Planting Sunshine

Written by Andrée Poulin

Illustrated by Enzo (Enzo Lord Mariano)

Groundwood Books

978-1-77946-095-0

116 pp.

Ages 9–12

February 2026 

 

As is often the case, Theo's day is normal enough until it isn't. And what changes everything is watching the news coverage of war breaking out far, far away.

Theo's father

turns on the TV— 

     and war arrives

in their living room. (pg. 9)

Theo cannot believe what he is hearing and seeing. Horrified by the sights and sounds of bombs and guns, tanks and drones, and most of all the destruction of people and place, Theo is troubled. He wants to know why this happens, whether they are safe, and asks why humans are so cruel.

From Planting Sunshine, written by Andrée Poulin, illustrated by Enzo

Though the countries involved are never identified, readers might recognize some of the images described as those from the attack on Ukraine by Russia, such as the elderly woman who confronts a Russian soldier with sunflower seeds and suggests that if he puts them in his pocket. . .

At least when you die here

     on the soil of my country

     the sunflowers will grow 

                    around you. (pg. 20)

Theo asks his neighbour Mrs. Lena, an elderly woman who grew up in "the country now caught in this terrible war" (pg. 21), about the war and this incident, and she tells him of the sunflower—soniashnyk, in Ukrainian—being the "flower that feeds hope." (pg. 22) Seeing Theo's continued distress, day after day, she gives him sunflower seeds to plant.

From Planting Sunshine, written by Andrée Poulin, illustrated by Enzo

Each day there is more horrific news from the war, and the details stay with Theo. He thinks about the numbers, about the images, about the losses, and all he can do is wonder why no one is stopping it. Each day Theo asks, "Will the war end today?" (pg. 38) The war may be very far away but it's impacting Theo in the way he sees life. The word "bomb" no longer reminds him of diving board cannonballs. His friends playing war angers him. His dad refuses to let Theo watch the news anymore, so Theo hides his tablet and watches at night. And then the nightmares start, a mix of anger, fear, hatred and more.

 

When he meets a girl drawing doves on a wall as protest, Theo is finally able to share what he's feeling–never wanting to burden Mrs. Lena or his teacher or his father—and feels a little less alone. And he finds his own way to express his anger and his grief. 

From Planting Sunshine, written by Andrée Poulin, illustrated by Enzo

Still, he is unconvinced that the war will end or that things would change, until Mrs. Lena offers him the idea of hope. She tells him, "Hope lives in the after." (pg. 91) And, with a little help from those around him, Theo finds a way to settle his anger, remember what should never be forgotten, work to help a cause, and find "a small way to start building peace." (pg. 110)

I could quote page after page of eloquent text that clutches at the heart of Theo's bewilderment and trauma. Andrée Poulin has always had a knack for telling tough stories lightly—not lightheartedly—for a young audience. Whether it's sanitation (Burying the Moon, 2021), diversity and tolerance (Tickled Pink, 2020), or abandonment (The Biggest Poutine in the World, 2016), Andrée Poulin recognizes that her audience is young, and will be impacted differently about important issues. Theo is just such a child, significantly impacted by a war thousands of kilometres away, and not understanding fully what is happening. He's feeling a lot and needs help understanding those emotions and directing them into activities that help. Andrée Poulin takes Theo full circle, from unfamiliarity with war, to an introduction by media, to immersion in images and sensory overload, to impact and trauma, and finally purposeful attention. And she does so eloquently in words and in verse form. This book will become an exemplar of telling a story with sensitivity and compassion, and awareness of how world events can impact children in powerful ways. 

From Planting Sunshine, written by Andrée Poulin, illustrated by Enzo

Enzo (a.k.a. Enzo Lord Mariano), a Montreal-based illustrator, provides the artwork that frames Andrée Poulin's story. Using Procreate with watercolour textures, Enzo gives us some war images—the ones of a blue tractor in a field of sunflowers that is later devastated by bombs is especially heartrending—but generally it's all about Theo because this is his story. It is not a story of war. It is a story of a boy who struggles with the concept of war and his emotions with the senseless destruction it perpetuates. Enzo helps us see Theo's anguish and his anger, the trauma of his sleepless nights, and his despondency. But Enzo also shows us family, friendship, and community, and how those can soften the suffering.

