Night of the Living Zed

Written by Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester

HarperCollins Canada

978-1-4434-6920-3 

256 pp.

Ages 8–12

January 16 2024

 

Sure, everyone gets ready for Christmas. There's the tree decorating, the shopping, the baking. But what about the "super-duper-stupendousest of all holidays" (p. 3): Halloween! Zed Watson, star of Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester's highly-acclaimed first collaboration The Fabulous Zed Watson! (2021) is all about Halloween, so it's going to be a shame if they miss it because they're heading out of town with best friend Gabe to solve the mystery of Glyndebourne Manor, the house once owned by the rich and famous opera costume and set designer, Charlotte Scherrer. But it's all in support of a good cause: getting a reward that could help elevate the upcoming nuptials of Gabe's sister Sam and partner Jo.

So, determined to spend the required 3 days and 2 nights in the supposedly-haunted house and search for Charlotte's treasure, Zed and Gabe set off on October 29, hopeful of solving the mystery before Halloween. Well, Zed is convinced of it. Gabe is less sure about it, but the operatic flavour of decorations in Charlotte's century-old, 4-storey house gets him interested. Things become more complicated when the rules state that they must move from room to room but never exiting through the door they entered. Only by solving complicated clues related to Charlotte's life and memorabilia do Zed and Gabe have any chance of making it through this challenge. Of course, there's also the ghosts and copious booby traps to trick them, so solving the mystery is a lot less obvious than finding a pile of gold.

 

With humour and compassion, the two friends, face each challenge head on. They carefully scrutinize curious rooms filled with opera collectibles, they construct maquettes, they read personal journal entries, and they piece together Charlotte's life to help them uncover hidden means of egress. But, as long as the ghosts don't impede their progress and they don't runaway, they've got a good chance to find...something?

Night of the Living Zed has all the colour of Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester's first book, The Fabulous Zed Watson!, but it's a fresh new mystery with a different set of characters. Readers will be pleased to visit again with the quirky Zed and Gabe, a pair of young friends with strong but different personalities.  There's non-binary Zed who approaches life at break-neck speed, enthusiastic about vampires and ghosts, eager to interact with the supernatural, and lover of all things Halloween. Gabe is less forward, but still fascinated by and knowledgeable about opera and plants, and loves playing the piano and wearing multi-pocketed clothes. And he's a little ghost-shy. In addition to a host of regulars, like Ph. D. candidates Sam and Jo, and a plethora of named inanimate objects–there's Sam's vehicle Carssandra, Zed's stuffed jackalope Aloysius, and their pumpkin nightlight Willoughby–readers meet Bertie and Hyacinth who are Charlotte's relatives, and a pair of treasure seekers called Soraya and Dean (often called Dan by Bertie).

The characters are wacky and the dialogue between them is priceless. It's this humour, including their gaffes that take Night of the Living Zed from mystery to a romping good time. From doing their Halloween-O-ween inspection–and learning Mrs. Gianelli is upgrading from licorice sticks to candy bars–or Gabe explaining to Zed that "i.e." is Latin for "Id est" and they answer, "You dest? What's a 'dest'?" (p. 80), there's a rich but underlying humour that will make readers smile and laugh out loud. And then there's the mystery. It is not easily solved, neither by Zed and Gabe nor the readers, so we have to hang in through all the ups and downs, and twists and turns, to get our "Aha!" moment.

I know it's a long way off until Halloween–maybe we can look at January as pre-pre-pre-Halloween-O-ween–but a mystery is a great read anytime, and Night of the Living Zed is a great one. With their open heart and enthusiasm for life and for exploring the unknown, Zed can take us and Gabe along on any new adventure they want, ghosts or no ghosts.

 

 • • • • • •

 

The Fabulous Zed Watson (2021)

Night of the Living Zed (2024)

 

Underland

Written by Colleen Nelson and Nancy Chappell-Pollack
Yellow Dog (An imprint of Great Plains)
978-1-77337-052-1
192 pp.
Ages 12-15

October 2020 

 

So the truth lies buried in the Underland. (pg. 33)

 

Though authors Colleen Nelson and Nancy Chappell-Pollack didn't really leave us hanging at the conclusion of Pulse Point (2018), the book to which Underland is the sequel, they did hint that there was more to learn about the world they created and the inhabitants of the City protected under a dome and the Prims who lived on the Mountain outside of it. In fact, though we'd met Kaia who'd escaped from the City to find out the true nature of her heritage, there is so much more to learn about the City, from its Councillors who govern, the overseers who watch, and Citizens who generate energy through their physical efforts. And now we learn, as does Sari, Kaia's best friend, that there is an Underland to the City, unknown to its above-ground and more privileged inhabitants. 

