Guilty

by Norah McClintock

Orca Book Publishers

978-1554699896

223 pp.

Ages 12-15

2012

Reviewed from ebook

978-1554699926

There's usually no single truth because every story varies with the perspective.  So too with crimes.  And in Norah McClintock's Guilty, two young people, Finn and Lila, see two crimes from two different perspectives.  The first crime, ten years earlier, had Lila's father, Louis Ouimette, accepting a guilty plea for the murder of Finn's mother.  Now, only three days after Louis Ouimette's release from prison, Finn's step-mom Tracie is shot, and Finn's dad shoots Louis in self-defense.

While Lila tries to deal with the loss of her father and the logistics of being alone and returning to live with her aunt in Boston, she tries to reconcile her confusion about the events that took her father's life.  Her dad had always told her that he hadn't killed Mrs. Newsome but the stolen goods had been found in his apartment, so he took a plea to get out of prison faster to be with his daughter.  But what was he doing at the Newsome's when he'd vowed to be turning everything around for her?

Meanwhile, Finn is helping his father cope with the loss of his second wife (even if Finn couldn't stand her): going to the police station, helping with funeral arrangements, tiding up Tracie's wardrobe.  But Finn can't help but be reminded of his mother's murder.  He'd only been seven but finding her body when he and his dad had returned from an evening out at his dad's club had been traumatic.

When Lila goes to the police station to enlist the help of Detective Sanders, she meets Finn who shares with her his rage at the man who killed his mother and how his dad had killed that man, unaware that he is speaking about Lila's father.  That meeting is but the first that bring Lila and Finn together as she pursues information from the police files, from a prison tutor and from old work mates at Mr. Newsome's club, as well as discretely from Finn, who begins to reconsider what he knows about both crimes. 

Guilty is a perfect example of why Norah McClintock is the queen of Canadian YA crime fiction, having won the Arthur Ellis Award for crime fiction at least five times.  In Guilty, the reader knows that there are major gaps in the police reports about the crimes from the onset, with Finn claiming to be a witness when the reader can tell the limits of his observations.  And with Lila delving into the details of both crimes, using only the resources most people could access (e.g., internet, library, newspapers, interviews, etc.), her pursuit is reasonable albeit determined.  She is not just looking for the answer to, "Who-dun-it?" but also to "Why?" and "How?," making the mystery far more complicated to unravel.  Guilty is great plot-driven crime novel that doesn't sacrifice its fine characters for want of a better story.  With both Finn and Lila coming at the crimes from different perspectives, converging at a dramatic life-threatening climax, Norah McClintock keeps the story fast-paced and intriguing, hopeful for justice (the coveted aim for most readers of crime fiction) and even peace of mind through resolution.

Before We Go

 

by Amy Bright

Red Deer Press

978-0-88995-471-7

222 pp.

Ages 12+

2012

Before We Go anywhere, we usually make preparations, whether we're going on vacation, to school, to work, to face a challenge or to our deaths. Some preparations are judicious (e.g., making a will, packing a suitcase) while others may be frivolous (e.g., getting a pedicure).  Many are logistical such as booking airplane tickets or purchasing a backpack.  The emotional, heartfelt preparations are perhaps the most difficult to effect Before We Go.

While her elderly grandmother lays dying at Victoria General Hospital, Emily Henderson, 17, does not want to leave her side.  But, when visiting hours end on that New Year's Eve, Emily is especially reluctant to go home to the house she has shared with her grandparents since she was a baby, anticipating the loneliness of having no one:  she has no father, her grandfather is dead, her grandmother dying, and her mother seemingly too busy with her life in Vancouver as a journalist.  It's not surprising that Emily, uncharacteristically for her, accepts an offer from Alex, a young man she meets in the hospital elevator, to join him and his teen sister, Lucy, for the evening.

The three young people become fast friends, driving around and eating junk food, going to a carnival, popping into Emily's house, and finally going to a party.  While they ignore texts and calls from Lucy and Alex's parents and from Emily's mother,  they talk and share.  Emily talks about her mother and her grandparents and being alone, and Alex and Lucy, amazingly close for siblings, chat about their taxidermist father, their mom, and their own relationship.  The revelation that Alex has cancer explains his presence at the hospital and his parents' desperation for his return there but he has a plan that he has devised with Lucy's help and Alex is determined to deliver on it, regardless...

Any book that has dying and death as its fulcrum could become a tough read but Amy Bright keeps the grief at bay with her believable teen characters whose hope, without exuberance, buoys them.  Emily, Alex and Lucy are all looking ahead and finding their fears and responding to those fears, even if frequently questioning their responses.  Emily worries about life without any family.  Alex worries about Lucy after he's gone.  Lucy worries about Alex and what little time he has left.  The plot could seem as contrived as Alex's plan, but Amy Bright brings the three characters together in such a natural way that every event seems to take place fortuitously (not coincidentally), appropriate for the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one.  

