A Troublesome Boy

by Paul Vasey
Groundwood Books/House of Anasi
978-1-55498-155-7
225 pp.
Ages 14+
2012

Usually, alongside my review, I like to place the book cover art in some context that plays with the book's theme or plot.  For A Troublesome Boy by Paul Vasey, this is completely unnecessary.  The shadow of a young child, the crucifix, the dark cross of window frames against some light, the title echoing as a shadow parallel to the lines of the frames - the cover is complete and perfect.  Sadly.

A Troublesome Boy of the title is fourteen-year-old Teddy Clemson who is shipped off to St. Ignatius Academy for Boys in August 1959, courtesy of his mother's verbally-abusive boyfriend, Henry, who concurs with the school's assessment of Teddy as problematic.  So begins a new phase in Teddy's life, beyond a childhood of fond family memories and then one of oblivion, after his dad took off and his mom took up with Henry.  This newest chapter of his life is the story of A Troublesome Boy.

After being introduced, by the principal, Father Stewart, to the school's expectations for respect, courtesy and hard work as well as to the punishing time-out room (an unlit broom closet with a straight-backed chair and no inside handle), Teddy meets Tim Cooper, a bespectacled fourteen-year-old with a history of break-and-enter, foster care and a passion for Wordsworth's poetry.  Known as Cooper to all, Tim is soon seen as a heroic rebel, questioning everything and everyone and constantly getting detentions and extensive periods in the time-out room.  While Teddy breaks a few of the rules himself, like going to the boiler room (the domain of Rozey, the simple handyman) to have a cigarette, he quickly recognizes and becomes heedful of the relentless and punitive nature of several of the fathers, particularly the violent English teacher Father Sullivan, and Father Prince who regularly watches the boys while they shower and routinely coaxes Cooper away from the dorm in the middle of the night.

When Saturday free times come around, Teddy and then Cooper join Rozey for drives, discussions, cribbage, often at his old farm house, and fishing, giving Cooper "the best day I ever had" (pg. 118). While enduring and questioning his role in the sexual abuse perpetrated by Father Prince, Cooper finds salvation in the boys' weekly visits with Rozey, who shares stories from his life, giving Cooper and Teddy some understanding about relationships, particularly family.  Giving Cooper his first real experience with comfort and concern, he proclaims of Rozey,  

"...where's he been all my life?  How come I got to be fourteen before someone actually went out of his way to do things for me?...What I wouldn't give to be his son.  I could've been a great son if I'd ever had the chance." (pg.160)

For the boys, St. Iggy's becomes an endurance test as they consider the possibility of running away to the beaches of British Columbia.  But, the continued abuse by the priests and Cooper's escalating distress, including for Teddy who is invited to "talk" with Father Prince too, takes the story through unimaginable tragedies, relieved only by the occasional driblet of compassion from Rozey and those outside the Catholic residential school system.

Paul Vasey's admission in his About the Author notes that he is a boarding-school survivor, as well as a board member for a mental health facility for youth, may reveal the source of A Troublesome Boy's legitimacy and poignancy.  The profanity of the boys' words and lives will be blasphemous to some readers, perhaps repulsed by the potent indecency of it all, but Paul Vasey pens their story with a light craft, emphasizing the constructs of their emotions rather than detailed accounts of the abuse.  This story should leave the reader physically repulsed by the crimes committed under the guise of reform and support while emotionally sobbing for those who have been forsaken and know it.

The Opposite of Tidy

by Carrie Mac

Razorbill

978-0-14-318091-3

332 pp.

Ages 12+

2012

This bright collage of covers of The Opposite of Tidy by Carrie Mac may depict some degree of clutter but nothing compared to the blight that is the home of fifteen-year-old Junie Ramsey.  Except for her room and the bathroom she uses, Junie's Vancouver home is a disaster of hoarded miscellany: storage boxes, garbage bags of clothes, craft materials, Chinese food cartons, pizza boxes, rubber bands, file boxes, and stacks of unopened packages. At the centre of it all is Junie's mom, Marla, who is obesely and emotionally bound to her armchair from which she compulsively buys from the Shopping Channel or the Internet.  Junie's father, Ron, had tried to be supportive but when he moved in with the life coach he'd hired to help, things went from bad to worse.  Regardless of her repulsion for her "disgusting" mother and her own desire for cleanliness and order, Junie has only shared some of her mom's problem with her best friend, Tabitha, and Tabitha's mom, Mrs. D., a Crown attorney.

