The Not-So-Perfect Plan (A Holly-Mei Book)

Written by Christina Matula

Inkyard Press

978-1-335-42917-9

240 pp.

Ages 8-12

April 2023

 

Holly-Mei thinks she has it all worked out. When she sees how exceptional her field hockey teammate Saskia is, and how much time her best friend Rosie is spending with her crush Henry, and the accolades her younger sister Millie gets for her baking, Holly-Mei is determined to shine too. She plans on organizing her friends into a team for the Grade 7 Inter-School Tri-Tournament that includes an open water swim, a race and a Dragon Dash around Hong Kong. And she plans on them winning it.

But life cannot be sweet all the time (pg. 26)

When Christina Matula introduced Holly-Mei in The Not-So-Uniform Life of Holly Mei last year, the twelve-year-old was trying to find a foothold in her new home of Hong Kong and make friends. She made great friends in cousins Rosie and Rhys, in Henry and his cousin Theo, girlfriends Rainbow, Snowy and Gemma, and even field hockey player Dev who gives her great advice. But we all know that making friends is just the beginning. It's keeping the friends that can be the hardest part. And when all her friends have different plans for the Christmas break, Holly-Mei feels abandoned. Even when everyone returns from their fabulous holidays around the world, Holly-Mei feels left out as they continue with their rugby, ballet, eco-art club and more. So, when the posters go up for the Inter-School Tri-Tournament, Holly-Mei's plan is to bring her friends–or at least Theo, Dev, Gemma, Rhys, Rosie, Rainbow and Snowy–together, to excel and to win. For her, it's all about the win.

But Holly-Mei is so determined to win that she forgets about the fun. She wants to practise swimming and quiz her teammates on Hong Kong trivia to ensure a win. Unlike Saskia whose parents drive her to succeed, Holly-Mei's friends are looking for activities that bring them joy and that doesn't always work with Holly-Mei's plan. Worse yet, Holly-Mei keeps putting her foot in her mouth every time a friend chooses to do something other than practice or drill. Will she hold onto the very friends she is desperate to keep, or will Holly-Mei end up losing those friends in her efforts to win at all costs?

I try so hard, but I feel like no one sees me and I get left behind. (pg. 108)

Though Holly-Mei is living a very privileged life with a loving family, private school, wealthy friends and family, and many, many opportunities, she is still struggling to appreciate herself, both strengths and weaknesses, and accept that others may be different from her. Her "knowledge of self" (pg. 108), as her Ah-ma calls it, is negligible and it drives her to envy and, worse, jealousy and selfishness. But, as with every coming-of-age story, there's the beginnings of self-awareness that will lead to greater maturity and understanding of self and others. Christina Matula lets us follow along with Holly-Mei as she learns about herself and how she interacts with others, becoming a more positive version of herself as a friend, a sister, and a daughter. And she, Christina Matula, makes that journey of self for Holly-Mei and her friends more than lesson-learning. That would be a win in itself, but that accomplishment of self-discovery is achieved through a series of fun ventures that take young readers along the Eight Immortals Trail, to Repulse Bay and Man Mo Temple and enjoying xiao long bao, egg waffles, and bubble tea. (Two recipes, one for Candy Cane-White Rabbit Chip Cookies and the other for Millie's award-winning Chocolate Avocado Cake, are included.)

I think middle-grade readers will enjoy exploring Hong Kong further with Holly-Mei in The Not-So-Perfect Plan but they'll also grab a lesson or two about being a friend and becoming self-aware and that's a gold-medal achievement.

• • • • • • •

 

The Not-So-Uniform Life of Holly-Mei (2022)

The Not-So-Perfect Plan (2023)

🤫 n.b. I just learned there will a third book, titled The Not-So-Simple Question, in the Holly-Mei series.

Denial

Written by Lorna Schultz Nicholson

Lorimer

978-1-4594-1671-0

176 pp.