 

Told in the alternating voices of Ama, a young Under who lives and labours in the tunnels beneath the City, and Sari, who was matched with Councillor Tar's offspring Lev who'd gone after Kaia when she'd fled the City, Underland is a story of separation and convergence. Kept hidden from the Citizens above who believe their own efforts generate power, Ama and her fellow workers, primarily "younguns" who can fit through the narrow tunnels, dig the precious brine which the City above requires to run everything. They believe in Big Mother who gives life and protects them and Old Father who shows his anger when displeased but, except for the two Prims Jacob and Noah who were captured and forced to serve, the Unders only know enslavement and nothing of the world beyond their pit where they live and the tunnels they mine.

 

Above, in the very different world of the City, Sari still feels guilty about being matched with Lev when she'd known how much Kaia and Lev cared for each other. But Tar makes it clear that Kaia was an inappropriate match for Lev and she sees the qualities of a leader in Sari. Curious, Sari looks into Kaia's birth record which reveals a special notation of "intertwining." With the help of Ren, a former classmate and now overseer, Sari learns more about Kaia's origins but also about the Underland.

 

With their worlds in danger of physically and socially collapsing, those of the City and the Underland can no longer remain separate and Colleen Nelson and Nancy Chappell-Pollack's dystopia evolves into something less dissonant, advancing towards the cooperative and diverse.

 

At this time of year, Underland offers hope that acceptance of others and compassion for all is possible. While both the Unders and the Citizens, except for the Councillors and those who oppress those of the Underland, know nothing of the others' existence and experiences, they are part of a social order of epic inequities and horrific discrimination. Based in fear and ignorance, their different worlds would not ever have come together if individuals like Ama and Sari, among a handful of others, had not stepped up and recognized the need for change. For themselves and others, they needed to see beyond themselves.

If I want to move forward, I need to make sure I'm okay with what's behind me. (pg. 157)

With suspenseful action-filled scenes and a wide cast of characters from all levels–geologists, fetal assessment technicians, diggers, mules, bureaucrats, elders, younguns, mothers and more–Colleen Nelson and Nancy Chappell-Pollack have created a grim world, borne of good intentions but managed into the objectionable and worse. Fortunately, Underland inspires faith that a few good people can make the difference and that redemption is possible through transformation. Sometimes it's all we need to go forward.

Harvey Holds His Own

Written by Colleen Nelson
Illustrations by Tara Anderson

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-114-4

288 pp.

Ages 8-12

August 2020

It's funny how a little dog can help people without even trying. (pg.73)

After Harvey's first adventure (Harvey Comes Home, 2019) in which he becomes lost, Maggie's West Highland Terrier is happy to be home, though he does miss the boy who'd found him and the people at Brayside Retirement Villa where he'd spent much of his "leave." However, seventh grader Maggie doesn't necessarily feel very hospitable to Austin who, though he'd cared for Harvey well, had kept her dog without looking for his home. Still, as she chooses to do her volunteer hours at Brayside where Austin works alongside his grandfather, the head custodian of the facility, Maggie will learn more about connecting with others, even those with whom she seemingly has little in common, courtesy of a little dog.

Told from the different perspectives of Maggie, Austin and Harvey, Harvey Holds His Own follows multiple plot lines, all brought together via Maggie's volunteering at Brayside. There she meets new resident, Mrs. Josephine Fradette, a spirited senior, who shares her memories of being evacuated from Winnipeg to her grandparents' home during the Red River flood of 1950 and learning car mechanics from her Pépère. This connection is especially meaningful for Maggie who is feeling isolated from best friends Lexi and Brianne. Meanwhile Austin continues to help his grandfather at Brayside and is thrilled to reacquaint himself with Harvey during Maggie's visits–though he'd dearly love a dog of his own–but is distracted by fears that his Grandpa is in danger of losing his job.  And then there's adorable Harvey whose nose will lead him to both crisis and blessing, and bring Maggie, Austin, and others together in an ending that will leave readers smiling, heartened and satisfied.

