The Bonaventure Adventures blog tour: Q & A with author Rachelle Delaney:

Written by Rachelle Delaney

Puffin Canada

978-0-14319-850-5

288 pp.

Ages 9-12

May 2017

Yesterday, middle grade youngCanLit writer Rachelle Delaney witnessed the somersaulting launch of her newest book, The Bonaventure Adventures.  Today, as part of Penguin Random House Canada's blog tour for The Bonaventure Adventures, I am pleased to present my interview with author Rachelle Delaney.

Author Rachelle Delaney

(Photo from author's website 

at http://rachelledelaney.com)

HK:  Having read your earlier middle-grade novel The Circus Dogs of Prague and knowing that the Bonaventure is a circus school, I’m struck by your ongoing interest in circuses.  How did this interest arise? And did you ever dream of being a circus performer yourself?

RD:  I’ve definitely been a bit obsessed with the circus for several years now. It began back in 2010, when I was teaching creative writing to some kids enrolled in circus classes. This struck me as such an interesting way to gain an appreciation for arts and sports and performing, all at once. So I started researching it as a potential setting for a novel, and I quickly learned about the National Circus School in Montreal, where young performers from around the world go to study the modern circus. I spent some time in Montreal, doing a bit of research and taking in contemporary circus shows, which were so incredibly different from the traditional shows I grew up with. And I fell in love with the modern circus scene, and with Montreal too (it’s pretty hard not to love Montreal). I’ve been back many times in the past five years; at one point I even had an Access Copyright Foundation grant to do circus research there. Tough job, I know. ☺


HK:  Your research into circus schools and circus performers must have been extensive as your writing demonstrates an in-depth knowledge of  the full array of circus skills.  How did you conduct your research? And did you conduct any personal research at a circus school in Montreal or here in Ontario?

RD:  Well, I’m glad it seems like my knowledge is extensive, because I still feel like there’s so much more to know about the circus world! Fortunately, the Bonaventure Circus School is a pretty quirky place—it’s nothing like the professional schools I learned about through my research. So that setting gave me some freedom to be creative.

I went about my research in three ways: reading everything I could, talking to any circus pros who would answer my questions, and—this is where it got scary—taking some circus arts classes myself. Now, I’m awfully uncoordinated and not at all acrobatic, but my teachers were patient. Natalie Parkinson of Toronto’s Hercinia Arts Collective was particularly great—she answered all my ridiculous questions while attempting to teach me acrobatics and aerials. I have no more skills than my main character Sebastian, but it was such a fun experience.

HK:  A theme of The Bonaventure Adventures is the duality of persons, sometimes to deceive but more often just to show different faces in different circumstances and with different people.  Audrey Pott, the clown teacher, suggests that “When you get to know your inner clown, you get to know the person you really are deep inside, not just the person you might sometimes pretend to be.  It can be soul-expanding.” (pg. 92) Do you think it’s a good idea to have two (or more) different personas to show the world or is it better to show all aspects of your personality to everyone?

RD:  Good question. I don’t think it’s necessarily a good idea to have two or more personas to show the world, but I think a lot of people—adults especially—do exactly that. I suppose it’s a social survival strategy, and not a terrible one. But it takes courage to show up as your whole self. I know I’m still working on it.


HK:  I know that The Bonaventure Adventures is aptly tagged as “Harry Potter meets Cirque du Soleil” because three young people come together to navigate life in a circus school.  As with Harry Potter, do you foresee or have already planned sequels to The Bonaventure Adventures that would have Seb, Frankie and Banjo having more adventures at the school and in Montreal? If so, please let us know what and when we might expect them.

RD:  I’m one hundred and fifty percent open to writing a sequel or three about Seb, Frankie, and Banjo’s adventures in Montreal (and beyond). But as of right now, there are only plans for the one book.


HK:  Angélique Saint-Germain insists that the students “pursue perfection, practice at every opportunity” (pg. 78).  One student, Camille, even considers giving up sleep to practise.  Do you believe the adage that practice always makes perfect? (I think Seb might not agree with that completely although his somersaults did become passable.)