 

I don't think I can say enough about Planting Sunshine. (A French-language version, Semer des soleils, was published in 2024 by La courte echelle.) Not only does it remind all that there is an ongoing conflict in Ukraine, but that there are children beyond the borders of that war that are struggling with it. Highly sensitive children like Theo can be impacted by what they see and hear in the news and cannot always articulate what they are feeling or recognize how to grapple with those emotions. In a world of strife and public media, children will continue to be exposed to all manner of frightening news. Awareness of their potential struggles and attention to their needs might help them find ways to plant sunshine and to unearth hope.

Sam

Written by Eric Walters

DCB

978-1-770867949

228 pp.

Ages 9-14

May 2025 

 

She was strong. She didn't give up. She didn't take crap from anybody. I liked that. And all she really wanted was a place to call home. I understood that better than I even would have wanted. (p. 133)

 

The "she" of whom fourteen-year-old Sam Reid speaks is Anne of Green Gables, and, along with support from a select group of new acquaintances, the boy with red hair and a matching temper has a lot to learn and especially from L. M. Montgomery's 1908 fictional character.

 

Sam may be a smart kid, but it doesn't stop him from letting his temper get the better of him. When confronted with a shopkeeper trying to rip $10 off of him and having to stand up against the high school's quarterback, who ends up with a broken nose, Sam knows he should have kept his cool. But things get worse when Sam is accosted in a school bathroom and fights back, leaving Cody, the quarterback, with a concussion.

...there's no question that I have a temper, but that's only because people are always doing things to provoke me. (p. 9) 

With no family–his parents were killed in a car crash by a drunk driver four years earlier–and foster parents who don't want him back, he is sent to the Johnson Juvenile Center, a detention facility for those younger than 18 who were awaiting trial or those already convicted and serving sentences less than 18 months. Sam would be at the Johnson Juvenile Center, a.k.a. the Gables, for at least 5 weeks while he is assessed before heading to court. While his social worker Jenna Williams is keen to help, his court-appointed lawyer Mr. Turner is challenged, especially when additional charges of fraud and theft are brought by the shopkeeper, and everyone seems disappointed that the local football hero would be out of commission. 

At the Gables, Sam must deal with a nasty guard Mr. Roberts who insists on calling Sam "Red" and is just waiting for the chance to write him up for poor behaviour, bad attitude, and more. There's also a convicted "long-timer" Bruce who seems to have it out for Sam after an innocent mistake of sitting at the wrong dining table ends with Sam shooting off his mouth again.

Why did people keep coming at me and why wasn't I smart enough to shut up and move on when they did? (p. 64)

Thankfully Sam has some good people on his side trying to help him be the best version of himself. There's his roomie Nigel, a smaller guy who is in for throwing a chair at someone; Mrs. Martinez, their English teacher; Kate, a kind-hearted guard; and his psychologist, Dr. McEnny. Now if Sam could only stop seeing everything and everyone as a threat or a challenge and use his smarts–and he is very intelligent–to help himself. 

Sometimes smart can't overcome circumstances, situations, and tragedy. (p. 128)

Things start to change for Sam when Mrs. Martinez assigns Nigel and Sam each a book on which they will prepare a report, and Sam gets Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables, hoping he'll find some interesting parallels with his own life. If he can just get past his outrage and humiliation, especially when he sees that Anne is a redhead like he is, Sam may be able to use his potential and discover his strength to find hope.

 

For lovers of L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables, the parallels between Anne's life and that of Sam will be evident, even though their differences in time and circumstances are significant. (In fact, an assignment Sam completes for Mrs. Martinez focuses on these very parallels.) Eric Walters is very subtle in his homage to Montgomery and her red-haired character, though his "Author's Note" suggests an extraordinary depth of admiration for the author and her book. This is abundantly evident in his appreciation for her words–quotes from Anne of Green Gables are cited often and always fitting–and the themes of persevering life's challenges and finding hope against tragedy and adversity. Eric Walters makes us believe in Sam. The young teen may not be completely likeable at the beginning of Sam but he's a kid who has had a lot of hard knocks. His temper, which may or may not be as a result of his circumstances, and I don't mean the colour of his hair, is an entity with which he has a relationship, good or bad. It's in his learning about that anger and his recognition that he has been able to keep it in check that almost releases him from it and allows Sam to grow. While he initially thinks Anne is almost delusionally optimistic, he too starts to acknowledge the positives of things that once appeared to only be difficult. 

