No Purchase Necessary

Written by Maria Marianayagam

HarperCollins

978-1-4434-7261-6

256 pp.

Ages 9–12

January 2025 

 

Ajay Anthonipillai and his parents and sister Aarthi recently moved to Bridge Creek to be closer to some family and save money. It's now a three-hour commute for Appa to the city where he is studying for his master's in civil engineering, but the Tamil Sri Lankan family understands the sacrifices that must be made to succeed. While understanding that money is tight and that his parents have very high expectations for him, Ajay really wants to fit in. And so, when taunted by alpha classmate Jacob Underson to steal a Mercury chocolate bar in Scary Al's convenience store, Ajay does it. This one mistake changes everything for Ajay.

 

Jacob refuses the chocolate bar since Ajay hid it in his pants, so Ajay eats the chocolate himself. "It tasted like bliss and guilt." (p. 25) But there's more than candy in the package. There's also the message on the wrapper that tells him he's won Mercury's $1 million Grand Prize. He knows all the good that money would do his family, including helping his aunt's family in Sri Lanka but Ajay knows he doesn't deserve it. In fact, if he hadn't taken it, his classmate Mindy Yu would've won it, grabbing the next bar after him. 

What to do? He has learned much from karate about integrity and respect, as he had from attending Catholic Church with Father Freddie, so Ajay is torn about what to do. Return the wrapper to Scary Al? Give it to Mindy? Confess to his parents? Cash in the ticket? Even as Ajay vacillates between all his options–not unlike Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" for an assignment with which Ajay is struggling–he ends up working for Scary Al at the store, becoming friendly with Mindy who helps him with his English assignment, and fighting and then collaborating with his tormentor Jacob. 

But lies have a life of their own. Some lies beget other lies. Or the lies morph into something completely different. And they can always be exposed. Whether it's because someone lets something slip or the liar is overcome with guilt or because the truth was known all along, lies do unravel, and for Ajay, it's just a question of when and how, not if.

 

Maria Marianayagam, herself a Sri Lankan-Canadian, undoubtedly drew from her own cultural experiences to give life to Ajay and his family. The high regard for education and family and hard work are evident, all solid foundations for Ajay and Aarthi. But these same values are challenged when they intersect with the culture of their new home, in which kids defend themselves when bullied, do extracurricular activities, and try to fit in with their peers. The balancing act of being different people, one at home and both a peer and your parents' child at school is a precarious one and one that challenges Ajay. Maria Marianayagam does not make Ajay a perfect kid who handles it all. She makes him real, struggling with himself and others, trying to do what's right though it might make life harder, and wishing for a break occasionally to just be himself. When Ajay and Aarthi can finally unmask themselves to their parents, it's both refreshing for all and illuminating.

 

Winning a million dollars seems like a dream but for Ajay it becomes a nightmare of conflict between honour and want. Thankfully, the rules of his family and those of the dojo and his faith help guide him to make the best choice and ultimately to enrich his life in unforeseen ways.

The Not-So-Uniform Life of Holly-Mei

Written by Christina Matula

Inkyard Press

978-1-335-42488-4

288 pp.

Ages 8-12

April 2022

Twelve-year-old Holly-Mei Jones knows she needs to filter more. After she costs her class a pizza party when she reveals cheaters–she also loves following rules–and loses her best friend, Holly-Mei might have despaired but she's still hopeful about turning things around. Then her mom announces that they are moving to Hong Kong and without Holly-Mei's dearest grandmother, Ah-ma. So off they go: her mom to a posting as chief operations officer for Asia-Pacific for Lo Holdings International; her dad, a prof, to a leave and an opportunity to write; and Holly-Mei and her eleven-year-old sister Millie to the prestigious and very expensive Tai Tam Prep. 

 

As they begin their new lives, Holly-Mei is confident that this fresh start will offer her unique opportunities, particularly in making friends. Fortunately the girls' cousins, Rosie and Rhys, and Aunt Helen and Uncle Charlie already live in the same building complex and the twins are in Grade 7 of the upper school along with Holly-Mei. Tai Tam Prep, with its own beach, sailing club, tennis courts, organic vegetable garden, swimming pool with retractable roof, and restaurant-quality caf–the food, oh, the food!–may be the school of the rich and famous but it's also where Holly-Mei hopes to find new friends. Among those she meets, there's queen bee Gemma Tsien, daughter of a toy factory magnate and a former film star; her sidekicks Rainbow Hsien and Snowy Wong, a YouTuber; Jinsae Kim; Henry Lo, of the Lo family of mom's company; his cousin Theo Fitzwilliam-Lo; and Dev Singh, a skilled field hockey player. But as she meets new people and works hard to fit in, she is reminded constantly by her mother that this is her opportunity to meet "the right people" and to always make a good impression. It's all about giving the family face i.e., honour and respectability.

