A Mountain of Friends

by Kerstin Schoene

Translated by Natalie Hyde

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

978-1-55455-313-6

32 pp.

Ages 4+

August 2013

I wish I could enlarge the cover illustration of A Mountain of Friends by Germany's Kerstin Schoene even more than I already have so that readers might appreciate the scale at which this small penguin, eyes crinkled with pleasure, can produce such a heartwarming and fully embracing hug of appreciation for his friends.  Without going into song, I can really feel the overwhelming love extended from his heart to his wingtips.

Courtesy of Canadian author Natalie Hyde's loving translation, readers of all ages will feel for this little guy who is heartbroken that he cannot fly.  After all, he is a bird, right? And birds fly, right? 

"Just once I want to soar above the clouds..."

he laments regularly.  His friends include a kangaroo, a giraffe, an elephant,  a rabbit and a goldfish (in his bowl), and they enlist the help of everyone, reader included ("Yes, you!"), to be a friend and help Penguin.  With a turn of the book (literally) and a little help from a lot of friends, the little bow-tied and top hat-wearing seabird has no problems reaching the clouds.

Though the message may seem very simple, it's one with which a lot of young children are unfamiliar.  Is it our competitive world or the need to succeed above others that drives so many of us to excel, to do that which is extraordinary?  Children understand play but do they comprehend that teamwork can reach far beyond sport competitions (in which there are still winners and losers) and be based in cooperation to achieve one goal for all?  If not, A Mountain of Friends, brilliantly illustrated by Kerstin Schoene, and translated by Natalie Hyde (author of over 30 books of non-fiction and fiction, including Saving Armpit, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2011) may help them understand that by pulling together, the impossible can be achieved.  And without stepping on others' toes.  Maybe stepping on their heads, as in A Mountain of Friends, but not their toes. Delightful!

Whatever

by Ann Walsh

Ronsdale Press

978-1-55380-259-4

200 pp.

Ages 12+

September 2013

Could any single non-profanity hold as much antipathy as the teen dismissal of, "Whatever"?  It's used frequently by sixteen-year-old Darrah Patrick whenever she feels an answer is expected but honesty will not be appreciated.  With her brother, not yet 10, diagnosed in the past year with epilepsy, Darrah feels neglected by her parents whose every worry revolves around Andrew. So, when her mother insists on taking Andrew to the hospital after he has a seizure, rather than taking Darrah to her final audition for a community theatre production, Darrah is not pleased.  In fact, she pulls the fire alarm at the hospital as her only chance to escape and recapture that opportunity.

Although she tosses off the seriousness of the situation with her "whatever", Darrah is in danger of being charged with setting a false alarm during which an elderly woman, Mrs. Johnson, is injured.  Even when Darrah is given the option of participating in the Restorative Justice program, rather than going to court, she's not too concerned.

"I was a good actress, I would con everyone." (pg. 11)

Her biggest concern is getting everything resolved before Halloween so she can attend a party!  

At the Restorative Justice Circle, Darrah is directed to apologize to all parties and to assist Mrs. Johnson while she heals, even though the elderly woman denies that Darrah caused her injuries when the teen raced down the stairs.

Mrs. Johnson reminds Darrah of her very proper grandmother, now passed. She has knitted slippers at the door for her guests, enjoys her garden, cooking and baking, and keeping up on the news.  The teen does as she's asked–reads the newspaper, bakes biscuits, prepares tea, washes dishes–and though she believes Mrs. J is opinionated, Darrah finds herself learning much from the elderly woman.   Happily, Darrah is learning to cook, something her fast-food-fed family appreciates immensely, while also making the acquaintance of Mrs. Johnson's grandson, Robin, 17.  

Perhaps most surprising is Darrah's growing maturity ("whatever" is heard less often) and compassion regarding her brother's epilepsy.  With the focus turning from herself to those around her, she begins to see evidence that Mrs. Johnson is going blind, although she promises to keep her condition a secret.  But, secrets become the premise upon which Whatever's plot both expands and wraps up.  And like all secrets, some come out, some stay hidden, some need to be exposed, and some should be protected.

While I have only read Ann Walsh's Forestry A-Z (with Kathleen Cook Waldron; Orca, 2008) and Flower Power (Orca, 2005), it's evident that the author, a resident of Williams Lake, British Columbia, finds fodder for her writing within her community.  In Whatever, Ann Walsh who is a facilitator with the Williams Lake Community Council for Restorative Justice applies her experience to illuminating the process by which Darrah's wrongful acts are handled.  But perhaps more significant is the effect that Darrah's consequences have on everyone, even beyond the Justice Circle, highlighting the value of restorative justice.  I suspect that Darrah's arrogance would have flourished if she'd been incarcerated.  Instead, that "whatever" arrogance dissipated, to the benefit of all.