Sam has had a tough life, bouncing from foster homes and receiving homes, never being offered a true home since the death of his parents. But, as horrific as going to a juvenile center must be, the Gables becomes a place of salvation for Sam, as Green Gables was for Anne, helping him acquire a support system as tough as any loving family and teaching him the strength he has always had to overcome that which seems formidable. With kind souls and kindred spirits, Sam's life goes beyond "a perfect graveyard of buried hopes" as Anne declares at the beginning of Anne of Green Gables, to one of possibilities.

If You See a Bluebird

Written by Bahram Rahman

Illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-284-4

32 pp.

Ages 5-8

October 2023

 

When families are displaced, whether from war, natural disasters, persecution, or something else, making a new home is not always easy, especially for children. And the good memories of that original home may make one long for what once was. But home is not just a place. It is the family too, as an Afghan boy learns from his grandmother and a visiting bluebird.

From If You See a Bluebird, written by Bahram Rahman, illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard

Ali and his parents and Nana had to flee Kabul, Afghanistan after war broke out. They travelled by foot, bus, and eventually escaped via plane, taking very little from their home. Now, in Canada, they live near an ocean, and Ali and Nana ride bikes to collect blackberries. But Ali misses Kabul, noting that the blackberries are not as deliciously sweet as the mulberries back home. Nana points out to him that though they are different they are not bad.

From If You See a Bluebird, written by Bahram Rahman, illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard

When they take a break from their berry-picking, they see a bluebird, and Nana reminds him that if you see a bluebird and make a wish before it flies away, your wish will come true. Her wish, for their family to be together and safe, had already come true. But his wish is for the fighting to stop in Kabul so that they might return home. It is then that Nana reminds him that home "is the love we have for each other."

 

It would be tough for a child to give up the familiar and the sweetness of his life in Kabul, with his mother playing her ghichak, his toys on a swing, gathering mulberries, and sitting on the tree's branch to look out over his neighbourhood. But,when he is reminded by his Nana of what home really is, he sees his new situation in a different light. There are now blackberries, his mother has a new instrument, spruce trees line the driveway, and they are safe. He finally appreciates this, shouting out to his parents when they arrive back that, "I am home!"

Bahram Rahman, himself a refugee from Afghanistan, gives us a different perspective of war and escape from war and adjustment to a new living situation in If You See a Bluebird. He has already shared stories in The Library Bus (2020) and A Sky-Blue Bench (2021) but in his latest picture book story, Bahram Rahman demonstrates that escape from a dangerous conflict does not always translate into a rejection of that insecurity. Because there has been loss, of place, people, objects and connection, the substitution of a new home in safety is not necessarily embraced immediately or wholeheartedly. So, Bahram Rahman shows us that a little boy can miss the wonderful things he remembers of his Afghan home but learn to lean towards something different and new that is nonetheless home.

From If You See a Bluebird, written by Bahram Rahman, illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard

Gabrielle Grimard, who also illustrated The Library Bus, has such a sensitive touch for making us feel Ali's hesitation at embracing the new place as home, holding such strong positive memories of Kabul. She gives us the bleakness of the danger when the soldiers come and the family flees but Gabrielle Grimard brings in the birghtness and colour when Ali and his family are safe and happy, whether in a Kabul without war or in Canada.

If You See a Bluebird offers the hope one needs when going through change and especially when challenged with hardships. It's a reminder that with love and family, all can be endured. And making a wish when a bluebird lingers might just help as well.

The Sun Will Come Out

Written by Joanne Levy

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-2587-1

281 pp.

Ages 9-12

April 2021

If the title of Joanne Levy's newest middle grade novel has you singing the song "Tomorrow" from the musical Annie, then you know what 11-year-old Bea Gellman is wishing for when she has to attend her first summer sleepover camp without her best friend Frankie. All Bea's plans for a fabulous summer at Camp Shalom go out the window when Frankie is accepted to attend an expensive horse camp. Bea knows it won't be the same, even if her crush, Frankie's 14-year-old brother Jeremy, will be there as a counselor-in-training. But all Bea's dad can tell her is to look for the silver lining. 