From Harvey Holds His Own by Colleen Nelson, illus. by Tara Anderson

I am always apprehensive of animal stories as I anticipate hardships like vulnerabilities, injury and cruelty, especially at the hands of humans. Unfortunately, these things do happen in reality and they always leave me emotionally shattered. But Colleen Nelson, with her compassionate heart and love for Westies–there is a photo of her with her own family's–gives us a story of a girl, a boy and a dog (or two) that will make readers happy, both entertaining and reassuring them that things can work out well in the end. And while many will be drawn to this middle-grade novel because it is an animal story at its core, there are important messages about courage and perseverance, friendships new and old, and even love.

Loving something always comes with a risk; that's what makes it so special. (pg. 245)

I had to take a risk reading Harvey Holds His Own because of my own anxieties. What I got for that risk was a lovely story–with chapter headings delightfully illustrated by Tara Anderson–that reassures that there are good people who will always do right by others, whether they be their canine families, seniors in a long-term care facility, or friends. And isn't it nice to know, especially nowadays, that there is goodness out there?

The Stone Rainbow

Written by Liane Shaw

Second Story Press

978-1-77260-108-4

272 pp.

Ages 13-18

September 2019

Liane Shaw introduced her characters Ryan and Jack to YA audiences in her novel Caterpillars Can't Swim (Second Story Press, 2017), telling the origin story of their accidental friendship and Jack's acceptance of his sexuality. Though only a handful of others in his life, including his mom, Ryan's mom. Ryan's friend Cody and Jack's counselor Matthew, know that Jack is gay, he has capitulated that expressing that sexuality in the small town of Thompson Mills is unlikely.

This town is so small that being different usually means you're flying solo. (pg. 61)

In The Stone Rainbow, Jack meets the new guy at school, Benjamin Lee, and Jack is smitten. The new vice-principal's son is beautiful and kind and Jack doesn't know what to do. He's used to hiding in his "caterpillar camouflage" (pg. 8) and now the idea of putting himself out there, expressing his interest in anyone, especially a young man who may or may not reciprocate that interest, is terrifying.  Staying a caterpillar, on the other hand, is familiar, even if stifling.

Benjamin, on the other hand, is not willing to stay in the closet. When they are assigned an art project that reflects something of social and personal significance, he creates a massive rainbow of coloured stones on plywood. He honours and celebrates the LGBTQ+ community with the myriad of messages on the stones that reflect the rainbow's symbolism. Though Benjamin is pretty much out, his art project rouses all the nastiness that Jack had already witnessed in his town. But when Benjamin is attacked, Jack decides to focus on something positive that might help Benjamin as well: a Pride parade. Fortunately, Jack discovers that there's a whole lot more support for him and Benjamin and a Pride event than he could ever have imagined.

Though The Stone Rainbow is a story of acceptance of self and others, it is also a tragic story that depicts the reality for those who may be perceived as different. There is violence and hate and masks. Jack knows what it is to come out–as he did to his mother in Caterpillars Can't Swim–so he still feels compelled to hide his sexuality from his peers and others, fearing their reactions, and shielding his true self and expression of that self. Even with supports from Ryan and others, it's not until Jack meets Benjamin that he is able to shed that chrysalis to reveal the butterfly he was meant to be. It is both "terrifying and wonderful" (pg. 239) and Jack recognizes he "could be as beautiful as I want to be because no one cares if a butterfly is a boy or a girl. It's just a pretty part of nature that everyone accepts." (pg. 242)

With her diverse cast of characters, Liane Shaw demonstrates that differences make a community richer, though there are the unenlightened who still need to learn this lesson in compassion and tolerance. If The Stone Rainbow teaches us anything it's that it's the blending of all into a spectacular prism of life that makes our world complete and beautiful.

If everyone just decides to treat everyone else with kindness, it all goes away. Intolerance, disrespect, racism, homophobia, misogyny, bullying, and all the other horrible words we've had to invent to find a way to label the endless crap people seem to feel the need to throw at each other...all wiped out by one simple command. Be kind. (pg. 214)

The Starlight Claim: Book launches (Perth, Toronto, Ottawa and Kingston, ON)

It's not a sequel but it shares commonalities with

Tim Wynne-Jones's
Governor General award-winning novel

The Maestro

Written by Tim Wynne-Jones
 Groundwood
231 pp.
Ages 11+
1995

and it is launching this fall.

Join author Tim Wynne-Jones

for multiple launches of his new #YA psychological thriller

The Starlight Claim

Written by Tim Wynne-Jones

Candlewick Press

978-1-5362-0264-9

240 pp.

Ages 13+

September 2019

on

Sunday, September 15, 2019
1-3 p.m.

