One Can

Written by Lana Button and Eric Walters

Illustrated by Isabelle Malenfant

Groundwood Books

978-1-773067346

32 pp.

Ages 3–6

September 2025 

 

For many Canadian public schools, yesterday was the first day of the 2025-2026 academic year. That first day of school brings such promise. It's usually a fresh start with a promise for better and more opportunities for...everything. But for too many children, that hope may be limited, even if they don't know it. For the child in Lana Button and Eric Walters's first picture book collaboration, illustrated by Isabelle Malenfant, those limitations do not curb their generosity and compassion.

From One Can, written by Lana Button and Eric Walters, illustrated by Isabelle Malenfant

Knowing that their class is collecting canned food for a food drive, a child grabs the lone can of Zoodelicious from an almost-bare pantry. Knowing it's their favourite, the child hopes it is that for someone else too. In class, the students place their donated cans on a 100-place carpet, with the child placing the Zoodelicious on the number 100, earning their can a snowflake sticker.

From One Can, written by Lana Button and Eric Walters, illustrated by Isabelle Malenfant

Things take an unexpected turn when Mom returns with groceries a few days later and his Zoodelicious can has a snowflake sticker on it. For the first time, the child recognizes that their family may be one of those in need that they were trying to help at school. A frank discussion between mother and child helps them understand better and even how to pay it forward with some much-loved mittens. 

From One Can, written by Lana Button and Eric Walters, illustrated by Isabelle Malenfant

While there are too many adults who think that picture books are frivolous stories aimed for our youngest readers, One Can will surely remind them of the power of storytelling to present deep issues that are also commonplace. There is no frivolousness to this story. Instead, Lana Button and Eric Walters have given us a lovely story of sharing, reciprocity, need, and compassion, all told from the perspective of a young child. What is most surprising is that the child does not even recognize their family as a needy one until they see the snowflake sticker on the Zoodelicious and realizes where their mother must have gotten those groceries. Before then, they had what they needed, probably because their mother worked hard to ensure that they did. Not surprisingly, when their mother reveals their circumstances, the child thinks only of the other 99 families who would still need food and more. 

 

This could have been a very heavy story. Poverty and food insecurity are serious issues. Even as food and clothing drives become common practices throughout the year, and children such as this one are provided regularly with school lunches, here by their own teacher, the silence and secrecy and even shame are resounding. I'm so pleased that Lana Button and Eric Walters avoided those negatives with much sensitivity. The child is not ashamed to look at the school's Mitten Tree–where donated mittens and winter accessories are displayed for gifting–and doesn't hide the macaroni given by the teacher for lunch. Illustrator Isabelle Malenfant matches that powerful but tasteful approach to their story. Isabelle Malenfant, who similarly gave a softness of touch to Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress and Pinny in Summer, keeps her palest colours for the child's home and the boldest for outside. Their poverty creates a veil over their life, though outside of the home and at school, the child is seen as vibrant as everyone else. In addition to the colours of her digital illustrations, Isabelle Malenfant uses perspective to juxtapose the child against two different worlds, one of limited resources and another where there is more. It gives the reader more context for this child's reality and even enhances our understanding of why they are able to extend generosity and compassion to others.

Lana Button's picture books like Tough Like Mum and Willow Finds a Way have always spoken to young children and what they might experience at school and home. And Eric Walters never shies away from tough issues like poverty in The King of Jam Sandwiches or COVID-19 in Don't Stand So Close to Me or incarceration, bullying, discrimination and more. Together these writers have approached the reality of many children, and instead of focusing on any limitations these children experience, they highlight how children can extend compassion and generosity to others. It seems one can, whether that of Zoodelicious or the picture book, can make a difference.

 • • • • • • •

 

Please consider joining author Lana Button 

 

at 

 

A Different Drummer Books 

513 Locust St., Burlington, Ontario

905-639-0925 

 

for the launch of One Can 

 

on 

 

Sunday, September 7, 2025 

1 PM

 

If you're able, please bring a can of food for FeedHalton.  

 

Unsinkable Cayenne

Written by Jessica Vitalis

Greenwillow Books (HarperCollins)

978-0-06-331445-0

304 pp.

Ages 8-12

October 2024

 

 

But in middle school

there are two choices:

fit in

or

stand out. (p. 69) 

 

It's 1985 and Cayenne has always lived a nomadic life with her Mom and Dad and now six-month-old sibs Sossity and Bear. They've travelled throughout the U.S. in their van, living off Dad's small disability check from the VA, with Mom homeschooling Cayenne. Cayenne knows that some people may look down on them for being poor and living a hippie lifestyle, but she feels a closeness with her family, especially when she plays her harmonica and Dad plays his guitar and Mom dances, even though Mom has been distracted with the babies. Still Dad decides to settle them down in a Montana town where he's gotten a job at the sawmill, and Cayenne feels like it's where they finally belong and maybe she can feel normal, even if Mom isn't necessarily happy. 

I agreed to this move.

I did not agree 

to sell my soul. (p. 31) 

Still Cayenne is all in. At Sandstone Middle School, Cayenne is determined to make friends. She's keen on the popular girls who play flute in band but she's not quite up to their skills and she is separated from them while she learns the instrument. And though she isn't eager to attach herself to a "loser," she is befriended by Dawn, an awkward girl who is always reading, wearing outfits that reflect her reading, and who plays drums. She also meets Tiff, a popular chatterbox of a girl from art class, who lives on the wealthy side of town. And then there's Beau, a new boy whom Cayenne met while walking their dog, George. Cayenne is smitten and when others suggest that Beau likes her, Cayenne is sent into a tizzy of how to act and what to say. So, as Cayenne desperately tries to fit in, choosing with whom to associate and hide the reality of her family's circumstances, things become even more tenuous. Fitting in becomes even harder when you don't feel like you have the means to belong, whether the money, the family, the clothes, the opportunities, anything. 