RD:  I do believe that practice is essential, and that if something (whether it’s writing or juggling swords) is worth doing, it’s worth doing poorly for a long time. But I don’t think that practice necessarily leads to perfection, or that perfection is even the point. Striving for perfection, in my experience, can really suck the joy out of life. Also, practice without sleep is just an all-around bad idea, especially when acrobatics are involved.


HK:  We know that it’s important for young readers to see themselves in a book’s characters and I think all readers could see themselves in Seb or Frankie or Banjo.  Did you write them as a reflection of Harry, Hermione and Ron respectively (going back to the Harry Potter reference) or just young people who reveal multiple characteristics in temperament, strengths and weaknesses? 

RD:  You know, I didn’t even notice the Harry Potter parallel until someone else pointed it out recently! I can sort of see similarities between Seb and Harry, in that they’re both intelligent and introspective. But Frankie is this mysterious, hot-headed parkour expert, and Banjo is a timid slack-liner from a backwoods logging town, so I don’t see Ron and Hermione in them. But it’s not a bad comparison—I’m certainly not complaining.

What appeals to me about Seb, Frankie, and Banjo connects back to your question about hidden personas. Each one harbours secrets and aspects of themselves they feel like they can’t or shouldn’t show. And they help each other find a sense of belonging; when they’re together, they feel more whole.

HK:  If there is one theme or message that you would like middle-grade readers to take from The Bonaventure Adventures, what would it be and why?

RD:  I’ve been playing around with the theme of authenticity for a few years now, although I didn’t realize it until a writer friend recently pointed out that it’s a recurring theme in my writing. I’d love middle-grade readers to know that sometimes the things you’re passionate about can seem strange or even pointless to others. But those interests are not only valid but so very important, because they make you who you are.

Also, if I can add one more: fire-breathing should never be attempted on an empty stomach. I didn’t actually try this myself and I DEFINITELY don’t recommend anyone try it ever, but it was one of my favourite facts from my research. Apparently the pros recommend a bread and milk appetizer before breathing flames. Who knew!

********************

Many thanks to Rachelle Delaney for answering my questions about The Bonaventure Adventures as well as to Vikki VanSickle, her publicist at Penguin Random House Canada (and an author in her own right) for arranging this blog tour stop.

********************

Other Rachelle Delaney books

I encourage young readers to read The Bonaventure Adventures and, while crossing fingers for a possible book two, check out Rachelle Delaney's earlier middle grade books.  They are all bon adventures!

The Lost Souls series:

The Ship of Lost Souls (2009)

The Lost Souls of Island X (2010) (in US The Guardians of Island X)

The Hunt for the Panther (2013)

The Metro Dogs of Moscow (2013)

The Circus Dogs of Prague (2014)

The Bonaventure Adventures

Written by Rachelle Delaney

Puffin Canada

978-0-14319-850-5

288 pp.

Ages 9-12

May 2017

I’m hoping The Bonaventure Adventures is just the first of many bon adventures that Sebastian Konstantinov and cohorts Frankie de Luca and Banjo Brady will have at the Bonaventure Circus School.  This tale has memorable characters, both young persons and adults, a distinctive setting in a rundown monastery turned school in Montreal, and enough humour and circus action to keep readers enthralled.  And I haven’t even mentioned the plot!  It’s a three-ring circus of deception, impressions, and creativity, and you’ll definitely want to stay for an encore.

Twelve-year-old Sebastian a.k.a. Seb travels with his father Dragan Konstantinov and rest of the troupe of the Konstantinov Family Circus across eastern Europe.  The circus is a traditional one with a ringmaster, animals, a sword swallower, lion tamer, aerialist, clown and contortionist but it is failing.  When his dad sells the animals to the Bucharest Zoo, devastating Seb, the boy goes behind his dad’s back and enquires about attending Madame Angélique Saint-Germain’s circus school in Montreal.  Since he has absolutely no circus skills of his own–and he’s tried everything without any success–Seb is hopeful that he might learn how to turn things around for the family circus by developing it into a modern one based on storytelling.  But how does he arrange to stay at the circus school without any skills?