When Junie is offered a ride home by Wade Jaffre, a new boy in Grade 11 on whom she is currently crushing, she can't possibly let him see that she lives at the house with the messed-up woman yelling at the man in the front yard.  So, she directs him a short way down the road to Tabitha's lovely home where she is lovingly greeted by Mrs. D.  So begins the subterfuge of homes, mothers and telephone numbers that has Junie running between houses, Tabitha upset with Junie for hiding the truth from Wade and preventing her from getting her mom's help when she sees rats in Junie's house, and Marla manipulating Junie with guilt and worry when she realizes she's unaware of Junie's boyfriend.  Fortunately, the one thing that is working out is Junie's relationship with Wade, who could win Boyfriend of the Year for his sincerity and affection for Junie.

Among the multitude of problems with lies (and there are so many) is the fact that they rarely are revealed at convenient or appropriate times.  So, when Junie sees a number of cop cars and TV vans outside her real home as Wade is driving her and Tabitha home from school, she doesn't think beyond her worry for her mother.  Big "oops" when she forces Wade to stop and then rushes to her mom.  While the drama at the house (courtesy of the appearance of talk show host, Kendra, who will be using Marla as her focus on a show about hoarding) delights Marla and the community, it reveals Junie's lies to Wade and exposes her dysfunctional family publicly.  This introduces new drama to Junie and Wade's relationship, and June's relationship with her mother, especially with attempts by Kendra's staff, including psychiatrist Nigel, to help Marla.

Hoarding may seem wildly fascinating to those who don't live with it but Carrie Mac ensures that the obsessive-compulsive nature of hoarding is seen as a complicated disorder in which those entangled attempt to sway others to their perspective.  Marla is hardly a sympathetic character, particularly in the manner by which she justifies her choices and manipulates Junie; however, I suspect she is not unique in this aspect.  Moreover, Junie vacillates between her revulsion, her anger, and her desperation to keep her mother safe, which probably explains why she feels the need to conceal her mother's condition.  By tying Junie's secrets to lies told to get and hold a boyfriend, Carrie Mac presents the story of a typical teen, eager to fit in and enjoy the firsts associated with young love, while dealing with some parental issues.  As such, Junie's story could be that of any teen, and young readers will undoubtedly find many connections with her which will help them to empathize with her situation. In The Opposite of Tidy, Carrie Mac's realistic depiction of a family's dysfunctional nature, hinged on a mental illness, provides a frank discussion of how the impact of a mental illness extends beyond the individual, as does its treatment.

The Prisoner of Snowflake Falls

Written by John Lekich

Orca Book Publishers

978-1554699780

280 pp.

Ages 11+

2012

Reviewed from ebook 

978-1554699803

If I had to be the victim of a crime, I'd hope to be burgled by a thief like fifteen-year-old Henry Thelonius Holloway. Even though he knows how to pick a lock and the other arts of thieving courtesy of his Uncle Andy and cronies, Henry would probably only borrow the car (and return it with gas), steal food only to prevent starvation, never steal anything of great sentimental value, and even tidy up my breakfast dishes. After all, how many thieves do you know who, rather than take a wad of bills from an envelope earmarked for a graduation gift, add a couple of bucks to increase the fund? Exactly. Henry is one of a kind. He's very principled, neat, and compassionate, even if he is a thief.

Unfortunately, Henry is also young and an orphan. After his mother died from cancer when he was nine years of age, he lived with his Uncle Andy and then Uncle Andy's friends when Uncle Andy went to prison. But when everyone who could care for him is also in prison or has taken off, Henry finds the means to live in a treehouse, supplementing his meagre existence with visits to his regular "benefactors" for food and such. It's only when Henry slips up in a ruse to reassure his uncle (who keeps tabs on him from prison) that he is alright that Henry is sent to Snowflake Falls' Second Chance program.