Jessica Vitalis, whose earlier middle-grade books The Rabbit's Gift, The Wolf's Curse, and Coyote Queen made quite a splash, doesn't just give us a novel about pre-teen angst. She gives us a story enfolded in many layers of storytelling which add context and insight into Cayenne's own life. From their Titanic-themed social studies unit in which they learn of the disparities between first- and third-class passengers, particularly with respect to their survival, and Cayenne's love of birds and her knowledge of their behaviours, Unsinkable Cayenne goes beyond a kid trying to fit in with her new classmates. She's trying to fit in to her life, her new one and the one she has always had with her family, and she sees it through multiple lenses. She is the new kid but also a poor kid and a kid whose family is atypical in their circumstances. They might not have money to replace her holey shoes and the electricity might have to be turned off to save for rent money, but they also don't have a phone or a TV. Cayenne doesn't complain or see it as a problem; it's just different. Her perspective is both insightful and revealing, and Jessica Vitalis does not sugar-coat their poverty with a happy ending or lottery winning or change in financial circumstances. She makes and keeps it real.

 

The writing is exceptional. Unsinkable Cayenne, told in free verse, flows through Cayenne's days at school and her thinking about her life with vigour and subtlety.

I don't understand why the amount of money

someone has determines how much they are worth. (p. 182)

Jessica Vitalis tells a story for middle-grade readers but with sophistication and lyricism. She's given us a real kid who not only exemplifies the famous Unsinkable Molly Brown of Titanic fame in her tenacity and humble beginnings but also in seeing others beyond class and wealth.

White Lies

Written by Sara de Waard

DCB

978-1-77086-649-2

224 pp.

Ages 13+

May 2022

Birthdays should be joyful celebrations, especially for young people. I know that lots have elaborate events (perhaps sometimes too extravagant) but for some the mere recognition of the day as auspicious would be enough. Sadly, for 15-year-old Missy Bell, her last three birthdays have been tortuous and her sixteenth is almost upon her and she has no reason to expect any different. Ever since the death of her younger brother Jeremy when she turned 13, Missy's special day has been marked by her parents behaving badly through their grief and Missy dealing with the fallout on top of her own loss and guilt. In fact, most of the time, they don't even recognize her needs, with her father Tim, whom she refers to alternately as Trick or Treat, wallowing in alcohol and other illegal substances, and her mother Susanna now in prison and unable to see beyond herself.  

An untethered Missy has found refuge at the vintage toy store of Ren Lin, where she organizes and cleans voluntarily for multiple hours most days of the week. Even though Ren's perfect daughter Valkyrie doesn't trust Missy and is often rude to her, the store is a far better choice than going home to a house with little, if any, food, and a father often drunk or high on the couch hurling abuse at her. By keeping the routine of working at the store, seeing her psychiatrist Dr. Tandalay every Monday, visiting her mother the first Wednesday of the month, and going to school, Missy is keeping it together. For now. 

But two new people enter her life and offer her something she's rarely experienced. First, there's the new custodian, Miss Maalouf, who extends supportive kindnesses to Missy. And then there's classmate Luke Geurtin, who also visits a mother at the penitentiary. Missy and Luke form an unorthodox relationship that is both supportive and hostile, as the two damaged teens try to navigate feckless parents, poverty and abuse, and systems purported to offer support. Only time will tell whether they can feel beyond their traumas and circumstances.

 

Sara de Waard, an author and screenwriter of Métis descent, has delved into numerous issues in White Lies, giving us a tough story about childhoods, or at least teen years, saturated with misery and discouragement. It's about young people not living their best lives because those who should be there for them aren't and, in fact, work against them, mistreating them with neglect or emotional abuse, and sometimes even physical harm. Those who should love them, their parents, give them very little but strangers like Miss Maalouf, Ren and even Missy and Luke for the other step up, offering what they can. But Missy and Luke are working at a deficit, trying to survive and, knowing that their parents are the only ones they have, make do. And still they persevere.

The soft ceiling tiles soften the profanities of the inmates, but can't silence them. The four-letter words puff from the ladies' mouths like rings of fire, blazing through the massive concrete gathering space. But they fall on my deaf ears. I'm used to it. Nothing shocks me now. I may look like china in a bull's shop, but I'm a matador of life's crap.  (pg. 22)

Thankfully, without solving all of Missy and Luke's problems, Sara de Waard has given them hope, in each other and in others–though perhaps not their parents–that perhaps a little kindness will help lift them out of difficult circumstances or at least sideways so they can avoid harm.

Tough Like Mum: Q & A with author Lana Button

Yesterday I reviewed Tough Like Mum, written by Lana Button and illustrated by Carmen Mok.

Written by Lana Button

Illustrated by Carmen Mok

Tundra Books

978-0-7352-6598-1

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

April 2021

Reviewed here

 

 

Today I have the pleasure of presenting 

this question and answer interview 

with author Lana Button.

 

Author Lana Button

 

HK:  When I started reading Tough Like Mum, I wasn't sure if the issue tackled by the book was poverty or depression. Then I realized that what was most important was resilience which can be the antidote to both. As the author, what came first for you in writing the story: the issue or the response?

 

LB:  I am sensitive to these issues on a personal level, on a professional level as an early childhood educator, and on a creative level as an author for young audiences. I wanted to write a picture book story that would bring these issues to light; knowing and experiencing that there are children among the picture book audience who live with the challenges Kim and her mum face. It is important and powerful for children to read, in stories, that they are not alone in their experience. 

I also felt that a picture book tackling the issues of poverty and mental health could be used as a tool for building understanding and developing empathy, for those who have not had these life experiences. I was interested in telling a story that would provide a safe and age-appropriate place to start important conversations.

