Eyes On The Ice by Anna Rosner

Ten-year-old Lukas Burian, his twelve-year-old brother Denys, and six-year-old brother Alexander and their parents, Nadia and Josef live in a three room apartment at the top of a four storey building in Prague, Czechoslvakia. Lukas and his brothers sleep in the livingroom while his parents use the only bedroom. Lukas's father is a journalist who writes articles, all approved by the state, while his mother, who is expecting a baby soon, works in a nursery teaching music and art. Their Uncle Pavel also lives in Prague, sharing a four bedroom apartment with distant cousins. He was an mechanical engineer prior to the communist takeover and now drives a passenger train.

Lukas's best friend is Andrej Svoboda who lives with his parents, Rudy and Marta . Both Rudy and Josef write for the state-approved newspaper but both are strongly anti-Communist. Lukas's father gets the banned American newspaper from a street vendor. He hides the paper and an English dictionary under the bathroom sink. 

Lukas, Denys, Andrej and Alex all love hockey. Lukas's favourite player is Czech-born Stan Mikita, while Denys and Andrej like Gordie Howe. They love reading out- of-date copies of Hockey News. After dinner, Lukas and his brothers go to the outdoor rink to skate and practice their hockey skills. Andrey plays real hockey on a real team, getting up early for morning practice, before school. As a result, he doesn't come to the arena in the evenings. Uncle Pavel brings over hockey sticks one evening and their mother gives them a hockey puck. At the outdoor rink, Pavel tells their father, they are natural athletes. 

Once a week, Lukas and Denys have to attend a Young Pioneers meeting which indoctrinates them in Soviet propaganda. They have to attend every meeting otherwise this will be noticed. During the meetings, they chant slogans that Lukas recognizes as false. Lukas learns that his father is hiding things in their apartment when he us woken up by younger brother, Alex who is trying to hide a toy car. Lukas learns from Alex that their father has a secret hiding spot in the closet, behind a board in the floor but he decides not to check the closet because he doesn't want to know what his father might be hiding. 

At the outdoor rink, while Lukas and Denys are practicing, they are approached by a stranger named Novak, who invites them to train at a nearby indoor arena. They would be coached by a former player of the Czech national team. The two boys agree and on Saturday they meet Coach Peter who drills them on various skills.

At school one afternoon, Lukas is told to stay afterwards as Mr. Hajek wants to talk to him. As he's heading out of class, Andrej warns him not to tell Hajek anything. Lukas doesn't understand. While his classmate Ivan is in the room, Lukas overhears their conversation and learns that Hajek is interrogating him. When it's his turn, Lukas finds himself questioned as to whether his "father likes to write things and hide them away?". He reveals nothing to Hajek who tells him their conversation is secret and not to tell his parents. Later that night, Lukas asks Denys about being questioned and what their father might be hiding. 

Unable to get anything from the children, both Lukas and Andrej's families are targeted by the oko, or state secret police, who are determined to stop their fathers. As the situation evolves into one of life and death, Lukas's family must make the decision to risk everything for the chance at freedom.

Discussion

In Eyes On The Ice, Anna Rosner has crafted a realistic story that captures life in communist Czechoslovakia in the 1960's.

Czechoslovakia became a state in 1918 after declaring independence from Austria-Hungary. During World War II the country lost various portions to Nazi Germany, Hungary and Poland. After World War II, the state of Czechoslovakia was reformed. In 1948, a Soviet-backed coup established communist control of Czechoslovakia, that would last until 1989. Communism had begun to gain ground in the country after 1920, as the communists had a record of working with non-communists and opposing Nazi rule and being seen as one of the country's liberators, along with the Soviet Union, in World War II. Communism did not fulfill the expectations of citizens of Czechoslovakia: life was exceedingly repressive. 

People were not allowed to own properties or businesses: the latter were all confiscated and nationalized. Communists feared the intellectual elite because they could criticize and debate communist policies and ideology: they were not allowed to work in their field of expertise, arrested, imprisoned and purged. Opponents of the communist regime were imprisoned. Priests and monks were sent to labour camps where they were tortured and murdered, their churches and monasteries closed. Censorship was enforced. Rosner portrays much of this in her novel. 

