Gift Days

by Kari-Lynn Winters

Illustrated by Stephen Taylor

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

978-1-55455-192-7

32 pp.

Ages 7+

2012

On the heels of a holiday season which many treat as gift days, Kari-Lynn Winters' newest picture book, Gift Days, from Fitzhenry & Whiteside exemplifies the true nature of a gift.  It is not a present given on a statutory holiday or to commemorate the anniversary of one's birth.  It is a heartfelt sharing of something that is and will be cherished, freely and without expectation of reciprocity.

Gift Days takes the reader to Uganda where a young Nassali is expected, since the death of her mother, to prepare the meals, fetch the water and firewood, and look after her younger sisters, the weeding and the washing.  The expectation for Matovu, her older brother or baabawe, is to attend school and learn lots.  But Nassali dreams of learning to read and write and going to school.

"Maama always said an education is the path to a better life."

Knowing that "Maama would have wanted it this way", Matovu begins to complete Nassali's chores one morning a week so that they can spend time practising reading and writing.  These special days become her Gift Days.

By emphasizing Nassali's desire to read and write and become educated, rather than the custom that she take on the household responsibilities upon her mother's death from HIV/AIDS, Kari-Lynn Winters takes Gift Days from the hardship of a young girl's life in Uganda to the story of a young person determined to find the means to succeed, albeit with constraints.  Kari-Lynn Winters notes in her afterword that, although Article 28 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child declares that every child has the right to a good quality education, many do not have access to it by virtue of geography, economics, health and traditional responsibilities.  Gift Days provides the hope that an education is within the realm of possibilities for everyone and anyone, even if that education is not provided in a traditional school setting.  Artist Stephen Taylor's rich illustrations evoke both the warmth and starkness of Nassali's life but his final illustration of an adult Nassali, so simple and encouraging, takes the story to a reassuring and bright resolution, just as her future appears to be.

Breakaway

by Maureen Ulrich
Coteau Books
978-1-550-505122
394 pp.
Ages 13+
2012

As hard as it is to believe, there are some people who have never embraced hockey as a Canadian life focus.  I am one such person.  My family never watched hockey when I was young.  I had no brothers or cousins nearby whose hockey passions I could follow.  And although I had friends who watched hockey, girls were not playing hockey when I was growing up.  I never even went to my first hockey game until I was in my 20's.  So reading and reviewing a book called Breakaway with a cover predicting a story suffused with hockey would not be a compelling read for me.  Or so I thought.

Breakaway is far more than the hockey story suggested in the title and cover art.  Breakaway tells the story of seventeen-year-old Jessie McIntyre of Estevan, Saskatchewan.  Jessie and some of her former teammates have recreated themselves into a new Triple A team called the Estevan McGillicky Oilers.  Being part of a new league and being a senior preparing for university, hopeful of being scouted for the university hockey team and getting a scholarship, Jessie finds herself at the crossroads of many new pathways.

She's still trying to get over a very short relationship from two years ago with Mark Taylor, now a University of Calgary hockey player, headed for the World Juniors.  And she needs to decide what she wants of her friendly relationship with Evan Gedak who plays basketball at U. of C. But there's Liam McCarthur, also a senior, who is obviously taking an interest in Jessie who doesn't know how to deal with him except with animosity and embarrassment.

Her Oilers team is having to turn away some former teammates and recruit new players and coaches, and Jessie, as elected captain, has to help everyone come together as a team, even when some players make poor decisions that threaten the team's very existence.  Moreover, as Jessie attempts to go forward in her new team, her circle of friends and acquaintances seems to be in more flux, with enemies becoming friends and friends becoming strangers or worse.

And at home, Jessie's eleven-year-old sister, Courtney, has decided to give up on figure skating and go out for hockey, latching onto new friends and trying on the uniform of a rebellious and temperamental teen and dragging Jessie into the midst of her drama.

Breakaway by Maureen Ulrich is the third novel in her Jessie Mac series which opened with Power Plays (Coteau, 2007) and Face Off (Coteau, 2010), and I'm sure that readers of these earlier volumes and those that know anything about hockey would find nothing untoward about the vernacular hockey-speak.  On the other hand, I had great difficulties navigating the colloquial terms for leagues and hockey plays.  As silly a suggestion as this is, a glossary would have helped me a great deal.  Luckily, Maureen Ulrich's dialogue is a useful tool for deciphering many terms and propelling the story from the arena to a world in which I am more familiar with its language.

