The Forest of Reading®: Promoting reading in Ontario

As the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading® gets underway for another year, I wanted to share these videos to demonstrate how great this program is and how fanatical the kids (from Kindergarten through high school) are about these programs. (N.B. Just as great are their Evergreen™ and Golden Oak™ programs for adults which are beyond the scope of this blog.)

 Posted by ONLibraryAssoc on Nov 21, 2011 on youtube.com

The first video has young readers sharing their feelings about the Forest of Reading®. [By the way, that's author Kevin Sylvester dressed in a chef's outfit, channelling his character Neil Flambé from his 2011 Silver Birch® Fiction Award-winning book, Neil Flambé and the Marco Polo Murders (Key Porter, 2010)]

Posted by debbieohi on May 12, 2011 on youtube.com

This video from last year's Festival of Trees™, the awards ceremonies of the Forest of Reading®, demonstrates why authors love coming to these ceremonies.  Each year, the cheering children and the smiling authors reiterate the idea that our Canadian children's authors deserve to feel like rock stars.

Le Prix Tamarac

When I posted the nominees for the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading® awards program, I chose to post only those relevant to Canadian youth.  However, I was negligent in not publishing information for Le Prix Tamarac, the youth reading program based on the best Canadian fiction and non-fiction published in the French language in the past year.  I amend that error here. Vous voudrez bien m'excuser.

LE PRIX TAMARAC NOMINEES

Anne Frank: une jeune écrivaine   

Marie Sylvie Legault

Éditions du Renouveau Pédagogique Inc.

Le Cristal qui pousse

Steve Proulx, Vincent Giard
Les Éditions du Trécarré

Les échecs

Sylvie Roberge, Gabrielle Grimard
Dominique et Compagnie

L’étrange affaire du 413

Nadya Larouche
Éditions Vents d’Ouest

Une Fin de semaine mouvementée

France Lorrain
Éditions Caractère

Le garçon qui aimait les contes de fées

Lyne Vanier, Julie Rocheleau
Éditions Pierre Tisseyre

Philibert Tanguay: L’ère glaciaire dans la glacière

Sylvie Desrosiers, Rémy Simard
la courte échelle

Secrets de Famille

Sylvie Marcoux
Éditions du Phoenix

Vlad et moi et les nids-de-poule

Brigitte Huppen
Soulières

La Zone: Les Adventures D’Edwin Robi

Stéphanie Hurtubise
Éditions Michel Quintin

LE PRIX TAMARAC EXPRESS NOMINEES

 

Connais-tu? Maurice Richard

Johanne Ménard, Pierre Berthiaume

Éditions Michel Quintin

Coup de théâtre à Stratford

Mireille Messier, Marc Keelan-Bishop
Vermillon

Capitaine Static: Le Maître des Zions

Alain M. Bergeron, Sampar
Québec Amérique Jeunesse

Une Petite bouteille jaune

Angèle Delaunois, Christine Delezenne
Éditions de l’Isatis

Peur, voleur et film d’horreur

Sylviane Thibault, Claude Thivierge
Éditions du Phoenix

Pierre et les voyous

Mathieu Boutin, Paule Trudel Bellemare
Planète rebelle

The Réveil du dragon chinois

Stéphanie Decelles, Jessie Chrétien
Éditions du Phoenix

Rouge-Babine et l’Opération

Jade Lili Chartrand, Marie-Pierre Oddoux
la courte échelle

Les Dragouilles: Les Rouges de Tokyo

Karine Gottot, Maxim Cyr
Éditions Michel Quintin

Le Zaillemeur

Marie-Pierre Meunier, Sébastien Pinard
Les Éditions Z’ailées

More details about the Forest of Reading® program can be checked out at OLA's Forest of Reading

The Tiffin

by Mahtab Narsimhan

Dancing Cat Books

978-1-77086-039-1

190 pp.

