g., Sit, Step, and My Story Starts Here: Voices of Young Offenders) look at everything from detention and abuse, to conflict and poverty. Similarly, some of her most popular books, including The Breadwinner series and Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak, started important dialogues on children's lives in Afghanistan and the Middle East. While an Ontario location may seem more familiar to many North American readers, the story within is just as gripping as those in unusual settings because of the issues with which Kate a.k.a. Krate (you'll need to read the story to find out why) grapples. From abandonment by a mother with a drug addiction to bullying at school and a reluctance to connect with others as learned from those seemingly broken by life, Kate has been challenged. But, while Deborah Ellis never sugar coats life's challenges, she shows readers through Kate and Gran and Kate's seekers and new friends that there are opportunities to amend choices and open their once-closed worlds a little.

There are a lot of crusty characters in Deborah Ellis' The Outsmarters–of which Kate and Gran are but two–but when you've spent much of your life hurt and scarred by others and their actions or you're worried that someone is trying to take advantage of you or intends harm, that crust becomes a shield. But a shield is a defense and outsmarting someone is an offensive move, getting them before they get you. It's sad to think that outsmarting someone or putting up a shield are the go-to moves for someone as young as Kate but, be sure assured, that her experiences take her to where she can walk with others, accepting help and being an ally as needed.

Dear Elsa

Written by Marco Fraticelli

Red Deer Press

978-0-889956865

240 pp.

Ages 8-12

May/July 2023

 

looking out the window

in his new school

the sad student (pg. 32)

 

As part of a school assignment, 10-year-olds Elsa of Boston and Leo newly of Toronto must write emails to each other as pen pals. Neither is initially keen, and Leo is especially so when he learns his pen pal is a girl. But, through revealing messages from September through the following August, the two go from strangers to something deeper.

At the outset, the differences between the two middle-graders are pronounced. Leo, who has newly moved from Montreal to Toronto for his parents' jobs as teachers, complains about everything, from not having any friends, his teacher, following rules, sending emails to Elsa of at least 250 words, and schoolwork writing poetry. Elsa, on the other hand, loves rules, has divorced parents, and, though Leo suggests she must be one of the popular kids based on the advice she gives him, calls herself an in-between kid who has a few good friends and is relatively quiet. But as she allows him to vent while still offering him a different perspective, Leo discovers some things about himself, like that he really likes writing poetry, especially haiku, which he often shares with her. Elsa is slower to reveal herself, probably because Leo is so busy complaining, but she too begins to divulge what her life is like, rather than just giving Leo the opportunity to share. Readers, and Leo, learn of her parents' relationship, her trip to Cancun, her aspirations, her prowess as an archer, and eventually her wheelchair. While Leo broadcasts about everything, Elsa holds back much about her own situation, and is delighted to be treated like she isn't someone with a disability.

Dear Elsa may be author Marco Fraticelli's first children's book but his decades of experience as a Grade 5 teacher as well as an award-winning poet have given him a strong foundation for an irresistible story of two children exploring their differences and finding common ground to be the friend the other needs at that time. Their writing relationship may continue past their Grade 5 year–that is not revealed at the book's conclusion–but it's almost irrelevant as the two derived safety, perspective, opportunity, and solicitude from their relationship.

In 2015, I prepared a post titled, Dearest readers...: A Letters in youngCanLit book list, which provided a list of books that featured characters writing letters or emails or texts as the vehicle for the plot. I will definitely be adding Dear Elsa to that list now to ensure that middle-grade readers (and perhaps their teachers) have an opportunity to visit with Leo and Elsa and witness how a friendship can develop from afar and with seemingly different individuals. All it takes is opening oneself up the opportunity, as Leo learns both in emails and at school, and perhaps some heartfelt poetry.

Finding Lucy

Written and illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-088-8

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

October 2019

Lucy is a joyful artist. She paints with bold colours and emotion and a brush full of voice that brings her and her cat great joy. But when others begin to opine about her work and advise her about her painting, that comfort turns to turmoil as she attempts to heed their unsolicited advice.

From Finding Lucy by Eugenie Fernandes

In her raggedy and patched pants, bright yellow tee and paint-splattered apron, with ginger pigtails bursting from the top of her head, Lucy is happy. She paints from her heart. But, then a rabbit reporter tells her that her artwork looks like jellybean soup. An elephant tells her it isn't loud enough. A crocodile tells her it isn't scrumptious enough.