Very quickly Bea makes a friend of Regan, a girl from Ireland, whose grandparents live locally and wish her to meet some Jewish friends. But also in Cabin 17 are mean girls Carly and Samantha who make Bea the butt of their jokes after she breaks out in hives. And with every new embarrassment, whether it's mistaking the mess tent for the arts and crafts area, seeing Jeremy, or being pushed into him for a kiss, Bea is reduced to hives that send her to the infirmary. There she meets Harry, the thirteen-year-old son of the camp directors, who helps out rather than participating in camp activities because of the meanness of some campers about his appearance. Because Harry has progeria, a rare genetic disorder that is characterized by a number of unusual physical traits including small stature, a large head and no hair, he is happiest helping out in the infirmary and staying behind the scenes.

 

Since Harry is delighted to have some company his own age and Bea appreciates being able to avoid her cabin, especially after learning that Regan and Jeremy were seen kissing after a rehearsal for the camp musical of Annie, the two young people become fast friends, bonding over video games and movies including that of the very musical set to be performed. But while they share a need to cocoon in the comfort of their new friendship, they realize that they're both running away from things that scare them. Harry recognizes that courage may require doing something that is frightening, but...

...even if something doesn't turn out the way you hope, that's not failing. Not trying at all because you're scared is failing. (pg. 235)

At Camp Shalom, there are days of rain and sun, friendships and bullies, and times of angst and glory, and Joanne Levy takes us there for every moment. Of course it has everything that kids experience through the school year, when they are faced with new challenges and people, learning to get by and get along and rise above. There's still much laughter and tears, camaraderie and struggles, but with Camp Shalom as the setting for Bea's newest chapter, Joanne Levy introduces a distinct world of Shabbat services, hamotsi, and ometz lev. But whether they can speak Hebrew or are looking forward to their bat mitzvahs or just figuring out friendships, Joanne Levy has created characters as real as those who may be currently struggling with virtual schools and missing their friends and looking for more.

 

The sun will come out tomorrow, or perhaps the day after, but Joanne Levy helps us see that, with a little humour, a dab of courage and the recognition of a silver lining to most things, almost anything can be endured and even transformative. Most of all, there will be notable moments in our lives when new people come into them, perhaps for only a short time, to offer the kind of friendships that teach us more about ourselves.

Story Boat

Written by Kyo Maclear

Illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh

Tundra

978-0-7352-6359-8

40 pp.

Ages 3-7

February 2020

A young girl and her little brother begin a journey with family and others, travelling from one "here" to another "here" and finding comfort where they may in a cup, a blanket, and especially in a story of hope.

From Story Boat by Kyo Maclear, illus. by Rashin Kheiriyeh

As they travel, the girl tries to explain the concept of "here" to her little brother. The concept can be a difficult one for very young children to grasp, especially as "here" is constantly changing for the travellers. But here becomes whatever is on hand that creates a permanency of people and emotion. It's the cup "Old and fine, warm as a hug" or a "song that every can sing." And, always, that cup or song, or blanket or lamp, or flower, becomes part of a story boat that takes the two children and their cat to see hope amidst a turbulent sea.

From Story Boat by Kyo Maclear, illus. by Rashin Kheiriyeh

Kyo Maclear, author of my favourite Virginia Wolf (2012), consistently tackles big issues by making them personal and intimate. Leaving one's home for something safer, travelling into uncertainty, and looking for hope wherever it may reside will sadly be familiar to most refugees looking for new homes after violence, persecution, and instability compels them to leave the homes they've always known.

Here is our journey
That holds the warmth of a cup,
The softness of a blanket,
The brightness of a lamp,
The strength of a flower
And the openness of a story.

Imagine what it must be like for young children for whom the destination is a grey hole of nothingness, unable to anticipate where home may be or who will be there or what it will look like. Kyo Maclear's wonderful child's storytelling transports them to a new here.

From Story Boat by Kyo Maclear, illus. by Rashin Kheiriyeh

Award-winning Iranian-born illustrator Rashin Kheiriyeh, who currently lives in Washington D.C., fuses the gravity of the refugees' lives with their comforts from home and hope for something good. She does this primarily through her palette of backgrounds of muted blue green and splashes of brightness in the oranges, though much is still black and white, not unlike their circumstances. However, Rashin Kheiriyeh's art, created with coloured pencil and watercolour, oil and acrylic paint, along with some cut paper and other media, also uses shape to infuse the story with the activity of movement, whether it is the travellers' journey on foot or on water or the children's jaunts by story boat. Thankfully, it's all forward from an old here to a new one.

Kyo Maclear and Rashin Kheiriyeh's Story Boat may be a story of those seeking refuge and children finding ways to cope with uncertainty but this story transports and guides just like their story boat. For them and for us, stories can save and illuminate new ways.

