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.

The Fort

Written by Gordon Korman

Scholastic Press

978-1-338-62914-9

256 pp.

Ages 8-12

June 2022

 

When is a shelter not a shelter? When it's a secret that is in danger of being exposed. And when four friends and their unexpected tag-a-long discover the ultimate shelter, it becomes their fort and they'll do anything to keep it safe.

The day after a hurricane rolls through the town of Canaan, thirteen-year-old Evan Donnelly is tasked with looking after newcomer Ricky Molina while their families deal with the aftermath of the storm. The boys meet up with Evan's friends C. J. Sciutto, Mitchell Worth and Jason Brax to check out their man-made shower-curtain and plywood fort in the woods but discover that it has been demolished by the storm. But clever Ricky–he may be a year younger than the boys but he's gifted and has come from a magnet school–unearths a newly-exposed trapdoor into a massive underground bomb shelter, fully stocked with furniture, food, chemical toilet, lights, music records, and VCR and videos. A video reveals the shelter was constructed by the now-deceased Bennett Delamere, founder of one of the town's key industries, now closed, in anticipation of an attack during the Cold War. The boys realize quickly the enormity of their find and vow to keep it secret.

But each of the boys has a complex life going on outside the fort. Evan and his seventeen-year-old brother Luke live with their grandparents ever since the boys were abandoned by their parents for their addictions. Mitchell has always struggled with OCD and now cannot get help from his psychiatrist since his mom lost her job, and benefits, at DelaCraft Auto Parts, and has had to take on three jobs to make ends meet. While Jason is enjoying his first relationship with Janelle, daughter of police Officer Jaworski, he's caught in a nasty divorce in which his parents use him as a pawn. Even C. J., who seems to have everything he wants courtesy of his stepdad Marcus, keeps getting into scrape after scrape on his skateboard or hoverboard or pogo stick, calling his exploits "death-defiers." As for Ricky, who is reluctantly allowed to enjoy the fort he found, is determined to study hard and get into the local magnet school and make the best of things until he does.

The fort becomes a refuge for them, to watch classic movies like Jaws and Star Wars, to eat 40-year-old canned food, listen to records and play games like Fort Olympics. It's even a source of funds as the boys learn the blackened cutlery is solid silver and can be pawned for money. But, their fort is in danger of discovery from scary local teen Jaeger Devlin and his sidekick, Evan's brother Luke, who threaten, steal, coerce and worse and would do the same to the boys if they thought there was something in it for them.

The Fort is Gordon Korman's 100th book, an astounding feat. And it's as fresh and meaningful to young readers as his first, This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall!, was in 1978. Think of the movie Stand By Me without the dead body and you'll have The Fort. Gordon Korman has given us a coming of age story about a group of boys with different backgrounds and home situations and personal issues who find a way to come together for each other and become something stronger and cohesive. Because The Fort is told in the alternating voices of the five boys, their perspectives on their friendships, school, families and the fort are unique and relevant. The boys make the story because it is their story. In fact, it's all their stories. Like the fort, it's one thing but it's so many different things too. It's acceptance and anonymity, protection and vulnerability, and it's solidarity and individuality. Gordon Korman has made the fort a foundation for the boys to learn more about themselves and each other and build new bonds of friendship and support. And like a fort, their friendships will be a stronghold against life's inevitable challenges and foibles.

Shadow Grave

Written by Marina Cohen

Roaring Brook Press

978-1-250-78300-4

288 pp.

Ages 8-12

May 2022

 

The trip to a New Hampshire bed-and-breakfast for twelve-year-old Arlo and his eight-year-old sister Lola with their mother for Thanksgiving is supposed to be a treat. With their father remarried with a new child and Mom dealing with health issues and Arlo managing anxiety, the family needs a break. And with money being an issue–they're driving Mom's old clunker of a car–everything is being done on a budget. But when something jumps into the road and they end up hitting a tree and totalling the car, their family trip takes an unexpected turn. 