Placed in the care of the Wingates, Henry becomes part of a chaotic family of oddities.  Harrison Wingate is the very particular owner of Wingate's department store, desperate to keep the store from going under, courtesy of Biggie's Bargin Barn. His wife, Theodora, tirelessly and unobtrusively, works to keep the family happy and the surfaces of their home scrubbed from Oscar's markings. Oscar, not yet three, is known as a screamer and is delighted to share his voice with his new roommate (until the renovations on the guest room are completed). Finally, there is eleven-year-old Charlotte, a brilliant and big-hearted manic talker who is anxious to do good for others, including sharing her budding hair-cutting skills on Henry.

With his schedule of an early morning paper route (shamelessly conducted on Charlotte's small pink bike), work at Top Kow Burgers as the Grease Pig, volunteering (not) to read to Mr. Harley Howard, the near-blind and elderly richest man in town, and regular visits for counselling by Ms Penelope Pendergast, the Home Economics teacher, Henry should have no trouble keeping out of trouble. And, with so many people involved in his life now, including the friendly strangers of Snowflake Falls, Henry can't seem to find the means or heart to escape, yet.

Compelled by Henry's letters, Uncle Andy heads to Snowflake Falls when released from prison, and everything changes. Joining thieves Cookie Collito and Wally Whispers, Uncle Andy plans on one last job, with Henry's help: robbing the whole town. With so much of himself invested in his new town (and so many in Snowflake Falls invested in him), Henry finds himself looking for ways to avoid hurting those for whom he cares. By breaking his rule about forming attachments with people or places, he has put himself in an awkward position. Prison would have been so much easier.

John Lekich's characters in The Prisoner of Snowflake Falls are the treasures that readers look for in great fiction. They are unique and true to themselves, good or bad, and evolving.  Oscar may have been the downfall of the Second Chancers that came before Henry, but the little guy melts Henry's heart (or maybe he just shattered it with his excessive decibel output, snore or scream). Charlotte verges on being an annoyance but she is desperate to seem normal and be accepted, the humble goal of many of us. It's similar for George who believes acceptance will come through distinction. Theodora, Harrison, Harley and the others are more of the people with whom we share our lives, just quirkier and more of themselves. As for Henry, our seemingly self-assured teen, he has been a work in progress from the time before his mother became ill. He's astute enough to recognize what pleases others and what disappoints them, whether it is his mother, his uncle or the Wingates. Henry's compassion, though often masked, makes him heroic, enduring the loneliness of losing his mother and being untethered, while still able to see the emotional needs of others often before his own physical needs. Perhaps as his uncle proclaims, "Puzzles are a lot like life.  Once everything fits into place, there's nothing left to discover."  That's why Henry is still a work in progress.  While I had been hopeful for Henry to accept Snowflake Falls as his home, rather than his prison, John Lekich chose an alternate ending. Appropriately, even as The Prisoner of Snowflake Falls ends, I wonder how much of Henry is still to be discovered.

Acts of Courage: Laura Secord and the War of 1812

by Connie Brummel Crook

Pajama Press

978-0-9869495-7-9

261 pp.

Ages 10-14

2012

With the bicentennial of the War of 1812 starting this year, new volumes of historical fiction and non-fiction related to the war's significant events and personalities will be jumping off the presses for the next two years (after all, the War of 1812 lasted from 1812 to 1814).  An early contribution to this list includes Pajama Press' Acts of Courage: Laura Secord and the War of 1812 by Connie Brummel Crook, author of an impressive list of award-winning historical fiction.

Though most readers will know the basics of Laura Secord's fame (no, not chocolate) from the Heritage Minutes that occasionally pepper Canadian television, many will know little besides Laura's struggle through treacherous conditions to warn of an American attack.  By staying true to Laura's undertaking while adding an interesting twist (fictional, of course), Connie Brummel Crook has taken this book from biography to historical fiction with an "Aha!" moment or two.