Though I had expected a cliché ending (perhaps finding a genetic match for bone marrow transplant), I was relieved by its absence, though also disappointed.  The disappointment was not in Amy Bright's writing or Before We Go's plot: it was a personal need for a happy ending with all loose ends tied in appropriate bows (even if not the colourful, flashy decoration on gifts).  Still, reminded of Robert Burns' poetic assertion that,

The best laid schemes of mice and men
Go often awry,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!

From To a Mouse on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough (Robert Burns, 1785)

Alex's plan does not end in nothing but grief and pain.   Joy may not be the outcome but with acceptance (as suggested in the hospital's proffered literature on grief) comes comfort and sometimes that's the best that can be expected.

Cape Town

by Brenda Hammond

Great Plains Teen Fiction

978-1-926531-18-2

326 pp.

Ages 14+

2012 

In 1989, Cape Town, South Africa is a place of life-changing dreams.  For Renee Pretorius, just 17, this big city, so different from her home on a sheep farm, holds the dream of becoming a ballerina with her attendance at the ballet school of the University of Cape Town (UCT).  But, for many of the millions of residents of Cape Town, their dream is for an end to apartheid, the laws enacted by the National Party (of the minority, Dutch-descendant Afrikaners) fifty years earlier, which had racially segregated the Blacks and Coloureds (a term for the mixed race of African, English and Malaysian) from the Whites. 

To keep her safe from the "dangerous left-wing students with their Marxist ideas" (pg. 12), Renee's family has found her residency at the Huis Marta hostel for Afrikaans meisies, White girls of Afrikaner heritage.  But, even ensconced at Huis Marta, Renee makes the acquaintance of several young people whose lives and backgrounds expose her to different perspectives of life in Cape Town.

A fellow hosteller Nicolette (Nic) Dupreez, a medical student, may be Afrikaner but she does not follow the strict expectations of Afrikaans meisies, regularly breaking rules at the hostel and enjoying a more contemporary lifestyle of jeans, dating and non-White interactions.  Whenever Renee is unfamiliar with the nuances of life in Cape Town, she often finds Nic to be a valuable, albeit less inhibited, resource and caring ally.

Dion October, a second year dance student and Coloured, is one of the first students at UCT to make Renee feel welcome, although her strict upbringing and fears of the Immorality Act cause her some trepidation about interacting with him and his family.  Though Dion and his family continue to suffer the consequences of apartheid (e.g., relocation, violence, restrictions), Dion is essentially apolitical, providing Renee with the perspective of the oppressed majority but without pressing her to abandon her family's politics.

However, it is Andy Miller, a fifth year architecture student at UCT, who has the greatest impact on Renee.  After Andy helps Renee with some research at the library where he works, and she recalls seeing him at a protest in the streets, their paths continue to cross.  When they begin dating, fiercely attracted to each other, Renee begins to wonder whether their differences are insurmountable, as Andy is English (and there is much animosity between the English and the Afrikaners), actively political in the anti-apartheid movement, and critical of the injustices perpetrated by the Afrikaner National Party.

As Andy and Renee's relationship becomes more serious and intimate, Renee finds herself questioning her family's politics and her Calvinist upbringing, deceiving her brother Etienne who works with military intelligence, and becoming both stronger and more vulnerable with her new-found freedom and knowledge.  Andy's mother, a member of the Black Sash (a white women's resistance group) astutely recognizes that, "Freedom always comes at the price of sacrifice." (pg. 289)

While Brenda Hammond leads the reader through the escalating strife marking the end of apartheid, Cape Town's narrative is never heavy-handed or brutally-worded.  It's a reality that is incidental for some and pivotal for others, and occasionally dragged from the periphery to the forefront, as happens for Renee.  But this metamorphosis is so gradual and hesitant here (with the occasional regression) that Renee becomes the embodiment of an eye-opening, guided from blindness to sight.  By tying that eye-opening with Renee's and Andy's powerful love, Cape Town persuasively takes a monumental issue and packages it in a story of undeniable passion.

#CanLitChoices: "The Castle in the Attic" alternatives

The Castle in the Attic

by Elizabeth Winthrop

Yearling

192 pp.

Ages 9-12

RL 5.9

1994

The Castle in the Attic, winner of the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award and the California Young Readers Medal, is a favourite novel used as a novel study relating to medieval times (Middle Ages) in the junior grades, usually Grades 4-6.  Written at a reading level of 5.9, The Castle in the Attic is a book of fantasy, in which young William uses a magic token to shrink his beloved housekeeper, Mrs. Phillips, to inhabit the wooden castle she herself has gifted him.  In order to undo this selfish deed, William also shrinks down and goes on a quest to battle evil.