It's a skill that a writer can introduce a character that you despise at first read, like self-centred, inconsiderate Darrah, and have them evolve into a person whom you might consider befriending.  Ann Walsh does this with and for Darrah.  While Whatever has an engaging plot that hinges on justice, secrets, and responsibility, I believe it is superseded by the development of its characters, primarily Darrah, driven by the consequences of her actions.  Even Darrah's mom, whose workaholism drives her to helicopter parent Andrew while neglecting other family issues, becomes a more sympathetic character as the story progresses.  She may still find it difficult to disregard the doctors' advice that it is not necessary to bring Andrew to the hospital each time he has a seizure, but she shows her appreciation for Darrah's efforts towards her brother and the family.  Moreover, Mrs. Johnson herself comes full circle, from the victim of an inconsiderate teen to the culprit whose secrets and actions impact others.  Luckily, Ann Walsh and Darrah both recognize that Mrs. Johnson's actions are never thoughtless and give her the courtesy to extend a virtual "Whatever" should anyone think otherwise.

Looks Like Daylight: Voices of Indigenous Kids

by Deborah Ellis

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-120-5

256 pp.

Ages 12+

September 2013

Looks Like Daylight would appear, on the surface, to be the stories of 45 young people who were interviewed by Deborah Ellis about their lives, their aspirations, their ancestry, their cultures. But the book is so much more than just the profiles of these kids, ages 9 to 18.  It is a history of rich cultures, often assimilated or obliterated, of neglect and abuse, of poverty and ostracism, of fortitude and determination, of work and pride.  It's a comprehensive and moving portrayal of young people whose voices many of us never hear.  This is our chance to listen.

An expressive introduction by Loriene Roy, university professor and director of a national reading club for American Indian students, is followed by the narrative profiles of the youth with whom Deborah Ellis visited, interspersed with a selection of quotes by prominent Aboriginal leaders.  The author begins each narrative with relevant background information regarding historical events, statistics, nations, distinctions, and details which may provide insight into the kids' stories. The kids belong to a wide variety of nations including Ojibwe, Nipissing, Navajo, Pueblo, Inuit, Haida Gwaii, Mi'kmaq, Mohawk, Cree, Lakota, Cherokee, Choctaw, Coast Salish, and Métis, and identify themselves according to their parents' and grandparents' heritage.  With forty-five narratives, the wealth of information provided is comprehensive.

Some of the stories in Looks Like Daylight deal with racism, foster care, art, self-esteem, traditions, pollution, alcoholism, residential schools, activism, science, language, environmentalism, leadership, gangs, armed forces, horses, suicide, sports, powwows–the list goes on and on.  But each narrative ends with the future as the young person sees it–often hopeful, always realistic, sometimes heavyhearted.  Regardless, these kids are the bright lights in that dark history of First Peoples, a history these young people inherited. "We're a very hurting people." (pg. 95) But most of them look forward to a future of making a difference and making things right.  As Jeffrey, 18, declares,

"It's a big responsibility, but it's no bigger than what our ancestors did for us.  And what we do, we do for the Native youth who will follow us, seven generations from now.  It's on us now." (pg. 144)

Looks Like Daylight should be required reading for every government agency in North America, for every teacher and administrator involved with young people, for every law enforcement and justice officer, for social workers, for historians, for urban planners, for granting agencies, for medical personnel–for anyone whose life takes them into interactions with others, Indigenous or other.  With a wealth of additional resources, Deborah Ellis ensures that readers get the big picture.

The people in the government who make decisions for us have no idea who First Nations people really are.  They have no clue.  They lump us all together.  They think we're all the same.  ~ Waasekom (pg. 243)

It provides a compendium of history and insight into the lives of First Nations, Métis, Inuit and Native American youth, as raw and hopeful and tragic and rich as they may be.  In bringing the reality of  these Aboriginal young people up close, bruises and beauty, this may be Deborah Ellis' finest work.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

All royalties from the sale of this book go to the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada.

Descendant: Book Launch (Toronto)

Join

author Lesley Livingston

for the launch of the sequel
to Starling

HarperTrophy Canada

978-1-44340-764-9

341 pp.

Ages 12+

2012 

Reviewed here



DESCENDANT 

 HarperTeen
978-0-062063106
336 pp.
Ages 13+

on

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

at

7:00 p.m.