From Finding Lucy by Eugenie Fernandes

When Lucy starts painting for herself again, "the painting was like a dream." But then she starts listening again to those who call her work out as not brave enough (that from a chicken) or not pink enough (that from a mother pig) or in need of more green (a frog shared that with her).

From Finding Lucy by Eugenie Fernandes

By now, Lucy was beginning to see that everybody had something to say.

It would seem that a variety of animals–giraffe, leopard, ostrich, fox and others–all confound her and her creativity. Only the cat reminds her to paint what once brought her joy.

She painted the flutter of birds and the whimsy of the wind.

Ultimately Lucy rediscovers her true art and accepts it as an expression of self, not the means for the approval of others.

From Finding Lucy by Eugenie Fernandes

And ever after, after that,
the cat purred,
and Lucy painted with grit
and determination
and GUMPTION
and PIZZAZZ.

And the courage of spring
and the color of laughter.

I don't know if Lucy is supposed to honour a famous artist or a piece of abstract expressionist art but I don't think it matters. Eugenie Fernandes has given us a story in words and pictures that supports that idea that creativity is an expression of self and needs to be embraced rather than questioned, especially when every armchair critic feels the need to voice their personal preferences and expects the artist to accommodate those. From colour to feeling, shape and voice, creativity comes from within and Lucy knew and knows this. Sadly she is distracted by those with loud and overbearing opinions and buckles under their varied and judgemental assertions.

I hope Eugenie Fernandes, whose art work has won her a variety of awards and accolades, has always felt supported in her artistic endeavours whether she chooses to use acrylic paint on canvas as she does here in Finding Lucy or other media. If Finding Lucy demonstrates anything it's that those who observe art derive their perceptions from their perspective and attitudes and Lucy can't possibly give every viewer what they need to see the art's beauty. I'm glad that she finally trusts herself, and her very wise cat, that what she brings to her art is everything it needs to be to bring her joy.

From Finding Lucy by Eugenie Fernandes

Helping Me Helping You with promoting youngCanLit (Revised post)

No, this is not a parody of an ABBA song. This is actually a revised post of one originally published on June 30, 2016 called "May I suggest . . . ? Five ways to help me help you promote your youngCanLit." My intent was, and still is, to help promote Canadian authors' and illustrators' work. But I am painfully aware that I can always use a little help from writers, artists, publishers and readers to achieve this mandate. Because I can tell, through analytics on Blogger, Twitter and Facebook and more, when a review is getting support from the youngCanLit community, I know when an effort is being made to help me help you. There are so, so many who work to support my work and I wish I could acknowledge every one of you. But for those who don't realize that you can help yourselves and me, here are a few handy suggestions to help.

First let me thank those generous authors, illustrators, publicists and publishers who are so kind to provide me with copies of their books for review, as well as include me in blog tours and allow me to interview our contemporary youngCanLit A-listers.  Without these submissions, I could not afford to review as many books as I do on CanLit for LittleCanadians.

By the way, thank you to all those publishers who make an effort to send me hard copies of your books. I appreciate having a book that, after reading it, I can share with others, including schools, if I don't squirrel it away on my own shelves. I know that it's less expensive to send me a pdf or an unbound copy but, when I'm not receiving any remuneration for my reviews, having a final copy feels like a nice trade. 

That said, please limit the books you send for review to those written for young people by Canadian authors or illustrated by Canadians, born or residing here.  Just because there is a young person in the book does not mean that it is a book appropriate for or of interest to younger readers.  Imagine expecting Timothy Findley’s The Piano Man’s Daughter (HarperCollins, 1995) or Heather O’Neill’s Lullaby for Little Criminals (HarperCollins, 2006) to be reviewed as youngCanLit. Not going to happen.  And just because a younger reader is able to read the book doesn’t mean it’s youngCanLit.   If your catalogue is promoting a book as adult fiction, it’s not a juvenile or teen read, regardless of the age of the protagonist.  Save yourself the review copy and the disappointment, and save me my reading time and the communication explaining why I’m not reviewing the book.

If I do review your book, there are several ways to ensure that review gets read by more and more people.  While I may not get the million hits of a kitten playing with a bird on YouTube, CanLit for LittleCanadians does very well as a book blog.  It is linked through multiple schools and school boards and universities with teacher education programs, English and creative writing programs and library studies, as well as the Canadian Children’s Book Centre and other blogs.  But it could always do better. Add a link to www.canlitforlittlecanadians.blogspot.ca on your website with a quote from the review or add me to your blog roll or become a subscriber.  Doesn’t hurt, always helps. Publishers, this is especially important for you to do.