Ages 14-18

RL 2.7

February 2022

 

When September started, seventeen-year-old Nova's senior year was looking pretty good. She was excelling at her school work and already had early acceptance to U of T for science, as a precursor to med school. She was part of their high school's power couple, having dated star swimmer Leo for the past 5 months. She had a regular gig tutoring students and she was on the swim team too. But Denial begins the following May with Nova covered in blood and worried about what she'd done. Evidently, life wasn't as perfect as Nova had thought.

Though he's not pressuring her to have sex, Leo makes it clear that's what he's interested in. Fortunately, Nova wants her first time to be perfect and to ensure she gets on the pill first, having heeded her mother's own experiences with a teen pregnancy that resulted in Nova's half-brother Brad, currently living in Thailand after dropping out of university. But, while she's anxious and excited at the prospect of losing her virginity to the guy she loves, Nova is also considering it in the context of quitting the swim team–she's probably the weakest on it–and of leaving Leo exposed to the machinations of the star female swimmer, Jada, who seems to be trying to drive a wedge between Nova and Leo.

But that perfect senior year with the love of her life slowly seems to become something else. Battling tension within the family, between her parents who've had to restructure their lives after Dad lost his job and between her parents and Brad after he ditched university, and with her jealousy of Jada and Leo's increasing unavailability as he tries out for the national team, Nova is finding it hard to cope. And, with Lorna Schultz Nicholson peppering the chapters that document the school year with the glimpses into the May fiasco that may result in a death, Denial becomes a heavy but relatable story of first loves and school stresses with a touch of family drama.

Being in denial is an easy attitude. It's sticking with the status quo, the familiar, even if the familiar is unhealthy, suspicious, or jeopardous. And there's a lot of denial in Denial. (Duh.) But, as easy as denial can be, it is also a powerful force. It makes you see things you don't and ignore things that are evident to everyone. So when you're a teen and don't have decades of life experience to inform you, denial is really easy and Lorna Schultz Nicholson gets that. While she is well-known for her stories rich in sports (e.g., rowing in When You Least Expect It and hockey in Taking the Ice), it's her finesse in addressing issues important to teens that has always impressed me. Whether it's trauma or disabilities, peer pressure or teen sex, Lorna Schultz Nicholson knows how to write about the angst of being a teen and balancing friends, family, school and love. She allows teens to be human and make mistakes, even huge mistakes based in denial, but also to recover from them and move forward. And when you're a teen and everything is monumental and seems life-ending, Lorna Schultz Nicholson gives you hope that life-changing is the norm and can be transformative rather than ruinous.

All That Was

Written by Karen Rivers

Farrar Straus Giroux

978-0-374-30246-7

384 pp.

Ages 12-18

January 2018

Seventeen-year-olds Piper and Sloane are friends. On the surface, they are very similar, or at least make themselves appear similar in hair style and colour and clothing, and spend all their time together or they did until the No-Boyfriend Rule is broken.  But Piper and Sloane's friendship is one of contradictions: love and hate, appreciation and disrespect, and camaraderie and rivalry. With that kind of a basis for a friendship, what happens when one of the friends is gone?

Though Sloane Whittaker thinks of herself as common compared to the more exotic Piper Sullivan, Piper is actually more like the flirty alpha in their friendship. If she wants something, she goes after it and is oblivious to the nuances in their friendship that might indicate Sloane may think differently.  So when they attend an art show that includes the work of Soup Sanchez, a boy Sloane has liked since fourth grade, Piper teases her shamelessly until Sloane denies liking him. The next day Piper reveals she and Soup connected after the show and are now going out. Now Sloane must endure Piper's personal divulgences about their kisses and sex while secretly yearning for the boy she has always liked and coincidentally seems to like her. But it's hard to say "No" to Piper. So when Piper decides that Sloane must experience sex, and she sets her up with a boy, James Robert Wilson, Sloane goes along.

But trouble is brewing as Soup and Sloane are regularly thrown together and Piper, oblivious until one fateful night, continues to direct their lives and her story to her best advantage.  That all changes when Piper dies.