The Dominion on Queen

500 Queen St. E.

Toronto

Time to learn the fate of Mason Starling and the Fennrys Wolf.  Or is it time for Ragnarok?

We'll only know once we're reading Descendant.

                   

The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B

Written by Teresa Toten

Doubleday Canada/Random House of Canada

978-0-385678346

255 pp.

Ages 14+

For release August 27, 2013

When 16-year-old Robyn Plummer joins Dr. Chuck Mutinda's young adult OCD group, fifteen-year-old Adam Ross finds his motivation to get better and even grow taller. He still has deal with his compulsion to clear those triggers that bother him, like thresholds and even numbers, but when the group members are encouraged to take on superhero alter egos, he links himself to her by choosing Batman to her Robin.  

In fact, Adam becomes Robyn's unofficial mentor in all things Catholic after following her to the cemetery where she visits her mom's grave.  Seems Robyn is interested in pursuing the ingrained rituals such as crossing oneself and kneeling, hoping it will help her deal with her mother's death and her own OCD.  But Adam and Robyn's relationship starts to include the other members of their OCD group when a field trip to his parish is undertaken.  Although Chuck is clear that religion is not a panacea for OCD, the other group members, including the intense Thor, accompany them and learn about the font, the lighting of candles and kneeling in prayer, even if they all fall to their knees when Father Rick introduces himself.

While he continues to do all he can to help Robyn, obviously falling in love with her, Adam is very reluctant to speak in group or even in his one-on-one sessions with Chuck of those issues which are overwhelming him.  His father had left to marry another woman, Brenda, with whom he now has another son, Wendell (affectionately known as Sweetie), a four-year-old whom Adam adores.  Likewise, Sweetie has a strong attachment to Adam who is regularly summoned to calm or reassure or put his little brother to sleep.  In fact, Adam wonders if he is making Sweetie crazy, although his mother claims that he is not.  A highly-competent nursing supervisor, Carmella Ross, has her own issues, particularly hoarding and, more recently, receiving nasty letters that call her vile names and instruct her to kill herself for Adam's sake. But his mom has declared that if he tells anyone that it will be a betrayal to her.

So he lies to Chuck and others about the letters and even the growing severity of his issues with thresholds. But, as Chuck tells him and he later tells Robyn, when she reveals her own secrets, "Everybody lies."(pg. 146)  However, as he and Robyn become closer, he confides in her about his mom and the letters, which lightens his burden, until he gets home again.

Bouncing back and forth between trying to get better and following Chuck's program and feeling that Robyn is getting better and he is not, Adam begins to feel like an impostor, hardly a superhero of Room 13B. But, revealing what he needs, exposing some lies, and accepting that leaving is a difficult but necessary step in growing up, Adam can finally see himself as the reluctant hero that his family, his friends and Robyn know him to be.

If you forget the OCD, temporarily, you see that Teresa Toten has created a good kid in Adam.  He tries to see the best in everyone and help where he can. He may vascillate between whether it is or isn't or whether he should or shouldn't, but don't we all when trying to make the best of decisions?  With his OCD, Adam would be justified in having great difficulty in determining the correct course of action.  But, he still goes when Sweetie needs him, even in the middle of the night or during the school day.  He respects his mother's wishes.  He even suggests that climbing the stairs to their meeting room in Room 13B would be excellent exercise when he realizes that one group member with claustrophobia was unable to enter the elevator.

While Adam tells himself and others that everybody lies, the lies are used to add layering to The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B.  Everyone has fears, issues, anxieties and sensitivities that sometimes need to be hidden.  But what transforms the lies into a story is the choices of from whom these lies are hidden–yourself or others–and for what purpose.  Teresa Toten uses her characters' lies to provide greater depth and unexpected twists to her storyline, as well as demonstrate that heroics are everyday occurrences, not the domain of superheroes.  Some days it's speaking aloud in a group, or taking a chance and going for it, or breaking your heart to do what's right that requires courage.  By that explanation, Adam Ross, 15, is truly The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B.

    ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~    

Teresa Toten will be a guest author at First Calgary Financial Book Rapport, part of Calgary's WordFest in October, and will be presenting at the Banff Centre on Saturday October 19. 