The trio have no option but to seek help, especially as Mom's ankle may be broken and their one working cell phone cannot get a signal. Following the road that eventually becomes little more than a footpath, they reach the town of Livermore, an isolated community that almost feels deserted. In fact, when they finally get someone to open their door, the woman tells them, "You've come to the wrong place." (pg. 37) But Lovicia, with the urging of her young niece Hannah, lets them in and summons Doc Brown to tend to Arlo and Lola's mom. Everything's a little bit old-fashioned from the plaster cast Mom is given to the pot over a fire in the hearth but it's the lack of automobiles or phones that poses the greatest concern. And then Arlo hears some one say, "Leave now. While you still can." (pg. 46) With one last call to his Dad before their phone dies, the family is put up at the Samuels' B &B, a large mansion of Mr. Woodbridge Samuels, his young daughter Alice, and housekeeper Mrs. Hawthorn. They also meet all the community who join them for a Thanksgiving meal but, even though they are polite enough, Arlo feels the townspeople are somewhat reserved, perhaps even unwelcoming.

It was as though their warm smiles and formal manners hid their true feelings, like sweet perfume masks the stench of sweat. (pg. 87)

What their superficial politeness and old-fashioned natures hide is far more creepy than even Arlo and his family could anticipate, and whether or not they can get out of Livermore safely is part of the mystery of Shadow Grave.

Author Marina Cohen has always given us a little bit of creepy blended with the realism of family relationships, mental health, and more. With Shadow Grave, she again delivers us to a surreal world, this one the town of Livermore with its eerie inhabitants, time-frozen settings and dark unknowns, while integrating it with the familiar as Mom battles a life-threatening illness, Arlo struggles with his anxiety and the whole family is challenged with rebuilding after divorce. So while Marina Cohen has given us another solid middle-grade horror novel (check out my favourites The Inn Between, The Doll's Eye and Chasing the White Witch),  Shadow Grave has infused a story with ghost-like entities, monsters, and unknown dangers with the reality of a family's challenges, thereby also drawing in readers with the fears of every day life. She reminds us that some times the terrors we feel are both familiar and alien. 

Enter Livermore with caution. There are monsters of different kinds but, if you face them as Arlo does, with positive thoughts, trust and family, you may just get out alive.

On the Line

Written by Paul Coccia and Eric Walters

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-45982-713-4

312 pp.

Ages 9-13

March 2022

 

"...if you're down twenty points in the last two minutes, you still play your best..." (pg. 52)

What's on the line for thirteen-year-old Jordan Ryker? Everything. His parents can't stop arguing. The auto plant where his dad works, being the town's major employer, is shutting down. Even basketball, which is everything to Jordan and his best friend Junior, is somewhat tenuous with the school's new basketball coach who really doesn't know what he's doing. And now Jordan has to figure out how to work with new kids, brother and sister Aaron and Tammy, who are very different and both want on the boys' basketball team.  

Most unexpectedly, Jordan's dad moves out and reveals that he's gay. In a community where everybody knows everyone else's business, Jordan is not dealing well with it. Junior tries to help Jordan see the courage his dad is showing in being true to himself finally, and Tammy with whom Jordan starts going out is all about supporting social justice issues and even starts a Gay-Straight Alliance club at the school. But it's all too much for Jordan who responds to his parents' separation and his father's coming out with frustration and anger. 

At thirteen, Jordan is already dealing with a lot of new situations. He's thinking about girls but is both intrigued and uncomfortable with them. He's been struggling with an unstable home situation, which then becomes even more dubious as he tries to adjust to two different lives and a father different than the one he thought he always knew. Worse yet, Jordan takes it all personally, convinced that he is the aggrieved party, rather than seeing beyond himself what others may be feeling and experiencing. He can't see the efforts that everyone around him are making to support him and themselves in what they need. Sadly, though Junior, Tammy and others try to help him accept their support, there are some whose homophobic and narrow-minded perspectives on the Ryker family cause more tension for all. 

There's a great story here but it's Paul Coccia and Eric Walters's characters that carry On the Line. With Jordan, they have given us a typical young man in a somewhat unusual familial situation. They've created a kid who loves his family, hates their fighting, is starting to have romantic feelings, and is angry and frustrated because none of his life feels straightforward or easy anymore. I don't know many who would choose to go through puberty again but to compound that tension with confusion about your father and his relationship with you would be overwhelming, as it is for Jordan. Then there's his father who is trying to navigate a new relationship with his son, with his wife, with his community and even a new partner but most of all with himself. There's Tammy who strives for the world to be fair to her and to others. She challenges the school for her right to be on the boys' basketball team. She's all about diversity and inclusion and she wants others to be the same. Even Junior and Aaron are developed into full characters that add contrast and meaning to On the Line.

