The Traveling Circus

by Marie-Louise Gay and David Homel

Illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-420-6

152 pp.

Ages 7-11

For release April 2015

Charlie and his younger brother Max are going traveling with their parents again, though as Charlie recognizes,

Sometimes I wonder why people want to travel.  It can be so much effort! (pg. 20)

The family first hit the road in Travels with my Family (Groundwood, 2006), before going On the Road Again! (Groundwood, 2008) and then staying for a Summer in the City (Groundwood, 2012).  This time, they're heading to the former Yugoslavia to visit Fred, an acquaintance of their father's, and his wife Gordana.

Oh boy!  A country broken up by a war, where people spoke a language with no vowels and that no one could understand.  The perfect place for a vacation! (pg. 14)

From a start in Padua, the home of Saint Anthony, where Max goes awol, the family heads through Slovenia to Croatia, almost losing the boys to an ill-placed pee at the border (!).  The family meets up with Fred and Gordana, grandson Libero and another couple, Bobo and his wife Silvia, to take their first ferry ride and head to Cres, where they learn that vacations are for being close to people, before continuing to their ultimate destination, Vrgada, "a tiny sleeping island with no cars, where nothing every happens." (pg.110)

"The Traveling Circus" is what Charlie begins to call the motley band of vacationers with their cases and picnic baskets and bags as they parade onto and off of ferries, along streets, in cars along mountainous roads and following the women of Vrgada and their wheelbarrows.  As narrator, Charlie makes it clear how much he would prefer avoiding these family adventures, and not having to always watch over Max, and having some alone time to ponder and explore.  But it is his ponderings and the way he sees his family and friends, and the places they visit, and the circumstances of their visits that make The Traveling Circus the insightful and funny adventure that it is.  

Although Charlie never fails to acknowledge his respect and love for his family, he can see the ridiculousness of some of his parents' attitudes and actions.  

Sometimes my parents just didn't take things seriously.  I mean, how would they have explained that to our friends back home and especially to my grandmother? "Oh, we had to leave the boys in a prison in Croatia.  But don't worry, they'll be out in a couple of years." (pg. 49)

The same goes for little Max, whom Charlie reassures when one disaster or another befalls the little boy.  But, it's Charlie's insights into the people of the former Yugoslavia and the impact of war that are the most poignant.  It's an eye-opener to him and will be for young readers too.

No one had won this war.  One side lost their houses and had to leave.  The other side left, too, because they were ashamed of what they had done.
     There was nothing left but an empty village, full of land mines, where no one could live. (pg. 101) 

The Traveling Circus may appear to be a farcical family trip but it's an endearing voyage of discovery into a world ravaged by war that can still amaze with its beauty, people, and affection.  I don't know whether this adventure is based on one Marie-Louise Gay and David Homel took with their own children but I still thank them for sharing the colour and animation of The Traveling Circus with us, fiction or not.

The Truth Commission

by Susan Juby

Razorbill Canada

978-067-006759-6

272 pp.

Ages 14+

For release April 2015

The truth really doesn't need any embellishments, does it?  It is as it should be. Nothing more, nothing less.  But sixteen-year-old Normandy Pale, the narrator and writer behind The Truth Commission, a piece of creative non-fiction for her Spring Special Project at Green Pastures Academy of Art and Applied Design in Nanaimo, does recognize that,

"When you tell a story, you shape the truth." (pg. 293)

And she and her best friends, Dusk (actually Dawn) Weintraub-Lee and Neil Sutton attempt to bring some much needed truth into a world overflowing with lies.  From Aimee Danes, whose new nose and chest scream to share her new truths with the world, and the snarly office secretary Mrs. Dekker to fellow students Tyler Jones, Zinnia McFarland, and Brian Forbes, the unofficial Truth Commission trio attempt to learn the truths about everything from motivations, love interests, heritage and substance abuse. But attempts to shed light on the truth are not always easy and rarely straightforward, often with unforeseen consequences.