For example, Lukas's Uncle Pavel, once owned his apartment prior to the Communist takeover but now lives in a crowded one. Once "...a mechanical engineer, designing motors for vehicles" he now drives a passenger train. Food is scarce: "Fruit is rationed and buying more than one kilogram is forbidden." To obtain four small oranges, Lukas's mother has to barter pens and paper. There are long lines for fruit and vegetables and Lukas and his brothers often stand in those lines for their elderly neighbours who are not able to do so. Lukas mentions in his narrative that "Most everything we own seems to be missing a part, mended or broken."

Children are indoctrinated by the state. The Young Pioneers group indoctrinates students in Soviet propaganda, something Lukas and his brother Denys are keenly aware of. Slogans like "Everyone is fed and cared for by the state." are known to be lies because Lukas has seen the overwhelming poverty in their country when he travelled to Poland with his father. 

Children are also weaponized by the communist state, to betray the very people who really love and care for them. When Lukas is interrogated by Mr. Hajek at school, he is told "Perhaps you can let me know if you see anything unusual in the houses. It's very important to keep your family safe...And let's not discuss this meeting with your parents." Later on, after Andrej's father is arrested, he is allowed to continue playing hockey only if he provides information on Lukas's father, Josef. When he doesn't follow through on this, he is removed from the team. This shows the overarching reach the Communist party has on almost every aspect of daily life. Intimidation results in absolute power over the people.

Both Lukas and Andrej's fathers work against the Communist regime: Andrej's father, Rudy writes the pamphlets and Lukas's father Josef, prints them. Anyone involved in such activities is brutally punished as both the Svoboda and Burian families are to learn. Andrej's father has been imprisoned at least once previously and the state agents continue to harass him and his family, frequently searching their apartment. He disappears soon after. Then the StB imprison Luka's father after searching their apartment. 

In an attempt to further manipulate and control the families of dissidents, the oko or state spies often involve them in questionable activities. Lukas, Denys and Andrej are approached by an oko and told if they want to help their fathers, they are to throw a game in an upcoming Soviet hockey tournament. While Andrej outright refuses, Lukas readily agrees. Andrej states, "If we do what he's asking, we'll become liars just like him." He explains that his father would die rather than aid the Communists and he won't help them either. For Lukas and Denys, they must question where their loyalty lies: to the state or to their father? Lukas knows he would do anything to save his father. Although Lukas plays terribly, despite trying his best and they lose the tournament game to the much larger Russian boys, Lukas's father returns home one week later.

Before the Burian family talk about what has happened, Josef searches their apartment thoroughly for listening devices, even taking apart the telephone. He reveals that he has been released for two weeks but must return to prison. Nadia wants to run but Josef tells her if they do, Rudy will be killed. It's only when they learn that Rudy has already died in prison that they plan to escape. Their dramatic escape by train is based on a real event that took place in 1951, when a four-car train was driven through a barrier, into West Germany. In her Author's Note at the back, Posner reveals that the train's emergency brake was disabled by the engineer, Jaroslav Konvalinka, who was also helped by three other men. 

Eyes On The Ice explores the themes of resistance, loyalty, and freedom. Josef and Rudy are actively working to resist the evil of Communism, even though it might mean imprisonment, torture, and ultimately cost them their lives. The novel shows the difficult choices citizens in Communist countries had to make: to resist what was a great evil or to comply to save self, family and friends. For Lukas, the question of whether to throw the hockey game is one of loyalty to his father and that means agreeing to play poorly. But to Andrej, loyalty to his father means to not acquiesce to the demands of the oko, even if it means the death of his beloved father. 

The author has included a Historical Note that offers some information on Communism in the Soviet Bloc, a map of Europe in 1963, and Discussion Questions. Author Anna Rosner drew on several sources to write her story including the personal anecdotes of someone who lived in Communist Prague, as well as those who lived in Soviet Russia. Eyes On The Ice is a timely novel that offers young readers the opportunity to learn about life under Communism. It's unfortunate that a more engaging book cover was not designed for this well written novel that would be of interest especially to boys.

