Meet Clara Hughes (Scholastic Canada Biography)

Written by Elizabeth MacLeod

Illustrated by Mike Deas

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-9772-4

32 pp.

Ages 6-10

January 2023

 

Just out this week is Meet Clara Hughes, the newest addition to Elizabeth MacLeod and Mike Deas's fabulous illustrated book series, Scholastic Canada Biography. They've covered important historical and contemporary figures in Canada, including athletes like Tom Longboat and Willie O'Ree–see the listing below for those titles–who dealt with issues of racism and discrimination. But, by showcasing a contemporary athlete who has dealt with mental health and turned that into advocacy for others, Elizabeth MacLeod and Mike Deas have championed Clara Hughes as much for her athleticism as her good work.

Born in 1972 in Winnipeg, Clara Hughes loved to read, do crafts, cook, ride her bike, and do sports like hockey and ringette. But when things got tough at home, with her parents arguing, Clara acted out, by shoplifting, partying, and staying out all night. Things changed after seeing Gaétan Boucher speed skate at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. Taking up speed skating changed everything for Clara, focusing her energy on positive things, working hard, and having fun. As part of her training, she also cycled, and when the province of Manitoba encouraged more women to try that sport, Clara switched, eventually making Canada's cycling team for the 1996 Olympics, and then medalling.

From Meet Clara Hughes, written by Elizabeth MacLeod, illus. by Mike Deas

Still, Clara experienced depression. After she was able to ask for help and find ways to help her cope with her depression, she challenged herself to return to speed skating. By focusing on doing her best and the joy of her pursuits rather than winning, she achieved great success in her sports, becoming the only Canadian who has ever won medals at both the Winter and Summer Olympics.

But Clara Hughes's successes have reached beyond the Olympics and the podia. Her work with Right to Play, an organization that helps kids in conflict zones and poverty learn important life skills through sports, and her mental health awareness advocacy work that includes Bell Canada's Let's Talk campaign have extended her impact beyond her athleticism and into the realm of public service, touching many in ways we might not even understand.

From Meet Clara Hughes, written by Elizabeth MacLeod, illus. by Mike Deas

I'm so delighted that Elizabeth MacLeod chose to showcase Clara Hughes in this latest book of Scholastic Canada Biography. Elizabeth MacLeod has always told the stories of exemplary persons (see the list below) who've achieved much, though sometimes inconspicuously during their lifetimes. They come from a variety of backgrounds, whether in the fields of science, business, the arts, or sports, but their achievements have led them to greater societal impacts than may have been recognized at the time. For many, Clara Hughes is a successful speed skater and cyclist, achieving gold, silver, and bronze medals at multiple Olympics. (In fact, she's the only Olympian to win multiple medals in both winter and summer sports.) But her advocacy work, particularly with regards to raising awareness about mental health, must be recognized as significant, taking discussions about mental illness from inner thoughts and doctors' offices to public forums and educational campaigns. By telling Clara Hughes's story of becoming a successful athlete alongside her challenges with depression and efforts to cope with it, Elizabeth MacLeod has made Clara Hughes more real.

From Meet Clara Hughes, written by Elizabeth MacLeod, illus. by Mike Deas

Because of the complexity of Mike Deas's art, using digital tools with watercolour and gouache paints as well as ink, the illustrations of the Scholastic Canada Biography series always set the right tone. While emphasizing the biographical, showing the Clara Hughes that we all recognize from her Olympic events like carrying the flag at the 2010 Winter Olympics or raising the Canadian flag after a winning race, Mike Deas gives us more than just that which could have been seen in photographs. We also see her hanging out with other troubled teens in a parking lot, overwhelmed by a black cloud of depression as she speaks to her doctor, and finding solace in nature with her partner Peter Guzman. Mike Deas helps us see the child, the athlete, and the advocate, through all her triumphs and her challenges. 

 

For many, Meet Clara Hughes will give them a new perspective on an athlete whose prowess in cycling and speed skating are just a fraction of her achievements. By going beyond the Olympic medals and showing us how Clara got to be the outstanding athlete and how her personal and sports challenges led her to further accomplishments in mental health education and awareness, Elizabeth MacLeod and Mike Deas have given us the true and complete Clara Hughes.

 

 

 • • • • • • •

Scholastic Canada Biography (to date)

Meet Viola Desmond (2018)
Meet Chris Hadfield (2018)
Meet Tom Longboat (2019)
Meet Elsie MacGill (2019)
Meet Willie O'Ree (2020)
Meet Terry Fox (2020)
Meet Thérèse Casgrain (2021)
Meet David Suzuki (2021)
Meet Mary Ann Shadd (2022)
Meet J. Armand Bombardier (2022)
Meet Buffy Sainte-Marie (2023)

Meet Clara Hughes (2024)

Meet Willie O'Ree (Scholastic Canada Biography)

Written by Elizabeth MacLeod

Illustrated by Mike Deas

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-7561-6

32 pp.

Ages 5-9

January 2020

Though there is still time to read this illustrated biography for Black History Month, Meet Willie O'Ree will become one of those books that will be a go-to story about civil rights, athleticism and perseverance that will resonate throughout the year.

From Meet Willie O'Ree by Elizabeth MacLeod, illus. by Mike Deas

Willie O'Ree was born on October 15, 1935 in Fredericton. By the time he was 5, he was already skating and playing hockey, though he liked all sports, including baseball, tennis, volleyball, rugby and swimming, and enjoyed school. Though the kids in his neighbourhood all played together regardless of skin colour, Willie and other black people had to deal with discrimination. But Willie knew that things had to change, and when, at thirteen, he defied the racist requirement that blacks get their hair cut outside the barbershop, he took an important step in saying "No" to discrimination.