"Guanxi, my darlings, is the Chinese word for connections, but it's so much deeper that that. It's not just knowing someone. It's about trust and loyalty. Opportunity." (pg. 113)

Of course, with her tendency to blurt things out and need to adhere the rules as she knows them, Holly-Mei has a few fumbles. Worse yet, they happen while she is working with a small group of her peers for a performance to celebrate the opening of the new Tsien Wing, named for its benefactors, Gemma's family. Holly-Mei is reminded of Ah-ma's Taiwanese saying ku jin gan lai which means bitterness finishes, sweetness begins, but she's starting to see that sometimes someone is "seemingly sweet like chocolate but bitter like raw cocoa." (pg. 125) Can Holly-Mei make some new friends, not alienate others with her unfiltered comments, and uphold her own family's standing in this new and very different society?

 

If you blended "Crazy Rich Asians" with "Mean Girls," you'd have The Not-So-Uniform Life of Holly-Mei. It's the opulence of a wildly wealthy community and the tricky family expectations experienced by a group of preteens trying to find their ways with each other and their families. The struggles of Holly-Mei and her peers may be familiar to young readers but set in the gloriously exotic Hong Kong, rich in architecture, history and culture, The Not-So-Uniform Life of Holly-Mei becomes an incomparable story. Many, nay most, young readers will not be familiar with affluence depicted but they will know about messing up, fitting in and pleasing their families. They'll know that things don't always go smoothly and sometimes they work out well and that how things turn out may or may not be up to them. But, like Holly-Mei, they have some of the means to make things right to move from bitterness to sweetness. 

 

This is Christina Matula's debut children's book and her "Author's Note" suggests she knows much about what Holly-Mei lives. Christina Matula's Chinese heritage comes from her mother's Taiwanese side while her father is European–Holly-Mei's is British, Christina Matula's Hungarian–and the opportunity to live abroad is part of her background. She brings that familiarity with being biracial and culturally diverse to Holly-Mei and several of her peers to help young readers understand the challenges of fitting in and being oneself while loving who you are as you are. Hopefully Holly-Mei will learn to grow into herself and be comfortable with who she is in possible later stories, as HarperCollins lists this book as A Holly-Mei Book: Volume Number 1, suggesting a sequel. Here's hoping we get to revisit Hong Kong and Holly-Mei and her family and friends soon to enjoy more tasty treats (two recipes append the story), take in a tourist attraction or two, and have some sensational fun.

Circle

Written by Mac Barnett

Illustrated by Jon Klassen

Candlewick Press

978-0-7636-9608-5

48 pp.

Ages 4-9

March 2019

Young readers met Circle and her friends Square and Triangle in Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen's earlier books in the Shape trilogy, Triangle (Candlewick, 2017) and Square (Candlewick, 2018), but now it's Circle's turn to reveal herself. In each of the books, the shape at its centre have dealt with personal issues of trust and self-confidence and, above all, friendship, and now Circle finds herself similarly challenged in this final book in the Shape trilogy.

From Circle by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen

Circle and her friends Square and Triangle are playing a game of hide-and-seek near Circle's waterfall but she insists that they cannot hide behind the waterfall. But Triangle chooses to do just that and Circle slips in behind the falls to find him.

From Circle by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen

It is very dark in the cavern behind the falls but, as Circle goes in farther, calling out to Triangle, it becomes pitch black. Only Circle's eyes are visible until a second pair appears. As Circle chastizes Triangle for his rule-breaking and disregard for his friends, the second pair of eyes remains silent. Finally Circle apologizes for her rant and tells Triangle that they love him, just as a third pair of eyes appear behind Circle with Triangle's voice thanking Circle for her declarations. Then things get a little harried as the two realize the third set of eyes does not belong to their friend, though in hindsight, Circle recognizes something highly relevant.

"You know," she said, "that shape in the dark might

not have been bad. It might have been a good shape.

We just could not see it."

From Circle by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen

Let's talk about the subtlety of message which is perfectly understated for the very young for whom this board book was written. Kids will know about playing and rules and friends and getting frustrated and angry and then taking all back. They'll know about being afraid of the dark and confronting their fears. But, while Circle speaks to all that, in the hands of that dynamic duo of American Mac Barnett and Canadian Jon Klassen, it also speaks to larger issues of forgiveness and tolerance. Big concepts for a little book but presented in such a sophisticated way that it will permeate any barrier.

From Circle by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen

There is a quietness to Jon Klassen's earthy illustrations, created with a combination of coloured pencils, gouache and crayons, evoking the natural setting for the stories of the three shape friends. Like the rocks and the cavern and the shapes themselves, the illustrations have substance but are not oppressive, while giving hints of harmony and freshness with the touches of mint green for Circle's waterfall. It's so easy to fall into Jon Klassen's art and swim around, even if in the pitch darkness of the deepest depths of that cavern.