Finding the response–figuring out how to tell a hard-hitting story, while respecting the age and sensitivity of my young audience–was where I was tripped up, and where this story idea was stalled for a long time. I waited for the story to come to me. Then I heard two comments. One by a teacher. “Some of my students can’t complete their homework because their power gets shut off and it’s too dark.” Another was a response to the cost of an upcoming field trip. “It’s only $6.00. I mean, what’s $6.00?” All I could think from that was, “We can’t assume to know what $6.00 might mean to a family, what life is like in their home.” And BOOM! this very resilient little girl, waking up with her thumb in her mouth, popped into my head and her story became very clear to me.
 

HK:  Poverty is a tough topic to cover in a picture book, especially one for young children, though this is sadly the experience for many. How did you manage to stay realistic about the issue, for children to be able to see themselves, and still be compassionate without revealing vulnerabilities and sensitivities that some would prefer hidden? 

 

LB:  It is a tough topic, for sure. And I wanted to give a voice to Kim’s reality, while ensuring my young audience wasn’t overwhelmed. And so, I entrusted Kim as my storyteller. This resilient little girl is not easily shaken, and she conveys her experience in a matter-of-fact way, as children often do. She tells it simply, which allows a young audience to interpret the story at its baseline. I then relied heavily on the illustration to fill in the details of Kim and her mum’s reality. The nuances of the illustration allow an audience, when they are ready to take it in, to dig deeper into the story.

HK:  Tough Like Mum ensures that, first and foremost, we see the strengths of those dealing with poverty and hard times, not any weaknesses. Your title says it all. Is there a mum or a child for whom you wrote this book?

 

LB:  I wrote Tough Like Mum with the hope that there will be an audience who feels connected to this story on a personal level. I wrote it for anyone who is struggling or has struggled with financial burdens, and for those experiencing the weight of depression in their home.  In particular–the child who needs to feel seen, who needs to feel championed to try one more time, to reach out and ask for help–this book is for them.

 

HK:  I think that whatever hardships we all go through–physical, emotional, financial–asking for help is one of the hardest things to do and Tough Like Mum demonstrates that it happens for both adults and children. Why do you think it’s so hard to do so?

 

LB:  When we ask for help, we expose our vulnerability. That’s a scary place to be. Yes, it might be a path to help. But it might also be a path to rejection, to judgment and gossip, and to more pain. And if we’ve tried reaching out and then experienced hurt or rejection, it can be so much harder to take that chance again. 

And sometimes it might seem that the only thing we have control over is our reputation.
 

But it is my hope that a young reader might be inspired by Kim’s strength. That in times where they might need help, they will reach out to ‘the helpers’ in their community; the friends, the neighbours, the teachers.

In Tough Like Mum, Jen has done a great job teaching her daughter to be resilient. But ultimately it is Kim who leads her mum to realize that she is tough enough to accept help

 

HK:  The austerity of Carmen Mok's artwork reflects Kim and her mother's circumstances well. How much input did you have in ensuring the tone of the illustrations worked with your story?

 

LB:  I wrote the story with quite a few art notes. And I had a great conversation with Tara Walker at Tundra Books, who had the same visual interpretation of the story that I had. Samantha Swenson and I worked closely on the edits and she patiently indulged me as I gave her pages of back story for what seemed like every scene. I felt ‘heard’ and I felt like we were all on the same page when it came to the tone of the story. And so, when it was placed in the very talented hands of the incredible Carmen Mok it was time for me to step away and let Carmen and Sam do their magic. This distance is an essential part of the process, so that the illustrator can bring to life their interpretation, of what then becomes our story. And the result was a wonderful collaboration of words and art that told the story I was hoping to tell.

 

HK:  If there is one thing that you’d like young readers to see or learn from this story, what would it be?

 

LB:  I would love for a young reader to see hope at the end of a difficult day. I would love for each reader to see themselves as strong and resilient, and tough enough to ask for help (and keep asking for help) when they need it.

 • • • • • • •

 

Thanks to author Lana Button for talking to me about Tough Like Mum. This interview has given me loads to think about with respect to writing, and books that children need to read, of which Tough Like Mum is surely one.

Thanks also to Samantha Devotta, Associate Publicist at Penguin Random House Canada Young Readers, for reaching out and helping arrange this interview, and providing images to accompany both the review and this Q & A.

Tough Like Mum

Written by Lana Button

Illustrated by Carmen Mok

Tundra Books

978-0-7352-6598-1

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

April 2021

Though her mum might not always feel very tough or that she is able to manage, Kim tries to emulate her, never admitting she needs help or acknowledging anything she might perceive as weakness. But can anyone really be tough all the time?

From Tough Like Mum by Lana Button, illus. by Carmen Mok

From Carmen Mok's gouache and coloured pencil illustrations, it is evident that Kim and her mother are financially strapped. They share a bed, their socks are unmatched, their clothes and furniture are patched, and the food in the house is minimal. It's no wonder that Kim awakens soothing herself with her thumb in her mouth. But Kim is a tough cookie, tough like her mum, and she gets herself ready for school, making her own breakfast and lunch, and even planning for dinner–"Tomato, you are my favorite soup. Sit right here and wait for me"–because her mom hasn't gotten out of bed this morning. But Kim has a form for school that is due that day, a form for a field trip that costs $6.00. How is she going to get Mum to sign it when she's still sleeping, attempting to shut out the world–"Don't start on me, Kim!"–and get the money she knows they don't have?

On that cold winter day, Kim gets herself off to school, though some parents question her about being without a hat. Kim just tells them she doesn't need it, and the parents call her tough like her mom Jen. Kim won't let anyone see that she's cold. Because she's learned not to ask for help. And at lunchtime when David makes fun of her sandwich, she stays tough, never letting them see how sad and mad she is on the inside. But there's still the problem of the school trip. 

