The Pencil

Written by Susan Avingaq and Maren Vsetula

Illustrated by Charlene Chua

Inhabit Media

978-1-77227-216-1

36 pp.

Ages 5-7

April 2019

Maybe you think a pencil is just a pencil, a utensil that is easily replaced and should be thrown away when it becomes too difficult to manipulate. But, for Susan Avingaq whose story this is, a pencil is so much more.

From The Pencil by Susan Avingaq and Maren Vsetula, illus. by Charlene Chua

When Susan's mother leaves their iglu to help a neighbour with a birth, she and her sister Rebecca and brother Peter are left in the care of their father. Play for the children includes having a jumping contest, a game of hide-and-seek and the two older girls practising their letters on the frost surface of the ice window. But when Ataata pulls out the pencil from the special box of Anaana's things, everything changes.

From The Pencil by Susan Avingaq and Maren Vsetula, illus. by Charlene Chua

The pencil is already very short from Anaana's writing of letters to people in other camps, using whatever paper she might save including from tea boxes and sugar bags, but it is still gold.

Anaana always said that we needed to be very careful with the pencil and that it wasn't a toy.

Ataata also gives Susan a piece of paper and suggests she draw pictures for her brother. Though nervous, she draws seals and caribou and her family. Then Rebecca practises her writing, and Peter draws some scribbles and their father draws different inuksuit.  The pencil gets shorter and Ataata has to sharpen it with his knife.

When their mother returns and is somewhat taken aback by their use of her pencil, she still cheers their efforts and is pleased that they'd had a good day.

From The Pencil by Susan Avingaq and Maren Vsetula, illus. by Charlene Chua

Susan Avingaq's reminiscence of that special day with a pencil is so charming. The children's reverence for that pencil is absolutely palpable. They know how important it is to their mother and that it is not a trifle. With every stroke of that pencil, they showed knowledge of their culture and respect for Anaana and her need to be frugal.  Together Susan Avingaq and Maren Vsetula, who'd first collaborated on Fishing with Grandma (Inhabit Media, 2016) which was also illustrated by Charlene Chua, bring Inuit life on the land into a meaningful but genuine depiction in The Pencil. I have no doubts that Susan and her family, like many, had to be resourceful and careful with what they had and how it was used but The Pencil goes beyond a lesson in frugality and becomes a story of family, of play and of culture, which many children will appreciate. Charlene Chua, whose art has enhanced the stories of Akilak's Adventure (2016) and Elisapee and Her Baby Seagull (2017) among others, always finds a way to illustrate the love of family and the cultural wisdom of the storytellers.  Children will see the delight in Charlene Chua's characters when the pencil is brought out, when their father pretends to be a polar bear and the children's regret when their mother reminds them about using the pencil.

 "You know the reason we have to use our things very wisely is because they are quite difficult to get. We have only one pencil right now, and we won't be able to get another until we return to the trading post," she said.

A pencil may only be a pencil to many people, but it's an opening to a new world of connection to Susan and her family and deserving of being treasured.

From The Pencil by Susan Avingaq and Maren Vsetula, illus. by Charlene Chua

Blood on the Beach

Written by Sarah N. Harvey and Robin Stevenson

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-1293-2

259 pp.

Ages 13+

2017

When eight “at-risk” teens accompany three adult counsellors to a remote island off the BC coast to participate in the week-long INTRO (=In Nature to Renew Ourselves) program, they probably never imagined graver risks than those they had already endured.  But,  when one of the teens goes missing, and everyone starts pointing fingers and suspicions grow between island-mates, Blood on the Beach becomes a YA Survivor x Lord of the Flies story.

Today is a good day to bury bad habits, attitudes and relationships so you can give birth to a new you. (pg. 45)

It seems that those in authority–parents and the court system–believe that the four girls and four boys sent to INTRO need to “change” their ways.  There’s Alice, the daughter of a cop, who was tagged for underage drinking; a depressed Tara who seems fearful of life; the flirtatious Mandy whose risky behaviour has lead her to theft; the misleading Imogen whose vice is drugs; B & E proficient Jason; Caleb who assaulted his mother’s abusive partner; weed-dealer Chad; and Nick whose parents want him to not be gay.  Under the care of former cop Warren and his psychologist wife Claire, as well as newbie counsellor Rahim, the kids are brought together to discuss their feelings, do chores like cooking and cleaning, and clearing of brush for a trail. But when Tara disappears the second day on the island and the radio is damaged, most of the kids want answers and actively pursue them.  Everyone is on edge, but especially Alice who unearths clues to Caleb’s possible involvement and Caleb who realizes Alice and Imogen are treating him with distrust.  The situation is all the more tenuous because of Warren and Claire’s reluctance to contact authorities and get assistance.

Through the alternate voices of Alice and Caleb, the story of Tara’s disappearance and the program’s participants coming together to solve the mystery is revealed.  But Blood on the Beach moves from mystery to thriller when a death occurs and suspicions are ramped up.  Everyone is looking over their shoulders for the culprit, not knowing enough about anyone to feel safe.    

From reviews of Sarah N. Harvey and Robin Stevenson’s most recent books (Spirit Level and The World Without Us, respectively), we know that the two BC writers can pack a lot of plot punch and strong characterizations into their YA novels.  Together, they are powerful.  They have created a wild assortment of characters and exposed them to  a more tenuous situation than those from which they came.  I suspect the community that thought INTRO was a good idea might want to rethink the benefits of a program that doesn’t adhere to the bioethical maxim of “do no harm.”  Scarier still is the belief that the adults would know what they’re doing when it’s actually the kids who show the maturity and conscience to fully resolve the mystery and mitigate the threat.

Like the little paper boats the teens construct with messages of their pasts to release to the sea, these teens leave behind their pasts and demonstrate courage and resourcefulness to secure their present and even look forward to positive futures.