Salma Writes a Book

Written by Danny Ramadan

Illustrated by Anna Bron

Annick Press

978-1-77321-803-8

120 pp.

Ages 6-9

 September 2023

 

Young Salma, whom we first met in Danny Ramadan and Anna Bron's first picture book Salma the Syrian Chef, is pretty excited to finally meet her uncle, Khalou Dawood, who'd left Syria before her own family to attend university in Toronto before moving to Vancouver. Now he's come to visit, and she is thrilled. But when Salma asks why he has never visited before, things get very tense, and Mama says they will not talk about it.

From Salma Writes a Book, written by Danny Ramadan, illus. by Anna Bron

Though he does not stay with them, her khalou takes her for outings and plays with her, and when her mother has a dizzy spell and Salma is worried, she calls Dawood who comes to help. He is a supportive younger brother, and Salma hopes she'll be a good sibling too when she learns her mother is expecting a baby.

Salma is determined to learn the right way to be a big sister and so she decides to do her research and write her own book titled, "Salma's Guide to Being The Best Older Sibling Ever." Not only does she need to learn how to write a book, but she must also find out from her classmates what is important about being a sibling. But Salma is confused when she sees her mother and her uncle interact. They seem to be close, but Salma wants to know why they have not visited before. Then Mama gets angry when Dawood brings his husband Michael to Salma's apartment for Eid al-Adha dinner. Michael choses to leave, as does Dawood, and Salma is perplexed. 

After a fiasco with her friend Riya's mother's shawl, which the girls cover up, Salma is convinced she doesn't know anything about being a sibling.

She has to learn how to make the right decisions, and how to teach her sibling the same. She has to learn how to guide her sibling, and how to be a role model. And worse of all, she still doesn't know when it is okay to be mad at your sibling, or how to fix things after a fight. (pg. 69)

It's only by understanding their mistakes, that Salma, and even her mother, can move forward and become the siblings they want to be.

While I don't know how many bits of writer Danny Ramadan's own story are the basis of Salma Writes a Book, I do know that there are lessons here that we all need to learn. From understanding "how confusion and fear can lead to mistakes" (pg. 81) and that sometimes it takes time to resolve them. It can mean reconciling confusion between what we've always been told and a new perspective. It could mean taking responsibility and fixing things. It could mean apologizing. Danny Ramadan makes us realize that mistakes can be little things or big things but fixing them is always worthwhile. And by helping Salma see the breadth of mistakes that can be made, from damaging someone else's property, to lying, or to being rude and intolerant, Danny Ramadan has given her opportunities to learn about correcting mistakes and hopefully help her become a more compassionate and supportive older sibling.

Though an early reader with fewer illustrations than Salma's first book, Salma Writes a Book still has more than two dozen black-and-white illustrations by Anna Bron that show us the extent of Salma's experiences, with meeting her khalou and his husband, interviewing her peers, struggling to write, and being part of her family. Young readers will appreciate seeing Salma in all her joys and frustrations, knowing how she might feel as she struggles trying to learn and understand through her own confusion and fears. Fortunately, with a fourth Salma book slated for 2024–Salma Joins the Team–we won't need to wait too long to learn the lessons Danny Ramadan has had Salma learn so that she might be a fabulous big sister to baby Nora.

• • • • • • •

Salma the Syrian Chef (2020)

Salma Makes a Home (2023)

Salma Writes a Book (2023)

Salma Joins the Team (coming in 2024)

Something Wiki

by Suzanne Sutherland

Dundurn

978-1-45972-821-9

160 pp.

Ages 9-12

For release January 3, 2015

While the title Something Wiki may suggest that there's something wicked, there really isn't, unless, of course, you count going through puberty and all that it entails: skin breaking out, body image issues, first crushes, changing friendships, parent issues, etc.  Okay, so puberty is pretty wicked.  But the "wiki" in the title refers to twelve-year-old (almost 13!) Jo Waller's use of Wikipedia as a diary, allowing her to share her feelings by amending entries that relate to her situation.  She adds her personal touch to entries about acne, ambush, hairdresser, and friendship, among the many that kick off each new chapter in Something Wiki, always knowing that her edits will satisfyingly disappear almost as soon as she finishes them.

Too bad the problems of growing up can't disappear as easily as revised wiki entries because there's a lot going on for Jo, and much of it she cannot control.  Because Jo sees herself as a short, chunky, geeky girl with glasses and zits, she tends to compare herself to others, specifically her friends:  pretty, best friend Stacey, musical Trisha and the smart, ginger-haired Chloe.  But she's starting to feel out of sync with them, especially when she learns Stacey has lied to her in order to hang out with Chloe alone.  Those she used to rely on for support seem to be turning on her.  Add to that the domestic chaos brought about by the return home of her 24-year-old brother Zim with his girlfriend Jenevieve who is pregnant, and Jo's parents refusal to include their youngest in their home situation.  And then there's cutie Declan Walsh who intensifies the pandemonium.

