Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch: Author interview for Dance of the Banished

Dance of the Banished

by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

Pajama Press

978-1- 927485-65-1

288 pp.

Ages 12+

August 22, 2014

With the official release of

Dance of the Banished 

yesterday 

award-winning youngCanLit author

Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

graciously agreed to answer a few questions
for CanLit for LittleCanadians about her new book.

I'm pleased to share that interview with you here. 

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HK: Your notes at the conclusion of Dance of the Banished explain how you heard of the story and your research. Why did you choose to pursue the story?

MFS: I couldn't not write this book.  It touched on so many things that I had already written about, but from an entirely different angle. As well, the First World War internment barely registers with most Canadians, and those few who do know about the internment have only ever heard about it from a Ukrainian point of view. Here was a story originating in my own home town about a mysterious group of internees that no one seemed to know much about. I like to think of myself as a librarian-detective and this one took all of my skills to piece together.

The other part of this story that intrigued me is that within Canada, Ukrainians were the minority and were persecuted in WWI, but in the internment camps, they were the majority. As a person of Ukrainian heritage myself, that flipping of the dynamic intrigued me and I wanted to explore it.



HK: The culture of the Alevi Kurds is so distinct. Have you had any opportunities to witness the semah and experience their traditions first-hand?

MFS: I have not witnessed a semah first hand yet. I've seen videos only, and descriptions in documents. There are very few Alevi Kurds in Canada and it took me a long time to gain the trust of people in that community.  I began my research for this book in 2009 but it wasn't until last year that I was finally able to connect with Suleyman Guven, who is an Alevi Kurd and also the editor of a Kurdish-Alevi-Turkish newspaper here in Canada. He was incredibly patient and very generous with his time. He corrected my scenes to ensure accuracy and gave me great insight into Ali's character. Without Suleyman's assistance, I would have been up a creek.



HK: The plight of the Alevi Kurds reminds me that throughout history and around the world, even now with the Yazidis in Iraq, a group of people has been persecuted by the majority, and there were those who showed compassion and tried to right the wrong as the consul does in your story. Do you consider them and him heroes?

MFS: The Yazidis and Alevis have very much in common. Both are very old religions that over time have taken on some aspects of the religions they come into contact with. Both groups have suffered genocide for their beliefs, and both groups have helped others who have also been persecuted.

Leslie Davis was the American Consul in Harput during WWI and the Armenian Genocide. He was most definitely heroic and I have been so fascinated by this man that he has walked into two of my novels, Dance of the Banished, and also Daughter of War. Leslie Davis had a very modern view that all people are equal and he went to extraordinary lengths to save as many people as he could.

I especially admire the Alevi Kurds of the Dersim who saved 40,000 Armenians from the genocide, openly defying the Young Turk government, and risking their own lives in the process. I also admire the director of the Red Crescent hospital in Harput who saved nearly a thousand Armenians, and the vali (governor) who turned a blind eye as the Dersim Kurds rescued the Armenians. I also admire the Muslim women who passed out bread to emaciated Armenians in the caravans, and others who rescued children.



HK: Your book provides readers with an opportunity to learn about little known historical events and those poorly understood.  While I loved learning more about this story, are you ever concerned about those who might condemn your efforts as partisan, biased or propaganda, happier to not have the story told?

MFS: When I began writing this novel I had no idea what the story would ultimately be and I guess that makes me a bad propagandist, but I write about genocide and war from the victim's point of view. Since the Republic of Turkey still does not acknowledge that the Armenian Genocide happened, yes, some people will be angry with this book.



HK: The love story in Dance of the Banished provides one foundation upon which Ali and Zeynep's determination and courage are based, yet for most of the book, they are at opposite ends of the world. What sort of challenges did this give you, as the writer?

MFS: I didn't come upon the format of writing the novel like two intertwined journals until I had already written and scrapped an entire novel length draft. In that initial version I had tried to use the same narrative technique that I used for Daughter of War, which was third person intimate, mostly from two key characters' points of view. It did not work. Ali and Zeynep were both speaking to me in first person, and they were not interacting with each other because they were apart. The challenge here was how to intertwine the two stories, how to keep the love story intimate, when Ali and Zeynep are an ocean apart.

My editor Ann Featherstone posed the idea of two journals. Once I got my head around it, I realized how well it would work -- especially because both Ali and Zeynep were bursting out of my brain in first person anyway. After spending three years on that first tortured draft, I hit delete and started anew. This one blasted out of me in about five fevered months -- the first draft of it, that is! Subsequent drafts were slower.