From Story Boat by Kyo Maclear, illus. by Rashin Kheiriyeh

Last Words

Written by Leanne Baugh

Red Deer Press

978-0-88995-576-9

320 pp.

Ages 13+

2019

"I'm sorry" are the last words that Will Szabo speaks to a stranger on the Lion's Gate Bridge before he jumps to his death, but they are the beginning of a new chapter in sixteen-year-old Claire Winters's life as she struggles to understand his suicide.

Just before he jumped, Will hands Claire his cell phone–complete with passcode taped to the back–and this becomes the focus for Claire's probe into his death. She discovers a suicide note, emails, voice mail, text messages and more that help her reconstruct his life. But learning about the young man just leads her to question the way of the world and what hope there is. In fact, Claire's own life begins to unravel as she delves deeper, causing riffs with her boyfriend Ty, friends Izzy and Declan, and straining her relationships with her parents and older sister Belle who is moving to a group home–Belle has Down Syndrome–while also impacting her passion for painting. She speaks to different people, trying to get advice as to how to proceed, including from Paul, the executive director of a hospice, who suggests that

"Sometimes the best way to get to the other side is to go right through the pain, yelling, kicking, and screaming like a crazed fool." (pg. 173)

Then Claire meets Kiki, a teen with cancer, who sees life as a gift and a challenge that she will not deny and Claire begins to wonder who got it right.

It's not unusual for young people to look at the world and see the good and the bad as extremes. Except for a person like Kiki who is on the cusp of losing her life, many become distressed by break-ups and environmental disasters and changes that compel them to take a different perspective from the one with which they've become comfortable. They're not wrong to be distressed but they might not always see the circumstances in the realm of a big picture that might suggest these situations are not worth ending a life.

"...if there's meaning in life, there also has to be meaning in suffering. They go hand in hand." (pg. 241)

Leanne Baugh does not take sides. She doesn't make Claire seem over-the-top in her pursuit of Will's story or a victim of wrong-place-wrong-time circumstances, though it was unfortunate that Claire had to witness something so shocking. Leanne Baugh could have made Kiki into a saint who fights her illness with valour and perseverance but she doesn't. And she certainly doesn't depict Will as a victim or a young man in control of his own life. The paths for these characters, as are our own, are never set in stone and suggesting otherwise would be unfair. Ultimately, Leanne Baugh twists her plot to enable Claire to see her life and those of Will and Kiki from a different perspective, for good or bad, and recognize that, as Emily Dickinson is quoted, "Hope is the thing with feathers."

The Garden

Written by Meghan Ferrari

Red Deer Press

978-0-88995-568-4

109 pp.

Ages 12+

October 2018

Often, he imagines his heart as a stereo, and his pain a volume knob that his memories control. The volume varies, depending on the day, the time, and the trigger. When the trigger is swift and unexpected, it feels as though the bass has been cranked, and a pain that almost blinds him reverberates throughout his entire body. (pg. 26)

While we might assume, incorrectly, that the path from war-torn Syria through refugee camp and immigration to Canada would be in a positive direction, that journey is rife with trauma, loss and changes that may shadow any positives and create stresses in the new experiences. Such is fifteen-year-old Elias's story, told in alternating chapters of pre- and post-immigration to Canada.

Elias lives with his little brother Moussa and his parents, one a doctor and the other a translator, in Syria. He goes to school, plays football and enjoys spending time with his little brother who loves to draw with his crayons. Then the civil war begins and schools are closed because of missile attacks, food is in short supply and humanitarian donations are being targeted. But Elias is most vigilant about keeping little Moussa and himself safe from rebels seeking to capture children for training and arming for war. In a hole dug in their mother's garden, beneath a piece of plywood, the two boys hide, with Elias making up games, like hide and seek or a role play of a jasmine seed planted in hope of growing, to avoid sharing the circumstances of their situation with his very young brother. The garden becomes a refuge for the boys as it has always been for their mother.

Alternating with Elias's reminiscences of life in Syria are his experiences as a new immigrant, wishful of returning to his homeland to help rebuild it while he is being bullied by boys who know nothing of his struggles. Though he is reluctant to make friends, soon two classmates, Sullivan, a small boy often victimized by bullies, and Liling, a girl whose own family sought asylum in Canada, come to support him without needing to know his back story.