This story of Laura begins in 1787 when she is only twelve-years-old and living with her father, first step-mother, Mercy, and little sister, Mira, in Great Barrington, on the boundary between Massachusetts and New York.  Laura's father, Thomas Ingersoll, is the judge and captain of the local militia, and often away dealing with the rebels and farmers forced from their lands by exorbitant taxes put in place after the American Revolutionary War.  Laura evades the notice of one such rebel group with the help of a young boy of twelve, who Laura names Red.  Red had come from Ireland to help his uncle farm but, with unpaid taxes, his uncle lost the farm and they have joined the rebels. In return, when the rebels get taken by the militia, Laura takes Red to a neighbour's to hide him, trying to keep him warm and safe and fed.  Though Red leaves promptly the next day, he reappears months later, again trying to keep Laura safe, as well as rescuing her little sister from a fall in the river.

Eight years later, Thomas Ingersoll decides to move the family, now with third wife, Sally, to Upper Canada, tired of the unfairness of America's taxes and courts.  Settling the family in Queenston, with the assistance of a helpful general-store keeper, James Secord, from St. David's, he takes Laura with him to select and prepare the land they've been granted for farming.  Captain Brant, the Mohawk chief, and his people, generously help them clear the land and build their first cabin, though Laura learns about the inequities levelled against the Mohawks, who'd helped the British, and the resulting hardships.

By 1812, Laura is living in Queenston with her husband, James Secord, and their three children, while across the ocean the British are fighting Napoleon and the French.  With the relentless seizure of American trade ships and seamen by the British, America declares war on Britain and Upper Canada readies itself for attack.  After a failed invasion by General William Hull and the Americans from across the Detroit River, an attack on Queenston has Laura heroically rescuing an injured James from behind enemy lines.  But, it isn't until the spring of 1813 that Laura becomes a fixture on the battle stage.  While tending to James, still recovering from his injuries, and her children, Laura begrudgingly feeds soldiers who request or demand food.  It is while one particular group of nasty soldiers stuff themselves on her food that Laura overhears them talking of a surprise attack on Fitzgibbon and his men.  After James tells her that an attack on Fitzgibbon could lead to the taking of the Niagara Peninsula and all of Upper Canada, Laura sets out on her famous trek to warn Fitzgibbon.

Because Connie Brummel Crook has chosen to introduce a fictional character, Red, from Laura's childhood to her story, the plot-line may leave the reader jerked from one time to another.  First we share in the events of a single time in Laura's childhood, until we read of her family's move to Upper Canada when she is a twenty-year-old single woman, and finally moving through her life as a wife, mother, and heroine.  Though I wish the transitions had seemed flawless, Connie Brummel Crook appropriately streams from one to the other as best as possible while telling a life story, with fictional enhancements, in a mere 261 pages.  As such, no subplot or component of the story is gratuitous, each important in explaining and moving the plot to Laura's climactic walk, probably best described as a combination trudge, plod, wade, slog and creep.  Luckily Connie Brummel Crook's telling of Laura Secord's story lacks the toil and anguish of our heroine's defining moment and instead takes the reader through Laura's life's journey to better understand the choices and connections she has made throughout.

The War of 1812 in CanLit

For the next two years, many organizations on both sides of the border will be commemorating the bicentennial of the War of 1812, which lasted from 1812 to 1814.  A variety of events on both sides of the border will keep any student of history intrigued for months to come.  A small sampling of activities include:

• re-enactments (Battle of Queenston Heights in Niagara; Militia Training at Gananoque);
• museum exhibits (Kingston War Ships 1812-1814 in Kingston; Petticoats, Boots and Muskets in Niagara Falls);
• walking tours (Stories in Stones cemetery tour in Hamilton; Ghost Tours at Fort George);
• film festivals (Fort York National Historic Site October in Toronto);
• dances (Fanshawe Frolic in London);
• plays (The War of 1812 at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival);
• festivals (Capture of Detroit Commemoration Festival in Windsor);
• lectures and talks (Ghostly Tales in Cayuga; Laura Secord and the Tales of 1812 in Jordan);
• book launches (The Loxleys and the War of 1812); and
  
• concerts (1812 Concert in Greater Fort Erie).