Suzanne Sutherland has made Something Wiki into Jo's coming-of-age story, demonstrating that everything in the life of a pubescent girl may seem twisted and knotted but, with time and some effort at disentanglement, a new order can arise.  The wickedness of losing friends, unfair accusations, bad haircuts, bad skin, and feeling discounted can be endured when their absurdity in the big picture is realized.  Suzanne Sutherland gives Jo the ability to see the ridiculousness in her life.

These days I just want to sleep. I'd be happy if I could sleep all day....
It won't work, though. I drool in my sleep. 

As if I needed to look any uglier. (pg. 127)

Yep, the regular fries of teen angst–bad enough for the skin–becomes poutine courtesy of Suzanne Sutherland: far richer and flavourful. 

Tomorrow's Kingdom

nota bene: As Tomorrow's Kingdom is the final book 

in The Gypsy King trilogy, 

I adamantly recommend that, 

if you haven't read Books 1 and 2 already, 

please read them first 

to enjoy the full effect of The Gypsy King trilogy.  

It is so worth it!

by Maureen Fergus

Razorbill

978-0670067664

448 pp.

Ages 12+

July, 2014

Persephone's trajectory has been an extraordinary one from The Gypsy King (Razorbill, 2012) to A Fool's Errand (Razorbill, 2013) and now Tomorrow's Kingdom.  From slave to long-lost twin of King Finnius, then seeker of the healing Pool of Genesing and initially-reluctant bride of the gypsy Azriel, Persephone launches Tomorrow's Kingdom as the true Queen, and hostage of Regent Mordecai who intends to wed her and rule the kingdom himself.

In addition to Mordecai plotting Persephone's future with him, Lord Bartok is working with the other lords to liberate and return her to the throne, by attacking Mordecai's New Men army.  Of course, Bartok plans to wed Persephone himself, in case his daughter Aurelia, who is pretending to be pregnant with King Finnius' child, doesn't succeed in making it a pseudo-reality with some random man.

If Persephone is anything, she is amazingly strong and determined, first to save herself and then focus on her next steps. 

"All that was left to do was to find Azriel, prevent the slaughter of the tribes, save the Kingdom and take the throne." (pg. 113)

Yeah, that's all. 

But, just as Persephone has been transformed, so too has Azriel, from chicken thief and proud Gypsy and target of Mordecai's New Men army, to Persephone's devoted protector and amorous husband.  And when he learns that she is pregnant with his child, there is nothing he won't do to keep her safe.

It's a fight for tomorrow's kingdom, a kingdom which Persephone has promised will unite the five tribes–Erok, Gypsies, Khan, Marinese and Gorgishmen–of Glyndoria.  But, with so much plotting for the throne, it's not surprising that deception and battle may be deemed necessary.  But who is deceiving whom?  Well, it's not Persephone with Azriel or vice versa, and that is the sweetness in a battle-ridden conclusion to the trilogy.  While Books 1 and 2 have Persephone and Azriel doing some romantic sparring as they sort out their feelings for each other and attempt to interpret the other's actions (often incorrectly), Tomorrow's Kingdom releases the reader from worrying whether the two lovers will find their way to each other.  They have.  Now there's so much more to worry about: an angry Mordecai who is losing his grip on his New Men army; Lord Bartok whose plans for control are being thwarted by his hapless son and daughter; the tribes who all have some reservations about Persephone's prophesized reign; and the healthy birth of a baby that may mean everything to everyone.

Maureen Fergus is so adept at carrying readers away to a different land and time, of cultures and societies so different than our own, where their speech is different, from crass to formal, their lifestyles foreign (in more ways than one), and their spirits undefinable.  From vivid descriptions of scenery,

"...as she beheld the sprawling castle that rose up before her.  Built in the shadow of a barren mountain at the very edge of a high cliff, it was constructed of blackest stone.  Except for along the cliff edge, it was protected by a wall so thick that a brace of oxen could have pulled a wagon along the top if it hadn't been for the iron spikes set every few feet.  Several of these spikes were topped with heads that appeared to have been dipped in tar to slow the process of decay; the rest stood empty and waiting against a backdrop of low clouds scudding across the stormy sky." (pg. 65)

to experiences beyond my imagination,

"After shoving into her mouth a piece of meat so tender, juicy, fragrant and delicious that she almost started to cry, Persephone unenthusiastically handed the rotten-toothed man his share." (pg. 134) 

and the seasoned speech of any character, including the third-person speaking Gorgishman,

     "Miter has not pledged friendship!" reminded the Gorgishman shrilly. "Miter has pledged nothing but his eternal enmity if you take this tiresome war of yours anywhere near his beloved valley!"
     "Oh, stop," said the Gypsy dryly.  "You're making me feel all choked up inside." (pg. 327)

the text becomes a part of the plot, enriching all elements of the story.  Every word spoken or not is fulfilling to the experience that is Tomorrow's Kingdom, as was in The Gypsy King and A Fool's Errand. But here we have the delight of a hard-earned happy finale, with a last-minute surprise or two, before ending with the words, "The Gypsy that would be king." (pg. 456)