She has tried to find a solution, submitting a few coins she'd found in her mom's pocket, hoping the teacher wouldn't notice. But Mrs. Jones does notice and suggests her mother check a certain box on the form. It may read "I can't pay" but Kim knows it really means "I need help" and that's a box her mum has never checked.

From Tough Like Mum by Lana Button, illus. by Carmen Mok

Accepting help is never easy, and it seems to be especially so for Jen and Kim.  But when Kim gets home from school, she finds a way to take care of her mother, sadly still in the clothes she slept in, with compassion, humour and courage. Asking and accepting help might not be easy but it can be worth it.

From Tough Like Mum by Lana Button, illus. by Carmen Mok

Though Lana Button's picture books, including Raj's Rule (For the Bathroom at School), What If Bunny's NOT a Bully, and Willow Finds a Way, are aimed at young children, they focus on some tough issues. There are worries that young children have that cloud their lives and can cause anxiety. Whether it's bullying or self-confidence, using the bathroom or an absent teacher, Lana Button understands that these are very big issues for children. But in Tough Like Mum, Lana Button demonstrates that the shame of poverty transcends age and manifests differently for young children and for their parents who try to provide their best. Kim wants to be tough about what money they don't have, or the food she eats, or the clothes she wears. She strives to be tough like her mum. But sometimes being tough means accepting that help is needed. Together Kim and her mum realize this.

Lana Button's honest story of a single mum and child living in poverty and struggling with the perceived disgrace of their circumstances is stark. There are moments of lightness, like when Kim is praised for her reading and then brings that joy to her mum with it, or when they snuggle together in bed. But it's a hard life for both and the illustrations by Carmen Mok reflect that sparseness of their lives. From a sparsely-furnished home, to the mismatched clothing and furniture, patched or damaged, theirs is an unadorned life, and the art depicts that. 

From Tough Like Mum by Lana Button, illus. by Carmen Mok

But Lana Button's message of having the courage to accept help is paramount. Asking for help is not weak, though many, including Kim, may feel that it is so, exposing their vulnerabilities. Perhaps Kim's mum has never checked that box before, managing to somehow scrape together needed funds or accepting that Kim would have to do without. But by acknowledging that they might need some help, they've taken a big step forward. That just proves how tough Kim and her mum truly are.

 

• • • • • • •

Check back tomorrow for my interview with author Lana Button about Tough Like Mum and her approach to writing this story.

The King of Jam Sandwiches

Written by Eric Walters

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-2556-7

312 pp.

Ages 8-12

September 2020

This was a difficult story for me to write because it's so personal. Many of the things I've written about are from my life. The question I'm already being asked is, How much of this is true? The answer is simple–too much and not enough. 

(From Author's Note) 

So begins The King of Jam Sandwiches, the story of thirteen-year-old Robbie whose familial circumstances have compelled him to take on adult responsibilities and worries far beyond his years, reminding all readers that even the most unbelievable of situations can be a child's reality.

Since his mother and grandparents have passed, Robbie only has his father, a man whose erratic behaviours shout of bipolar disorder, swinging between fears for his imminent death, hoarding food supplies and disappearing for days. Though he has an Uncle Jack and Aunt Cora, Robbie is always told that he'll be going into foster care if anything happens to his dad. So Robbie is the one steady element in his family. He cares for his dog, Candy; he does the laundry, if there's detergent; he peels potatoes when he gets home from school; and he works part-time at a butcher shop, though his father doesn't want him taking food, as charity, from the kindly Mr. and Mrs. Priamo. But Robbie does more than just endure and persevere. He makes plans and he has ambition.  Working hard to earn good grades and save his money, Robbie has a plan to get out from under his father and escape, ultimately going to university.

If you're broken and you know it, you have to get up every day and work harder and longer than everybody else if you want to get anywhere. (pg. 298)

Then Robbie meets Harmony, a new student. An enigma of brashness and hopelessness, Harmony is living with her newest foster family and counting on being reunited with her mother who has been in and out of rehab.  While Robbie feels that he has to prove himself, Harmony accepts his daily jam sandwiches as tasty, not humiliating; helps him buy some new, though heavily discounted, clothes that fit; and finds a way for him to do something fun like basketball. Robbie may not want to admit to anyone that they are poor and that his father is a negligent parent, feeling like this is the life he deserves, but Harmony, in her convoluted style, makes sure that he knows otherwise. 

I am loathe to call The King of Jam Sandwiches a coming-of-age story because, sadly, Robbie and Harmony have been adults for years.  They've carried burdens that children should not. They are the parents in their lives, looking after the adults who have failed to be parents. They live disquieted lives, never knowing when danger might arise or when the flimsy stability they've create for themselves might dissipate. And Eric Walters establishes that precariousness of reality from the onset and throughout The King of Jam Sandwiches. There is no respite from the poverty or the instability. There is only survival, physical and emotional, and the reader's hope that Robbie and Harmony get through it. (The author's "Post Note" reassures that they do.)

The King of Jam Sandwiches is a tough read because no one wants to think about children suffering. But The King of Jam Sandwiches is reality for many children, and while telling us about his own childhood wrapped in Robbie's story, Eric Walters has given voice to children who, like Robbie, don't think they deserve better or that they count. They do. They are the royalty of their own realities and, if they can get the support they need and want, they may even come to recognize that,

"You already are somebody." (pg. 115) 

Ruby's Hope: A Story of the Girl in the Most Famous Photograph of the Depression

Written by Monica Kulling

Illustrated by Sarah Dvojack

Page Street Kids

978-1-62414-818-7

40 pp.