Great sites for events include:

• Discover 1812
• Western Corridor: War of 1812
• Ontario Festivals: War of 1812
• Ontario Historical Society

To provide some context for these activities and background information about events and individuals involved in the War of 1812, this book list should provide enough resources to introduce young readers to the "Forgotten War."

PICTURE BOOKS

Laura: A Childhood Tale of Laura Secord
by Maxine Trottier
Illustrated by Karen Reczuch
North Winds Press
28 pp.
Ages 4-8
2000

Laura Secord: A Story of Courage
by Janet Lunn
Illustrated by Maxwell Newhouse
Tundra
32 pages
Ages 7-10
2001

Laura Secord’s Brave Walk
by Connie Brummel Crook
Illustrated by June Lawson
Second Story Press
24 pp.
Ages 8-10
2000

FICTION

Acts of Courage: Laura Secord and the War of 1812
by Connie Brummel Crook
Pajama Press
261 pp.
Ages 10-14
2012
Based on the true story of Laura Ingersoll Secord who undertook a dangerous journey to warn the British of an attack by the Americans.

Billy Green Saves the Day
by Ben Guyatt
Dundurn
157 pp.
Ages10-15
2009
When the War of 1812 breaks out, eighteen-year-old Billy Green takes it upon himself to warn the British of the massive American forces camped at Stoney Creek, the last stronghold of the British in Upper Canada.

The Bully Boys
by Eric Walters
Puffin
978-0143168621
227 pp.
Ages 9-13
2001
Tom Roberts looks after the family farm while his father fights for the British army during the War of 1812.

A Call to Battle: War of 1812, Alexander MacKay, Upper Canada, 1812 (I Am Canada series)
by Gillian Chan
Scholastic Canada
200 pp.
Ages 10-14
Release date: September 01, 2012
Jealous when his father and older brother go off to fight the Americans attacking Niagara, thirteen-year-old Sandy sneaks away to Lundy's Lane to join the militia.  But, Sandy could not have imagined the brutality of war from which his father had tried to protect him.  And now, Sandy must find the means to survive.

Fire Ship
by Marianne Brandis
Porcupine's Quill
119 pp.
Ages 9-12
1992
Describes the 1813 devastation of York by the Americans, from the point of view of Dan, a boy who has recently emigrated from the United States.

Jeremy's War 1812
by John Ibbotson
Kids Can Press
208 pp.
Ages 9-13
2000
(Originally published in 1991 as 1812: Jeremy and the General)
Fifteen-year-old Jeremy joins the British army in 1812 and becomes the batsman (personal servant) to General Isaac Brock, fighting for his life and country through the War of 1812.

Legend of the Paymaster's Gold
by Jo Shawyer
Dundurn
136 pp.
Ages 10-14
2012
Two hundred years after the War of 1812, twins Sam and Eadie learn that an army paymaster had mislaid a chest of gold during a skirmish near their new home in London, Ontario.  With a little help from a neighbour and other locals, the two's sleuthing educates them about the War of 1812.

The Loxleys and the War of 1812: Graphic Novel
by Alan Grant

Illustrated by Claude St. Aubin, Lovern Kindzierski and Todd Klein

Renegade Arts Entertainment

978-0-9868200-0-7

175 pp.

Ages 10+

2012
The Loxley family is living on the Niagara Peninsula when the War of 1812 is declared, tearing the family apart. See the book trailer here.

The Other Elizabeth
by Karleen Bradford
Gage Publishing
160 pp.
Ages 10-13
1982
After slipping into the past during a school visit to a historical site, Elizabeth wishes she'd paid better attention in class, particularly to the details regarding the Battle at Crysler's Farm during the War of 1812. 

A River Apart
by Robert Sutherland
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
184 pp.
Ages 10-13
2000
When the War of 1812 separates friends, Jamie Shaw in Canada and siblings Jared and Leah Jackson across the St. Lawrence River in America, they fear that their choices to defend their homes and families could lead to even more tragedies.