The Book Nook and Other Treasures
60 Gore Street East
Perth, ON

•••

Monday, September 16, 2019

 6 -8 p.m.

Ben McNally Books
366 Bay Street

Toronto, Ontario

•••

Thursday, September 19, 2019
7-9 p.m.

Books on Beechwood
35 Beechwood Avenue
Ottawa, ON

•••

Thursday, October 3, 2019 
7-9 p.m.

Novel Idea Bookstore
156 Princess Street
Kingston, Ontario

Fast-paced, evocative, and intensely suspenseful, Tim Wynne-Jones’s latest psychological thriller finds a teenager setting his wits against the frigid wilderness and a menacing crew of escapees.

Four months after his best friend, Dodge, disappeared near their families’ camp in a boat accident, Nate is still haunted by nightmares. He’d been planning to make the treacherous trek to the remote campsite with a friend — his first time in winter without his survival-savvy father. But when his friend gets grounded, Nate secretly decides to brave the trip solo in a journey that’s half pilgrimage, half desperate hope he will find his missing friend when no one else could. What he doesn’t expect to find is the door to the cabin flung open and the camp occupied by strangers: three men he’s horrified to realize have escaped from a maximum-security prison. Snowed in by a blizzard and with no cell signal, Nate is confronted with troubling memories of Dodge and a stunning family secret, and realizes that his survival now depends on his wits as much as his wilderness skills. As things spiral out of control, Nate finds himself dealing with questions even bigger than who gets to leave the camp alive. 

Retrieved from https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/611957/the-starlight-claim-by-tim-wynne-jones/9781536202649 on July 15, 2019.

Timo's Party

by Victoria Allenby

Illustrated by Dean Griffiths

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-008-6

48 pp.

Ages 5-8

October, 2016

Bunny rabbit Timo Vega learned in last year’s Timo’s Garden (Pajama Press, 2015) that he needed to spend a little bit more time tending to his friendships rather than obsessing about his garden and he’s learned that lesson well.  With food critic Madame LaPointe coming to Toadstool Corners as part of her search for the best small towns to visit, Timo agrees to host an apple festival in his orchard so that his friend Hedgewick Stump, the hedgehog, can show off his culinary skills.  But as soon as he’s made the offer, the crowd-averse rabbit is regretting his decision.

From Timo's Party 

by Victoria Allenby

illus. by Dean Griffiths

Organizing his tasks into a list of three things–invitations, decorations and games–Timo begins to feel that the Toadstsool Corners Apple Festival might be manageable after all. Though Hedgewick sees the attributes that will make Timo a great host–he is organized, generous and thoughtful–Timo’s other friends, knowing how much he hates big parties, advise him how to be confident and comfortable around lots of people.

With the help of his many friends, Timo is able to pull off a great party, and Hedgewick, with only a small cooking mishap, caters an impressive apple festival.  Like the very different apples and bananas in the recipe at the conclusion of Timo’s Party, Timo and Hedgewick come together spectacularly. Each brings their own strengths to their endeavour and are successful in supporting the other when needed.

From Timo's Party

by Victoria Allenby

illus. by Dean Griffiths

Timo’s Party is an exceptional early reader for imparting an engaging life lesson. But author Victoria Allenby never preaches or instructs the reader how to live life well, or be a good friend or be brave.  Instead, she swathes that message in Timo’s daily experiences, taking advantage of a true story-telling opportunity.  It’s easy to see beyond the anthropomorphized animals–with their clothes, speech, and human endeavours–as just a bunch of friends whose lives the reader is pleased to share.  Though not a fully-illustrated book, Dean Griffiths's artwork helps take the reader into the friendly world of Toadstool Corners.  From the plaid jacketed Timo with his subtle smile and relaxed ears, to the rose-toqued badger Rae and the bustling Hedgewick, Dean Griffiths gives life to the animals in Timo’s Party, taking them from characters to neighbours.  And, let me say, we are all pleased to have been invited to this party, and look forward to more good times in Timo’s neighbourhood.

From Timo's Party 

by Victoria Allenby

illus. by Dean Griffiths

Gatekeeper

by Natasha Deen

Great Plains Teen Fiction

978-1-927855-39-3

232 pp.

