Eco Warrior

by Philip Roy

Ronsdale Press

978-1-55380-347-8

200 pp.

Ages 10+

March, 2015

If readers were ever trepidatious during Alfred’s world-wide adventures in the first six books in Philip Roy’s Submarine Outlaw series, nothing will match the opening scenes of Eco Warrior. In all Alfred’s zealousness for safety and for anticipating all possible outcomes, he could never foresee being set adrift in the ocean, watching the sub still runnng and pulling away from him.  It’s a shocking beginning but brings Alfred to a new appreciation for all he has.

Not surprising that the sixteen-year-old, already on a quest to become an environmentalist, is overhwlemed by the pessimism of an elderly sailor, Margaret, who believes “You can’t save the oceans now.  Nobody can.  It’s too late.” (pg. 30), though she is still impressed by his hope.  That hope takes him to Australia where he meets a passionate barrister who’d fought, unsuccessfully, to prevent a tanker from heading illegally into the Southern Ocean to refuel Japanese whaling ships that actually claim to be doing research!  That innocent conversation has Alfred suspected of sabotaging that tanker, and an outlaw again.

As he evades authorities in Australia and then Tasmania, Alfred becomes enmeshed in the anti-whaling activities of the Sea Shepherd Society, and accepting risks that he normally would not.  And between being swayed repeatedly by a persuasive environmentalist-inventor named Merwin, stalking and then colliding with a tanker, enjoying the company of a mother blue whale and her baby, and witnessing illegal activities asssociated with whaling, Alfred’s experiences in the Southern Ocean are more than plentiful.

It’s exciting to travel alongside Alfred, Hollie and Seaweed in the sub, and to visit continents and oceans worldwide.  Best is that Philip Roy is able to embed the reader in those adventures and onto the sub so easily.  As he has consistently done in all his Submarine Outlaw books, Philip Roy simply tells a story that includes making the setting more than just the time and place.  It is an integral character in the story, creating plotlines that are more than just the filler of many books.  While books can often take readers to new worlds that they could never imagine, Philip Roy takes those same readers to worldly situations and places they might someday experience but get to enjoy safely from within the pages of his books.  Some of those situations are truly harrowing, like Alfred’s near-death dumping into the ocean or the altercations of environmentalists with the illegal whalers and co-conspirators.  Luckily, young readers can immerse themselves in these same scenarios without tragedy and even face them as Alfred does, with the uncertainty of youth  but the wisdom of a seasoned traveller.  An extraordinary feat for Eco Warrior, a book of a mere 200 pages but a captivatingly deep one just the same.

Seas of South Africa

by Philip Roy

Ronsdale Press

978-1-55380-247-1

200 pp.

Ages 10+

September, 2013

Oh, that Philip Roy.  He lulls the reader into calm with the beauty of his words.

I have learned that you cannot pick and choose what you will find when you go out to explore.  Sometimes you will find beautiful things, and sometimes you will find ugly things.  That is the world we live in.  In South Africa, where the warm Indian Ocean meets the cold Atlantic, like a meeting of two tigers, and where the hearts of people seem both bigger and darker than anywhere else, I found both. (pg. 1)

Then he plunges you into heart-stopping tension as Alfred, the star of The Submarine Outlaw Series, is accosted in Mozambique by a nasty behemoth of a pirate, threatened with a knife and almost drowned when the man tries to open the hatch while the sub is underwater.  So begins Seas of South Africa.

Though Alfred makes every effort to avoid the coast of Somalia and its pirates, he is dogged by one or more of them after escaping several altercations with the murderous thieves and relieving them of stolen treasure and money.   But, as he evades their search for him and as he frequently stops to wash the bloodied money, Alfred rescues a small parrot from a sinking boat, saves a young South African man who crashes his bicycle-powered plane into the ocean, survives the violence of mob justice in Soweto, and provides back-up for a wreck diver under attack from pirates.

But amidst the the heroics and narrow escapes, Alfred meets some memorable characters, learns more about South Africa's history including apartheid, experiences the anger, humour and breath-taking landscapes of Africa, and ultimately gains a new perspective that will direct his future exploring. 