Son of the Hounds
by Robert Sutherland
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
128 pp.
Ages 10-15
1988/2004
After Jimmy and his father are taken from their Niagara Peninsula farm by the Americans in 1813, he escapes, determined to fight them whatever way he can, including acting as a spy and a messenger for the famous Band of Bloody Boys.

Under a Shooting Star (Circle of Silver Chronicles)
by Maxine Trottier
Stoddart Kids/Fitzhenry & Whiteside
212 pp.
Ages 12-14
2001

En route to delivering Kate and Anne Kimmerling to their home in America via Lake Erie, British-Oneidan Edward MacNeil's simple task becomes more complicated when a storm shipwrecks them on an island in the midst of conflict during the War of 1812. 

Whispers of War: The 1812 Diary of Susanna Merritt (Dear Canada series)
by Kit Pearson
Scholastic Canada
220 pp.
Ages 10-12
2002
The story of the Merritt family's experiences on the Niagara Peninsula during the War of 1812.

NON-FICTION

Laura Secord (Remarkable Canadians series)
by Jennifer House
Weigl
24 pp.
Ages 9-11
2009

Laura Secord, Heroine of the War of 1812 (A Quest Biography Book)
by Peggy Dymond Leavey
Dundurn
224 pp.
Ages
May 2012

To Stand and Fight Together: Richard Pierpoint and the Coloured Corps of Upper Canada (A Canadians at War Book)
by Steve Pitt
Dundurn
144 pp.
2008

Tecumseh: Shooting Star, Crouching Panther
by Jim Poling Sr.
Dundurn
192 pp.
2009

Canada Under Attack (A Canadians at War Book)
by Jennifer Crump
Dundurn
216 pp.
2010

Captain Fitz: FitzGibbon, Green Tiger of the War of 1812 (A Canadians at War Book)
by Enid Mallory
Dundurn
208 pp.
2011

The Battles of the War of 1812: An Omnibus
by Pierre Berton
Fifth House/Fitzhenry & Whiteside
317 pp.
Ages 11-15
2006
Originally published by McClelland & Stewart as separate titles in Pierre Berton's History for Young Canadians: The Battles of the War of 1812 including The Capture of Detroit, 1991; The Death of Isaac Brock, 1991; Revenge of the Tribes, 1991; Canada Under Siege, 1991; The Battle of Lake Erie, 1994; The Death of Tecumseh, 1994; and Attack on Montreal, 1995.

Canada on Fire: The War of 1812 (A Canadians at War Book) 
by Jennifer Crump
Dundurn
208 pp.
Ages 14+
2011

OUT-OF-PRINT

(occasionally available at libraries or at used book stores)

General Brock and Niagara Falls
by Samuel Hopkins Adams
Random House
1960

The Good Soldier: The Story of Isaac Brock

by D. J. Goodspeed

Illustrated by Jack Ferguson

Macmillan

156 pp.

1967

Laura's Choice: The Story of Laura Secord

by Connie Brummel Crook

Windflower Communications

1993

Redcoat

by Gregory Sass

Porcupine's Quill

95 pp.

Ages 11-13

1985

The Rowboat War, On the Great Lakes 1812-1814

by Fred Swayze

Illustrated by Paul Liberovsky

Macmillan

128 pp.

1965

The Soldier's Son
by Terry Leeder
Dundurn
64 pp.
1979

The Story of the War of 1812
by Colonel Red Reeder
Illustrated by Frederick T. Chapman
Duell, Sloan & Pearce
1960

Treason at York
by John F. Hayes
Illustrated by Fred J. Finley
Copp Clark
314 pp.
1949

Read and learn why author and great Canadian Pierre Berton wrote, in Flames Across the Border: 1813-1814 (Anchor Canada, 2001), that. . .

History gave the conflict short shrift; and yet for all its bunglings and idiocies, it helped determine the shape and nature of Canada.

• The War of 1812 •

n.b. Teachers and anyone who would like a pdf of this posting can download one here at scribd.