Book Details:

Eyes On The Ice by Anna Posner
Toronto: Groundwood Books   2024
193 pp.

March Book Three by John Lewis

"The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men."

In March, Book Three, John Lewis chronicles the efforts of Black Americans to obtain true equality, peace and brotherhood in their country.

His story continues with the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama on September 15, 1963. This church was a headquarters of the civil rights movement in Birmingham. Sunday September 15 was its annual "Youth Day" and hundreds of young people were attending. The bombing killed four young girls: Addie May Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley and Denise McNair. Dr. King told those at the funeral that they needed to look at "the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murderers."

Diane Nash had a plan to have thousands of young people to peacefully demonstrate Montgomery, the capital of Alabama, cutting off roads, trains, airports, the government and shutting down everything. The goals were to force segregationist Governor George Wallace out of office and obtain the right to vote for every adult in Alabama. Dr. King did not agree with this plan but Lewis and Nash felt that SNCC had to do something. They decided to target the city of Selma in Dallas County, where sixty-three protestors had been arrested. 

Lewis, who was chairman of SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) believed they needed to focus on "One Man, One Vote" because Blacks faced enormous odds attempting to register to vote. Protests in front of the Dallas County Courthouse saw many arrests, including John Lewis.

On October 7, 1963, SNCC mobilized dozens of people lined up outside in the hot sun to register to vote. Major Joe Smelley in charge of the state troopers and Jim Clarke, the mean and violent sheriff of Dallas County, refused to allow anyone to leave the line and return for bathroom and water breaks. Despite this, people stayed in line, while only twelve Blacks were allowed to register. 

Lewis became involved in the Freedom Vote, an event conceived and organized by Bob Moses, a Harvard graduate and Al Lowenstein, a white activist and former dean at Stanford University. Freedom Vote was a staged "mock election" with Black candidates, in which Black men and women could participate. The goal was to give them a sense of what it was like to participate in the electoral process.

Freedom Vote placed ballot boxes all across Mississippi, in churches, barber shops, grocery stores and beauty parlors. Then in November, 1963, John F. Kennedy Jr. was assassinated. Lewis and others wondered what it would mean for the civil rights movement, which Kennedy and his brother Robert had come to support.

Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as president; he was committed to passing a civil rights bill even though he had voted against racial equality in the past. But he wanted civil rights groups including SNCC to stop their protests. They did not.

In the final meeting of 1963, Lewis and the SNCC executive decided to work to obtain the right for all citizens of Mississippi to vote in the election year of 1964. At the convention of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Lewis and others reminded reporters that anyone interfering in any way "with the right of a Negro to vote in Mississippi commits a crime against the Federal government" per Title 18, Section 594 of the United States Code. 

They also announced that working with other civil rights groups, they planned to place one thousand summer workers in Mississippi, teaching in Freedom Schools and staffing community centers. These would register up to four hundred thousand Negroes on mock polling lists and would also do voter registration. Lewis told reporters they would challenge the right of white Mississippians to chose congressional representatives if none of the Black candidates were elected. They also intended to challenge the Democratic Convention in August over full recognition, the Federal Government on the illegal intimidation/arrests during voter registration. Freedom Summer was going to be about real votes. 

They also created the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) to challenge Mississippi's "segregation-based Democratic party" and its white-only delegation for their seats at the Democratic convention in Atlantic City, N.J. This would be done by following proper procedures at all levels.

In late June, three Freedom Summer volunteers went missing in Neshoba County.  They were Mickey Schwerner, Andy Goodman and James Chaney, a Black Mississippian. Their burned out station wagon was pulled from Bogue Chitto Creek without their bodies. The FBI and Navy were called in to search for them.  Meanwhile the violence continued throughout Mississippi with shootings and harassment of Blacks by whites. 