Ages 9-12

2011

Twelve-year-old Kunal cannot remember a time when he didn’t live with Sethji and Mrs. Seth and work tirelessly as a waiter and delivery boy for their dhaba (roadside restaurant) in Mumbai. Reminded constantly by the abusive Sethji that Kunal is an orphan and should be thankful for the life they have given him, Kunal can find little support to help him deal with the menacing, new cook, Badri, abusive customers, frightening beggars or thieving gangs. When Kunal’s attempt at stealing money for his escape is thwarted and his sale to the Beggar King, Abdullah, is imminent, Mrs. Seth provides him with some money and information about his mother before he escapes with Vinayak, the kindly old dabbawalla (deliverer of the boxed lunches known as tiffins).

From the introductory chapter to the story, the reader learns that thirteen years earlier, a young woman named Anahita had sent a message hidden in a tiffin to her lover, Anurag. That tiffin had the auspicious distinction of being the one in six million tiffins that does not reach its destination. The reader will recognize soon enough that this is the cause of Kunal's fate. From what Mrs. Seth shares with Kunal just before his escape, it is a fate that Kunal is determined to correct by locating his mother. And his relationship with the dabbawallas is critical to his search.

Mahtab Narsimhan’s story reads as a junior version of any Rohinton Mistry book set in India: the colours and textures, as well as the smells, both fragrant and pongy, are fundamental to scaffolding the characters and their stories. Narsimhan chooses her palettes carefully: for Sethji’s fetid dhaba, for the cacophony at Andheri Station (from which trains are used to deliver the tiffins), and for the drenching monsoon rains. Narsimhan’s powerful writing bares the despair of Kunal and others, and is sure to have emotional impact; fortunately, the reader will intuit a kernel of hope in Kunal’s story which will at least ease the overriding bleakness.

The Fifth Rule

by Don Aker

HarperTrophy Canada

978-1-55468-863-0

260 pp.

Ages13-17

2011

As Don Aker reveals in his Author's Note in The Fifth Rule, he felt obliged (reluctantly) to write a sequel to The First Stone (HarperTrophy Canada, 2003) by the many readers anxious to learn the fates of characters Reef and Leeza. Having just completed The First Stone, I can only imagine their anticipation after eight years of waiting; my impatience was assuaged expediently in just a few hours.

Two years have passed since Reef, the young offender from The First Stone, was judged guilty in the tragic accident that almost killed a young woman in Halifax.  Having completed the terms of his sentence (living in the North Hills Group Home run by Frank Colville, volunteering at a rehabilitation centre, and making school presentations about his actions and their consequences), Reef is living in Calgary, working in construction and helping out with street youth.  He's also respecting the restraining order keeping him away from Leeza (an order secured by her mother), although she continues to pervade his thoughts daily.

In Halifax, Leeza has completed her rehabilitation, walking with minimal pain, although her scars keep the memories of her devastating accident and her time with Reef.  And, if the scars weren't enough, she has her controlling mother forever reminding her about Reef's criminality and her naiveté. Luckily, she is busy attending the University of Dalhousie, and still keeping in touch with her old rehab roomie, Brett, and nurse Casey, although not busy enough to keep Reef and his perceived deception from her thoughts.

When Frank Colville is killed by a young offender gone joyriding, Reef returns, delivering an emotional eulogy to Frank.  Reef reveals the nature of his relationship with Frank (previously confidential as Reef was a minor) and the positive impact Frank had on his life and on all those fortunate to be sent to North Hills Group Home.  Disastrously, a politically ambitious Roland Decker twists Reef's story and words to support his hardline platform against young offenders.

Through a series of missed opportunities, bad timing and misunderstandings, Reef verges on undoing all the good Frank had helped him achieve, convinced he has no hope with Leeza and that he has brought about the ruin of Frank's legacy, North Hills.  Presented with her own share of confounding and erroneous information, Leeza is attempting to sort out her feelings for Reef and for her biological father who reappears surreptitiously after many years.