But Elias is struggling with guilt, for choices he made and makes, and for circumstances he deems unfair after he and his family seek shelter in a refugee camp in Lebanon. Coupled with the trauma of things no young person should experience, Elias agonizes over how to look forward when it might mean forgetting those he left behind.

The Garden may be Meghan Ferrari's first book but she draws on her expertise in Social Justice Education to tell a convincing tale about one teen's experiences in the Syrian War, in a Lebanese refugee camp and as a new immigrant to Canada. Elias's disquieting realities, living in fear, with memories of the past and with his prospects for the future, are palpable, drenched in grief and trauma.

The people here might have fled the war, but they weren't free. They were imprisoned in this camp while they anxiously awaited verdicts on asylum claims, news of private sponsorships, or the end of the war. As with most prisons, there was solitary confinement. In this one, it existed in the mind–each inmate trapped in memories of loved ones: either dead, or left behind, or gone ahead on the harrowing journey across the Mediterranean Sea. (pg. 90)

Fortunately for Elias, a garden was and is his salvation, taking his story from one of war and loss, and culture shock and bullying, to the beginnings of healing, and Meghan Ferrari makes sure to let us observe Elias on his odyssey.

Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey

by Margriet Ruurs

Artwork by Nizar Ali Badr

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-459814905

28 pp.

All ages

October 2016

Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey is a very important book on so many fronts.  At face value, it recounts in memorable artwork and text the plight of refugees from Syria, Nizar Ali Badr’s home, or elsewhere, now and forever.  But beyond bringing understanding to the refugee crisis, Stepping Stones is a book of encouragement to those arriving in Canada –the book is a dual-language edition in both English and Arabic–and to those who can contribute to the cause.

This is the story told from the perspective of a young girl, Rama, who recounts life in Syria, from the rooster crowing her family (Mama, Papa, grandfather Jedo and brother Sami) awake, and a breakfast of bread, yogurt and tomatoes, and memories of play and work, school and freedom.

But that was then.And this is now. (pg. 10)

From Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family's Journey 

by Margriet Ruurs, art by Nizar Ali Badr

But their freedom is an illusion, and after war comes, there is insufficient food and the bombings, and people begin to leave.

People began to leave our village.
First a trickle, then a stream,
across dusty fields under a burning sun,
a stream driven by hope. (pg. 14)

So too begins Rama’s family exodus, walking until reaching the sea, whereupon they “set sail on the waves of hope and prayer” (pg. 20), arriving on land where the gruelling trek begins again, until they arrive at their future, welcomed by neighbours who communicate with smiles and the sharing of clothes and food and more.

The lucky ones, they call us.
New memories, new hopes,
     new dreams.
Not of war,
but of peace. (pg. 25)

All told in the artistry of Nizar Ali Badr’s stunning arrangements of oddly-shaped and widely-coloured stones, Stepping Stones could be the story of any refugee family: a good life bombarded by war, a demanding and emotional flight from danger, and the arrival to a new life.  Though for each family the path is a unique arrangement of steps, its bearing is always the same: safety and opportunity.  Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey reveals this route with empathy and assurance.

Margriet Ruurs provides an extensive foreward that explains the background of Stepping Stones coming to publication.  She accounts her herculean efforts to contact artist Nizar Ali Badr after viewing his wondrous artwork of stones, about convincing him and Orca Book Publishers to take on the project, and arranging for a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the books to be donated to resettlement agencies.  The task may have been as arduous as that of Sisyphus but the ultimate story of Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey, both within and externally, culminates with promise and purpose, the hallmarks of a good life.

From Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family's Journey 

by Margriet Ruurs, art by Nizar Ali Badr

Feathered

by Deborah Kerbel

Kids Can Press

978-1-77138-341-7

144 pp.

Ages 9-13

April 2016

Hope can take many forms and be elicited in a myriad of ways.  For Finch Bennett, an eleven-year-old girl in the summer of 1980–a time of Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope, the hostage crisis in Iran, and the Rubik’s Cube-she needs to find some hope, somewhere, anywhere.  Her father died of cancer less than a year ago, her grieving mother is despondent and oblivious to Finch and her older brother Harrison who is also seemingly indifferent to the young girl, allowing his friend Matt to relentlessly torment her.  For Finch, hope might be found in the tiny scar on her neck from which a single white feather had been removed at age 3.  With that scar, Finch reassures herself that a better life, perhaps one of feathers and flight, might emerge.