The truth will only get you in trouble.  They say it sets you free, but they are lying. (pg. 114)

Unlike the other students, Seb is accepted without an audition as Angélique believes Seb is a charismatic superstar, the highly-skilled son of the wealthy circus impresario Dragan Konstantinov.  But Seb’s deception, trying to pass himself off as a circus scholar, is not the only one at play at the Bonaventure Circus School as he soon learns from his observations of everyone, especially Angélique whom we learn has a hidden agenda based on false information about the Konstantinov Family Circus.

While he becomes friends with his candy-obsessed juggler roommate Sylvain, Seb becomes allies with Frankie, a traceur i.e. she does parkour or freerunning, and Banjo, a skilled slackliner/highliner/trickliner, and the three become known as bêtes noires. In addition to this unfortunate moniker, because they are forever being called to Angélique’s office, the trio are the only ones who remain at the school for weekends and holidays.  This distinction provides them with opportunities to help each other work on their weaknesses, share their strengths and even help save the school in an impressive showing of skill and creativity.

The Bonaventure Adventures is a boisterous read of action and intrigue, a story of children of extraordinary talents–not all circus acts–who come together in a new act of friendship to save themselves and their new home away from home.  It is aptly tagged as “Harry Potter meets Cirque du Soleil”  with the three friends of varying abilities strengthening their performance to high-flying proportions. Rachelle Delaney whose earlier books include The Ship of Lost Souls and The Circus Dogs of Prague is a pro at writing middle grade novels.  Here she consistently gets the voices right–a mix of innocence and bravado– for her characters and healthy doses of friendship, action and new learning experiences–who knew there was so much about circuses to learn?–to make The Bonaventure Adventures a novel that kids will appreciate for its liveliness of action and characters and adults will commend for its wholesome storytelling.  That's a trick in itself.

*******************

Check back tomorrow for my interview with author Rachelle Delaney who dishes about her time in circus school and the research she undertook to ensure The Bonaventure Adventures is a story immersed in an authentic circus experience.

Wade's Wiggly Antlers

Written by Louise Bradford

Illustrated by Christine Battuz

Kids Can Press

978-1-77138-615-9

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

May 2017

Wade loves his antlers.  They look like trumpets and are the basis for much imaginative play with his squirrel, fox and bird friends.  But when he feels them wiggle, he panics and races home (hoping that doesn't jostle them!) to his mother.  She reminds him that they'd already talked about his antlers falling off and then growing new ones in the summer but Wade is distraught, knowing all the wonderful things he does with them: paddles for ping pong; perches for friends; mitts for softball; and hooks for kite-flying.  Desperate to hold onto his antlers, Wade keeps himself from fun with his friends so as to prevent the antlers from falling off.  But, after days of life on the sidelines, Wade realizes he's already missing out on fun with his friends and vows to start living again, come what may. (And we all know what comes because growing up is all about change.)

From Wade's Wiggly Antlers

by Louise Bradford

illus. by Christine Battuz

Your little ones will probably not be worried about losing their antlers but there are changes that may cause them anxiety, such as losing their baby teeth.  Yes, it may be natural and something that happens to all children but that dismissal will not alleviate the stress that can arise.  His mother is wise enough to have prepared Wade for the inevitable loss of his antlers but she also consoles him with the knowledge that he would grow new antlers in time. She is a very wise mother.  But Wade still needs to work through this in his own way, and thankfully Louise Bradford allows him to do so with the support of his family and friends.  There's even a party with colourful cupcakes to celebrate when his first antlers are lost.

From Wade's Wiggly Antlers 

by Louise Bradford

illus. by Christine Battuz

Louise Bradford's text is very comprehensive in evoking Wade's distress and his mother's wise reassurances but it's Quebec illustrator Christine Battuz who uses her digital art to create playful scenes of Wade with his family and friends.  She capably gives him expressions of delight and concern and surprise with but a few strokes of her digital artistry.  Even his little friends are expressive in those same emotions and more, including the tiny blue jay and cardinal that flit around the larger animals. Christine Battuz uses bright colours and bold patterns to energize her illustrations, even in the cool sobriety of winter, the time of moose antler shedding. See if Wade's sweater with contrasting wrist and waist ribbing, along with his dotted scarf, don't bring a smile to your face.  