By juxtaposing Reef's story (which seems to be spiraling into despair) with Leeza's (which is based on misconceptions and presumptions), Don Aker entices the reader along, anticipating the circumstances by which the two will meet up again and the nature of that reunion.  The convergence of their story lines and their lives provides a captivating and convincing answer to the question: what happened to Reef and Leeza? 

The First Stone

Written by Don Aker

HarperTrophy Canada

978-0-00639-286-6

289 pp.

Ages 14+

2003

Note Bene: Published before I was even a teacher-librarian (just a teacher), The First Stone won both the 2004 OLA's White Pine Award and the Ann Connor Brimer Award.  I'm reviewing it here as it is the prequel to Don Aker's The Fifth Rule, a current White Pine nominee.  I will post my review of The Fifth Rule tomorrow.

Reef, 17, and friends, Jinks and Bigger, are not the most likeable fellows in Halifax, unless you like guys who spew profanities as easily as breathing, who think nothing of vandalizing property, and who think little beyond themselves.  Reef, a foster child since his grandmother died eight years earlier of cancer (his abusive drunkard of a grandfather died earlier), goes by his gut instincts.  Unfortunately, he makes a lot of poor choices, one which causes a horrific crash and leaves a teen broken and in a coma.

Sentenced to the North Hills Group Home, a set-up created by ex-con Frank Colville, to volunteer hours at a rehab centre, and ultimately to present talks to schools about his experiences, Reef isn't pleased; neither are many citizens, including the victim's mother, Diane Morrison, who are convinced he got away with almost murdering her daughter.  Playing the tough-guy, Reef begrudgingly does what is required of him, including following Frank Colville's rules and repairing a greenhouse on his own, but Reef continues to share very little of himself.  That is, until he begins his volunteering at the Halifax Rehabilitation Centre, where his usefulness is appreciated by staff and patients on the muscoloskeletal floor. 

He especially makes a connection with Leeza , a young woman dealing with multiple fractures and injuries which have her in constant pain.  Through their commonality in dealing with the death of a loved one, Reef and Leeza become closer, each having a positive impact on the other: Leeza making more of an effort in her rehab, and Reef finding it easier to respect himself and do the right thing.  

Frank Coville's rules (respect yourself; respect others; honor your commitments; be accountable; and do the right thing) become mantras that poke their way into Reef's consciousness, steering him to ensure he doesn't interact with his victim, to help direct Jinks and Bigger into making better choices, and to recognizing his own worth.  Meanwhile, Leeza is learning to deal with her anger, fear and pain, while accepting the attraction she feels for Reef.

Regardless of how unappealing Reef and his friends are, courtesy of Don Aker's expressive writing, the reader is compelled to read to the end, sure that Reef is one of those characters that can and will redeem himself, somehow.   Leeza can be a less sympathetic character, primarily because of her interactions with her controlling mom, but Leeza demonstrates her resiliency, grabbing the support of her readers.  Even the ending prepares the reader to accept that time is needed for characters and circumstances to resolve themselves before their story truly ends. And so, now comes Don Aker's reluctant sequel, The Fifth Rule.

Better than Weird

by Anna Kerz
Orca Book Publishers
978-1-55469-362-7
217 pp.
Ages 8-12
2011

Aaron Waite, who first appeared in Kerz's The Mealworm Diaries (Orca, 2009) as the weird kid with whom newcomer, Jeremy, was paired to complete mealworm experiments, is trying desperately to curb his "differences."  He knows he talks too fast, that he's impatient (hence his nickname "Cantwait"), that he laughs at the wrong things, that he acts before he thinks, and needs to be reminded constantly by his Gran about everyday things like putting on his underwear.  By talking to the school counsellor, Karen, and his Big Brother, Paul, making lists and doing a lot of self-talk, Aaron is making a great effort to hold onto his friendship with Jeremy and impress his own dad who he hasn't seen in eight years.