Ages 13+

May 2016

Someone was pounding at the front door at 10:30 p.m., and common sense said not to answer.  Then again, I see the dead, live with a ghost, and was dating a supernatural being who transported souls.  Common sense may have been in my neighbourhood, but it wasn’t on any street I lived. (pg. 7)

Natasha Deen grabs readers and thrusts them into Gatekeeper with this opening, not unlike her opener to its prequel Guardian (Great Plains Teen Fiction, 2014),  in which 17-year-old Maggie reveals her knack for seeing the dead and helps solve the murder of Serge Popov with whom she now has become a guardian to help the dead transition into the next world.  Along with supernatural boyfriend Craig, a ferrier of the dead, and her best friend Nell, as well as her caring father Hank and his girlfriend, Sheriff Nancy, who all know of her gift, Maggie has found herself at the centre of more than one mystery in their small town of Dead Falls.  And Gatekeeper places her in the role of sleuth and ghost-communicator once again.

That knocking at the door is the wealthy Mrs. Pierson, frantic over the disappearance of her and Dr. Paul Pierson’s six-year-old daughter, Rori, and looking for Sheriff Nancy.  Maggie, Serge and Craig with Rori’s babysistter Nell go to help in the search and help locate the little girl on the brink of death.  But after Serge uses his energy to get her heart beating, he and Maggie meet the newly-dead ghost of Kent Meagher, former all-around amazing Dead Falls student and current med student at the University of Alberta who is oblivious and confused about his death.  And this is the murder mystery at the heart of Gatekeeper.

But Gatekeeper is more than a whodunit because no one knows Kent is dead, not the least of which are his separated parents whose antagonistic relationship destroyed the family and left them financially ruined.  Kent’s concern for his mother is overwhelming and brings back a lot of memories for Serge about his own family dynamics, his mother and his death, but demonstrates the newly-developed empathy that makes Serge such a key and now likeable character.  By way of some careful research and snooping, Serge and Maggie discover that a lot of people are keeping secrets, including Kent, and that Kent’s determination to be a doctor may be at the heart of a series of mysteries, including his own death and rampant vandalism in Dead Falls.  And, of course, there’s the dead people that add a suprisingly humourous and horrifying combination of subplots to Natasha Deen’s story.  (Be prepared for a nasty legion of souls called The Family who cannot find peace and is looking for additional souls to ingest.)

Gatekeeper, like its predecessor, is completely an edge-of-your-seat read, though I found that I looked forward to the witty dialogue as much as the paranormal elements which Natasha Deen flawlessly embeds in her plot.  I’ve always thought Norah McClintock was the queen of YA crime fiction but I think Natasha Deen has developed into a princess of YA paranormal murder mysteries.  With her multifaceted plotlines and great, great characters who are neither perfect nor surreal (though they may be otherworldly), Natasha Deen has become one of my go-to YACanLit authors for spooky whodunits with a smidgen of romance.  Consider them the young adult equivalent of Scooby-Doo: fun sleuthing with the ever-helpful Maggie and Serge and the gang. Gatekeeper is one more mystery solved, and I look forward to more.

Nomad

Written by R. J. Anderson

Orchard Books

978-1408326480

352 pp.

Ages 12+

2014

Reviewed from audiobook
Oakhill Publishing Ltd.
 978-1784331016
Narrated by Lucy Scott
2014

When R. J. Anderson ended Swift (Orchard Books, 2012), Ivy had helped save her piskey family and friends of the Delve from the evil faery Gillian, but had been banished by her aunt Betony, the Joan, as a traitor.  Since then she has been looking for a place where the piskeys might live in safety away from the poison infiltrating th Delve –their below-ground tunnels home–and colluding with her brother Mica’s hunting partner, Mattock, who obviously has feelings for her and with her best friend Jenny to convince the piskeys that they are unsafe.

Meanwhile, Ivy is dreaming of a spriggan boy who is the son of a chief and a faery and Martin (formerly known as Richard), the faery-raised spriggan with whom she has been traveling, believes that Ivy must be having visions of memories of what actually happened, and perhaps these will help them find other spriggans.

But poor Ivy and Martin are trying so hard to do the right thing, for themselves and each other and the people from which they come, and there are so many others working against them.  Sadly, so much is tied up in prejudices between the different supernatural folk.  Although Ivy and Martin are both part faery, they have been raised to distrust each other, just as spriggans, faeries and piskeys have as long as they can remember.  And now, Ivy and Martin find themselves helping each other more than just as repayment for previous help and are experiencing growing affection for each other.  How to balance all their needs and feelings and be true to themselves?