From Wade's Wiggly Antlers

by Louise Bradford

illus. by Christine Battuz

While it may seem silly to release a winter-based book in May, Wade's Wiggly Antlers is actually a timeless book since kids will be losing their first teeth all year round (unlike moose who shed their antlers between December and March).  Let Wade and his friends help lighten your own children's anxieties, whether it be about loose teeth or some other growing up change, or, if they're fearless, use Wade's Wiggly Antlers to teach some science about seasonal changes and ecology.  Either way, there's some playful learning to be had.

From Wade's Wiggly Antlers

by Louise Bradford

illus. by Christine Battuz

Short for Chameleon

Written by Vicki Grant
HarperTrophy Canada
978-1-44344-898-7
242 pp.
Ages 12+
April 2017

Hold onto that funny bone because it will be sprained from overuse if you read Vicki Grant's newest young adult novel Short for Chameleon in one sitting.  Take your time to savour the delicious humour that saturates her writing because, like a great meal, it's over far too quickly.

Cam is short for Cameron and he works with his dad, former sitcom actor William Redden, playing the roles of family members for anyone who'll pay the Almost Family Surrogate Agency.  Apparently the renting of family is not uncommon in some countries like Japan where Dad had tried to revive his failing career.  Now he and Cam and others in their employ shape and dress themselves into whatever the client needs: grieving son and grandson at a funeral; family visitors to prison; eye-candy for a high school reunion; whatever.  But getting recognized would not be good for business.  After all, you can't be remembered as a repeat grieving father and son at multiple grandmothers' funerals.

So when the wheelchair-bound Albertina Legge approaches them at one funeral, identifying them at scammers, Dad is pretty nervous, "sweating like a high-wire walker in a typhoon." (pg. 4) Unbeknownst to Dad, Albertina engages Cam to assist her in some scam-busting, all the while threatening him with revealing their lack of certification for a variety of government health regulations.  At fifteen and a half, Cam is none the wiser to her shenanigans, and goes along with her demands to assist her in investigations of scams upon seniors.  But things become more enticing for Cam when teen Raylene shows up hoping to hire a brother and gets involved as another sidekick of Albertina's.

Albertina's marks include the pharmacist she cons into refilling prescriptions, and the healer and medium Dr. Blaine T. Morley (to whom countless elderly streamed "like a scene from some zombie apocalypse movie, except with fewer missing body parts and more elastic-waist pants"; pg. 51) whose scamming she reveals to a crowd of devotees.  But she's got her sights set on two big scores: one against  a restaurateur named Lorenzo Martinelli whom she recognizes as the former investment cheat Wade Schmidt, and also looking into a young woman named Janie Aikens running the Time of Our Lives Adult Daycare. All the while, Cam is trying to get closer to Raylene, learn about her family and maybe get her interested in him like he is in her.

But like a British farce in which you can't tell who's telling the truth, Short for Chameleon is rife with scammers.  From Cam whose full name seems better suited to Chameleon rather than Cameron, and Raylene who keeps ditching him whenever he gets too close to learning the truth about her, to Albertina who has more than one agenda and doesn't care how she achieves what she wants, because going gently into the night is not an option for her.

"... she seemed a tad too alive–fuchsia lips, hair like Marge Simpson's only in a tasteful shade of tangerine, not to mention a good fifteen inches of wrinkly cleavage that made me think of the mighty Amazon snaking its way down the relief map I made in Mr. Jackman's geography class." (pg. 2)

Like life which is truly bittersweet for most of us, Short for Chameleon highlights the humour and the sadness of reality.  Doesn't matter whether you're a kid, a teen, an adult or an elderly person on the cusp of the end, life is not easy, there always being moments of grief and brightness.  All you can do is hope that sometimes there's someone there with you to share life's load.  (And if there isn't, there's always a rent-a-family agency around the corner to fill the need.  At least there is in Vicki Grant's Short for Chameleon.)