Topics upon which teachers might focus lessons include the following:

• courage
• friendship
• occupations in the Middle Ages
• structures in the Middle Ages

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The following youngCanLit focuses on stories of the Middle Ages and would serve beautifully as updated and alternative novels to The Castle in the Attic.  Specifically, these youngCanLit selections cover the topics listed above for The Castle in the Attic and are appropriate for the grades at which medieval times are often studied in Canadian classrooms.

A Company of Fools
by Deborah Ellis
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
191 pp.
Ages 9-14
2002
In 1336, at the Abbey of St. Luc, Henri, a studious choir boy, and Micah, a rebellious choir student, join forces to become the Company of Fools, a group that aims to cheer the people dealing with the deaths from the Black Plague.

An extensive Teacher Guide is available for download at the Fitzhenry & Whiteside website.

Crusades: Kids @ The Crossroads
by Laura Scandiffio
Illustrated by Tina Holdcroft
Annick Press
72 pp.
Ages 9-11
2009
Follow the blog posts of a child from 1212 recreating the adventures, lifestyle and context from the time of the Crusades.

A Teacher Guide is available for free download at Ingram Library.

Garth and the Mermaid
by Barbara Claasen Smucker
Penguin
135 pp.
Ages 8-12
1992
When young Garth is hit by a car while trying to keep a classmate from injury, he awakens from unconsciousness as a young peasant on a medieval estate in East Anglia, familiar to him from the Middle Ages he was studying in school.

Jayden's Rescue
by Vladimir Tumanov
Scholastic Canada
123 pp.
Ages 8-12
2002
The evil sorcerer-king is holding Queen Jayden captive in his castle and only Sam and Alex can save her.  This is the plot of the book that Alex is reading but he begins to understand that Jayden is real and actually does need his help. A series of math problems help propel the story, all in aid of Jayden's Rescue.

A few years ago, I collected all the math problems and solutions in Jayden's Rescue, adding some basic details about the plot, in a guide I've posted here at scrbd.

The Mystery of the Medieval Coin
by A. D. Fast
Vanwell
157 pp.
Ages 8-11
2004

To Save a King (sequel to The Mystery of the Medieval Coin)
by A.D. Fast
Vanwell
157 pp.
Ages 8-11
2004

Perplexed by the strange behaviour of their history teacher, Mr. LeClair, Lucas, Marvin, and Nicole follow him to an ancient cave and time-travel back to France in the Middle Ages.  With the medieval coin from The Mystery of the Medieval Coin, the three children return to 1450 France in To Save a King, again to outwit their teacher, but this time to save King Charles VII.

On a Medieval Day: Story Voyages around the World
by Rona Arato
Illustrated by Peter Ferguson
Maple Tree Press
96 pp.
Ages 10-12
2010

Rona Arato does a superb job of recreating the Medieval Times through a series of fictitious accounts by young people who lived in Europe, Africa, the Far East and Vinland during these times.  Additional information supports each story.

  

A Teachers Guide is available through Owlkids Books here.

Sir Fartsalot Hunts the Booger
by Kevin Bolger
Razorbill/Penguin
215 pp.
Ages 9+
2008

After prankster Prince Harry convinces an aging knight, Sir Fartsalot, the lover of all turnip dishes, that the dreaded Booger is threatening the kingdom, his father sends him to accompany the knight on a quest for the Booger.  With a story rife with puns, humour and rich language, Prince Harry learns much about gallantry, chivalry and heroism.

Check out Sir Fartsalot's website.

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Neil Flambé Camp Day: July 4, 5, 10, 12

Here's a different kind of camp for this summer!

Cartooning

Story-telling

Cooking (and eating, too)

with

Kevin Sylvester

author and illustrator of 

Neil Flambé and the Crusader's Curse

Neil Flambé and the Aztec Abduction

Neil Flambé and the Marco Polo Murders

Game Day: Meet the People Who Make it Happen

Sports Hall of Weird

Gold Medal for Weird 
Splinters

on 
Wednesday, July 4

Thursday, July 5

Tuesday, July 10

Thursday, July 12, 2012 

from 9:00 to 4:00 pm

at  Blue Heron Books

62 Brock Street West

Uxbridge, Ontario

 (northeast of Toronto)

Details and registration through The Blue Heron Books 

Do it soon to avoid disappointment!