Ages 6-10

September 2019

In 1936, photographer Dorothea Lange would take a picture at a pea-pickers' camp in California and capture a time, an existence, a struggle that would become the iconic "Migrant Mother" piece of art. Though it would be decades later that Florence Owens Thompson and her children would become known as the subjects of that photograph, Monica Kulling brings us a fictionalized account of the background of those captured forever as the face of the Great Depression.

From Ruby's Hope, written by Monica Kulling, illus. by Sarah Dvojack

Ruby's Hope begins with the little girl's family leaving Oklahoma after the economic tragedies of the late 1920s and early 1930s. With the stock market crash in 1929, followed by the drought that brought dust storms and the ruin of farms, seven-year-old Ruby's parents decide that, unlike the thistle that persevered in the field, they needed to move on, hopeful of a better life in California.

It sometimes seemed to Ruby that Ma pushed hope to its limits.

First the family–Ma, Pa, older siblings Leroy and Viola and babies Katherine and Norma–took to the lettuce fields. But when they head to the pea fields for the next round of picking, they run out of gas and a frost kills the crop, leaving the family desolate in a camp of migrant workers similarly unsettled. Pa and Leroy head to town to earn any kind of money, while

Days passed and food dwindled.

Ruby's hope dwindled too.

From Ruby's Hope, written by Monica Kulling, illus. by Sarah Dvojack

When a lady photographer comes to the camp to take images of the migrant farm workers for the government, Ruby brings her to see her mother. Though reluctant–"I don't see what good they'll do. We need gas to leave this place. We need food, not photographs"–Ma agrees, swayed that perhaps they might convey to others how hard the migrant workers' lives are. 

Though the story of Florence Owens Thompson and her family may not be as Monica Kulling envisions it–her Author's Note and discussion of How the "Migrant Mother" Came to Be provide more details about the facts as known–it accurately depicts a family on the move for work, eking out a living wherever possible and carrying on through drought, dust storms, frost and more. I like that Monica Kulling gives the story to Ruby who, while quite young, knows the hardship of leaving the only home she'd known and the worries of her parents and still keeps hope in her heart. Though her words are heavy with worry, hunger and poverty, I suspect the story would have been far harsher if written from the perspective of Ma, Pa or an older sibling. 

From Ruby's Hope, written by Monica Kulling, illus. by Sarah Dvojack

Still, the tragedy in the family's story is pervasive in Ruby's Hope. It's like the dust clouds that spread across prairies and plains: oppressive, stifling out air and sun, and crushing.  American artist Sarah Dvojack's pencil drawings coloured digitally extend that feel of hardship. The earthiness of the family's circumstances, environmental and economic, are conveyed in her lines and colours. From the actions of her characters, in the slump of their shoulders, of the dirt of their clothes and bodies, and the landscapes of their situation, Sarah Dvojack embeds the art with the burdens of the time and place.

Ruby's Hope: A Story of the Girl in the Most Famous Photograph of the Depression may be a fictionalized account of that image but its accuracy comes from the awareness of how people like Ruby's family laboured through horrific circumstances and how change can be be inspired with the right attention.

Migrant Mother, Photograph by Dorothea Lange (Retrieved from https://www.moma.org/collection/works/50989)

Aunt Pearl

Written by Monica Kulling

Illustrated by Irene Luxbacher

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-153-5

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

August 2019

Six-year-old Marta's mother has decided that her Aunt Pearl should come and live with them rather than living on the street or couch surfing. Not only does Pearl bring her shopping cart loaded with her "worldly goods" but a man in an old van brings more boxes and bags with the same miscellany. While Marta and Dan's mother tries to keep their home tidy and organized as she prefers it to be, Aunt Pearl fills her room, as well as the garage and basement, with her stuff, and the clash of sensibilities begins.

From Aunt Pearl by Monica Kulling, illus. by Irene Luxbacher

Marta is quite fascinated with Aunt Pearl who is respectful of her new surroundings and family though she still feels the need to be true to herself.  Soon Marta is emulating Aunt Pearl, from her eclectic clothing choices to joining her on her forays to scour the neighbourhood’s garbage for treasures, always asking questions of Pearl and how she lived. Marta loves the drama of Aunt Pearl and always finds opportunities to role-play something she hears or sees associated with Aunt Pearl which unpredictably the older woman thinks strange.

From Aunt Pearl by Monica Kulling, illus. by Irene Luxbacher

But things are very different for Aunt Pearl now and over the summer and into the fall, she becomes more and more reserved, “staring into the ravine at the bottom of the yard where the trees grew tangled and green” and, with her mental health affected, she leaves.

From Aunt Pearl by Monica Kulling, illus. by Irene Luxbacher

Aunt Pearl is a tough story about family and love and appreciation and authenticity.  Author Monica Kulling makes it clear that Marta’s mother wants to do what’s best for her aunt but it might not actually be what’s right for Pearl. Many would think it generous and appropriate to give Pearl shelter in the family home but it’s obviously not what’s best in the long run for Pearl. Whatever the reason for Aunt Pearl choosing to return to the streets, and there are those who do, she was still able to make a connection with Marta, to learn that she had a place she could go, and that there were still choices within her control.

Monica Kulling's words never criticize either Aunt Pearl or Marta and Dan's mother for their living choices. She is an observer not a judge, seeing the circumstances as a clash of two worlds in which all try to accept their differences with open hearts. Irene Luxbacher's rich collage illustrations, a mixture of pencil, watercolour and acrylics finished with found papers and gouache, push that same idea. While Irene Luxbacher makes Aunt Pearl a sympathetic character with her soft eyes and quiet smile, Pearl's clothes are usually loud and her presence larger than life. In the words and the art, Aunt Pearl is both subtle and bold, trying to fit her world into someone else's and ultimately that just doesn't work.

Aunt Pearl is a bittersweet story about homelessness and the power of family to love and accept and let go. It teaches compassion and urges us all to better understand what it means to be homeless and to love those who are.