Grandfather and the Moon

Written by Stéphanie Lapointe

Illustrated by Rogé

Translated by ShelleyTanaka

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-963-4

100 pp.

Ages 10-13

May 2017

Grand-père et la Lune won the 2016 Governor General's Award for French-language children's illustration and Groundwood Books has astutely engaged Shelley Tanaka to bring this jewel as Grandfather and the Moon to English-language readers. It's sensitive and nostalgic and emotive in a finely understated approach, blending a grandfather-granddaughter relationship with an exceptional journey into space.

Though it is evident from the subtle words and illustrations at the onset that the young girl's grandfather has passed, this is her story of how she remembers him.  He affectionately called her Mémère and, though he spoke few words, he said much to her.  He told his granddaughter of his past work, and always insisted she go to university and get her degree.  He drove around in a tank of a Chrysler and loved spaghetti that came out of a can.

From Grandfather and the Moon 

by Stéphanie Lapointe

illus. by Rogé

Life passed through Grandfather
like one long breath.
Warm,
and slow.

He adored his wife Lucille and was devastated by her death, slipping into a depression of fewer words, "Like his heart ran out of gas." When the Who Will Go to the Moon Contest is announced (though Grandfather hadn't heard of it, since he rarely watched TV, declaring that "Television is something that ends up doing our thinking for us"), the young girl is selected from hundreds of thousands of people for the space journey.

From Grandfather and the Moon 

by Stéphanie Lapointe

illus. by Rogé

After a booming launch, the girl ponders the beauty and silence of space, infusing her deliberations with her perspective on the history of space travel.  Just like the overwhelming emptiness her grandfather endured upon the death of his wife, the girl is staggered by the desolation.  Her response is stunning, to herself and others, but her grandfather in his box of a car is still there for her.

From Grandfather and the Moon

by Stéphanie Lapointe

illus. by Rogé

The relationship between granddaughter and grandfather is everything in Grandfather and the Moon.  There may be an extraordinary trip into space by an ordinary girl but even that does not surpass the profound connection between the two as the most important feature of the book.  Hardly effusive, the two still nurture their relationship as you would a fragile glass sphere, taking care with it but not engulfing it.  And even though I never knew either of my grandfathers, I know this young girl and this man who says so much in his actions and impacts her choices.  This must be a relationship very familiar to author Stéphanie Lapointe as her perspective is so intimate and touched with affection.

Award-winning artist Rogé who has illustrated countless French- and English-language books, his own and those of other authors,  uses pencil to evoke both the delicacy and the transparency of the relationship between the two generations in Grandfather and the Moon.  Moreover, the contemplative nature of the story comes out in Rogé's illustrations, from scenes of Grandfather at Lucille's bedside or the young girl's sojourn into space.  The colours are ever muted, with only glints of red, green or blue like stars in an oppressively darkened sky.  Together Stéphanie Lapointe and Rogé ensure that Grandfather and the Moon is loaded in gravitas in both words and art but with twinkles of humour and sweetness.  Because that's what life is generally like.  

2017 Canadian Authors for Indies Day: April 29

Celebrate independent bookstores in Canada

on Saturday, April 29, 2017

with your favourite children's and YA authors 

who will be there volunteering!

Across Canada on Saturday, April 29th, many authors will be volunteering their time to promote independent bookstores.   I know I’m going to miss some of your favourites but here’s a generous smattering of independent bookstores who will be hosting an assortment of authors (children’s, YA and adult) and even providing treats and prizes, if you’re lucky!

As I'm only including the names of authors of children's and young adult books here, PLEASE check with the Authors for Indies website for the complete listing of authors and individual bookstores participating.  Also check the timing of events and schedule for author appearances. As you’ll note, authors may be at several venues during the day and I would hate for you to miss them because of a lack of clarity or detail in my listings.