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My sincere thanks to Marsha Skrypuch for her honest and insightful comments into the writing of Dance of the Banished and to her publicist, Kim Therriault, for arranging this Q & A.  Many thanks.

Dance of the Banished

by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

Pajama Press

978-1- 927485-65-1

288 pp.

Ages 12+

August 22, 2014

Dance of the Banished is an old tale.  It's the familiar love story in which two young people are separated, here by family, distance and war.  But, sadly, it's also the story of prejudice, fear, and injustice, and the subsequent torment that intensifies that separation.  Dance of the Banished may be an old story in its foundations, but its context is wholly unique, expertly researched and penned by award-winning author Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch.

Our story begins in 1913 Anatolia (now essentially the republic of Turkey), a nation of Christians, Muslims and Alevis, an ancient group with a unique Islamist belief system.  When Ali, a young Alevi Kurd, unexpectedly immigrates to Canada with his married brother Yousef, he leaves behind his betrothed, Zeynep, another Alevi Kurd, giving her a notebook in which to write him until they are together again.  Having planned to go together once they'd saved enough money, Zeynep knows Ali's mother has orchestrated this separation, and refuses to wait for him, though she gifts him with her blue evil eye necklace to keep him safe.

Though both Ali and Zeynep record their experiences in their matching notebooks, providing the basis for this book, neither is communicating directly with the other.  In fact, hearing nothing from Ali and no longer feeling a part of her community, Zeynep follows visiting Protestant missionaries to the city of Harput, hopeful of improving her lot in life, including getting an education.  Though the lifestyles of the Christian North Americans and Armenians in their Western clothing and the Turkish Muslims differ significantly from her own, Zeynep appreciates this diversity, learning and helping the Reverend John Emmonds and his wife Lenore at the hospital and at their simple home.

With much strife in Europe at the beginning of 1914, the Ottoman army is becoming more oppressive to the Alevis and the Armenians, raiding villages, taking whatever they choose, and finally, when Austria-Hungary and Germany declare war on Russia, threatening death to those who attempt to escape the draft or those who help them.  Within a few months, the Alevis are starving, and the Armenians are being murdered en masse.  Zeynep watches and listens, documenting all she witnesses in her notebook; in fact, she begins recording everything for the American Consul, Leslie Davis, who plays a significant role in saving the lives of many.

Meanwhile, with the declaration of war in 1914, Ali and Yousef, like all foreigners, are let go from their jobs in Brantford Ontario. Rounded up as Turkish "enemy aliens", Ali and Yousef, along with many others, are shipped to the wilderness of Kapuskasing.  Still in a minority, the Alevis are forced to cut majestic trees, contrary to Alevism, and endure the never-ending discrimination, even within the camp.

On different sides of the world, Zeynep and Ali continue to honour their beliefs and heritage, though choosing to think beyond themselves, all the while wondering about the other, their safety and potential for reunion.

Spotlighting little known historical injustices has become a trademark for Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, her desire to enlighten and disclose indicative of her own integrity and search for equity.  From the Armenian genocide (The Hunger, 2001; Nobody's Child, 2003; Daughter of War, 2008), to the Ukrainian Holodomyr (Enough, 2004), the treatment of Ukrainians during World War II (Stolen Child, 2010; Making Bombs for Hitler, 2012; Underground Soldier, 2014) and the Vietnamese War orphans (Last Airlift, 2012; One Step at a Time, 2013), Marsha Skrypuch ensures that transgressions, even atrocities, from our histories are not forgotten.

By creating legitimate characters in her fiction who bring varied and personal perspectives to the situations experienced and who speak through their questions and confusions and convictions, Marsha Skrypuch can tell the whole story, not just the public one.  In Dance of the Banished, we listen to Alevi Kurds and Armenians in both Canada and Anatolia, to those with family and those without, to the Turks shamed by the actions of their government and those complicit in the horrors, to Canadians who stood guard at internment camps and those who recognized the discrimination for what it was. Consequently, her readers submit to understanding the big picture, not necessarily the pretty, sanitized one.  And we are grateful for that opportunity and bold honesty.

Dance of the Banished reveals truths from Canada and Asia Minor that some may prefer to leave forgotten or hidden, but Marsha Skrypuch's words and heart tell us that we can trust her to tell it right and well, as she does so eloquently here and always.

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Today, across Canada, one hundred commemorative plaques are being unveiled to recognize the internment of "enemy aliens" such as Ali in camps across Canada.  Check the map of all sites at the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation here to attend one close to your location at 11 a.m. local time.