But Normandy is having her own crisis of truths, dealing with the return home of her astoundingly successful older sister, Keira, from the California Institute of Art and Design. While still at Green Pastures, Keira had created a massively popular graphic novel series called the Diana Chronicles, about a girl who lives with her painfully average family on Earth and travels to an alternate universe, Vermeer, where she is queen.  Except for Diana, the family resembles Normandy's family in the worst possible way, exaggerating their attributes to humiliating proportions. But something is amiss with Keira and Normandy is looking to help by getting at the truth, though the family's head-in-the-sand attitude is problematic.

The truth may be out there but it may not always be ideal to seek it out.  Susan Juby's characters, both main and secondary, demonstrate the precarious nature of the truth, though some recognize that truth sooner than later.  But their interactions with regards to the truth are what makes the story so lively, particularly with Normandy bridging the extreme differences between her friends and family when seeking the truth. What to do?
 
To be honest, Susan Juby's writing is like a Disney bandage on your heart.  It has delightful colour and humour that can hide something as simple as a paper cut (still very painful!) or a deep, festering wound.  It's not until you look under the bandage that the true depth of the story is evident.  The reader is glad for the amusing cover-up because it helps manage the pain beneath.  Even though removing the bandage can be agonizing, it must be done. Not unlike the truth.  And, in my opinion, Susan Juby's truth is the quality she attributes to some authors:

"There are the truths...when some writer puts exactly the right words together and it's like their pen turned sword and pierced you right through the heart." (pg. 10)

Susan Juby's pen is both honest and piercing in The Truth Commission, and I relished it wholeheartedly.

***********************************

Two Truths and a Lie (from yesterday's post)

If you haven't guessed yet, #3 is the lie.  Norm is short for Normandy and is all girl.  Ask Neil.

The Truth Commission: coming!

To celebrate the release this month of  

Susan Juby's newest young adult novel, 

The Truth Commission

Razorbill Canada

978-067-006759-6

272 pp.

Ages 14+

let's play a little game.

Two Truths and a Lie.  Want to play?

This is the story about easy truths, hard truths, and those things best left unsaid. (pg. 11)

I'll make 3 statements, 

two of which are true and one of which is a lie.  

Can you guess which is the lie?

1. The Truth Commission includes a character called Dusk, though her name is actually Dawn.
2. Neil, in The Truth Commission, dresses in the seedy costumes of gritty 1960s and 1970s movies.
3. Norm, the main character in The Truth Commission, is a boy who dresses and acts like a girl.

Which do you think is the lie? 

Check back tomorrow when I post my review of The Truth Commission and reveal which statement is the lie.

A+ for Big Ben

by Sarah Ellis

Illustrated by Kim La Fave

Pajama Press

978-1-927485-76-7

24 pp.

Ages 2-5

April, 2015

It's been a few years since we've shared a story about Sarah Ellis and Kim La Fave's little boy, Ben, the sweet child of two earlier books, Big Ben (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2001) and Ben Over Night (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2005).  While A+ for Big Ben is a new board book edition of the highly-acclaimed initial offering of Big Ben from author Sarah Ellis and illustrator Kim La Fave, it's lovely to revisit the preschooler and his family.

Ben is the youngest of three siblings, with an older sister, Robin, in Grade 5 and Joe, his brother, in Grade 3. Just as they are learning new things at school for which they are assessed, Ben is learning both at preschool and outside of school, although he recognizes many things that he still cannot do.  He can't use chopsticks and he can't see out the car windows and he can't swim.  And, because he doesn't get a report card to tell him what he is achieving, he is disappointed when Robin and Joe get their reports.  But his siblings recognize his disappointment and find a way to amend this, while recognizing affectionately the extent of his achievements for someone so young.

Sarah Ellis' story is simple and endearing and most parents would delight in the affection the siblings have for each other.  And Kim La Fave's drawings mirror that simplicity and warmth in her colour choices, cow-licked hair, and soft lines in her characters.  Amazing how Sarah Ellis and Kim La Fave's skillful partnership can make report cards seem so delightful in  A+ for Big Ben.

 

n.b. Another Ben book, Ben Says Goodbye by Sarah Ellis and Kim La Fave from Pajama Press, is slated for release in October 2015.

The World Without Us

by Robin Stevenson

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-0680-1

226 pp.