“That night, I dream about my feathers.  They’ve grown in all white and fluffy and smooth.  And I’m happpy because it means I’m finally able to fly away. I spread my feathered arms and fly up, up, up to where I think I’ll find heaven…where I know I’ll find Daddy.” (pg. 49)

With the arrival of their new neighbours, Finch sees another opportunity for hope, especially with making a new friend of eleven-year-old Pinky Nanda.  This would  be particularly important once dreaded school starts.  School is where Finch is called slow and lazy. It’s where she has major difficulties with writing. And it’s where she sees her former best friend, Karen, has blossomed into a young woman and hangs out with similarly pubescent girls.  But Pinky and her younger sister Padma are staunchly protected by their parents, who argue about how Punjabi Hindus are treated in Canada and do not permit the girls to interact with others.

“It’s at that moment when I see myself right there in her face.  I see a girl who’s trapped in a mess of grown-up problems.  A girl who’s struggling just to figure it all out.” (pg. 94)

Strangely Finch’s only friend becomes an anonymous writer with whom she communicates on a bathroom stall door. That is, until Finch finds the courage to untether herself and communicate her feelings, good and bad, with those impacting her life.

Deborah Kerbel may have written Feathered as a middle-grade novel but Feathered is much more sophisticated than much pedestrian MG storytelling. The writing is brilliant, demonstrating  much depth of spirit and story, taking Finch and the reader beyond the obvious and into the realm of optimism and possibilities, where even a little girl can see that she has it in her to soar above the commonplace and anticipate greatness of action and virtue.  Just like Terry Fox, Finch learns to recognize that the will to try is within her and she may or may not succeed, but there’s always the promise that comes with dreaming.

Will to Survive: The Rule of 3, Book 3

by Eric Walters
Razorbill
978-0-670-06707-7
310 pp.
Ages 12+
January 2016

If you thought the darkness and powerlessness of Eric Walters’ first two books in his apocalyptic The Rule of 3 series (The Rule of Three, Razorbill, 2014; Fight for Power, Razorbill, 2015) were staggering, then Will to Survive will seem enervating.   But, as is said, it's always darkest before the dawn, and Eric Walters is nothing but hopeful in all his writing and definitely in Will to Survive.

The neighbourhood in which sixteen-year-old Adam Daley and his family, friends and others–about sixteen hundred individuals–have created in the aftermath of a power outage of epic proportions is establishing all the right stuff on which civilizations have been founded: government by committee, citizenship, security, food sharing, social welfare, medical care, etc.  But it's been a hard road, with tough decisions regarding security versus social responsibility, survival versus humanity, and life or death.

I know that our neighborhood was a small sliver of civilization in a land where civility had been lost.  Here we were surrounded by twenty-foot walls, protected by armed guards on all sides; we had food, shelter and a layer of order and fairness.  In here was safe.  Beyond was uncertain.  No, not uncertain–wild and dangerous and dog-eat-dog. (pg. 83-84)

Unfortunately that danger encroached on Adam’s feelings of safety at the conclusion of Fight for Power, and Will to Survive begins in the aftermath of Adam's killing of two men, in self-defense, after he was kidnapped by former ally Brett who'd joined with the bandits of the Division.  Even after the neighbourhood sends teams to destroy the compound of the Division, Adam is haunted by what he had to do and is plagued by Brett’s suggestion that he too has become a monster.

But Adam doesn’t have many opportunities to talk to counsellor Maureen about the trauma or spend more time with girlfriend Lori before the neighbourhood is hit by sniper fire that kills three guards.  Pinpointing the origin of the shots as the condo tower outside of the community, and concerned that Brett and his men are behind the attack, the neighbourhood committee, based on Adam’s suggestion, decide to extend the wall outward to engulf the condo community, offering them both services and training to keep them safer.

After more aerial reconnaissance that is both beneficial and terrifying in what they discover, the neighbourhood begins efforts to join with other communities, including one based at the island airport, one at an oil refinery and another at a hospital.

We can stop being a simple star and start to become a constellation of stars, the center of a series of connected neighborhoods. (pg. 110)

But you know sociopathic Brett is going to raise his evil head again and he does, targeting the neighbourhood physically and Adam psychologically, playing their compassion as a weakness.  Unfortunately for him, Brett doesn’t recognize that kindness can be very fortifying too.