This is the first writing collaboration between Paul Coccia and Eric Walters and, having reviewed books by both previously, I can attest to a new synergy to their writing as they bring their strengths in plotting, character development, and voice and meld them with LGBTQ+ issues and sports into something new and important. They've given us a story that challenges young readers to see beyond themselves and from different perspectives and with compassion for the struggles that others may be experiencing. With heart and intention, they've put themselves out there and helped us see from that angle what's really meaningful: friends, family, and fair play for all.

Weekend Dad

Written by Naseem Hrab

Illustrated by Frank Viva

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-108-5

36 pp.

Ages 4-7

May 2020

My dad says I have two homes now.

Though TV and movies may play up the drama involved with parental separation, Weekend Dad tells how bittersweet it may be for children who live between households. It's not the joy of double houses and playing off one parent against the other. It can be hard and it can be sad. From Naseem Hrab's poignant words to Frank Viva's affective artwork, Weekend Dad is the real story behind a separation within a family.

From Weekend Dad by Naseem Hrab, illus. by Frank Viva

The story starts on a Monday morning when "my dad moved out  of our house and into an apartment." Each day that follows the child is reminded of his dad, whether it's the colour of his hair or his tears at a hamster's death or that he hates tuna fish.

From Weekend Dad by Naseem Hrab, illus. by Frank Viva

But when Friday night comes and it's time for the weekend with his dad, a new reality begins. It's taking a bus to an apartment which is home but not home. And though he has his hedgehog stuffie Wendell, it's different and things makes him feel scared.

From Weekend Dad by Naseem Hrab, illus. by Frank Viva

Their Saturday is filled with new routines from eating eggs for breakfast, playing cards and going to the park, all repeated Sunday. But when it's time to leave, the child is mindful of each parent being alone without him. Still this child must reconcile that his father will not be coming in when dropping him off and to that end, Dad hands him a touching letter about how much he loves him and is always with him.

...you will hear your dad's heart beat, and with each beat, you will hear the words: "You are loved." No instrument can pick this tiny pulse up except for your own heart and imagination.

This is a story of reality but with heart. Mom and Dad aren't going to find their way back to each other. (And Naseem Hrab makes sure not to place blame on either parent or make the story about their relationship. This is all about the child.) Dad's apartment is rather sparse but he's working to make it more for his son.  Naseem Hrab's text from the child's perspective is similarly stark as the situation probably is for any child experiencing a separation within the family. It is what it is. The boy doesn't overthink but he does take it for what it is right now: complex, confusing, and harsh. The only relief is in the dad's words, words that he undoubtedly took time to compose, and which touch with their affection and concern.

From Weekend Dad by Naseem Hrab, illus. by Frank Viva

Between the muted tones of olive drab, rose brown, grey and yellow and the ever-present scribbles of cloud and smoke, Frank Viva's artwork does not divert from Naseem Hrab's text. The upheaval and the austerity of the circumstances are reflected in Frank Viva's ink and digitally coloured illustrations. With few colours and an economy of shape, Frank Viva conveys what this child sees and feels, and it is bleak. But things will change, and Naseem Hrab's final words, having father and son heading off to buy a bed, and Frank Viva's last double spread, a little brighter in colour and alive with activity, indicate things are going to be okay.

Louis Undercover

Written by Fanny Britt

Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault

Translated by Christelle Morelli and Susan Ouriou

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-859-4

160 pp.

Ages 9-14

October 2017

From the acclaimed partnership of Fanny Britt and Isabelle Arsenault that brought us the award-winning Jane, the Fox and Me (Groundwood, 2013), which was also translated by Christelle Morelli and Susan Ouriou, comes a second graphic novel of emotional sensitivity, this time in a complex familial context.

The title may suggest a children's game of spying but Louis is more discreet observer and listener.  He watches important people in his life and sees what they do and hears what they say.  These observations form the fabric of his interactions with them, bringing out his sensitivities, fears and compassion. And he has much to observe, as he and his little brother Truffle bounce between their city apartment where they live with their mother and their country house where their alcoholic father still lives.

From Louis Undercover 

by Fanny Britt 

illus. by Isabelle Arsenault

Louis sees the ups and downs of his father's alcoholism: the manic periods of song and big plans and the depressive times of tears and melancholy, especially when the boys leave.  At home, he sees the joy in his mother when they return but also her sarcasm and loneliness.  Louis has his own secret burdens which he only shares with his good friend Boris.  Louis is in love with Billie.

She’s a spectacled siren, a rainstorm,
A chocolate fountain, a silent queen. (pg. 50)

From Louis Undercover 

by Fanny Britt 

illus. by Isabelle Arsenault

He is overwhelmed by his affection for Billie but he is immobilized into inaction.  