Post a comment on the review.  Thank you to so many of you who leave comments on reviews of your own books and those of others, who share with me what they are reading, and correct my mistakes (of which there are many). Judging by the numbers on Google Analytics, comments always brings in more readers. It suggests that readers of the reviews are engaged with the text and that helps get others interested too. And don’t be dissuaded by my need to moderate the comments.  I do this to avoid horrific amounts of spam, both commercial and irrelevant.

Support CanLit for LittleCanadians on social media.  Each time I post on my blog, I will tweet several times about the book or the review or the event, ensuring the relevant parties (author, illustrator, publisher) know.  Your retweets and likes bring in more and more followers and links and you know that in the end that means sales, the all-important bottom line for YOU.  Whether I’m using the hashtags for youngCanLit or for teachers or teacher-librarians, those tweets are getting read. And don’t be shy about retweeting multiple times or with multiple tweets about the same book. What catches one reader on Twitter may not be the same as for another. They all count. Toot your own horn or at least join the band as I’m tooting away. I have worked with amazing publicists over the years who retweet religiously and ♡ my tweets and do so on the day the review hits the blogsphere but also weeks later. And all those publishers who bring attention to my reviews through your Facebook pages and book pages, thank you.

Please don’t take it personally if I don’t review your book or don’t do it in a timely fashion. (BTW, sending a book months after it has been published and expecting me to review it immediately assumes that I don't have hundreds of books already waiting in my TBR pile. And you know what they say about assuming.) Sometimes life takes precedence over blog and I get backlogged in reviews and can’t catch up. And sometimes the book just doesn’t grab me and I’d rather not review it than write a rant of an opinion piece. I firmly agree with Paulo Coelho who said, "The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion." I alone write posts for CanLit for LittleCanadians, except for rare student reviewers, and I do what I can under constraints of time, health and motivation. With the plethora of outstanding Canadian authors and illustrators out there ready to have their works promoted and applauded, it’s a daunting task. (Also, I do have a difficult time reading stories, whether fiction or non-fiction, in which animals are key characters. I'm not talking cartoon characters. I'm talking stories in which animals are integral to a dramatic story. I have to find a compelling reason to read these books and I rarely do. I almost missed Shari Green's Missing Mike from Pajama Press for this reason.)

I know from the comments I receive regularly that many of you get it. You understand what I will and won't read and that I can't do it all. And you respect what I do get done. Thank you to author-illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi who recently honoured me with a badge (to the right of this post) for championing kidlit. Though I don't always feel deserving, it is wonderful to have my efforts encouraged. For those who never knew how to help me help you, I hope this blog post will be a first step in doing so.

Let's continue to get everyone reading youngCanLit!

May I suggest . . . ? Five ways to help me help you promote your youngCanLit

While I am loathe to share my reviews as opinions—I firmly agree with Paulo Coelho who said, “The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion”—my mandate for CanLit for LittleCanadians has always been to promote great Canadian literature for children and young adults. To that end, may I suggest a few ways that authors, illustrators, publishers and publicists can help me to help you?

First, let me thank those generous authors, illustrators, publicists and publishers who are so kind to provide me with copies of their books for review, as well as include me in blog tours and allow me to interview our contemporary youngCanLit A-listers. Without these donations, I could not afford to review as many books as I do on CanLit for LittleCanadians.

That said, please limit the books you send for review to those written for young people. Just because there is a young person in the book does not mean that it is a book appropriate for or of interest to younger readers. Imagine expecting Timothy Findley’s The Piano Man’s Daughter (HarperCollins, 1995) or Heather O’Neill’s Lullaby for Little Criminals (HarperCollins, 2006) to be reviewed as youngCanLit? Not going to happen. And just because a younger reader is able to read the book doesn’t mean it’s youngCanLit. If your catalogue is publicizing a book as adult fiction, it’s not a juvenile or teen read, regardless of the age of the protagonist. Save yourself the review copy and the disappointment, and save me my reading time and the communication explaining why I’m not reviewing the book.