From Aunt Pearl by Monica Kulling, illus. by Irene Luxbacher

Girl of the Southern Sea

Written by Michelle Kadarusman

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-081-9

224 pp.

Ages 8-12

May 2019

This is the story of Nia, a girl who lives with her five-year-old brother Rudi and their father in a tin shack along the train tracks of Jakarta, Indonesia. Though at fourteen she has finished middle school, she craves to continue her education, but there is no extra money for the school fees needed for high school. Instead she works to tend to the family: getting her brother to and from school, making meals, cleaning, and preparing batter for their father's fried banana cart. Sadly, it also means bringing her father home from nights of drinking arak (an alcoholic drink) at Jango's hut and cleaning up after Bapak's poor choices. Still Nia tries to see a future, hopeful of saving money for school and writing stories about Dewi Kadita, the Queen of the Southern Sea, who offers life lessons and the promise of a better life from dire circumstances.

But, with any story, there are plot twists and conflicts that challenge characters and wrench the narrative from a smooth path to a satisfying terminus. For Nia, it's a minibus crash from which she alone survives essentially unscathed. In a culture rife with superstitions and a predilection for supernatural stories, Nia's survival is seen as a miracle and consequently their banana fritters attributed with being infused with good luck. But how fortunate is Nia truly?

This is the basis for Michelle Kadarusman's story of Nia, but I cannot convey the depth of the storytelling within Girl of the Southern Sea and it's message for girls to make their own opportunities. (A portion of the book's proceeds go to Plan International Canada's #BecauseIAmaGirl campaign.) Even dealing with her father's alcoholism and weakness of character, and inherent vulnerabilities because of poverty and alarming cultural and social attitudes, Nia is driven to continue her education and write her stories. She stands up for herself–"I am not your promise to give." (pg. 196)– and makes sure that her life becomes the story she wants told.

I am here to live a different story. I am here to write my own story. (pg. 202)

There are so many tragedies in Nia's story that come when others try to impose their lives on her circumstances. There are the corrupt police who assault her father; her best friend Yuli who may be involved in illicit activities as a way to improve her conditions; vigilantes who turn on Nia violently when the good luck they purported she peddled was proven to be lacking; and her father who is willing to choose his own needs over those of his children. Still Nia takes guidance from her mother, via dreams, and from Dewi Kadita, the princess cursed with disfiguring skin conditions relieved only in the Southern Sea, and begins to make a life for herself. Its origins may be saturated in misfortune and tragedy but it will become the story she wants to write for herself and make her the Girl of the Southern Sea.

Dr. Jo: How Sara Josephine Baker Saved the Lives of America's Children

Written by Monica Kulling

Illustrated by Julianna Swaney

Tundra Books

978-1-101-91789-3

32 pp.

Ages 5-8

October 2018

Sara Josephine Baker (1873-1945) had always been an unconventional person. She didn't hold by conventions that only boys played ball and climbed trees and became doctors. Fortunately, the Women's Medical College of the New York Infirmary had been established in 1868 and accepted her as a student of medicine. But, after setting up a practice with a fellow female physician, Florence Laighton, in 1898 and providing excellent care to her patients, Dr. Jo realized she did not have enough patients to stay in business and instead she became a health inspector for the city of New York.

Working in the neighbourhood of Hell's Kitchen, Dr. Jo was saddened to see so many immigrant families living in harsh conditions and subject to terrible illnesses and health issues, especially the children. She helped establish courses for midwives, nurse visits for new mothers, milk stations, and antiseptic beeswax containers for silver nitrate drops used on newborns. She even designed infant wear that was less restrictive and could regulate temperature–preventing heatstroke from typical swaddling–in babies. Her efforts on behalf of the children helped reduce New York City's infant mortality rate to levels not seen in other major American cities.

From Dr. Jo: How Sara Josephine Baker Saved the Lives of America's Children by Monica Kulling, illus. by Julianna Swaney

Monica Kulling always tells a good story in her illustrated biographies. (Check out all the books in her Great Ideas series including Clean Sweep! Frank Zamboni's Ice Machine and Zap! Nikola Tesla Takes Charge) She knows the right balance of information and text to educate and enlighten. Although she provides a brief page "More about Dr. Jo" with a few more details, Monica Kulling never makes the information read like an encyclopedic notation about the doctor's accomplishments. Instead, it focuses on Dr. Jo's motivations and achievements in terms of service to others, specifically children. Young readers will know about pediatricians, hopefully through their own health care, but will be surprised to learn that Dr. Jo was the first. Moreover, they will learn about a time and place when health was not a given, and the most vulnerable, children such as themselves, needed someone to advocate for them and care enough to help. Personally I appreciated hearing about a woman who broke down barriers in the medical field while managing to do extraordinary things.

From Dr. Jo: How Sara Josephine Baker Saved the Lives of America's Children by Monica Kulling, illus. by Julianna Swaney

Monica Kulling's stories come to life with exceptional illustrators like American artist Julianna Swaney who balance the real with the fictionalized. Images depicting the conditions of Hell's Kitchen would have been tragic yet Julianna Swaney shows the reality with a subtle touch of colour and shape. It is honest without being scary, and bright without being saccharine.

Learning about great people through illustrated biographies is always a winner for children. There's history being told but at a level relevant to them. I'm especially delighted that Monica Kulling has shared one about a female physician who never let societal conventions hold her back and was able to achieve much good by not doing so. It's an important lesson for all of us.

•••••••••••••••
 

A free educator's guide for Dr. Jo is available from Tundra Books at https://tundrabooks.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/dr-jo_educator-guide.pdf

Bright Shining Moment

Written by Deb Loughead

Second Story Press

978-1-77260-068-1

178 pp.