R. J. Anderson is a a masterful storyteller of faery fantasy, easily convincing the reader that her characters are more than just human, even better than human.  And that’s saying something.  R. J. Anderson can create empathy for characters who can change into bird form, wield magic, and transfer memories, while creating realistic story-lines about finding or making home under unusual, if not dire, circumstances.  While R. J. Anderson continues to weave amazing stories–she has a new one called A Pocket Full of Murder coming out in September–she has announced on the FAQ page on her website that there are no current plans for a sequel to Nomad. As disappointing as that is not to revisit the characters in whom we've invested our hearts, readers can be assured that R. J. Anderson has cobbled an ending that will appease and successfully bring all her characters home where they belong.

From There to Here

by Laurel Croza

Illustrated by Matt James

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-365-0

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

For release May 2014

The little girl in I Know Here (Groundwood, 2010), Laurel Croza and Matt James' first book together and the 2011 winner of the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, recollects all the wonderful attributes of her home in northeastern Saskatchewan.  After father's work on a dam there is complete, the family would be moving to Toronto, and the young girl was anticipating that move and what she would miss of her home.  Now the little girl and her family have arrived in Toronto and, in poetic observations, she compares their life "there" to their new life "here", in From There to Here.

Of course, it is so easy for the young girl to still see all the positives of her former home and how different everything is in Toronto.  From her father's job, to the type of roads, the buildings, time with family, the vegetation, the sky–everything is different.  

"It's different here, not the same as there."  

Laurel Croza's clean text emphasizes the simple thought processes of the girl as she navigates her mindset from the country to her new urban setting.  It's succinct but progressive.  And illustrator Matt James, who won the 2013 Governor General's Award for Children's Illustration, emphasizes with elegance the differences between the "there" and the "here", never making one look better than the other, just different but similar.  Matt James juxtaposes the colours and lines of trees with bed-frames and windows blinds, or the northern lights and the street lamps, with such refinement. As in any great picture book, the text should be complemented by the illustrations, as Laurel Croza and Matt James have done so easily in From There to Here.   They found the means to endow memories and new experiences with the quality of perspective, effortlessly taking the reader on a smooth journey From There to Here.

Tomorrow

by C. K. Kelly Martin

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

978-1492250876

248 pp.

Ages 13+
2013

Reviewed from Smashwords Edition

It seems like only yesterday that I reviewed Yesterday, the prequel to Tomorrow, but it has been just over a year (November 26, 2012 review).  Luckily, C. K. Kelly Martin's writing does not exclude readers who missed Yesterday if they choose to go directly into Tomorrow. Without just presenting a dystopian world of our future, C. K. Kelly Martin has created a cautionary tale of the course by which our disastrous tomorrow will arise, and how by looking back at yesterday, we may be able to prevent tomorrow from being ultimately fatalistic.

In Yesterday, teens Freya and Garren discovered that they had been sent, as were many others, from 2063 United North America (UNA) to save them, in the hopes of finding a way out of the impending environmental, political and health disasters of the future.  In order to keep their knowledge of the future from being shared, or destabilizing 1980s society with knowledge of a time chute, these time refugees have had their memories wiped and covered with new ones. But Freya's memory wipe was not "successful" and she was able to recognize Garren when she sees him in 1985 Toronto.  Now they're on the run from the UNA who consider them a threat.

Tomorrow begins just over a year after Yesterday ends. Currently living together in 1986 Vancouver as Holly and Robbie, seventeen-year-old Freya waits tables at a restaurant and nineteen-year-old Garren tends bar but they live with the anxiety that they could be discovered and lose everything, most especially each other.  And when they notice that key events in 1986 don't fit with the known history, Freya and Garren recognize that the UNA is at work.  After Garren finds Freya missing from their now-ransacked apartment, he is convinced that they may do more than just wipe your memory.

Garren's reminiscences from 2063 when he found himself seeking out the hard-core fringe faction of the grounded movement (contrary to the ideas of the UNA) are key as he throws himself into finding Freya. While Garren recognizes that Freya has always been the force behind their survival and the one who could tell when someone was lying or when something was going to happen, he is the one now who must take up the gauntlet and do what he can do to make things right.  Garren doubts his capabilities and constantly worries about who to trust, but he manages.  With his singular motivation of saving Freya, Garren's determination is boundless.

Freya's ultimate fate is wrapped up tight in the disaster that is 2063 UNA and the efforts of the radical faction of the grounded movement.  Without naming names and sharing secret alliances and conflicts, I can tell the reader that Garren's journey to Freya is not a direct one, and that conspiracy plays a significant role. Sadly, it's hard to tell the conspirators from the allies.  But that's what makes Tomorrow a true thriller.