Will to Survive is definitely an action-packed adventure, a highly plot-driven story, but the power of Eric Walters’ characters kept me most interested.  The astute strategist, Herb, is one of my favourites.  Knowing that the world might never get back to normal (“There is a very long end game here”; pg. 202), Herb lends his wise guidance to the neighbourhood and its new allies and mentors Adam in becoming a new leader.  His wealth of knowledge and astounding understanding of the human psyche makes Herb the ideal person to spearhead efforts in a crisis. But Herb is the real thing, not a superhero; he is a man with vulnerabilities, who can help make Adam realize what he himself has to offer.  Will to Survive is a coming-of-age story about Adam, just as it is for a post-apocalypse world that needs to recognize its weaknesses and play to its strengths in order for growth to happen.  Growing up can be scary but it can also be heartfelt and ultimately advancing.

The Biggest Poutine in the World

by Andrée Poulin

Translated by Brigitte Waisberg

Annick Press

978-1-55451-825-8

160 pp.

Ages 9-12

March, 2016

Reviewed from advance reading copy 

Using food to fill the void of loneliness and to quench the anguish of abandonment would not be unusual but using a 650-kilogram poutine to smother the emptiness of a cold, distant father and an absentee mother is definitely unique.  But that’s what twelve-year-old Thomas Gagné of Sainte-Alphonsine believes might offer his pathetic life some hope.

A glimmer of hope lights up in my mind.  A tiny, fragile, trembling glimmer.  I try not to pay too much attention to it. I’ve tasted disappointment before, and it doesn’t taste good. (pg. 11)

Though it has been seven long years since he’s seen his mother–and yet he does receive  very brief notes with cash from her at his birthday–Thomas has fond memories of her making poutine for him: peeling whole bags of potatoes, buying cheese curds together, making the gravy and cooking the fries.  Taking a cue from his favourite website, the Guinness World Records, Thomas concocts the idea of making a giant poutine and feeding hundreds of people so that he might earn a world record and become worthy of the attention of his parents.  So begins the Phenomenal Poutine Project, PPP, for which Thomas enlists the help of his best friend, Sam Bernier; Sam’s godfather and French fry truck owner Fat Frank; and Irene Ladouceur, who runs the local cheese shop and insists Thomas include her daughter Elie in the project.  But things run amok when the mayor, Thérèse Tartatcheff, refuses to rent the arena to Thomas for the event.

Thomas is not deterred, however, and cooks up a plan to kidnap the mayor’s Senegal parrot and then recover the bird, all to sway Tartatcheff into relenting to his PPP.  But, as with so many good plans, things go awry.  His friendships with Sam and Elie, his missing mother, his aloof father, an allergic reaction, a wayward parrot, and a candy-pink note all get heaped on top of each other and smothered in emotions.  Fortunately, all culminates in a satisfying fusion of humour and coming-of-age drama, with a side order of dysfunctional family.

The Biggest Poutine in the World is the English translation, by Annick Press’s Brigitte Waisberg, of Andrée Poulin’s La plus grosse poutine du monde (Bayard Canada, 2013) which won the 2014 Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse and the 2015 Le Prix Tamarac of the Ontario Library Association’s Forest of Reading.  The story is a visually-appealing mixture of graphics, including fun text messages between Thomas and Sam, drawings of emails between Thomas and Elie, an album of types of poutine (who knew there were so many!), and black-and-white sketches, with text set in large font and broken into small chapters with massive titles.  Young readers will undoubtedly appreciate the organizational format of the book but it’s the story line with which they will empathize.  Thomas is a boy with much resentment, anger and jealousy and yet he can still see the potential for hopefulness.  He even has a willingness and positivity to accept a challenge to captivate that hope although obstacles and self-doubt test him.

With The Biggest Poutine in the World, Andrée Poulin demonstrates an understanding of the complexities of a child’s mind when faced with familial conflict.  Being an accomplished author of over 30 French-language picture books and children’s novels, Andrée Poulin effortlessly translates that strife with compassion and humour into an uplifting tale of friendship and determination and emotional growth.  It does pull a bit at the heart, but no more than the occasional high-cholesterol poutine might.

(A version of this review was originally written for and published in Quill & Quire, as noted in the citation below.)

Kubiw, H. (2016, January/February). [Review of the book The Biggest Poutine in the World, by Andrée Poulin]. Quill & Quire, 82 (1): 44.