Fortunately Breakaway is more than a hockey story.  It's a story of growing up and making decisions about staying in your comfort zone or challenging yourself with new opportunities.  It's about listening to the little voice that tries to help you recognize the reality of situations and the extent of your fears and desires.  Breakaway demonstrates that, if you go beyond playing the game of life and instead direct it to work for you (not letting fate be a scapegoat), you're more likely to be happy with the outcome, even if you don't always win.

World Literacy Canada contest: Write for a Better World

World Literacy Canada is an organization that aims to promote global citizenship and help eliminate poverty ("turning the page on poverty").  Each year, they promote a writing contest for Canadian children to increase awareness of global issues.  Last year's contest was based on the themes in Deborah Ellis' book No Ordinary Day.  This year, World Literacy Canada's contest, renamed Write for a Better World, is based on a challenge from youngCanLit author, Eric Walters.

Here are the contest basics:

What: Eric Walters' challenges students to complete the following story starter in no more than 400 words:

I felt like I had been shot out of a cannon.  Who were these people? Where in the world was I? Before I could even get my bearings I was almost run over by . . .

Write about a place and culture that is new to you. What is different about it and what is surprisingly the same?

Stories will be evaluated on:

• Focus: Does the writing focus on travelling to a new place and learning something about the culture there?
• Creativity: How unique is the writer’s approach to the topic?
• Main Character: Is the main character well-written and focus on being a global citizen? 
• Clarity and organization: How is the story organized? Is there a clear beginning, middle and ending?
• Conventions: Does the writer use correct spelling and grammar?

Who:  For Canadian students in Grades 5 to 8


Deadline: Entries must be received by April 5, 2013

Prizes: 

• First Place: 
• $500 + an eReader
• plus the prizes for the Top Ten (as stated below)

• Top Ten: 
• $50 + a full set of  Seven: The Series, signed by Eric Walters 
• a world map and atlas
• World Literacy Canada swag
• publication in a collectible magazine and online 

Details about the contest and submitting entries can be accessed at the World Literacy Canada contest website here.

How to Survive Absolutely Anything

by Helaine Becker

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

978-1-55455-188-0

200 pp.

Ages 8-12

2012

Bonnie and Jen, two 14-year-olds in Grade 9, have the right idea.  Having "lived through" the middle grades (a.k.a. junior high or intermediate grades), they are willing to share what they've learned with any young person who writes to them at their blog, "How to Survive Absolutely Anything, with Bonnie and Jen".

The girls have a wealth of experiences, as their profiles acknowledge.  With a father who left and remarried and now is raising a second young family, and with a mother who remarried a man with older children of his own, Bonnie knows all about blended families.  In fact, she's having a hard time dealing with her step-brother, Carter, who seems to always be in her business.  Jen, on the other hand, only has her baby sister, Julia, who was born just after the accidental death of their father.  Mom Colette (who wants to be known as Tina) works as a nurse and has had (does have?) a drinking problem and recklessly puts Jen in a position of responsibility far too often.

Through their blog postings, profiles, Bonnie's journal and chapter heading survival skills, the reader learns how very different the girls' takes are on situations, and the fusion of their opinions and advice generally leads to some wise and heartfelt responses to their readers' queries.

If you're not going to like waking up with yourself after you've done something, you better not do it.  Because whatever good feeling you get out of doing the bad thing (staying longer at the fun party, getting to be with that girl, bringing home the A on the test you cheated on) doesn't last as long as the rotten feeling that comes along with it.  (pg. 80)

But, when Bonnie goes online alone (something the girls had promised not to do), she responses to Crushed's concern about having strong feelings for his step-sister, negating his feelings when she believes that he is her own step-brother Carter.  Eventually Bonnie realizes how many "gynormous errors" she has made in so many aspects of her life, from the blog to boys, to her family and her friends, and that she can still use a little (a lot?) of advice about the choices she makes.

Helaine Becker thanks fellow youngCanLit author Marsha Skrypuch for encouraging her to write this book, just as I would like to thank Helaine Becker.  Writing an appropriate yet meaningful middle-grade fiction is not always easy, but How to Survive Absolutely Anything fills that need beautifully.  Without treating the readers as young children or as young adults, Helaine Becker gives them a voice that explores their concerns and foibles, without pushing them into the realm of true young adult fiction.  There are many young people in the middle grades who just aren't ready to embrace the edgier fiction of YA, with its more mature subjects such as sexuality.  They may be in their early teens but they're only starting to notice the opposite sex.  While some of their peers may be living the lives of mature teens, comfortable in their own skins, making decisions and choices akin to adults (though not always well, just like us), there are middle grade readers who want to read about how others begin navigating into their teen years before they take their own first steps.  How to Survive Absolutely Anything provides a light but credible account of young girls who think they have experienced and survived all the predicaments of the middle-graders only to find that a whole new set of annoyances and dilemmas lurk on the horizon.