The Throne

Written by Beth Goobie
Red Deer Press
978-0-88995-496-0
281 pp.
Ages 14+
June 2013

Most of us know where we would like to sit in a room, whether a movie theatre, a concert hall, an auditorium or a classroom.  There are always advantages and disadvantages to every location, and it just depends on what's most important to you.  When fifteen-year-old Meredith Polk arrives first to her high school homeroom, the school's music room with tiered seating, at the beginning of her Grade 10 year, she selects the prime spot behind the drums on the uppermost tier.  Unfortunately, in a homeroom of multiple grades, Seymour Molyneux, a senior in Grade 12, has already co-opted The Throne for himself, at least in his own mind.

As Meredith maintains her daily claim to the throne, regardless of the cautions i.e., veiled threats from Seymour and repeated incidents of gum ending up on her backside, she continues to be friendly to everyone, including Seymour's class cohorts, Grade 11 students Morey and Gene.  But as the gum attacks continue, forcing her to wear a rain hat across her backside and then find another recourse, Meredith learns the extent of Seymour's network and those willing to do his bidding.  Moreover, she begins to question her need to keep the throne and delves into the details of her parents' deaths when she was 5.  Living with her mother's sister, Sancy Goonhilly, Meredith gets a very biased perspective about her father and the Polk family, the founders of their town.  Aunt Sancy is relentless in her criticism of the Polks and their apparent arrogance and hunger for power, which Meredith begins to see in herself.  Is she like her parents?  Is the throne just a seat or is she really out for power?  If so, is she any different from Seymour?

Beth Goobie knows her way around a teen's mind, as evidenced by her award-winning YA fiction, including Before Wings (Orca, 2001), winner of the 2001 Canadian Library Association's Young Adult Book of the Year.  She has created a young teen who just wants to "take up space" and be recognized by her peers and others as existing in their sphere, a common want of teens looking for their place in the world.  Without her parents and deferring to her Aunt Sancy's perspective, Meredith needs something or someone to which or whom she may become tethered.  Her best friends Reb and Dean are supportive,  but they're only Grade 10 girls too.  Justifiably, Beth Goobie has Meredith looking to clarify her connection to her parents (beyond their framed wedding portrait), resulting in her recognition of the parallels between Seymour's influence and the leverage of the Polk family.  Perhaps she learns more than she wants to about her family, but with that knowledge comes the strength to stand up for herself, the wisdom to appreciate what supports she does have in her life, and the concession that power is a commodity that reinforces partisanship.  As long as there are thrones to which some aspire, there will be chairs.

The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten

by Maureen Fergus

Illustrated by Mike Lowery

Kids Can Press

978-1-55453-698-6

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

March, 2013

With school just around the corner (you have seen the back-to-school sales advertised already, haven't you?), many teachers and parents are starting to think about those first days and how to make them run smoothly and still be fun.  The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten by Maureen Fergus and illustrated by Mike Lowery is a wonderful new youngCanLit to use in the classroom for introducing rules in a humourous context or at home to prepare little ones for their first years in school, without preaching.
 
Kindergarten can be a trying experience for both parent and child but not for the little girl who narrates The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten.  She loves school.  "It was better than a dinosaur museum, a circus, and a super-duper mega-three-scooper ice-cream sundae."  Mom on the other hand seems a little sad to see her little one go off to school.  So, her daughter politely asks if Mom would like to come inside, sensing the need to help Mom through this experience.

But Mom is so excited that she just barrels right in there.  She doesn't know that you don't barge in at the front of the line, that you take off your outdoor shoes and put them away in your cubby, that you raise your hand, wait your turn and don't shout out, that you clean up after yourself, that you use an indoor voice in the library, and that no one speaks during Story Time.  Mom has a lot to learn.  Luckily her daughter is already well versed in kindergarten protocols, and the teacher, Ms Beaudry, is very understanding and accepts that sometimes it takes a while to get comfortable with something new.  But the message is still clear.

"...school is nicer for everybody if you try to be considerate of others."

Robert Fulghum's popular essay, titled All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten (Villard Books, 1988), still holds its truth and veracity twenty-five years later.  Maybe it's because those truths are so relevant to all persons, irrespective of age or other distinction, that the similar messages, graphically enhanced in The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten, are so universal and beneficial to harmonious relationships.  Now, if everyone could just remember those messages after they leave kindergarten, our world undoubtedly would be more equitable with less strife.  Mom certainly has all the attributes of a child in a new, inviting situation (check out her earnest expression on the book's cover) and in need of some gentle reminders about the right way to do things at school.  Fortunately, she picks up on the school etiquette, courtesy of her daughter, and realizes that maybe she shouldn't be attending kindergarten after all.  And you can bet she won't bud in line at the grocery store ever again.