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Check back tomorrow for a guest post by author Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch who answers questions about Dance of the Banished for readers of CanLit for LittleCanadians.

Spic-and-Span!: Lillian Gilbreth's Wonder Kitchen

by Monica Kulling

Illustrated by David Parkins

Tundra Books

978-1-77049-380-3

32 pp.

Ages 7-10

August, 2014

I join young readers regularly in the pleasure of reading the Great Idea Series, illustrated biographies of little-known but vastly-important innovators from history.  Monica Kulling's newest edition in the series focuses on American Lillian Gilbreth who was at the leading edge of workplace and household efficiency. 

Though she came from a wealthy California family, Lillian looked beyond an easy life, choosing first to attend university and then working as an industrial engineer and psychologist with her husband (whom she married in 1904).  Their company, Gilbreth Inc., used motion picture technology to assess the efficiency of workers at different tasks with the aim of increasing productivity and reducing worker fatigue.  With eleven children at home, the "Gilbreth System" helped keep the household running well and the children's tasks and progress charted.

But the unexpected death of her husband and partner in 1924 thrust new challenges upon Lillian, not the least of which was caring for her children.  Her eleven children.  But, because she was a woman, her vast experience meant little to those hiring industrial engineers, until Macy's department store hired her to improve their cash-room operations.   And the same principles that she applied there to save space and steps were implemented successfully into kitchen design. (We have Lillian Gilbreth to thank for the circular design of counters, appliances and sinks in most of our kitchens today.) By always examining how work could become more efficient, Lillian Gilbreth continued to innovate, even designing the first electric mixer.

Monica Kulling has again shared a fascinating individual, here Lillian Gilbreth, whose contribution to our world has been far-reaching and yet largely unrecognized.  And the wealth of that contribution is even more remarkable as it flourished at the turn of the twentieth century when women had fewer opportunities to extend themselves beyond work in homes and factories.  The busyness of the technologically advancing times and Lillian Gilbreth's large household are effectively depicted in David Parkins' illustrations, which are historically detailed, from the clothing, shoes and hairstyles to the kitchen appliances and flooring, and to the architecture at the time.  With Monica Kulling's illuminating text and David Parkins' comprehensive drawings, Spic-and-Span is a wonder in itself!  Lillian Gilbreth would be pleased with their collaborative efficacy in telling her story.

Push: The Game, Book 2

by Eve Silver

Katherine Tegen Books / HarperCollins

978-0-06219221-9(hc)

978-0-06219218-9 (ebook) 

978-1-46767679-3 (audio)

352 pp.

Ages 13-17

June, 2014

Reviewed from Harper Audio edition

When Miki Jones last saw her new boyfriend Jackson Tate, they'd been pulled from their high school reality to fight the alien Drau yet again, and she'd witnessed Jackson's death.  Upon her return, with no time evidently passing, Jackson does not respawn with her, suggesting he is truly gone. Strangely he has not been wiped from anyone's memory, and his car and keys are still at the pizza place, which should not happen if he'd died.

Luka, who is also part of the Game, (see my review of Rush for an explanation about how teens are pulled into it), suggests that Jackson may not be dead but being dealt with by the Committee for breaking one of their many rules. Regardless, she is now the team leader and making decisions for Luka, Tyrone, Kendra and Lien when they get pulled next to fight the Drau. This fight with the Drau reveals even more questions for Miki, beyond where Jackson is.  Why are Kendra's scores so high for a player who is so terrified and hangs back? Why are there so many similarities between video games they play and the Game? And is the girl with the green eyes who saves Miki's life really Jackson's dead sister Lizzie or a Drau shell in Lizzie's image?

When Miki respawns, uninjured, to meet with the Committee, she learns that they have Jackson and are attempting to "discipline" him for inappropriate actions.  Even though Miki is in love with Jackson, she is very honest about his actions and she debates with the Committee about their own recklessness and leadership responsibilities.  They may respect her arguments but when given a choice, Miki can do nothing else but remain in the Game.

Though Jackson and Miki are reunited shortly thereafter, their relationship continues to be strained with new circumstances, including the Drau breaking into Miki and Jackson's living world at a school Halloween dance, with the suspicious attention two girls at school begin to have in Miki and Jackson, and their choices about revealing certain truths and not others.  Yep, a completely natural teen relationship with some alien-fighting game to add more tension.