I suspect that Alfred is a junior fictional version of Philip Roy himself: an explorer at his core with a heart filled with compassion and generosity, and the philosophical wisdom of an old spirit.  So his observations and appreciation of his experiences are probably as authentic as they can get, and that's how they read.  But in Seas of South Africa, Philip Roy goes beyond the adventure story, which is always part of The Submarine Outlaw Series, and the history, which often provides context for Alfred's explorations.  Delving deeper into the consequences of apartheid and its aftermath, Philip Roy demonstrates with subtlety that perspective can alter and justify interpretations of the same circumstances.  Prisons can be on isolated islands or within oneself, and desperation and violence may go hand-in-hand.  But, without a doubt, the clearest message given and received is to,

"Appreciate your life." (pg. 198)

Fortunately, Alfred clearly does, sharing that acknowledgement with the readers of Seas of South Africa and his intention to apply that obligation to ensuring the vitality and persistence of healthy oceans.  Bon voyage to our former submarine outlaw!

Ghosts of the Pacific

by Philip Roy

Ronsdale Press

978-1-55380-130-6

251 pp.

Ages 11-14

2011

Though the term "ghost" suggests frightening disembodied souls, it can also refer to a faint trace, a remote possibility, a false image, or even be a synonym for our spirit.  As such, the title of Philip Roy's newest book in The Submarine Outlaw Series, Ghosts of the Pacific, could evoke horror or things left behind or future possibilities.  Fortunately, Philip Roy has not chosen to emphasize one over another, but instead embraces a more comprehensive definition, resulting in another fabulously rich tale of adventure.

Since fourteen, Alfred has been exploring the world using a twenty-foot, diesel-electric submarine built by junkyard genius and friend, Ziegfried.  Accompanied by his crew of Hollie, his dog, and Seaweed, a seagull, Alfred has travelled from his home in Newfoundland around the Maritimes (Submarine Outlaw, Ronsdale Press, 2008), across the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean (Journey to Atlantis, Ronsdale Press, 2009), and down the St. Lawrence River (River Odyssey, Ronsdale Press, 2010).  Now 16, Alfred is ready for his postponed trip to the Pacific Ocean, choosing to travel northward through the Arctic and head for Saipan, part of the Mariana Islands.

Travel to Baffin Island seems easy enough, until a hunk of ice with dark pebbles turns out to be a polar bear that chases a kayaking Alfred back to the sub.  This first "ghost" hails the onslaught of dangerous "growlers" (calved ice that has broken off icebergs and floats just below the surface) that are virtually imperceptible until they hit the sub, repeatedly.  Inattention in this unforgiving landscape puts Alfred and his crew into deathly peril several times (even if he does get some great photo ops).  However, it also provides him with the chance to meet Nanuq, an elder in Igloolik, who sadly talks of the sea dying and its inevitable destruction of all.

Death begins to haunt the story even more.  Travelling blindly beneath impassable ice, searching for occasional small breaks to allow for a battery recharge, and getting stuck for days in shifting ice brings out Alfred's fear but also his resilience and resolve.  His extraordinary character continues to help him endure the anguish of typhoons, the violent death of animals, the blight of garbage and the suffering of others.  Still, he enjoys the company of new friends, including a young girl named Cinnamon, learning more about the world, and consciously making a difference whenever he can.

Alfred has undertaken this journey to explore unbelievable places and their tragedies, from Franklin's expedition in search of the Northwest Passage ("...the Arctic was guarding them in an icy grave"; pg. 64), to Amelia Earhart's 1937 disappearance, to the graveyard of warships in the Bikini Atoll, and ultimately to the island of Saipan where Japanese civilians and officers chose suicide rather than surrender to the Allied forces in 1944.  But along his journey, his interest in the past brings him face-to-face with the tragedies of the present:  fishing trawlers whose illegal practices kill countless dolphins, sharks and turtles; acres of plastic garbage, twenty to thirty feet deep, trapping and killing all life, while slowly decomposing and killing even more; and the irradiated land and waters of the Bikini Atoll, testing grounds for atomic and hydrogen bombs during World War II.  Luckily, Philip Roy capably brings Alfred to see choices in his future that will allow him to continue exploration while addressing his new preoccupations.

Like a great adventure, Ghosts of the Pacific does not allow the reader the opportunity to be distracted or bored.  Even seemingly mundane tasks such as exercising or finding shelter become significant experiences which the reader must follow until settled.  The plot is relentless, always enriched with unexpected subplots, steeped in a multifaceted landscape of cold and warmth, hardness and softness.  Though Cinnamon who is still a vague character may take on a more important role, those of Ziegfried, Sheba, Hollie and Seaweed provide the depth to carry Alfred on further journeys.  Fortunately, I hear Philip Roy is already working on a fifth book in the series.


The video below captures Philip Roy talking about his Submarine Outlaw Series, including the submarine.

Uploaded by Overmarsh on February 12, 2010 to YouTube.com