If I do review your book, there are several ways to ensure that review gets read by more and more people. While I may not get the million hits of a kitten playing with a bird on YouTube, CanLit for LittleCanadians does very well as a book blog. It is linked through multiple school boards and universities with teacher education programs, English and creative writing programs and library studies, as well as the Canadian Children’s Book Centre and other blogs. But it could always do better.  

Add a link to CanLit for LittleCanadians (www.canlitforlittlecanadians.blogspot.ca) on your website with a quote from the review or add me to your blog roll or become a subscriber. Doesn’t hurt, always helps.

Post a comment on the review. Thank you to author Monica Kulling, commentator extraordinaire, who always lets me know what she thinks of my reviews of her own books and those of others. Judging by the numbers on Google Analytics, this always brings in more readers. And don’t be dissuaded by my need to moderate the comments. I do this to avoid horrific amounts of spam, both commercial and irrelevant.

Support CanLit for LittleCanadians on social media. Each time I post on my blog, I will tweet several times about the book or the review or the event, ensuring the relevant parties (author, illustrator, publisher) know. Your retweets and likes bring in more and more followers and links and you know that in the end that means sales, the all-important bottom line. Whether I’m using the hashtags for youngCanLit or for teachers or teacher-librarians, those tweets are getting read. And don’t be shy about retweeting multiple times or multiple tweets about the same book. What catches one reader on Twitter may not be the same as for another. They all count. Toot your own horn, or at least join the band as I’m tooting away. I adore publicist Winston Stilwell at Fitzhenry & Whiteside, the king of retweeting and replying to my tweets for F & W books and Red Deer Press, Inhabit Media and Fifth House Publishers and Whitecap Books, because I know he makes an effort to get my tweets and reviews out there. And all those publishers who bring attention to my reviews through your Facebook pages, thank you.

Please don’t take it personally if I don’t review your book or don’t do it in a timely fashion. Sometimes life takes precedence over blog, and I get backlogged in reviews and can’t catch up. And sometimes the book just doesn’t grab me and I’d rather not review it than write a rant of an opinion piece. I alone write posts for CanLit for LittleCanadians, except for rare student reviewers, and do the best I can under constraints of time, health and motivation. I do what I can. With the plethora of outstanding Canadian authors and illustrators out there ready to have their works promoted and applauded, it’s a daunting task.

And while I’m asking for help, if you know of any one who is looking for someone to speak to teacher candidates or schools about youngCanLit or wants to hire a writer who peddles herself as an aficionado of Canadian children’s books or can think of a way for me to segue this blog into a salaried career, please leave a comment below.  Always happy to hear from my readers and writers.

Read youngCanLit!

How to Survive Absolutely Anything

by Helaine Becker

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

978-1-55455-188-0

200 pp.

Ages 8-12

2012

Bonnie and Jen, two 14-year-olds in Grade 9, have the right idea.  Having "lived through" the middle grades (a.k.a. junior high or intermediate grades), they are willing to share what they've learned with any young person who writes to them at their blog, "How to Survive Absolutely Anything, with Bonnie and Jen".

The girls have a wealth of experiences, as their profiles acknowledge.  With a father who left and remarried and now is raising a second young family, and with a mother who remarried a man with older children of his own, Bonnie knows all about blended families.  In fact, she's having a hard time dealing with her step-brother, Carter, who seems to always be in her business.  Jen, on the other hand, only has her baby sister, Julia, who was born just after the accidental death of their father.  Mom Colette (who wants to be known as Tina) works as a nurse and has had (does have?) a drinking problem and recklessly puts Jen in a position of responsibility far too often.

Through their blog postings, profiles, Bonnie's journal and chapter heading survival skills, the reader learns how very different the girls' takes are on situations, and the fusion of their opinions and advice generally leads to some wise and heartfelt responses to their readers' queries.

If you're not going to like waking up with yourself after you've done something, you better not do it.  Because whatever good feeling you get out of doing the bad thing (staying longer at the fun party, getting to be with that girl, bringing home the A on the test you cheated on) doesn't last as long as the rotten feeling that comes along with it.  (pg. 80)

But, when Bonnie goes online alone (something the girls had promised not to do), she responses to Crushed's concern about having strong feelings for his step-sister, negating his feelings when she believes that he is her own step-brother Carter.  Eventually Bonnie realizes how many "gynormous errors" she has made in so many aspects of her life, from the blog to boys, to her family and her friends, and that she can still use a little (a lot?) of advice about the choices she makes.