I realized how annoyed I was getting at Miki for her continuous flip-flopping about trusting Jackson: Is he really into her?  Is he telling her the truth about everything? Can she trust him with her secrets? Will he put her in jeopardy with his choices? Should she tell him about his sister?  One minute she is defending him to the death, thrilled to be in his arms, and then she's condemning him for not telling her everything which must indicate how he feels about her.  But, I realized that Miki who admittedly has anxiety issues is reacting as a person who has experienced trauma: her mother died from lung cancer, her father is now drinking excessively and denying his addiction, and Miki is part of a game that requires that she annihilate scary and powerful Drau who want to take over her world. Her irritability and mood swings are actually the least of her problems, especially when she really doesn't have anyone she can talk to about all of it.

Sadly, for Miki, Eve Silver takes her even closer to the edge by the end of Push, although this is fortunate for readers of The Game.  The heart-stopping action of the Game itself will have readers expecting the Drau to appear at any moment, even more so after they push into the teens' reality and civilians such as Miki's best friend Carly can end up in the Game without being pulled by the Committee.  The changing rules make everyone a little more jittery and defensive.  It's hard to be on the offensive when you don't know what the rules are anymore.  And by creating a self-righteous, all-knowing committee to oversee the Game, Push becomes part of an allegory about war and power. Eve Silver takes Rush and Push beyond the video game-scenario and into a global sphere in which humans are simply pawns and terror can be used to control them. Thankfully Miki and Jackson's romance is the one bright light that suggests that love may triumph over all. But we will need to wait until 2015 when Crash, the third book in The Game series comes out to see whether this is ultimately true.

A Brush Full of Colour: The World of Ted Harrison

by Margriet Ruurs and Katherine Gibson

An Ann Featherstone Book, Pajama Press

978-1-927485-63-7

40 pp.

All ages

For release September, 2014

I hope that the above reproduction of the book cover of A Brush Full of Colour adequately represents the brilliance of the book's images and the story of artist Ted Harrison, as told by award-winning children's author Margriet Ruurs and biographer Katherine Gibson. If I could have posted a larger graphic of the book here, I would have, because this book is virtually larger than life.

Within a scant 40 pages, the authors share Ted Harrison's progression from the coal-mining County Durham in England, to art school and military service post-WWII, teaching, immigration to Canada, and full-time artistry.  Art was nurtured from a young Harrison by his father and by his own love of reading, and thrived when living in India, Africa, Malaysia, and New Zealand, using ink and watercolours, oils, and acrylics, learning to depict only positive images, as

"There's enough sadness and misery in the world without hanging it on our walls." (pg. 14)

But it's Ted Harrison's move with his wife and son to northern Alberta and the Yukon that compelled him to break free of his early art styles which could not evoke the life and grandeur of the northern land and sky.  Incorporating the colours and techniques he'd seen in his travels, Ted Harrison explored using wild and bold colours and outlining in black, ultimately creating his effusive trademark style.

Northern Education, 1989 by Ted Harrison; Reproduced
on back cover of A Brush Full of Colour

Biographies for young readers can be difficult to write and organize successfully.  Too often, the story and details are lost in dense text, frequently with few graphics, especially when dealing with historical figures.  But A Brush Full of Colour is an exemplary youngCanLit biography having: informative text, organized well under headings such as Childhood, Travelling the World, Life in the North, and A Full-Time Artist; an assortment of visuals, including photographs and samples of Ted Harrison's artwork throughout his career; quotes from the artist; and key features of non-fiction texts such as a table of contents, index and resources section.

The artwork is rich and spirited, the artist thoughtful and A Brush Full of Colour's portrayal honours both.

The Seven Sequels: They're coming!

The Countdown Begins!

On October 1, 2014, The Seven Sequels, the seven sequels to The Seven Series, will be launching officially.  

When The Seven Series hit the shelves in October of 2012, no one could have anticipated its popularity with young readers.  I saw boys at school who rarely pick up a library book waiting for the return of a particular volume.  I had an intermediate teacher reading an advanced reading copy I had of Ink Me (Richard Scrimger, 2012) and then students relentlessly pestering me about the ETA of the books.  And last year, three of the ten nominees for the Red Maple award of the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading were volumes in The Seven Series!

The Seven Sequels will bring seven new titles from the same seven authors who brought us The Seven Series, with the seven grandsons of adventurer David McLean, newly passed, undertaking new adventures that will take them from Cambridge to Uruguay.

The books are:

• Sleeper by Eric Walters
• Broken Arrow by John Wilson
• Coda by Ted Staunton
• The Wolf and Me by Richard Scrimger
• From the Dead by Norah McClintock
• Tin Soldier by Sigmund Brouwer
• Double You by Shane Peacock

For more about The Seven Sequels, visit www.thesevensequels.com

But listen to this!