All That Was is told in the voices of Sloane and Soup in terms of "Before" and "Now" relative to Piper's death. Most of the story is the "Before" in which we learn about the basis for Sloane and Piper's friendship; their revealing discussions which are both friendly and hostile; Sloane's aspirations to be a documentary filmmaker; and Soup and Piper's relationship. The "Now" brings to light the police investigation and arrest of a murderer, the guilt Sloane and Soup harbour, and the necessity of perspective and forgiveness, even of oneself.

Although many would consider Piper and Sloane frenemies and their friendship essentially doomed, I think it goes far deeper than that. The two girls sincerely love one another as friends but there is an inherent meanness to their interactions.  Theirs is a dance of sarcasm and one-upmanship, trying to be individuals but scared to be separated.  It's a very real relationship though not one to which anyone would aspire. Although I like some aspects of Sloane, probably identifying her as the underdog of the two, neither Piper nor Sloane are very likable. Karen Rivers made them very real–I suspect most teens know a Piper and a Sloane at their high schools–and their connectedness authentic though strained. Whether there is a message here about forgiveness or getting past tragedy, I don't know.  I do know that Karen Rivers makes it clear that not all friendships are rainbows and unicorns, just as she did in her earlier book Finding Ruby Starling (2014).  Some relationships are darker and deeper like crows and tumultuous waters, but they still build our life experiences, good or bad. Sloane and Soup, and yes, even Piper, can take from this chapter and move forward. Sometimes it is what it is. And All That Was just was.

Princess Pistachio and Maurice the Magnificent

Written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-021-5

52 pp.

Ages 5-8

August 2017

Dog is Princess Pistachio’s pooch and Marie-Louise Gay uses her words and pictures to make sure young readers know exactly who he is.  (I can already hear little ones shouting out, "He's just like my dog!")

From Princess Pistachio and Maurice the Magnificent 

by Marie-Louise Gay

Because Dog's days are filled with sleeping, napping and eating, Pistachio thinks he needs some adventure and excitement to prevent him from dying of boredom.  Dog thinks otherwise.

Dog grunts as he heaves himself up onto his tiny legs.  He waddles to the door.  He looks outside.  He signs, shakes his head, and waddles back to his cushion. (pg.9)

When she hides Dog in her backpack for a trip to school, Pistachio takes him out for Show and Tell but all Dog has to show is his ability to fall asleep promptly on the teacher’s desk.  The kids laugh.

When the Doggone Theater sends out a casting call for a “talented, intelligent, beautiful dog to play a starring role” (pg. 19), Pistachio is sure it’s the perfect job for Dog.  Annoyingly, her best friend Madeline scoffs at the idea.  But, amidst the amazing dog performers, Dog is selected, the perfect pick for the leading role of Sleeping Beauty.  Now with a stage name–Maurice the Magnificent–Dog has the un-boring life of a star.  But with that fame, Pistachio learns, comes a price when Maurice is dognapped.  Fortunately Pistachio finds a way to get Dog back safely and resolve a friendship that was almost lost to jealousy.

From Princess Pistachio and Maurice the Magnificent 

by Marie-Louise Gay

I'd join others in applauding Maurice the Magnificent's performance but I think we should extend those accolades to Marie-Louise Gay who can do no wrong in her storytelling or illustrating.  Her Stella and Sam books have garnered her many an award and nomination but her Princess Pistachio series (this is Book 3) takes us from the world of imaginative play into the realm of young school children trying to figure out how to get along with others.

Pistachio loves her Dog and just wants him to have a good life, and she's willing to help make that happen.  She's like a mother to him, arranging for play and opportunities and doing anything to get him back when taken.  But she's also smart enough to know when she's beat and it's evident what Dog enjoys doing most of all. And doesn't Marie-Louise Gay make him adorable!  With his patch around the eye, short tail and legs splayed out behind him when he flops down, Dog is every dog that is loved.

From Princess Pistachio and Maurice the Magnificent 

by Marie-Louise Gay

Princess Pistachio and Maurice the Magnificent is a worthy addition to this absolutely marvelously magnificent series that is ever entertaining and endearing!

Princess Pistachio (Pajama Press, 2014)

Princess Pistachio and the Pest (Pajama Press, 2015)

Princess Pistachio and Maurice the Magnificent (Pajama Press, 2017)