Ages 9-13

September 2018

Twelve-year-old Adèline (Aline) Sauriol is ashamed that her family is poor. Even though they have a roof over their heads and food on their table and her clothes are always clean and mended, she is humiliated that she never has coins for the charity box on Sister Madeleine's desk or magazines at home from which she could cut pictures for a scrapbook. And she's especially abashed that Jeanine Bonenfant, her tormentor and a school troublemaker who is always getting the strap (this is 1940s Ottawa), often contributes. This is especially frustrating as it is evident that Jeanine's family is far poorer than Aline's and there are rumours that Jeanine's father is a drunk who beats his children and that Jeanine steals from her ill mother.

I like my house, even though we can only use half of it now and tenants will be living in the other half soon. I like my bed, even though it's in the living room now. I wish we weren't poor, though. I wish Papa didn't scowl so much. I wish we had bright shiny new things like some others do. I wish for a lot of things that I know will never come true. Especially the one for an "English" nose. (pg. 54)

Aline wishes for many things to be different but, in a time of economic hardships, there's not much she can do. And then she steals a dime–she intended to only take a penny–for the charity box only to find it has already been collected from the class. As her guardian angel and the devil–she is a good Catholic girl after all–try to sway her, the girl spends it all on candy for herself and her cousin Lucille, purchasing more than they can possibly eat and hiding the rest. While a shameful reminder of her indiscretion, that bag of candy helps Aline make things right for a number of people, family and not, during times of tragedy and joy.

As with most children, Aline sees what she perceives others to have as better than what she has, whether it be money to share for charity, a big house and hot water as her friend Georgette has, or a radio, beautiful clothes and a Christmas tree as their new tenants, the English-Protestant Coleman family, have. In her home, Aline knows how fortunate she is, proud of her mother's baking and care of her family, or her father's hard work and telling of Ti-Jean stories, and her siblings who bring life to her family. But when at school or on the street or visiting the Coleman's apartment or Georgette's house, she is envious of all they seem to have. Of course, Deb Loughead makes sure that Aline realizes that the grass is not always greener and that there are those who are happy to share their bounty. Fortunately, Deb Loughead's touch in Bright Shining Moment is subtle, never moralizing, always recognizing that people's stories are far greater than outward appearances may suggest. There is an appreciation for those who struggle and understanding for those who put on façades while still recognizing that there are those who are more fortunate and still charitable.

Aline may be searching for bright shiny new things, but Bright Shining Moment is one in itself, with its setting effusive with the times and the lessons both discreet and smart. Amidst her personal struggles with envy and shame and wishes for more, Aline eventually finds that brightness and it comes from the familiar. It comes from home.

Fifteen Point Nine

Written by Holly Dobbie
DCB
978-1-77086-523-5
240 pp.
Ages 13+
June 2018

The bullying that fifteen-year-old Agatha Murphy and others endure at the hands of “Those Girls” and the “Idiot Boys” who follow them around is physical, degrading and unconscionable.  They only see that Susan is overweight, that Carson is very small, that Travis is highly intelligent, and that Nicole has sweat issues. But it’s Aggie’s countless issues that are at the heart of Fifteen Point Nine. Aggie’s mother Jane is a paranoid alcoholic who scavenges and hoards and is oblivious to her daughter’s needs for food, clean clothes, and even a functional washroom. The bullies may ridicule Aggie for being dirty and smelling, as well as rummaging for food, but they and everyone else, including the school, doesn’t know about her mother and Aggie’s need to self-harm to relieve her anxiety and despair. Aggie may lighten that despair with barbed monikers including “The Torture Chamber” for school and “The Dump” for home, by ranking potential moments on her Official Romantic Scale, and by imagining outrageous scenarios that would whisk her away, but Aggie knows her situation is becoming intolerable.

I’m going to try to be more of a human being and less of a rodent, although it’s obviously something that I’m not very good at. (pg. 14)

In an attempt to take some control, Aggie decides to use an old camcorder to document the bullying in all its visual and audio horror. Unexpectedly, Susan becomes an ally in Aggie’s video endeavour, as do Carson, Travis and Nicole. These teens, deemed misfits by their cruel peers, become the Warriors Video Club and resolve to expose the bullies.

While Aggie continues to suffer at the hands of her horrid mother and the bullies, there are unexpected glimmers of something better, including  kindness from a school janitor and several moms, some Johnny Cash-infused wisdom from Jane’s newest suitor,

"Pain ain’t no good thing. Aint’t nobody out there gonna hand you a prize for storin’ shit in your heart.” (pg. 185)

and, most importantly, notes from an anonymous boy who wants her to attend the Winter Solstice Carnival dance. But, when a classmate commits suicide, Aggie’s perspective on survival and taking charge is put to the test.

Fifteen Point Nine may be Holly Dobbie’s debut novel but her teaching experiences with teens have served her well in telling the story convincingly. For those living through bullying, parental neglect, suicide of a peer and dejection, the authenticity of Fifteen Point Nine will hit hard, particularly in its harshness and near hopelessness. Still, Holly Dobbie makes it clear that, for those who do suffer at the hands of others, every day of survival is a victory and making it past fifteen point nine (just less than sixteen years of age) is a triumph.


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

Kubiw, H. (2018, September). [Review of the book Fifteen Point Nine, by Holly Dobbie]. Quill & Quire, 84 (7): 37.

The Journey of Little Charlie

Written by Christopher Paul Curtis

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-4263-2

234 pp.

Ages 8-13

February 2018

Little Charlie Bobo, the son of a white sharecropper on the South Carolina plantation of Mr. Tanner, can hardly be called little for his size. At twelve, he is 6'4".  So, when Little Charlie's father is killed and cap'n Duke, the abusive overseer on the plantation, claims that he'd paid him fifty dollars upfront to help him retrieve money stolen from Mr. Tanner, Little Charlie has no recourse but to accompany the man.