Never does C. K. Kelly Martin convince the reader that the outcome is predictable.  Never.  I could never tell the bad guys from the good guys and Garren feels the same way.  And that's what keeps the story moving forward, albeit leaving you on the edge of your seat.  Be prepared.  You may know what you want in a happy ending, but C. K. Kelly Martin makes sure that you never see how she's going to get there, or even if.  Every book of hers that I have read (My Beating Teenage Heart, Random House, 2011; Yesterday, Random House, 2012) has kept me engrossed in her unique and passionate characters and their struggles whose outcomes are never obvious.  Tomorrow is a worthy and complementary addition to C. K. Kelly Martin's literary collection, and I look forward to future volumes.

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

Months ago, I added the book trailer for Tomorrow to CanLitforLittleCanadians Book Trailers' site.  But it's never too late to enjoy it, especially before you purchase your own copy of the book. http://canlitforlittlecanadianstrailers.blogspot.ca/2013/07/tomorrow-yesterday-book-2.html

Descendant: Book Launch (Toronto)

Join

author Lesley Livingston

for the launch of the sequel
to Starling

HarperTrophy Canada

978-1-44340-764-9

341 pp.

Ages 12+

2012 

Reviewed here



DESCENDANT 

 HarperTeen
978-0-062063106
336 pp.
Ages 13+

on

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

at

7:00 p.m.

The Dominion on Queen

500 Queen St. E.

Toronto

Time to learn the fate of Mason Starling and the Fennrys Wolf.  Or is it time for Ragnarok?

We'll only know once we're reading Descendant.

                   

Rebel Heart (Dust Lands: 2)

Written by Moira Young

Doubleday Canada

978-0-385-67186-6

424 pp.

Ages 14+

2012

When I reviewed Moira Young's debut novel, Blood Red Road, last December (Blood Red Road review), I had no idea the accolades and attention it would garner.  It won the U.K.'s 2011 Costa Children's Book Award, the 2012 Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize, Honour Book for the 2012 White Pine Fiction Award, the Simply the Book Coventry Inspiration Book Award and the Rib Valley Book Award, as well as being shortlisted for the 2012 Independent Booksellers' Week Book Award, the 2012 Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award and the 2013 MYRCA.  Seems a dystopian world ruled by a despot and his security force where pockets of civilization attempt to survive amidst anarchy is a popular theme nowadays.

After parting ways with Saba at the end of Blood Red Road, Jack has headed to the Lost Cause, the hooch and whores joint run by Molly Pratt.  Jack finds the Lost Cause a shell of itself, courtesy of the vicious Tontons and their new leader who have been actively involved in land grabs and resettlement.  Meanwhile Saba, travelling with her twin brother Lugh, little sister Emmi and the deaf Tommo, seems to be haunted by the dead, particularly Epona, who would've fallen into the Tontons' hands if not for Saba, and all the girls Saba fought and killed in the cage at Hopetown.  Though he openly criticizes Saba and Jack, not wanting to be grateful to them for saving his life, Lugh vacillates between fear of Saba and contempt for her every action, emotion, decision.  And then when Maev, a former ally, tells them that Jack has joined the Tonton, Lugh is convinced that he's been right about Jack all along.  But Saba still believes otherwise, assured that Jack had encrypted a message in his words to Maev for Saba to meet up with him at the Lost Cause. 

After setting off on her own to find Jack, Saba realizes how stifling it has been with Lugh.

He smothers me.  Chokes me.  Pens me in.  Tethers me to him with his worry an sorrow an anger an fear. (pg. 166)

Unfortunately, Lugh, Maev, Emmi and Tommo follow, creating more hardship and opportunities for misunderstanding and criticism.  Entering into New Eden, Tonton territory, in which the new leader, the Pathfinder, has his lair Resurrection, the group meets up with Slim, Travellatin Physician an Surgeon in his Cosmic Compendalorium, a cart pulled by his camel, Moses. Though their intention had been to hijack Slim for his animal and cart, Saba and the others soon realize that Slim has more to offer them, including guidance in navigating discretely through New Eden and ultimately the protection and assistance of those in the Resistance to the new order.  