Here's something else for readers to get excited about: not only will there be digital editions with the classic paper copies, Orca Book Publishers is offering the unabridged audiobooks (i.e., the entire book is read) of the series! (In fact, it's possible to pre-order the complete Seven Series or Seven Sequels as an audiobook collection.) For audiovisual learners, audiobooks are an amazing way for students who learn best by listening to get into books. Personally, I prefer audiobooks as an alternative to the radio while I drive.

Freebies!

To help promote the upcoming series and the audiobooks, Orca Book Publishers is giving away free audio samples from The Seven Sequels--one each week until October 1, 2014. The first audio sample is Chapter 1 of Eric Walters' Sleeper and can be downloaded here.  New samples can be downloaded at http://www.thesevensequels.com/audio.php each week until the books are out.

Let the anticipation begin!

Look for reviews of the books in The Seven Sequels in the upcoming weeks here at CanLit for LittleCanadians.

Song of the Sword

by Edward Willett

Coteau Books

978-1550505801

224 pp.

Ages 12+

May, 2014

While fifteen-year-old Ariane Forsythe's life is definitely soaked in the reality of a mother who disappeared from a psych ward, an aunt battling cancer, and the torment of mean girls Shania McHenry and Felicia Knight at her new school, Edward Willet has bathed Song of the Sword in an ethereal quality that may or may not allow Ariane to ride out her burdens.  Readers will certainly hope she can, though I'm not too sure Ariane has the imagination to believe this, yet.

When suspended from school for fighting, Ariane heads to Wascana Lake to hide out from her Aunt Phyllis. An eerie singing draws Ariane to the water, allowing her to almost walk on it and then descending an aqueous stairway into the lake.  Wally Knight, fourteen-year-old younger brother and whipping bag of witchy Felicia, is also finding some refuge at Wascana Lake when he happens to witness Ariane's water-walking, and follows her.  A woman of rippling water, calling herself the Lady of the Lake, informs Ariane that, as her heir, she must prevent Merlin from restructuring the shards of the famed Excalibur sword which would allow him to unite the Faerie and human worlds.  Seems Ariane's mother was first offered this task several years ago, just before she disappeared, but had refused.  Bestowed with the Lady's power with water,

"Let the waters live within you, and you within the waters.  The power be yours" (pg. 37)

Ariane realizes that she may be able to find her mother. Although he knows that it will infuriate his sister, Wally insists on helping Ariane, as the Lady recommends. Crushing on Ariane probably has something to do with it too.

"The more he learned about Ariane, the more he liked her.  The fact that he and she had a magical quest to complete was just gravy."(pg. 53)

Enjoying having someone with whom to share, Ariane is pleased that Wally becomes a fast friend and the two work together to learn more about Merlin.  After being followed repeatedly by a man in a Ford Focus decaled with an ECS logo and some scary computer activity, they suspect that Merlin is the incredibly wealthy Rex Major, the head of Excalibur Computer Systems. And when Rex Major is reported to be heading to the Northwest Territories to check out a diamond mine, Ariane is sure that the first shard of Excalibur will be found there.  Learning how to use the Lady's water magic and about some family secrets, Ariane and Wally accept the challenge to get to the Northwest Territories and recover that shard before Rex Major does.

Because Edward Willett ensures that there is a lot of action in Song of the Sword as well as emotional issues of family and trust, it's a fantasy that will grip teens of both genders.  I'll bet that Ariane's travels by water magic–moving between any interconnected conduits and sources of fresh water–will provide some intriguing imagery, and quite a few laughs, especially when she has Wally in tow.  And Edward Willett blends the humour with the ethereal fantasy of Song of the Sword so easily.  As Ariane realizes, it can all seem so silly (life, that is, not the story).

"It's just – it's all so silly.  We're on a quest to find a mystical sword and save the planet from the most powerful sorcerer of all time – but we can't get to it right now because we have to clean our rooms!" (pg. 65)

Readers will be right in there, cheering for Ariane and Wally, worried with every obstacle that jumps into their path, hopeful that the bad guy won't prevail.  Luckily, Edward Willet has only just begun The Shards of Excalibur series.  There are five books set for the series, with Book 2, Twist of the Blade, set for release in September.

If you're fortunate to be in Regina, the setting for the series, on September 25, 2014 (7 p.m.), consider attending the book launch for the series and Twist of the Blade at the Assiniboia Gallery on Smith Street.  And I'll get onto Twist of the Blade as soon as I can to share whether the two major ripples at the end of Song of the Sword become typhoons, heaving against and between our young heroes.  Let's hope not.