Heading to Detroit, Little Charlie knows enough to listen and not say much to the brutal and racist cap'n Duke.

You can learn from anybody.  Even dimwits can teach you if you listen careful and pick at the kernels of corn from the horse crap they's dishing out. (pg. 71)

He quickly learns that the "thieves" they are searching out are slaves Lou and Cleytus and their young son Sylvester who'd escaped from the Tanner plantation ten years earlier.  With some assistance from the equally reprehensible Sheriff Turner and his associate Keegan, cap'n Duke captures the parents who have made a good life for themselves and their family and  now go by Eloise and Chester Desmarest.  But cap'n Duke is determined to get all the family, including the two-year-old twin daughters and son Sylvanus, a student at a school in Saint Catharines, Canada.  Though warned about going into Canada to retrieve escaped slaves, cap'n Duke with Little Charlie in tow get themselves cleaned up and travel by ferry and train to deceive Sylvanus into returning to the United States with them.

The Journey of Little Charlie may begin as a debt the young man is trapped into repaying but it becomes a journey of learning beyond any his poor existence at home had provided him.  Though his parents imparted some wisdom to him about survival and living a life of subservience, Little Charlie has had few opportunities–he cannot read–and never expected much from his life. Accompanying the vile cap'n Duke, Little Charlie is able to see for himself how the world outside of Possum Moan, South Carolina works, including entering Canada, a country which had abolished slavery decades earlier. For the first time, he could see, not just learn second-hand, what life was like for others, including the poor, the rich, "colored folk" and everyone.  The Journey of Little Charlie is a coming-of-age story of historically immense proportions; it is Little Charlie's journey outside of what he has always known and been taught. And he heeds the words of the old railway man, Ol'Jerry, they meet outside of "Dee-troit."

"I 'membered thinking at the time 'tis too bad this can't be a reg'lar part of living, where we all gets a chance to walk away from whatever train wreck we's made of our lives and run off to start up building something new." (pg. 79)

Just as he did in The Madman of Piney Woods (Scholastic, 2014), Christopher Paul Curtis brings together very different voices on a similar journey, though their intentions and perspectives vary greatly.  In The Madman of Piney Woods, he gives voice to a boy living in the shadow of his grandmother's harrowing immigration from Ireland and a distinct one to another whose family and friends live with the legacy of slavery.  They, like Little Charlie and cap'n Duke, live ordinary lives for the times.  But from the ordinary comes the extraordinary.  It is the righting of wrongs and redemption that carries the story forward, delivering history from the every day and teaching compassion from cruelty.

They never once looked back.                                                    If I was them, I wouldn't-a neither. (pg. 232)

Breaking Faith

Written by E. Graziani

Second Story Press

978-1-77260-024-7

328 pp.

Ages 13+

March 2017

Reviewed from advance reading copy

For most people, turning points help define them in terms of before and after.  They are sparks of tragedy or ecstasy that depress or elevate, twisting the trajectories of lives onto paths unpredicted.  For Faith Emily Hansen, her turning points began with those of her mother, Lacey, but when her own begin to accumulate, they lead her down paths that are both random and dangerous, and sadly all her own.

Life for Faith’s family has never been easy.  Her mother had been devastated when her husband Simon had died, leaving her with a two-year-old daughter Constance.  She tried to get on with her life, moving back in with her criticizing and argumentative mother Dot, and even getting involved with two different men and having Faith a year later and Destiny two years after that.  Still Lacey’s life is tenuous at best, and out of control at worst.  Although her love for her children is evident–including coming to Faith's rescue when the four-year-old becomes an innocent victim in a horrific act of violence–she leaves them when Faith is just seven, moving to Toronto and making promises she'll never keep.

When Constance moves in with her other grandmother, the affluent Josephine, Faith is left to mother her younger sister and navigate her own Darkness, ever difficult as she is overwhelmed with sadness and anger, hurt and loneliness.  And she is just a child.  As they all deal with Lacey’s spiral into drug use, Faith yearns for normal but is unable to make choices that support that.  Even some counselling and making friends with Norma and Ishaan in middle school can't keep Faith from eventually breaking and heading to a life on the streets of Toronto and into using heroin, eventually hitting rock bottom.

"And my soul was broken–I'd lost Faith.  Lost hope. Lost my belief in my own destiny." (pg. 264)

The story that E. Graziani tells with heart-breaking power and poignancy is devastating in its sadness and bleakness.  Though Faith's reactions are her own, the circumstances of her life were thrust upon her by a mother with her own addiction and mental health issues, by a random act of violence and by familial circumstances which burden her and for which she, as a child, was unprepared emotionally and physically.  Even happiness was a burden.

"And the feeling of constantly being on edge, walking on eggshells, and feeling guilty (though outlandish as that may seem) if I felt a positive emotion." (pg. 17)

But, though Faith sees little positive in her life, she is the poster child for the Bob Marley quote she repeats throughout: "You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice."
The reader may be hopeful that, since it is a nineteen-year-old Faith who is writing about the events and conditions that led her to a point where she needs to be rescued, Breaking Faith must have a happy ending i.e., she survives to write her story.  But I don't think there are any happy endings here.  As the Afterword by psychiatrist Dr. Vimala Chinnasamy states, Faith's story is not an uncommon one, one in which mental illness and addiction are perceived as emotional weaknesses and for which inadequate support, both within the family and outside, is provided, thus contributing to the tragedy.  And Breaking Faith is a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions.  The only saving grace is that Faith survives these chapters of her life and that E. Graziani provides a deep look into a life we need to witness so that we might walk with the Faiths of this world before we need to pull them up and rescue them or worse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Check out the next post for details of the book launch for Breaking Faith this Sunday at A Different Drummer Books in Burlington, ON