I am sorry to see this trilogy end but I am ever hopeful that the partnership of Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen will continue, as it should, to add to the canon of picture books that tell powerful stories with distinction and without preaching.

Shape trilogy by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen

Gerbil, Uncurled

A Tell-Me-More Storybook

Written by Alison Hughes

Illustrated by Suzanne Del Rizzo

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

978-1-554-55332-7

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

September 2015

Fitzhenry & Whiteside have a new addition to their Tell-Me-More Storybook collection and young readers have a delightful story that will tell teach them about gerbils and working together to formulate the best rules for all.

All the gerbils know the Gerbil Mottos in Gerbil, Uncurled.  They are:

• The Night is Short: Keep Busy
• Always Keep Your Whiskers Clean
• Celery Tops Come To Those Who Wait
• Many Paws Make Quick Work
• Curl Up Nose To Toes

Important rules to follow to live to a good long life like Grandpa Gerbil who is a five whole years old!

But Little Gerbil, try as she might, is not a curl-up-like-a-ball sleeper.  And though she promises Grandpa Gerbil to try, she panics, desperate for fresh air and to stretch out in the sunshine. So when day ends, she scrambles back to her family’s bedding to wake up with the rest, huddled as she should be.  However, Little Gerbil can’t handle the guilt of accepting congratulations while she “was living a gerbil lie.” (pg. 12)  Nonetheless making some careful observations helps Little Gerbil guide her elders and family to rethink the Gerbil Mottos so that all may be successful.

Alison Hughes shares important lessons about cooperation, family and being true to oneself in Gerbil, Uncurled but young readers will be just as charmed by Suzanne Del Rizzo’s polymer art of the little rodents and their environs.  Following in the artistic steps of Canada’s Grande Dame of plasticine, Barbara Reid, Suzanne Del Rizzo fashions warm hues of oranges and beiges, with touches of blue and turquoise as complementary colours, into gerbil life and details.  Her creatures are adorable and jump off the page with their curls and cedar shavings and braided textures.  I can’t possibly enumerate all the details in which children will delight–a teddy bear, a banana, celery, knitting, alphabet blocks–but they’ll be delighted that Suzanne Del Rizzo shares with them how to mold the dough into their own gerbils.  And everyone, teachers and parents included, will appreciate the additional information about different rodents and gerbil behaviour included in this Tell-Me-More Storybook appendix.

Gerbil, Uncurled will amuse and inform while providing a sweet vehicle for teaching about rules and coming together to make better ones that work for all.

The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten

by Maureen Fergus

Illustrated by Mike Lowery

Kids Can Press

978-1-55453-698-6

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

March, 2013

With school just around the corner (you have seen the back-to-school sales advertised already, haven't you?), many teachers and parents are starting to think about those first days and how to make them run smoothly and still be fun.  The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten by Maureen Fergus and illustrated by Mike Lowery is a wonderful new youngCanLit to use in the classroom for introducing rules in a humourous context or at home to prepare little ones for their first years in school, without preaching.
 
Kindergarten can be a trying experience for both parent and child but not for the little girl who narrates The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten.  She loves school.  "It was better than a dinosaur museum, a circus, and a super-duper mega-three-scooper ice-cream sundae."  Mom on the other hand seems a little sad to see her little one go off to school.  So, her daughter politely asks if Mom would like to come inside, sensing the need to help Mom through this experience.

But Mom is so excited that she just barrels right in there.  She doesn't know that you don't barge in at the front of the line, that you take off your outdoor shoes and put them away in your cubby, that you raise your hand, wait your turn and don't shout out, that you clean up after yourself, that you use an indoor voice in the library, and that no one speaks during Story Time.  Mom has a lot to learn.  Luckily her daughter is already well versed in kindergarten protocols, and the teacher, Ms Beaudry, is very understanding and accepts that sometimes it takes a while to get comfortable with something new.  But the message is still clear.

"...school is nicer for everybody if you try to be considerate of others."

Robert Fulghum's popular essay, titled All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten (Villard Books, 1988), still holds its truth and veracity twenty-five years later.  Maybe it's because those truths are so relevant to all persons, irrespective of age or other distinction, that the similar messages, graphically enhanced in The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten, are so universal and beneficial to harmonious relationships.  Now, if everyone could just remember those messages after they leave kindergarten, our world undoubtedly would be more equitable with less strife.  Mom certainly has all the attributes of a child in a new, inviting situation (check out her earnest expression on the book's cover) and in need of some gentle reminders about the right way to do things at school.  Fortunately, she picks up on the school etiquette, courtesy of her daughter, and realizes that maybe she shouldn't be attending kindergarten after all.  And you can bet she won't bud in line at the grocery store ever again.