But, Aaron could have been the poster boy testifying that the road to ruin is paved with good intentions.  He becomes the target of classmate, Tufan, after embarrassing him publicly; the music teacher, Ms Masilo, doesn't want him participating in the choir for the winter concert; and Jeremy is losing patience with Aaron after a series of mishaps, including messing up Jeremy's fish tank responsibility, and belabouring the news of Aaron's dad's impending visit, forgetting that Jeremy's father died recently.  But Aaron does not want to be seen as a loser.

The arrival of his dad with his new, pregnant wife, Sophie, gives Aaron the opportunity to get some answers as well as share himself with them, both critical to helping him see that he is truly "better than weird."

Similar to Jack Gantos' Joey Pigza character (Joey Pigza Loses Control, Macmillan, 2000) as a child with behavioural issues (Joey has ADHD) and an absentee father who returns, Aaron is a classmate of all our readers, one of the numerous diverse personalities with which they will connect in their schooling.  Kerz compassionately shares Aaron's struggles and joys while illustrating the different perceptions others have of him and how these perceptions impact his own views and responses.  As trying as they may appear to be, the Aarons bring richness to our lives.  Even Jeremy recognizes that,

"If everything goes smoothly all the time, we'll never have good stories to tell."(pg. 179)

The Gathering

Written by Kelley Armstrong

Doubleday Canada

978-0-385-66851-4

359 pp.

Ages 12+

2011

When Kelley Armstrong's first book in her Darkest Powers trilogy, The Summoning (HarperCollins Canada, 2008) first came out, I was convinced that our YA readers would have a superior and Canadian alternative to Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series.  I was so right.  The Summoning's plot went beyond a romance with supernatural elements. It added layers and layers of storylines with youthful protagonists (with various supernatural abilities) and adults with questionable intentions, and left the reader desperate to read the next in the series (i.e., The Awakening, 2009; The Reckoning, 2010).  Her newest trilogy, Darkness Rising, will similarly find avid readers of fantastical fiction awaiting the sequel to the first book in this series, The Gathering, a current Ontario Library Association White Pine Award nominee.

As important as the characters in The Gathering is the setting of this book: the tiny town of Salmon Creek on Vancouver Island, a remote, wilderness-surrounded community created by the St. Cloud Corporation for its top-secret research facility and its employees' families.  Unlike the majority of the youth in Salmon Creek, Maya Delaney (16, shortly after the book begins), adopted daughter of the park warden (Dad) and architect (Mom), was born outside of the community.  Much mystery surrounds Maya, primarily because of her genesis (definitely Aboriginal, but tribe unknown), a paw-print birthmark, and her strong attachment to the forest and its creatures.

Throw in a few friends (best-friend, Daniel; mayor's daughter, Nicole; Nicole's unusual cousin, Samantha; antagonistic Hayley; newcomer and love-interest, Rafe), a couple of animals (pets Kenji, a German shepherd, and Fitz, a three-legged bobcat; old-timer cougar, Marv; a marten and others being rehabilitated by Maya); and a few parents and concerned adults, and Maya's story could be that of a "regular" teen. (But where would the story be?)  Alas, I didn't mention the bizarre drowning of swim team captain and friend, Serena, the year before.  Or Maya and Rafe finding the cougar-chomped body of visitor reporter, Mina Lee.  Or Rafe's flip-flop persona (bad boy vs. honest, affectionate boy), particularly with regards to Maya. Or the increase in cougar attacks.  Or Rafe's elusive, guardian and sister, Annie.  And what about the older Aboriginal woman at the tattoo parlour treating Maya as a pariah, first telling her she is a witch and then a skin-walker?  Not so normal anymore.

But in the deft writing of Kelley Armstrong, Maya's story seems so plausibly intricate that the reader is compelled to read on, as if to help support Maya through her journey.  Without giving away the ending, I can say that, even as Maya moves on to a new set of circumstances and setting, she still carries her need to know herself fully, heritage and all.

By the way, Book 2 in the series, The Calling, is due out in April, 2012, and the final installment, The Rising, is scheduled for publication in 2013.  Hope you can wait.

Check out the book trailer for The Gathering on my Book Trailers page