Ages 12-16

February, 2015

If we jump, the world will just go on without us. (pg. 2)

The we are teens Jeremy and Melody, their world is St. Petersburg, Florida, and the where is the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.  But only Jeremy jumps and now Melody is left to tell the story or rather stories, the one she knows and the one everyone else believes.

Jeremy, a junior whose 13-year-old brother died two years earlier, introduces himself to the rather reclusive Melody, who has been given the unkind moniker of Death Wish after an accidental poisoning at a party.  Because of their common appreciation for Albert Camus' writing and family experiences with death–Melody's parents are activists against the death penalty–Melody and Jeremy begin to form a bond, ostensibly one based on the finality of life. As Jeremy suggests,

If things get too bad, we can always check out, right?  Like Camus said, the when and how don't matter. (pg. 59)

Somehow their discussions about last meal choices, living with differences, reincarnation, and lucid dreaming take them to the point of no return, and their lives and relationship are forever altered.

Robin Stevenson has a knack for bringing thought-provoking tales to young readers, as she has with her Record Breaker (Orca, 2013), Hummingbird Heart (Orca, 2012) and Liars and Fools (Orca, 2010).  The World Without Us too delves into issues with which young people might be dealing: grief and guilt, suicidal thoughts, friendship and love.  And all these issues have them teetering on the edge of decisions, some involving life and death.  If The World Without Us doesn't convince you how quickly and tragically these issues can escalate for young people, then you'll only see this book as a story, not the cautionary tale about the repercussions of legitimate turmoil.  Robin Stevenson reminds us in her eloquent text that the fictional can become reality in a split second and with just a slip of time or even a misstep.

Fragile Bones: Harrison & Anna

by Lorna Schultz Nicholson

Clockwise Press

978-0-993935107

217 pp.

Ages 13+

March 15, 2015

When the Best Buddies Program, a world-wide organization that aims to help individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities integrate successfully into their communities, comes to his high school, fifteen-year-old Harrison Henry is instructed by his mother and encouraged by his older brother Joel to attend.  A high-functioning autistic, Harrison has OCD tendencies and a relentless focus on bones and diseases, making him the target of ignorant classmates.  But his partnering with Anna Leonard, a high-achieving senior who hopes to beef up her resumé for university (and med school) as well as become better acquainted with the Best Buddies chapter president and new student Justin, presents Harrison with a plethora of new opportunities, some welcome.

Fragile Bones is a lot about learning to deal, with others, with one's family, with one's own needs and wants.  Anna is a considerate young woman who is astute about interacting with Harrison, though even she has much to learn.  Harrison, who needs many reminders about appropriate responses and actions, is doing his fair share of learning, though he doesn't always interpret new information correctly, occasionally too literally. (Harrison's thoughts about kissing and a Halloween dance are especially ardent and very funny.) Anna and Harrison may be very different, as are Justin and Alan and other minor characters in Fragile Bones, but Lorna Schultz Nicholson ensures that they are all normal, just unique, and acceptance of these differences is the norm.

Lorna Schultz Nicholson's Fragile Bones: Harrison & Anna is an auspicious premiere for Clockwise Press and its One-2-One series, and I wouldn't expect anything less from Christie Harkin and Solange Messier.  I think they're well on their way to meeting their mandate "to publish high-quality young adult and children’s books featuring themes of diversity and global awareness" (Clockwise Press, March 16, 2015) Congratulations to Clockwise Press and Lorna Schultz Nicholson on Fragile Bones' positive contribution to youngCanLit and its furthering the building of supportive communities. Well done.

The Truth Commission & Republic of Dirt: Book Launches (Nanaimo, BC)

Author Susan Juby

will be launching TWO new books 

on Thursday, April 9, 2015 

3 p.m.

at 

Vancouver Island University

 Cowichan Campus Room 225

I've just finished reading her YA book  

The Truth Commission (loved it!) 

and will review it soon,

and adored the prequel to Republic of Dirt, 

The Woefield Poultry Collective (reviewed here)

Do yourself a favour and, if you're fortunate to be on Vancouver Island on April 9, 2015, take advantage of this book launch to get signed copies of both books by a very funny and talented author