On July 2, 1964, the Civil Rights Act became law but Lewis and SNCC were determined to test if the law would be enforced. After the discovery of the bodies of the three missing Freedom Summer volunteers in August of 1964, Lewis and others became more determined than ever to see Black Americans register to vote.

The summer of 1964 proved to be a crucial one with the State Convention of the MFDP to elect delegates to send to Atlantic City, the Republican Convention in Daly City, CA which saw Barry Goldwater elected as the presidential nominee, and the events that rocked the Democratic Convention in Atlantic City, including the testimony of Fannie Lou Hamer.

In 1962, Fannie Lou Hamer lost her job, was arrested and beaten for trying to register to vote. She became a part of the SNCC in Mississippi after this. At the Democratic convention, Hamer recounted her attempt to register to vote, in front of of cameras from all the major networks, along with many others including Dr. King. Furious, President Johnson attempted to pre-empt her testimony but this backfired on him. Lewis also describes the struggles of the MFDP at the convention, his eye-opening trip to Africa with Harry Belafonte and his meeting with Malcom X in Kenya, internal struggles within the SNCC including gender equality as more women joined the civil rights movement, Dr. King's Nobel Peace Prize, and the assassination of Malcom X in New York. 

But the fruit of all of Lewis and other activists' unrelenting efforts to obtain the vote for Black Americans culminated in the marches in Alabama, from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. Those marches,  known as Bloody Sunday and Turnaround Tuesday, were met with violent opposition by  Mayor Jim Clark and police as well as George Wallace, governor of Alabama. The ensuing violence, broadcast on national networks, seared the conscience of the nation. The actions in Selma led to President Johnson signing into law the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which outlawed the many discriminatory practices occurring the mostly the southern states. The Voting Rights Act enforced the rights given in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Constitutional Amendment enacted almost one hundred years earlier, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. For John Lewis it was the end of one long journey and the beginning of yet another.

Discussion

March Book Three is the conclusion to John Lewis's outstanding graphic novel trilogy about his work in the civil rights movement.

In this final book, Lewis focuses on the determination of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and other groups to obtain true equality and participation in American society. They could only achieve this if if they had to right to vote, something that was guaranteed to Black men at least, in 1870. However, the southern states in particular, devised every method to deny this right to Black Americans. 

The Civil Rights Bill had given Black Americans the rights of citizens and Black men were allowed to vote. In fact, Black men not only voted but they ran for office, with twenty-two serving in Congress over a decade. The 15th Amendment banned the restriction of voting rights based on race, colour or having previously been a slave but it also allowed individual states to decide the qualifications for obtaining that privilege. White Americans still controlled policy in the south and they began to enact many different types of qualifications that restricted Blacks from being able to register to vote. Some jurisdictions required literacy tests, or poll taxes.

These restrictions allowed White Americans to effectively control voter registration and eliminate Black Americans from participating in the democratic process. With no say in government, it was impossible to move forward on equality. This would remain the case for almost one hundred years until the civil rights movement in the late 1950's and throughout the 1960's. In the end, the Voting Rights Act dramatically increased voter registration and voting turnout in elections among Black and minority communities.

Lewis is frank about the violence he and many others experienced at the hands of  politicians, law enforcement, armed forces and the general public. Peaceful protests were met with brutality and cruelty for black men, women and children, and for any who joined them including people of other races and faiths.  Graphic artist Nate Powell realistically portrays all of this, capturing the violence, some of which resulted in the murders of activists and Black citizens who were part of the protests. The panels showing the deaths of the missing Freedom volunteers and the march from Selma to Montgomery are especially well done. They capture the grief and sense of loss, the determination and courage Lewis and others experienced.

The struggle for equality and the right to vote is juxtaposed with the inauguration of Barack Obama, the first Black president and Lewis's attendance at the inauguration. It is meant to show how far America has come in the last fifty years when a Black American becoming president would have been unthinkable. Nevertheless, the struggle for true equality in America is an ongoing one.