"You can trust me on this one --or find out the hard way.  It's your call" (pg. 80)

Oddrey

by Dave Whamond

Owlkids
978-1-926973-45-6
32 pp.
Ages 4-8
2012

Oddrey is not odd; she is exceptional! It's not that she's smarter (though she may be) or more creative (though she may be) or happier (though she may be) than her peers.  But Oddrey is certainly more enthusiastic about living her life to the fullest, regardless of how others, particularly her teachers, perceive her uniqueness.  

Like most kids, her peers tend to do their own thing, irrespective of others.  So they don't seem to mind Oddrey's individuality or her separateness, though it can make her feel a little lonely sometimes.  When her class prepares to perform a play, Oddrey's dreams of starring in the production are stymied with her assignment to play the role of a tree.  But Oddrey, true to her nature, is determined to be the best she can be, even if her enthusiasm and creativity are somewhat dampened when her teacher puts the kibosh on her ideas.  Regardless, in her inimitable way, Oddrey saves the production while encouraging her classmates to be their best, with her help.

Oddrey is not a prima donna.  She is a star: brilliant and illuminating.  She doesn't use her uniqueness to outshine her peers; she just does her best to be her best, and if a few others need her help to be their best, so be it.  Her clear eyes and simple smile are voluminous, like her spirit.  Her limbs always seem to be scurrying, gesticulating or creating.  She can even juggle soap bubbles!  And the flower (on a stalk) that springs from her hair reminds the reader that Oddrey is florescent, ever blossoming.

I was delighted when Dave Whamond's picture book My Think-a-Ma-Jink (Owlkids, 2009) won the Forest of Reading's Blue Spruce award in 2011, as I have always enjoyed his syndicated cartoon Reality Check for its quirky characters and whimsical word play.  Using mixed media, primarily pen and ink with watercolours, gouache and pencil, Oddrey is no less than a perfect addition to Dave Whamond's bibliography.  While Dave Whamond has excelled in illustrating books written by others (e.g., Secret Agent Y.O.U. written by Helaine Becker; Maple Tree, 2006; Hot Dog and Bob Adventure series written by L. Bob Rovetch, Chronicle Books; Justine McKeen series written by Sigmund Brouwer, Orca), I am delighted that he has shared his humour, in text and illustrations, with young readers again, this time with Oddrey, while still sending a powerful yet subtle message that being yourself is just grand.

The Geomancer's Compass

by Melissa Hardy
Tundra Books
978-1-77049-292-9
254 pp.
Ages 11-15
2012

When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.  Alexis de Tocqueville

It's 2018 when thirteen-year-old Miranda's great-great-grandfather Charlie Liu, respectfully called The Grandfather, dies (choking on a moon cake!) and she first hears that her family has been cursed.  Her maternal grandmother, A-Ma, takes all the misfortunes that have befallen the Lius as evidence that evil spirits are plaguing the family.  And the evidence is striking: Miranda's father is debilitated after being struck by lightning; her mother suffers from excruciating muscle pain; her little brother Liam has life-threatening respiratory problems; her brother Sebastian is going blind; her Auntie Ev is now wheelchair-bound; her cousin Brian deals with ADHD and dyslexia; her Uncle Phil was killed when an icicle fell and pierced his jugular; her cousin Oliver suffers from agoraphobia and is at a private clinic; and her cousin Aubrey had an eating disorder that has put her in hospital again.

Three years later, germaphobic Miranda is attending St. Izzy's school for computer geniuses and interning at CanBoard, a company involved with augmented reality (AR) in Calgary when she is summoned home to Vancouver with the news that her dying A-Ma needs to see her.  A-Ma gives Miranda The Grandfather's geomancer's compass, known as a lo p'an, which is used by geomancers to identify and balance subtle energies in people's lives.  Miranda is instructed to safeguard the compass and to lift the curse from the family.  It seems that in the early 1900's The Grandfather's twin brother, Qianfu, was beaten to death in Moose Jaw for falling in love with a white waitress, Violet McNabb.  After burial, his bones went missing and were undoubtedly buried in a place with bad feng shui, resulting in Qianfu's rebirth as an e gui, a hungry ghost filled with pain and craving.  Miranda's mission is to travel with her cousin Brian (who can drive, is strong, is appreciative of the old ways, and can handle things Miranda is paranoid to touch) to Moose Jaw and help find Qianfu's bones.

