A World Below

Written by Wesley King

A Paula Wiseman Book/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

978-1-4814-7822-9

261 pp.

Ages 8-14

2018

It's a dark, dark place in the caves and tunnels of New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns and Eric, Silvia and the other students of Mr. Baker's small advanced middle-school class are going to find out just how dark it can be when a field trip goes from scholarly to scary.

When an earthquake hits, sending rocks falling and splitting the ground beneath, teacher Mr. Baker disappears into one crack and the kids are dragged deep into the earth by currents of cold water. When thirteen-year-old Eric Johnson drags himself out of the water, he finds himself alone and determined to find his way out. The other students have travelled further down, unable to extricate themselves until they reach still waters. After reviving one student with CPR, Silvia Rodrigues who is desperately trying to keep her anxiety in check is unofficially designated their leader and suggests they find Eric. But, in addition to chapters focusing on Eric and Silvia's perspectives, there are those told of a boy of similar age, Carlos, the King of the Midnight Realm, who is determined to keep his underground community safe from the exiled traitors called Worms and the dangerous "surface humans."

In an adventure-survival story that feels a bit like a melding of Indiana Jones with The Lord of the Flies without the creepy parts, Wesley King, award-winning author of The Vindico (Penguin, 2012) and OCDaniel (Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster, 2016) celebrates kids who may see themselves as different and even weak because of their mental health issues or personalities but who are strong and bright and resilient and the stuff of heroes. Silvia tries to hide the vulnerability she feels with her anxiety and panic attacks that keep her from sleeping well but her peers see her as brave and a true leader. Eric and Carlos are living with the reminders of their fathers' strengths or failings and judging themselves by those memories. Eric's father, before leaving to make a new family, was a jerk to Eric's mom and called Eric weird because he was a loner who liked to read. Carlos is trying to lead his people as his father before him did but sees his compassion and insight as contrary and consequently dangerous to those he is destined to rule.

"We shouldn't be spending our whole lives trying to be exactly like our parents. That won't work." (pg. 189)

In an extraordinary world of tree-like mushrooms, rats the size of beagles, spiders and catfish-like creatures as large as cars, and oppressive darkness only relieved by occasional bioluminescence and intermittent flashlight or cell phone light, these young people struggle through their fears, shared and not, to survive and even learn about others and themselves.

"But keeping my distance ... it's just ... easy."
"Stupid things usually are," she said simply. (pg. 215)

Like Jean Craighead George's book My Side of the Mountain, to which both Eric and Wesley King both reference, A World Below allows young people to see what separation from our peers and families can deliver. It gives us a chance to see ourselves as we are, not as others might see us or as we think we are seen. There's a clarity of perception that comes with focusing on what really matters–here, survival–and finding new realities, both within and externally. A World Below may be a coming-of-age story, based solely on the youth of the characters and their efforts to understand themselves and the world around them, but it goes beyond that, guiding readers through the darkness of twisted thinking and fears and into the light of understanding and empathy for self and others.

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.

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.

Ben Says Goodbye

by Sarah Ellis

Illustrated by Kim La Fave

Pajama Press

978-1-927485-79-8

32 pp.

Ages 3-6

October 1, 2015

Last time (A+ for Big Ben) darling preschooler Ben had to deal with being the only one in the family not getting a report card and feeling like a little kid.  This time he has another challenge to overcome: the moving away of his best friend Peter.  Desolate, Ben moves away too, under the table to become a caveboy, with only his teddy bear for companionship.  There he eats with his fingers and plays with rocks, and responds to offered food with the occasional "guh." And, most importantly, he is able to to recreate his time with Peter in amazing petroglyphs that provide him with closure and appreciation for their friendship.