I had no idea that love is like a rock shattering your heart, as painful as it is life-giving, and that even as it makes you want to bolt, it keeps you glued to the spot. (pg. 58)

Though he makes plans to speak with her, just to say a few words to the gutsy girl who stands up to injustice and reads voraciously, he can't do it, even with the summer holidays imminent and a gift of dice for her in his pocket.  

From Louise Undercover 

by Fanny Britt 

illus. by Isabelle Arsenault

But two weeks of the summer at their father's becomes a turning point for the family.  Their father has stopped drinking and seems to be his old positive self, as reflected in the splashes of yellow, hitherto reserved for Billie.  Though their mom is seen as mired in the sadness of the turquoise and the browns of regular life, when Truffle is injured and sent to hospital, she rushes to his side and stays with them at their old house.  She makes breakfast and laughs with their father and sleeps in his bedroom.  They're back to their "normal" family and a trip to New York City holds the promise of a complete reunion.  But, sadly and realistically, the yellows give way to the family's blues of the past.  Returning to school in the fall, Louis can take this experience as a life lesson that love can end badly or he can see the hope that it can conquer the worst.

Fanny Britt has given us a story about a family dealing with an alcoholic parent and creates a story of understanding.  Louis sees what has happened to his family and is disheartened by it.  He recognizes the signs of his father's drinking and the impact on his mother and their family.  He is wary of love and how it can go horribly wrong.  (Note Louis' watching of his sober father playing with the happy Truffle in the illustration above.) Even his mother, ever immersed in the sadness of needing to be separated from her husband, holds out hope for recovery and reconciliation.  How Louis will adapt that understanding to his own crush on Billie, desperate to speak with her but reluctant and apprehensive about the outcome, is an ending that must be read and seen to be fully appreciated.  

From Louis Undercover 

by Fanny Britt 

illus. by Isabelle Arsenault

Isabelle Arsenault does emotional storytelling in illustration. She doesn't just draw pictures to go with the story; she builds the story with surreal elements that create depth and carry the nuance of Louis' family's circumstances.  The use of yellow and turquoise, with the browns and greys, subtly convey the emotion of each situation.  The yellow is positive and hopeful and cheery, as when Louis watches Billie or his family is happy and Dad is sober.  Turquoise permeates those illustrations of lives living with heartbreak.  Real life is brown and grey because it's sobering and no-nonsense.  

There is much sadness in Louis Undercover.  Turquoise and browns and greys are the overwhelming colours.  But be assured that there is yellow in Louis' life and Fanny Britt resolves his story with a subtle explosion of positivity matched by Isabelle Arsenault exquisite artwork.

The World Without Us

by Robin Stevenson

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-0680-1

226 pp.

Ages 12-16

February, 2015

If we jump, the world will just go on without us. (pg. 2)

The we are teens Jeremy and Melody, their world is St. Petersburg, Florida, and the where is the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.  But only Jeremy jumps and now Melody is left to tell the story or rather stories, the one she knows and the one everyone else believes.

Jeremy, a junior whose 13-year-old brother died two years earlier, introduces himself to the rather reclusive Melody, who has been given the unkind moniker of Death Wish after an accidental poisoning at a party.  Because of their common appreciation for Albert Camus' writing and family experiences with death–Melody's parents are activists against the death penalty–Melody and Jeremy begin to form a bond, ostensibly one based on the finality of life. As Jeremy suggests,

If things get too bad, we can always check out, right?  Like Camus said, the when and how don't matter. (pg. 59)

Somehow their discussions about last meal choices, living with differences, reincarnation, and lucid dreaming take them to the point of no return, and their lives and relationship are forever altered.

Robin Stevenson has a knack for bringing thought-provoking tales to young readers, as she has with her Record Breaker (Orca, 2013), Hummingbird Heart (Orca, 2012) and Liars and Fools (Orca, 2010).  The World Without Us too delves into issues with which young people might be dealing: grief and guilt, suicidal thoughts, friendship and love.  And all these issues have them teetering on the edge of decisions, some involving life and death.  If The World Without Us doesn't convince you how quickly and tragically these issues can escalate for young people, then you'll only see this book as a story, not the cautionary tale about the repercussions of legitimate turmoil.  Robin Stevenson reminds us in her eloquent text that the fictional can become reality in a split second and with just a slip of time or even a misstep.