British Columbia

Armchair Books, Whistler

Susan Juby

Black Bond Books (Central City), Surrey

kc dyer

Black Bond Books, Maple Ridge

Rachelle Delaney
Darren Groth

Black Bond Books (White Rock), Surrey

Cristy Watson (11am -12:30 pm)

Black Bonds Books (Ladner), Delta

Ashley Spires
Darren Groth

Black Bond Books (Surrey), Surrey

Gina McMurchy-Barber (10:00 am - 12:00 pm)

Cristy Watson (1:30 - 2:30 pm)

Book Warehouse Main Street, Vancouver

Kallie George (11 am - 1 pm)

Anita Miettunen (11 am - 1 pm)

Book Warehouse Broadway, Vancouver

Melanie Jackson (11 am -12:30 pm)

Hager Books (Vancouver)

Julie Burtinshaw (11 am - 12 pm)

Anita Miettunen (2 - 3 pm)

KidsBooks, Vancouver

Susin Nielsen (2 - 4 pm)

Ashley Spires (2 - 4 pm)

Charise Mericle Harper (2 - 4 pm)

Munro's Books, Victoria

Julie Lawson
Jordan Stratford

Otter Books, Nelson

Cyndi Sand Eveland (9:30 - 11:30 am)

UBC Bookstore, Vancouver

kc dyer

ALBERTA

Audrey’s Books, Edmonton

Lorna Nicholson (11 am - 12 pm)

Kate Boorman (1 - 2 pm)

Marty Chan (2 - 3 pm)

The Bookworm, Sherwood Park

Judith Graves (10 am - 12 pm)

Marty Chan (12 - 1 pm)

Mandy Eve-Barnett (1 - 2 pm)

Shelf Life Books, Calgary

Susan Ouriou (1:30 - 3:30 pm)

SASKATCHEWAN

SK Books & Collectibles Inc., Regina

Participating but no authors listed at time of posting

ONTARIO

Another Story Bookshop, Toronto

Danielle Younge-Ullman 

Backbeat Books & Music, Perth

Roy MacGregor

Bakka Phoenix Books, Toronto

Kate Blair (11:30 am - 1:30 pm)

Leah Bobet (11:30 am - 3 pm)

Megan Crewe (11:30 am - 1:30 pm)

Kristyn Dunnion (12:30 - 2:30 pm)

Kevin Sylvester (3 - 5 pm)

Ben McNally Books, Toronto

Melanie Fishbane (11:30 am - 12:30 pm)

Trilby Kent (2 - 3 pm)

Blue Heron Books, Uxbridge

Heather O'Connor

Ruth Ohi

Susie Berg

Bill Swan 

Linwood Barclay (10 - 11 am)

Bill Freeman (11:30 am - 1:30 pm)

Ann Y.K. Choi (2:30 - 4 pm)

Book City (Bloor West Village), Toronto

Melanie Florence 

Jennifer Maruno 

Linda Granfield 

Sharon Jennings 

Patricia Storms 

Jennifer Lanthier

Deb Loughead 

Book City (Danforth), Toronto

Karen Krossing 

Melanie Fishbane 

Carey Sookocheff 

Book City (Beaches), Toronto

Kevin Sylvester

Book City (Yonge at St. Clair), Toronto

Joyce Grant 

Angela Misri 

Leah Bobet 

Sydney Smith 

BookLore, Orangeville

Shelley Peterson (10 - 11 am)

The Bookshelf, Guelph

Kira Vermond (12 - 1 pm)

Curiosity House, Creemore

Kerry Clare (10 - 11:30 am)

A Different Drummer Bookstore, Burlington

Participating but no authors listed at time of posting but event set for 4:30 - 6 pm

Epic Books, Hamilton

E. Graziani 

Joanne Levy 

Nicola Winstanley 

Forster's Book Garden, Bolton

Kerry Clare 

Peter G. Reynolds 

Mary Scattergood 

Hunter Books, Peterborough

Michael Redhill (3 - 5 pm)

Kent Bookstore, Lindsay

Meaghan McIsaac 

Let's Talk Books, Cobourg

Linwood Barclay

Lighthouse Books, Brighton

Peggy Dymond Leavey (11 am - 1 pm)

Linwood Barclay (2:30 - 3 pm)

Mill Street Books, Almonte

Rick Revelle (2 - 4 pm)

Perfect Books, Ottawa

Amanda West Lewis (3 - 4 pm)