From Meet Willie O'Ree by Elizabeth MacLeod, illus. by Mike Deas

Though a great hockey player, Willie also played baseball, even trying out for Milwaukee's minor league team. But, travelling in the Deep South, Willie was disgusted by the racism he endured at hotels, on buses and most everywhere, so he was pleased when he was let go and able to return to Canada and play hockey. He started playing in 1952 and made his way through different and progressively better leagues. However, when playing for a major junior league team, Willie took a puck in the eye and was blinded. Still, he never told his team, fearing it would prevent his rise to the NHL.

From Meet Willie O'Ree by Elizabeth MacLeod, illus. by Mike Deas

 

Willie became the first black player in the NHL, playing for the Boston Bruins. He still endured racist comments from opposing players but he fought back. He was traded several times and ended up in pro leagues other than the NHL but he didn't retire until he was forty-three, and then went on to work for the NHL's Diversity Task Force, helping to encourage children of colour to play hockey.

From Meet Willie O'Ree by Elizabeth MacLeod, illus. by Mike Deas

The accolades and honours Willie O'Ree received were numerous but probably none as great as his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018.

Willie reached his goal of playing in the NHL by believing in himself. He worked hard, even when he faced racism and serious injuries. And he never gave up on his dream. (pg. 29)

Author Elizabeth MacLeod and illustrator Mike Deas probably had a tough job telling Willie O'Ree's incredible story. From his childhood and experiences with racism to his athletic career with its ups and downs and more racism, Willie O'Ree endured much, accomplished more and persevered always. His story is one of effort and determination, and Elizabeth MacLeod makes sure to tell as much of his story as possible, including a timeline with photographs at the end of the story.

Mike Deas's illustrations, which are a blend of digital art with gouache, watercolour and ink, are animated, showing a kid with a love of sports and a young man determined to play a sport he loved. Though the art is cheerful, it finds a way to demonstrate Willie O'Ree's experiences with racial discrimination and hardship related to his injury without ever trivializing either.

 

It was a pleasure to meet Willie O'Ree, a pioneer of black achievement in hockey and a hero of sports dreams. 

•••••••••

With Meet Willie O'Ree, the Scholastic Canada Biography series now includes five volumes.

Meet Viola Desmond (2018)

Meet Chris Hadfield (2018)

Meet Tom Longboat (2019)

Meet Elsie MacGill (2019)

Meet Willie O'Ree (2020)

Meet Tom Longboat (Scholastic Canada Biography)

Written by Elizabeth MacLeod
Illustrated by Mike Deas
Scholastic Canada
978-1-4431-6391-0
32 pp.
Ages 6-10
January 2019

Tom Longboat will always be known as a world-famous runner, winner of the Boston Marathon in 1907 and Olympian in 1908 but his story is more of endurance and determination than just achievement.

Even from his humble beginnings, born in 1866 in Ohsweken on the Six Nations Reserve, Tom Longboat was a child who liked to have fun chasing cows and running around the reserve with his cousin. Even with the death of his father when Tom was just five years old, after which the family became very poor, Tom was often seen running. When placed in a residential school at age twelve, Tom ran away several times, finally hiding out at his uncle's home and never returning.

From Meet Tom Longboat by Elizabeth MacLeod, illus. by Mike Deas

It wasn't until his first race in 1905 that Tom realized how much he wanted to win and the need to strategize to ensure a win. In his 1906 Around the Bay Road Race in Hamilton, Ontario, he surprised all by winning in record time. His unorthodox running training, which included lacrosse and walking stints, along with his unusual stride of keeping his feet close to the ground flummoxed observers and other competitors but seemed to work for Tom Longboat, especially at the 1907 Boston Marathon. At that point he was declared the world's top marathon runner and the toast of Toronto and Canada. Though he did not place in 1908 Olympics, a disastrous event for countless runners who succumbed to the heat wave prevailing in London, Tom continued to run in a series of running matches at Madison Square Gardens, earning himself the title of World Professional Marathon Champion.

From Meet Tom Longboat by Elizabeth MacLeod, illus. by Mike Deas

When World War I hit, Tom enlisted and used his running skills to entertain and courier messages, thankful to return safely to Toronto after the war.  Though he never ran professionally again, choosing to make a home for himself and his family by working as a street cleaner and garbage collector, his legacy upon his death in 1949 was significant.  There was the creation of the Tom Longboat Award for Indigenous athletes, his induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, the establishment of the Tom Longboat Run on the Six Nations Reserve and the Tom Longboat Day in Ontario, as well as a striking statue called Challenge and Triumph which features Tom running.

In this latest biography in the new Scholastic Canada Biography series, Elizabeth MacLeod doesn't just shine a light on the achievements of Tom Longboat. She shows his beginnings, his love for running, and the challenges which he experienced throughout his life. From the poverty his family faced upon his father's death, to the torment of the residential school system and the discrimination faced there and elsewhere, as well as surviving World War I, Tom Longboat persisted, achieving greatness. Mike Deas's cartoon illustrations, with speech bubbles to maintain the message of Elizabeth MacLeod's text, never makes the story silly or irreverent, as comics may do. His work is reflective of Tom Longboat's varied experiences as seen from Tom's perspective as well as those around him. The illustrations elevate the text to make Tom Longboat's reality accessible.

Elizabeth MacLeod and Mike Deas ensure that we meet the real Tom Longboat, a boy who ran, and a man who won, both races and at life, and who, beyond obstacles placed in his way, chose for himself the direction his running and life would take.

From Meet Tom Longboat by Elizabeth MacLeod, illus. by Mike Deas