How to Tend a Grave

by Jocelyn Shipley

Great Plains Teens Fiction

978-1-926531-19-9

178 pp.

Ages 14+

2012

Death stings the victim only once, but those left behind feel the pain of loss with every passing memory.

~ Unknown

The grief experienced after the loss of a loved one can be excruciating but if it is embedded with secrets and shame and confusion, it can be unmanageable and life-altering.  In How to Tend a Grave, two young teens, Liam Hall and Harmony Trahern, experience such grief and, though they are not acquainted with each other, grief will prompt their introduction and necessitate their interaction.

Though Liam knows his mother was an escort, it isn't until after she is killed in a hit-and-run accident and he must leave Toronto to live with his grandfather, Gully, in Dunlane, that Liam begins to learn how her choices have shaped their lives.  Though Liam's mom, Monica, hated Dunlane and had been ostracized by her own mother for having Liam out of wedlock, Dunlane is where Gully has his daughter buried, next to her mother at Mount Hope & Glory Cemetery.

Liam visits the cemetery daily to chat with his mom, to cry and to try to understand revelations about his mom that contradict what she had told him.  His cemetery visits, though, bring him under the scrutiny of local teen thug, Youth, and his nasty girlfriend, Crime, and their gang, Y4C, who claim the cemetery as their own.  Shrewdly, they will allow him to visit the cemetery if he joins their gang, thus becoming a 4, and following Youth's demands.  Though Liam recognizes their posturing as childish, their violent acts are very real and terrorizing the community. While Gully, a corrections officer, advises Liam to avoid the gang members, Liam, now called Ghoul Guy by Y4C, finds, "He's starved for belonging.  And hungry for the rush." (pg. 118)

Harmony Trahern, not yet sixteen, also visits the cemetery, recording in a journal the epitaphs on the gravestones of dead babies.  In this notebook, she also addresses entries to Rue, the baby she conceived with Jordan,  before Harmony recognized what a mistake it was hanging with him and his new group, Y4C.  It is during her visits to the cemetery that Harmony notices Liam and introduces herself.  They are instantly attracted to one another, though they share very little about themselves, both fearful that their choices related to Y4C and family history will come between them.

When Liam's and Harmony's stories merge, the progression of their grief to acceptance should not be taken as a conclusion to the process.  Liam's mother still lied to him and made choices that were perhaps suitable for her but definitely not for him, condemning him to much unresolved confusion.  He's fortunate to have Gully whose fortitude and experience, as well as gardening prowess, have prepared him well to help Liam through his grief.  Similarly, Harmony may be coming to terms with her grief for her lost child and even the nature of the loss of her virginity, but her parents will need to acknowledge their own grieving and role in their daughter's loss.  Just recreating earlier family activities, like an outing to the auction, is not sufficient to ensure their understanding of the loss.  As such, Jocelyn Shipley's title of How to Tend to a Grave is comprehensive in that tending to a grave can refer to caring for the grave, contributing to it (as in having a responsibility) or inclining to it (as in reaching for it).

By merging two different story-lines, Liam's told in third-person and Harmony's first-person journal entries, Jocelyn Shipley adds depth and texture to her plotting, allowing the reader to see Dunlane and Y4C from different perspectives at different times.  Perhaps because this reader finds the need for justice compulsory when dealing with criminal activities, the unknown fate of Youth and Crime is disappointing.  However, knowing that Liam has Gully in his life and they both accept each other as they are and that Liam has made a mature connection with Harmony, the promise that is Liam's future is sufficient to ensure a sense of resolution and hope.  Moreover, knowing that the threat to the community is something that must be dealt with from within, not by avoidance, Liam demonstrates that he is prepared to become part of the community that his mother forsake.  It seems, as many claim, that everything does tend to work out in the end.  Jocelyn Shipley ensures that it does appropriately in How to Tend a Grave.