The March trilogy should be required reading for all high school students in both the United States and Canada. To learn the lessons of acceptance, tolerance, equality and learning that all of us are brothers and sisters, we must study the past and learn from it. March allows us to do just that.

John Lewis passed away at the age of 80, in 2020. He was the last surviving member of the "Big Six" civil rights leaders that included Martin Luther King Jr. and James Farmer.

Book Details:

March Book Three by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell
Marietta, GA: Top Shelf Productions          2016

246 pp.

The Secrets of Tree Taylor by Dandi Daley Mackall

"This whole summer has been nothing but secrets, and I'm afraid my whole life will be like this. It's like life is a spiderweb of secrets, holding everything together by these tiny threads that hide the truth. And I keep stumbling into webs I can't get out of."

Set in the summer of 1963 during the Vietnam War and while the Cold war between the Soviet Union and the West was ongoing, The Secrets of Tree Taylor explores life in small town America and a girl struggling to  come to terms with the secrets she learns about people in her town.

Thirteen year old Tree Taylor lives in Hamilton, Missouri with her parents and her older sister Eileen. Her best friends are seventeen year old Jack Adams and her classmate, Sarah. Tree, (her name is variation on Teresa concocted by Jack) loves the Beatles and especially loves to dance. She has a crush on her classmate Ray Miller. 

Tree has two goals for the summer of '63. She desperately wants the only freshman spot on the Hamilton High newspaper, Blue and Gold. But she needs to write something in order to nab that spot, since Wanda Hopkins expects to get it as her Aunt Edna, known as Mrs. Woolsey, runs the paper.  The second goal Tree has set for herself is to have her first kiss.

One morning, Tree who is sitting out on her front porch, hears a gunshot and watches as her father, the town doctor, races down the street to the Kinney home. Tree ignores her father's warning to stay put and walks to the edge of their property. There she sees Mrs. Kinney emerge from the house holding a rifle and that's when Tree runs to the cottonwood on the Kinney property. There she sees her father talk to Mrs. Kinney, go in and check on Mr. Kinney and then come out again, taking the rifle from her. Tree notices the Mrs. Kinney's "cheeks and forehead were the color of lemon-lime Squirt, with patches of yellow and splotches of blue and purple. Her nose bent to the side, hinting at the letter L."  This description suggests that Mrs. Kinney is being physically abused by her husband.

When Sheriff Robinson shows up, Doc Taylor tells him that Alfred Kinney's been shot and that he has had a neighbour call the ambulance to take Kinney to the hospital for a few nights. After the Sheriff talks to Alfred Kinney he asks Tree's father what they should do. Doc Taylor merely states that "Accidents happen." despite Alfred Kinney's "peculiar notions about the shooting."  Tree decides that "Whatever did happen inside the Kinney's house, it was going to be my ticket to the Blue and Gold staff. This would be my first investigative report, and I'd prove to Mrs. Woolsey that she should me. Not Wanda."

What happened at the Kinney's home becomes Tree's secret although she doesn't at first realize that other people don't know what happened. They only know that Alfred Kinney shot himself by accident because that is what they have been told.  Mrs. Kinney's numerous accidents over the years and arguments overheard by the neighbours lead some to suspect that this is not what really happened. Tree decides that she's "going to tell it like it is." However when she approaches her father to ask him about what happened that morning he tells her to let it go. He tells her to write about someone like Gary Lynch who has leukemia and cannot leave his home or the soldiers dying in Vietnam.

As Tree struggles to write her article she realizes she needs more information than she has about Mrs. Kinney, so she begins visiting her. She discovers that Lois Kinney who loved to read and wanted to be a librarian. But it's obvious from the lack of books in her home that Alfred Kinney would not allow her to have books. So Mrs. Kinney hid a set of encyclopedias and as a result knows facts about many strange and random topics.  With each visit by Tree, Mrs. Kinney shares these facts but Tree doesn't have the courage to ask her about what happened that morning.