Just as Auriel, the shaman from the small community on the Snake River, had divined, Lugh dreams of settling land and raising a family whereas Saba wants to be free to soar, destined to have the "courage to act in the service of somethin greater" (pg. 110). With both Saba and Lugh dealing with their own versions of post-traumatic stress disorder, embedded in anger and self-recrimination, their bond is unravelling.  And Moira Young seems loathe to let Saba or Lugh see things straight.  Everything they do is painted with the pain of their experiences and inability to express themselves or ask for help.  Although I became frustrated with Lugh's self-righteousness and Saba's constant second-guessing, I know it was because I was looking for a glimmer of happiness in a wasteland of humanity.  I so wanted Saba to reunite with her brother and accept his appreciation for all she'd endured to save him.  I wanted Saba to reunite with Jack and re-establish their relationship on a foundation of respect and love, not desperation and chance.

Fortunately, Moira Young did not disappoint, even if she didn't take the path of least resistance.  Rebel Heart has storylines converging and diverging, leaving the reader anticipating the best or the worst at different times but never able to guess appropriately.  Over three hundred pages in and I was convinced it was all over.  Within fifty pages of the end, I thought I couldn't bear to go on.  Only thirty pages left and I despaired for the ending I was sure was coming.  My heart lurched with every obstacle and unkindness and poor choice and bad luck, still looking for that resolution that would ease my recurring anguish.  If I thought the grammar and spelling in Blood Red Road was a hardship, I was mistaken.  The torment of Rebel Heart is far more disconcerting.  Even the relief of a long-awaited moment, tender and promising, is fleeting with the realization that a threat is simmering.  How perfectly apropos.

One Step at a Time: A Vietnamese Child Finds Her Way

by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

Pajama Press
978-1-927485-02-6
128 pp.
Ages 8-12
2012

Eight-year-old Son Thi Anh Tuyet's story begins in Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan's Rescue From War (Pajama Press, 2011) with her rescue from Saigon when the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong relentlessly bombarded the city at the conclusion of the Vietnam War.  Along with numerous babies from the orphanage, Tuyet is given transport to Canada.  And, regardless of her polio-stricken left foot and leg which she believes makes her unadoptable, Tuyet is welcomed into the Morris household in Ontario.

So begins One Step at a Time: A Vietnamese Child Finds Her Way, the next chapter of Tuyet's life, as a new sister to Beth, 4; Lara, 3, adopted from Calcutta; and baby Aaron, also from Vietnam.  Though far from the bombings and orphanage life in Vietnam, Tuyet is still troubled.  She experiences nightmares and poor sleep, finding reassurance in sleeping on the floor near family so that she might hear them nearby.  She cannot understand English very well yet, so communication is difficult, though she recognizes the love and safety she feels in the Morris' home, now hers.  And she continues to suffer with her disabled foot and leg that prevent her from walking properly, running, and even kicking a ball.  Overriding everything, though, is her fear that she may have to leave the Morris' and perhaps return to Vietnam.

Though it has been explained to her that she will be going to McMaster Hospital for an operation for her leg and foot, Tuyet is not prepared emotionally for being separated from her new family and the aftermath of the operation.  In the 1970's, Canada's multicultural identify had not quite blossomed fully and translation services were essentially non-existent.  Awakening to find her leg "in cement" is distraction enough, but being unable to communicate her overwhelming pain leaves Tuyet feeling even more vulnerable.  Luckily her simple "I want Mom and Dad" brings Dad to help, as he does throughout the whole process of Tuyet using her crutches, being fitted for braces, and getting regular physiotherapy.

Tuyet's new life is filled with many "firsts", which she sometimes sadly connects with her past.  Balloons, the hospital, birthday presents and cake with burning candles, leg casts, and even a crop duster plane cause some confusion and even distress but the compassion and support John and Dorothy Morris extend to their new daughter and the unconditional love of her new siblings remedies most of her fears and pains.  Ultimately, coupled with a pair of little red shoes, Tuyet's life is changed forever.

Just as she so eloquently did in Last Airlift, Marsha Skrypuch gently takes the reader by the hand to observe the young girl's new life from Tuyet's viewpoint.  The thoughts in Tuyet's young mind are varied, complex and even irrational (from an adult's point of view, of course) but they are real and overwhelming to an eight-year-old, and even Tuyet astutely recognizes that "not all hurts show on the outside." (pg. 90) Not the princess dreams and perfect endings of fairy tales, Tuyet's story is all the more satisfying when her anxieties and confusions are resolved fittingly, just as her shoes are, though not perfectly, and provide the hope necessary to help her take her next steps.  A wonderful tale of making things fit, whether they be people or shoes.

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If you can make the book launch for One Step at a Time: A Vietnamese Child Finds Her Way on Wednesday September 19, you will be fortunate enough to visit with both author Marsha Skrypuch and her guest, Tuyet.