So begins the mission of the two Liu cousins as they seek a part of their family's past while employing the futuristic tools of Miranda's techie passions.  In Moose Jaw, they take the tours of the underground tunnels, one focusing on the bootlegging gangsters and the other on the experiences of the Chinese immigrants such as The Grandfather and Qianfu.  Using a feng shui network and I-spex (to see computer-generated imagery), Miranda and Brian make contact with an avatar who is unquestionably The Grandfather.  The avatar elaborates on the tour guide's commentary about his business, the Azure Dragon Tea and Herb Sanatorium (still owned by the Lius because no one wants to buy a haunted property), and the prejudices leveled against the Chinese. Finally Miranda has an appreciation for The Grandfather and what he and his family endured.

"My life was incredibly easy compared to theirs; I owed them everything, especially The Grandfather.  Where I had seen a slightly smelly, possibly senile Yoda action doll, way past his expiry date, there had been nothing less than a giant." (pg. 116)

But it still takes some crafty problem-solving, a little golfing, and a porta-potty debacle, along with a little help from The Grandfather avatar and a homeless man, before Miranda and Brian can fulfill their destinies, even if circumstances are not as they expect.

Melissa Hardy melds the past and the future into an unexpected storyline in The Geomancer's Compass while enlightening readers about some Chinese traditions and concepts, including those unmindfully adopted by others, such as feng shui and chi.  While I had been under the mistaken belief that The Geomancer's Compass was a tool from medieval times (okay, I was wrong), I was delighted to realize the book bridged Canadian history (even if it isn't all flattering) with science and fantasy.  While many readers may not be as enamoured with history as I am, I was engrossed with details about Moose Jaw's underground tunnels, about the gangsters who established business in Canada during Prohibition and how Chinese immigrants braved their mistreatment.  Sadly, this is the history that "illuminates the future" (see the quote from Alexis de Tocqueville above).  Luckily Miranda is able to use her tech skills to help right the wrongs of the past, which consequently allows her to see beyond herself (her germaphobic nature definitely reflects her self-absorption) and appreciate her valuable heritage.  Just as a lo p'an is used to balance energies, The Geomancer's Compass capably balances the past and the future while harmonizing the Miranda's rich essences.

The Stamp Collector

by Jennifer Lanthier

Illustrations by François Thisdale

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

978-1-55455-218-4

32 pp.

Ages 8+

2012 

"A darkly luminous tale about the power of stories, and the bonds of empathy they can weave." - Yann Martel

(cover blurb endorsement for The Stamp Collector)

There is an art to writing blurbs on books and Canadian author Yann Martel (Life of Pi, Vintage Canada, 2002) has produced the epitome of a succinct but comprehensive, precise and genuine book blurb for Jennifer Lanthier's first picture book, The Stamp Collector. It is as perfect as the book itself.

The Stamp Collector tells the story of two boys, ostensibly in China: one who grows up in the countryside drawing upon the richness of words in his reading and then in his writing; and the other who lives in the desolation of a neighbourhood in the shadow of a prison, enthralled by a found stamp that promises worlds and adventures beyond. When old enough, both boys take on jobs to help their families: the writer continues to write of the land dying and the need for change while he works in a factory, and the city boy takes a job as a prison guard. The factory owners, fearful of the writer's skill in promoting hope through action, enlist the help of "the grey men who run the village" and the writer is arrested and sent to the prison where the other young man works.

"The boy who became a writer" is prevented from writing and interacting with others, and knows nothing of the letters of encouragement sent to him from those touched by his writing. But "the boy who became a guard" is instructed to file the letters away, although he admires the beautiful array of stamps that "are like seeds blown by powerful winds from all corners of the world. Like wishes." Though he knows that he must not break the rules, the guard finds the means to offer as well as accept hope.

Jennifer Lanthier's previous novels (The Mystery of the Martello Tower, HarperTrophy Canada, 2007 and The Legend of the Lost Diamonds, HarperTrophy Canada, 2008) pegged her as a middle-grade mystery writer but The Stamp Collector has catapulted (emphatically, if one doesn't regard catapulting as definitive enough) her work into the realm of life-changing social justice writing. While some authors may seem restricted by the limited text of picture books, Jennifer Lanthier has found the means to extend her writing beyond the words themselves. Just as "the boy who became a writer" was able to exert his influence beyond but still from within his prison, Jennifer Lanthier writes between the lines, offering far more insight, empathy and compassion than suggested by the simple text. And with the enhancement of her text by François Thisdale's blended illustrations of drawings and paintings with digital imagery (see http://www.thisdale.com), the message that words have the power to offer hope and freedom is enduring.