One day Jack sends out a fake story via his mother Donna who is the town gossip. He tells his mother who calls him many times per day, that he shot and killed a man trying to rob the IGA. This news reaches Tree who races to the store to only to find out that nothing happened. This event gets Tree to thinking about the Mrs. Kinney situation and her story. Jakes fake story had even made me confused about journalism. What if I heard a story about somebody, and then I wrote about it, thinking it was the truth. Only it wasn`t. People would believe what I wrote. They would believe me.  Gradually Tree begins to feel that she doesn't want to report anything that might hurt Lois Kinney.

Meanwhile, although Tree finds Ray attractive and is jealous that he is spending time with Wanda, she has many great moments with her best friend Jack. Jack and Tree's parents get together on Sundays to make music while they play games or dance. Their love of music and especially dance are what draw Jack and Tree together. However, Jack, who takes Tree on driving lessons and essentially looks out for her, will be leaving in the fall to attend Northwest Missouri State.

Tree recognizes the same traits that Mrs. Kinney has in her classmate, Penny Atkinson. Penny never says more than two words and she behaves strangely around her stepbrother, Chuck. At her job as a basket girl at the Hamilton swimming pool, Tree begins to seek out Penny and try to talk with her.

Soon Tree begins to realize that almost everyone has secrets; her best friend Sarah's family's yard sale, Eileen's hair dye, Wanda, Ray, and even Jack. But when Tree uncovers Penny's secret she has to decide whether it's a secret to be kept or to tell someone? And how does one decide which secrets to keep and which to tell?

Discussion  

Those who have read To Kill A Mockingbird will immediately sense the similarity of Mackall's novel to this well know American classic. Mackall's narrator, thirteen year old Tree is reminiscent of precocious five year old Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird. Tree's father, Doc Taylor is similar to Scout's lawyer father, Atticus. Like Atticus, Doc Taylor is concerned about truth, justice and mercy. He doesn't like gossip and prefers to accept people as they are. Like Scout, Tree is a bit of a tomboy, forgoing skirts and makeup and she has a close relationship with her father who attempts to instill in her his regard for the truth tempered with mercy. However, unlike To Kill A Mockingbird, The Secrets of Tree Taylor doesn't tackle heavy themes and therefore is not a dark novel.

There are plenty of themes in the novel but foremost one involves secrets and the responsibility one has when discovering another person's secret. In the end Tree learns that sometimes divulging a secret will do more harm than keeping it and other times, as with Penny's secret, keeping it will do the most harm. Doc Taylor tells her that discerning which to tell and which to keep is a difficult thing."But how do you know? How can I tell which secrets to leave alone and which secrets not to? I didn't know for sure he was hurting her." Dad looked at me like he was seeing me for the first time. "That's the problem, Tree. We don't always know. Only God sees everything. There aren't any secrets with him. The rest of us have to do the best we can."

The character development is one of the key strengths of this novel. Each character is quite different and the reader feels like they are experiencing a real town populated by real people. Readers will be invested in the characters enough to want to know how life worked out for Jack, Tree, Sarah and Mrs. Kinney. At the end of the novel, Tree tells what happens during the rest of 1963 and into early 1964. Readers will find the ending bittersweet, although the author tries to remain hopeful. But it's definitely a twist no one expects.

Mackall has done a brilliant job of portraying the culture of early 1960's America, with plenty of references to the early rock and roll music of the era, hula hoops, sock hops, drive-in theaters, the controversy and division the Vietnam War created in America, and the ever present threat of the Cold War. The novel succeeds in part because the author drew from her own personal experiences growing up in a small town. Her father was a small town doctor similar to Doc Taylor in the novel, who took fruit and vegetables as payment for his services. Writers best succeed when writing about what they know intimately, and Mackall knows small town life in this way.

Overall, The Secrets of Tree Taylor is an outstanding novel - one of the best this year. Dandi Daley Mackall has written many novels and one of her books, My Boyfriend's Dogs has been made in a movie for television, to be aired this fall. Her novel, The Silence of Murder won the Edgar Award.

Book Details:
The Secrets of Tree Taylor by Dandi Daley Mackall
New York: Alfred A. Knopf          2014
282 pp.