The Woefield Poultry Collective

Written by Susan Juby
HarperCollins Canada
978-1554687442
336 pp.
Ages 14+
2011

Reviewed from audiobook
Audible Audio edition
ASIN: B006ODFCK0
Narrated by Carter Hayden, Kate Griffin, Jennifer Walls, Michael Fletcher
7 hours, 51 minutes
2011

Whether reading the hardcopy or ebook or listening to the audiobook of The Woefield Poultry Collective, ensure that you are in a secure location where your outbursts (n.b. plural) will not disturb others, because they will be frequent and they will be hearty. Luckily they won't be prolonged because there isn't time to laugh endlessly - the next chortle is imminent.  So you will end up laughing, looking around to make sure you haven't caught anyone's attention, continue reading and then laugh again.  Ah, it's a vicious cycle.  But, if you need to explain, just tell your audience to read Susan Juby's The Woefield Poultry Collective to fully comprehend the nature of your lack of self-control and note that it had been shortlisted for the 2012 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour. 

Though an apartment-dwelling New Yorker, Prudence Burns lives by the principles and practices of environmental responsibility.  She has vermi-composting with red wigglers; she installed solar panels; she passionately sorts her waste for recycling; she buys organic, free-trade and local; and her only foray into writing, a YA novel titled, "The Sun Doesn't Always Forgive," focuses on the consequences of global warming.  Luckily for her, just as her relationship with the pompous Leo goes down the tubes and she considers her options for a career, she inherits Woefield Farm from her great uncle, Harold, her only relative and one she'd never met.

Convinced her dream has come true, Prudence embraces the opportunity to become a farmer and packs herself up to move to Woefield Farm, a scrubby piece of land off the coast of B.C.  With her passion for challenges and all things earthly, Prudence sees the limitless potential in the overgrown, rocky land with its old house, burned down barn, Bertie, the half-sheared sheep, and the elderly curmudgeon, Earl, who lives at the cabin on the property.

With her energetic charm, Prudence has no problems drawing people to her vision and to helping out, usually without them even realizing they've been snagged by her.  First, there's Hugh the cabbie who drops her off at Woefield.  Then it's Earl, the cantankerous banjo playing, TV documentary fan, who was her uncle's right-hand man, who first sticks around to protect and advise Prudence but ultimately grows to care, in his own way, for her passionate ways. Then, Seth, an alcoholic, heavy metal and celebrity gossip blogger, who has secluded himself for a few years (there was an unfortunate incident at the high school) until his mother kicks him out, joins the farm.  Finally, eleven-year-old Junior Poultry Fancier, Sara Spratt, becomes a regular fixture at Woefield after Mrs. Spratt pays to have a coop built there to house her daughter's chickens.

Prudence learns from the bank that Woefield is essentially a negative asset and she is responsible for paying the mortgage, a home equity loan and long-overdue taxes and bills.  But, far from discouraged, Prudence finds the means to make Woefield the farm of her dreams, armed only with her limitless energy, menagerie of sidekicks, and positive attitude.

The Woefield Poultry Collective has been acclaimed as adult humour but I believe that teens in high school would delight in Prudence's story, especially as Susan Juby's skills are founded in YA literature.  Prudence may be a twenty-something character, but her voice and those of Susan Juby's other characters are so distinctive and familiar that teens will revel in their humour and odd perspectives.  Seth, from whom expletives pour like beer, may be twenty-one but he's still living in his high school years since having never graduated or achieved closure after the "incident" at the school play.  Sara may be smart enough to manage in a dysfunctional family and share her knowledge of poultry practices, but she is still a child, naive enough to misunderstand Seth's drunkedness, her dad's "misappropriateness" at the bank (which cost him his job) and Earl's swearing and lack of initiative.  With Susan Juby's evocative text, the narrators on the audiobook of The Woefield Poultry Collective do not just read the words, they become their characters.  Listen to a preview of it at Audible.com to share in the flavour that is Earl.

While Prudence may seem far too upbeat and environmentally-conscious for some readers, I know a few persons just like her, and the virtue that is Prudence's is that she doesn't preach or tell others how to live their lives.  Even when Seth is falling down drunk, Prudence tries to find a way to help rather than just berate him.  She's just the embodiment of the old adage, "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade."  Prudence makes lemonade with sparkly ice-cubes made of well water.