Queen Books, Toronto

Carey Sookocheff (10 - 11 am)

Kevin Sylvester (1 - 2 pm)

Type Books, Toronto

Vikki VanSickle (11 am- 12 pm)

Sydney Smith (1 - 2 pm)

Kenneth Oppel (2 - 3 pm)

Ruth Ohi (3 - 4 pm)

NOVA SCOTIA

The Box of Delights Bookshop, Wolfville

Jan L. Coates

Lahave River Books, Lahave

Laura Best (1- 2 pm)

Sylvia Gunnery (3 - 4 pm)

Lexicon Books, Lunenburg

Sylvia Gunnery (1 -2 pm)

Kate Inglis (4 - 5 pm)

Woozles, Halifax

Sarah Sawler (10 am - 12 pm)

Tom Ryan (10 - 12 pm)

Meghan Marentette (10 - 12 pm)

Jessica Kerrin (12 - 2 pm)

Melanie Mosher (12 - 2 pm)

L. E. Carmichael (2 - 4 pm)

Ishta Mercurio (2 - 4 pm)

James Leck (2 - 4 pm)

Check out the Authors for Indies website for a listing of all bookstores participating, including the plethora of adult authors I didn't even try to mention and authors and illustrators whose names I don't even know, yet!

Any errors or omissions are completely my own. Please leave a comment if I've made any horrific impossible-to-ignore mistakes that I can resolve promptly.  Thanks.

Nathan

Written by Susan Ouriou

Red Deer Press

978-0-88995-547-9

152 pp.

Ages 7-12

October 2016

Bullies come in all sizes and ages.  Some are in the past and some in the present but their impact is as damaging as any trauma that can make you feel like you don’t belong or that you are not safe.  In her first middle grade book, Susan Ouriou, best known for her translations (including Pieces of Me; Jane, the Fox and Me; This Side of the Sky), tackles the heavy issue of bullying from different perspectives: a  school bully tormenting young Nathan, the historical trauma of residential schools as experienced by Nathan’s grandfather’s mother, and even the assault of Altzheimer’s on the human spirit.  All are brutal and relentless but there is reconciliation.

It’s summer, and the family is starting to move Grampa from his own home to live with them, and it’s making everyone tense.  Mom acts annoyed and can be downright rude to her father.  Dad just thinks Grampa should go straight into a nursing home.  Grampa isn’t always sure what’s going on but seems resigned to accept it.  And Nathan would do anything to keep his Grampa  as the impressive giant of a man he always was.  Grampa is especially sympathetic when Nathan, who is being bullied by a boy named Adam, is repeatedly accosted by the boy while enjoying outdoors play with a new friend Max.

“…no good could come of digging up the past.  All that counted was remembering we come from survivors.  We’re tough.” (pg. 25)

Grampa takes Nathan and Max (and Nathan’s Mom, who knows Grampa should not be driving) to  the museum at the Tsuut´ina Nation to meet Elder Estella who teaches about the impact of European settlement on First Nations.  Nathan learns his great-Gramma had been First Nations and had had to survive living at a residential school, where kids were bullied by adults and didn’t have their parents around to protect them.  

The school year begins and a vicious assault by Adam on Nathan and Max leaves Nathan psychologically impacted and unable to walk and Max moving to another school.  As constant companions, Grampa, whose Alzheimer’s is worsening, and Nathan become the supports they need to survive their personal ordeals and grow stronger because of them.

Though the title suggests a book all about Nathan, it goes far beyond the young boy’s story, being a middle-grade novel dense with emotion and conflict and drama, of family and trauma and First Nations and bullies and history. Susan Ouriou whose interpretation experiences include Edmonton’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission as well as The Banff Centre’s Indigenous Writers Program weaves the past, in terms of the residential schools and the Holocaust of WWII, with the present, and family with community.  Through her characters and the story, she shows us that there were and are many who are “some kind of strong and some kind of brave” (pg. 83) and that includes Nathan whose compassion lets him see Adam beyond a tormentor and Grampa who must live through his own torment while still looking to help others.  Nathan is a story of resilience and courage that bridges generations and offers understanding and even some degree of assurance.