Helaine Becker thanks fellow youngCanLit author Marsha Skrypuch for encouraging her to write this book, just as I would like to thank Helaine Becker.  Writing an appropriate yet meaningful middle-grade fiction is not always easy, but How to Survive Absolutely Anything fills that need beautifully.  Without treating the readers as young children or as young adults, Helaine Becker gives them a voice that explores their concerns and foibles, without pushing them into the realm of true young adult fiction.  There are many young people in the middle grades who just aren't ready to embrace the edgier fiction of YA, with its more mature subjects such as sexuality.  They may be in their early teens but they're only starting to notice the opposite sex.  While some of their peers may be living the lives of mature teens, comfortable in their own skins, making decisions and choices akin to adults (though not always well, just like us), there are middle grade readers who want to read about how others begin navigating into their teen years before they take their own first steps.  How to Survive Absolutely Anything provides a light but credible account of young girls who think they have experienced and survived all the predicaments of the middle-graders only to find that a whole new set of annoyances and dilemmas lurk on the horizon.

"You can trust me on this one --or find out the hard way.  It's your call" (pg. 80)

40 Things I Want To Tell You

Written by Alice Kuipers

HarperTrophy Canada

978-1-44340-587-4

283 pp.

Ages 13+

2012

When I read a book that touches me, really touches me, I always finish it, close the cover, lay my hand over it, and just sit.  Sometimes I just re-immerse myself in the story, sometimes I weep, sometimes I wonder how the characters managed, sometimes I ponder the title and the cover.  With 40 Things I Want To Tell You by Alice Kuipers, I did it all.

Amy, a.k.a. Bird to her family and best friends, is the queen of lists and the princess of planning.  She knows that she and her good friend, now boyfriend, Griffin, will have sex for the first time on her seventeenth birthday.  She knows what she needs to do and how hard to work to get to Oxford when she finishes school.  Bird is so in control that she sets herself up as "Miss Take-Control-of-Your-Life" on a website offering advice to teens.

Unfortunately, there's a lot of stuff she needs to tell others but she doesn't.  She doesn't tell her best friend, Cleo, about the website until it's been up for months.  She doesn't tell Griffin that she is anxious about their first time, and then when she can't "do it" the night of her birthday, she doesn't tell him why.  She doesn't tell anyone that she's attracted to a new boy at school, Pete Loewen, not even him when he approaches her.  Cleo asks Pete out and he declines, and still Bird tells her nothing about her encounters with Pete which now include mind-blowing kisses.

Of course, Bird isn't the only one who needs to share things.  Since the death of Griffin's dad several years ago, his mom's mental health has been rocky and getting worse.  Offers of help are declined and her condition minimized when he speaks to Bird.  Then, there's Bird's mom who denies anything is wrong, though her mood is off and her organizational expertise (passed down to Bird) is showing weakness.  But, when Bird's dad, an entrepreneur currently focusing on solar bricks, goes to the bank, unbeknownst to this wife, to get a mortgage on the house, which Bird's grandmother left her mom, Bird just can't face the fighting.  Bird just runs away from it, going to the park where she often sits.  A chance meeting with Pete leads Amy (as he calls her) to pitch her self-control and have sex with him.

So, although she continues to offer free advice online, even listing "Top Tips" (e.g., Top Tip 18: When you make a decision, say it out loud; pg. 156), Bird has even more that she should be telling: to Griffin, to Cleo, to Pete, to her parents, and even to herself.  Self-denial is a big issue for Bird.  And, in her not-telling, all their interconnected lives are shattered and transformed.  She would have been wise to heed her own advice, as her own Top Tips continue to reflect the circumstances of her own life.

I wish I could reveal the moving conclusion to Alice Kuipers' story of Bird, but I fear that I will spoil it for the reader.  Suffice it to say that Bird's reactions and resignations and decisions are poignant, heartbreaking and honest, as well as justifiable to her, whether you agree with them or not.  Alice Kuipers' skill at weaving an emotionally engaging story with remarkable characters, likeable or not, like those in our own lives, will disarm you effortlessly until you realize you have been invariably touched forever.

Here are 5 things I want to tell you:

1. If you're a teen, female or male, read 40 Things I Want To Tell You.

2. If you're a parent of a teen, read 40 Things I Want To Tell You.

3. If you are a teacher or counsellor, read 40 Things I Want To Tell You.

4. If you appreciate great literature, read 40 Things I Want To Tell You.

5. Read 40 Things I Want To Tell You.