Sarah Ellis' latest Ben story focuses on a common upset for children: the moving away of a friend.  Her text shows how a child doesn't recognize all the efforts of others to distract from the potential trauma but instead allows him to immerse himself in his memories, giving them texture in the drawings he produces within his cave.  Kim La Fave, who gets little Ben's shy or determined face spot on, illustrates Ben Says Goodbye so expressively that Ben's angst and ultimate release and acceptance are remarkably visible.  Using the simplest of lines, Kim La Fave gets the angles of the faces, hands and bodies with their tiny feet so right that their intentions are always plain, allowing even the youngest readers to see more into the artwork than might be expected.  And the cave drawings are so evocative of boys having fun and making adventures from their limitless activities. It's not surprising that Ben will miss his compadre when they've already lived so many lives in a few short years.

Best of all is the culminating picture and text that, without saying much, say everything, providing a hopeful future of friendship, albeit with someone of the opposite gender.  A happy ending to a story that demonstrates that even the very young can work their way through difficult situations on their own and come out smiling.  Ben has so much to teach all of us, even if he is just a preschooler!

Secrets Underground: North America's Buried Past

by Elizabeth MacLeod

Annick Press

978-1-55451-630-8

88 pp.

Ages 9+

February, 2014

I love a good mystery.  So when multiple mysteries are presented in a single tome, even if it is non-fiction (something I tend to review less), then I'm a happy reader.  Elizabeth MacLeod is an accomplished author of non-fiction for young people but she excels at historical mysteries, as demonstrated by the success of her Royal Murder: The Deadly Intrigue of Ten Sovereigns (Annick, 2008) and Bones Never Lie: How Forensics Help Solve History's Mysteries (Annick, 2013).  Secrets Underground: North America's Buried Past can easily be added to that collection of intriguing historical secrets.

Secrets Underground: North America's Buried Past delves underground (literally) to explore caves, tunnels, accidentally and deliberately buried treasures and terrors, and other spaces that hide a history of who we are as people and what we have done.  The stories take us from Mexico, to California, West Virginia, and New York, to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, spanning from the 1500's to the 1900's.  (I suspect a second volume could easily extend both the time period and the locations, perhaps even focusing exclusively on Canada, if so chosen.)

The first section, "Hidden Temples", examines the Aztec city of Tenochtitlán which was established in the 1300's and was led by Moctezuma at the time of Cortés and the Spanish conquistadors arrival in the 1500's.  With the massacres of the Aztecs and the destruction of their temples and other buildings, Cortés proceeded to cover the ruins with the new, Mexico City.  It wasn't until 1978 that an electrical worker revealed an artifact that lead to the unearthing of Tenochtitlán.  "Buried Sailing Ships" reveals the grand sailing ships abandoned and buried beneath landfill in San Francisco, while "The War Beneath" tells of massive power converters and a president's possible train car hidden during WWII.  The two secrets from West Virginia reveal a cave of great value to the Confederate side during the American Civil War (1861-1865) and extensive fall-out shelters ready for any eventuality during the Cold War.  The single Canadian story, "Gangsters Belowground" demonstrates that underground tunnels, initially used for warm travel-ways, found multiple uses as a refuge for Chinese workers and the means to smuggle prohibited alcohol and evade capture by authorities during Prohibition in 1918-1933.

These six exposés are enhanced by further information in the form of a timeline, resources for further reading, and recommendations for visits to relevant sites.  Rounding out this well-organized book of non-fiction are countless well-captioned photographs, intriguing tidbits in sidebars and information boxes, and an inviting and informative graphic design. 

As any book of history, Secret Underground: North American's Buried Past has the compelling nature of secrets uncovered.  But, beyond the curiosity factor, these "secrets" have shaped our present and will perhaps shape our future, especially if we look at these Secrets Underground as potential for learning. It also brings into question the ethical dilemma of choosing between the past and the present: should contemporary structures be dismantled or even destroyed to allow excavation of historical treasures, or should secrets underground remain underground?  Elizabeth MacLeod puts forth these questions, as well as the answers others may have chosen, but she never judges the choices made, just puts them out there for discussion, as a true objective storyteller of non-fiction should.