Kazaak!

by Sean Cassidy
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
978-1-55455-117-0

32 pp.
Ages 3-5

2010

For little ones fascinated with porcupines, Kazaak! by Canadian illustrator and author Sean Cassidy will delight them with a lovely story of learning one's strengths while teaching them more about these prickly little fellows.  In Kazaak!, they are little fellows: Russell and Spike.  Russell, slightly larger and definitely more worldly, is sharing his expertise about quills with his little friend who is unsure how to work with them.  You see, Spike's first quill-cleaning experience provides a pointed lesson to start the story.

Even while sensing Bear in the forest, Spike is full of questions and continues to take note of Russell's lessons, including how quills can be used for camouflage, for gathering food and for creating noise that deters predators. The best lesson is Russell's swinging and arcing demonstration of his quills kazaaking some ripe berries and a carrot, ready to eat. 

Unfortunately, immediately after showing Spike how he can leave his quills behind when stuck to a tree, Russell is left vulnerable to Bear who moseys along looking for his lunch.  But without his quills, Russell is unable to camouflage, make noises or kazaak Bear, except to tickle him.  Luckily Spike has paid attention to Russell's lessons, and uses his new-found knowledge and a little trickery to appease Bear and rescue his friend.  Most importantly, Spike recognizes that, "...quills are the best!"

Karate has "kiai" and tae kwon do has "kiap" but Sean Cassidy's porcupines have "kazaak" - noisy, emphatic and powerful.  And learning about one's strengths is just as powerful, whether one is a prickly porcupine or a worried child.  While Russell is willing to teach and demonstrate, it is only when Spike must rescue his vulnerable and ridiculed pal that the sweet evidence of that learning is demonstrated.  While rural myths may play up the idea of porcupines throwing their quills, which they cannot do, Kazaak! correctly shows Russell and Spike only detaching their quills when brushing up against trees, or berries, or perceived enemies.  

With deft hand, Sean Cassidy has created soft cushions of quills, still purposeful but honest, in captivating outdoor settings of green fields along forests of wildflowers, rocks and deciduous trees.  Russell and Spike's charming forms, particularly their tubby bellies, in the rich acrylics of Sean Cassidy's detailed drawings, will delight young children into learning.  And with summer here now and lots of children involved in outdoor activities while camping, at the cottage or at parks, Kazaak! is a perfect picture book to start off your child's summer reading.

^  ^  ^  ^  ^  ^  ^  ^

In addition to Kazaak!, Fitzhenry & Whiteside's  Tell-Me-More Storybook series also includes Bye, Bye Butterflies! (Andrew Larsen and Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli, 2012) and Tooter's Stinky Wish (Brian Cretney and Peggy Collins, 2011).

IMAGINE: 2012 TD Summer Reading Club

Last day of school!  

Yeah!  

Time for camp, family vacations, baseball, swimming, visits to the beach, and reading, reading, reading.  

If reading is part of your summer plans, think about getting to your public library or perhaps another local participant in the TD Summer Reading Club, celebrating its 17th anniversary this year.

This program, an initiative of the Toronto Public Library, TD Bank Group and Library and Archives Canada, encourages young readers this year to IMAGINE and read about epic quests, mythical creatures and magic, all courtesy of in-branch and online programs, offered in both English and French and in alternate formats, such as DAISY format through the CNIB.

Booklists based on theme and age recommendations, activity booklets (preschool and school-age) for use throughout the summer, and stickers with secret codes will surely be a bonus to keep kids reading.  There are games, crafts, contests, puppet shows and more.  And most public library branches offering the program already have numerous special events set up for July and August, so you can plan your family time around these activities.

Dušan Petričić, award-winning Canadian illustrator of popular picture books including Mattland (Hazel Hutchins, 2008), Bagels from Benny (Aubrey Davis, 2003), Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas (Cary Fagan, 2009), and When Apples Grew Noses and White Horses Flew: Tales of Ti-Jean (Jan Andrews, 2011), was selected as this year's illustrator for the TD Summer Reading Club.  All the artwork for the program, and the artwork displayed here, are courtesy of Dušan Petričić and the TD Summer Reading Club.   The small version of Dušan Petričić's poster below does not do justice to the playful details of a summer of imagined fantasy. 

Go to the TD Summer Reading Club website for more details or to one of the following public library sites (just a few across the country) for programs specific to your area:

• Edmonton Public Library
• Calgary Public Library
• Regina Public Library
• Winnipeg Public Library
• Toronto Public Library
• Ottawa Public Library
• Westmount Public Library/Bibliotèque publique de Westmount
• Halifax Public Libraries
• Newfoundland and Labrador Public Libraries
• Prince Edward Island Public Library Service

 Then, grab your children (if you're a parent) or your friends (if you're 12 and younger) and check out the TD Summer Reading Club at your local public library.  

Just IMAGINE how fantastic it will be!