Just Being Dali: The Story of Artist Salvador Dali by Amy Guglielmo

In this picture book, the unusual life of Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dali i Domenech is presented. He was born in a seaside town in northern Spain.

Salvador liked to dream. When he was six years old, his budding creativity showed itself in his desire to be a cook. However, his father, tired of Salvador's messes, put an end to that. So Salvador startd pretending he was a king, but this also was discouraged by his father.

Salvador was a quiet, shy boy who liked to play alone and wear his king costume to school. This led to being teased by the other students. Instead of doing his lessons, Salvador spent his time in class doodling. When he became ill, his parents sent him to recover at the home of artist Ramon Pichot. While there, Salvador received lessons from Pichot on how to paint. Salvador realized that being an artist would allow him to be who he wanted to be. It was Pichot who persuaded Salvador's father to make him a studio.

 

In his new studio, Salvador sketched and painted the visions in his head and portraits of family and friends.. Eventually he went to study at the art academy in Madrid. There he continued his odd ways, growing his hair long and wearing elegant clothing. But his art won over the other students who became his friends.

At the art academy, Salvador first worked on imitating the techniques of the art masters. Soon he wanted to try something different. So when he was asked to do a painting of the sculpture of a woman he painted a pair of scales. His unwillingness to follow the rules saw Salvador expelled from the academy. Despite this he continued to make are, creating unique paintings. He moved to Paris where he met similar minded artists who combined fantasy and reality in their work. They called themselves surrealists. This was just the beginning for Salvador Dali who would find the support he needed to create some of the most unique and strange art ever.

Discussion

Just Being Dali tells the story of surrealist painter, Salvador Dali. The focus is on Salvador's unique way of looking at the world, even as a child, that led him ultimately to his passion as an artist. Despite encouragement from his parents and teachers to follow the rules and conform, Dali was determined to do things differently. His way involved painting the world as he saw it, using a mixture of reality and fantasy and this led him into the surrealist movement in 1929. The overriding lesson in Just Being Dali is for children to discover who they are and to be themselves, not what others might want them to be.

Illustrator Brett Helquist's artwork, done in oil,  recreates a few of Salvador Dali's more famous works while also helping to tell his story. This picture book includes a detailed Author's Note that offers a bit more information on Salvador Dali, a Selected Bibliography as well as a list of art recreated in the book.

Book Details:

Just Being Dali: The Story of Artist Salvador Dali by Amy Guglielmo

New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons        2021

We Must Not Forget by Deborah Hopkinson

We Must Not Forget is a compilation of the stories of Holocaust survivors for young readers. It is the story of the persecution of Jewish youth in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Poland and their acts of resistance.

We Must Not Forget is not an exhaustive account but chooses to tell the stories of  a number of survivors who were boys and girls at the time of the Holocaust. The book is divided into three major parts: Part One is true stories from Germany and the Netherlands, Part Two tells the stories of those in France and Part Three focuses on Poland. Their stories are too complex and varied, and their telling here could never do them justice. Instead, a brief summary of those people who suffered and survived will be given.

 

Part One Fleeing From Evil, Hiding From Horror  the focus is on four stories. Hopkinson profiles Fred Angress who fled Germany with his parents when he was fourteen years old. They settled in the Netherlands because that country had been neutral during World War I. When Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940, Fred was able to get a job with the Jewish Council that would prevent him from being transported to Mauthausen death camp. Fred tried to use this position to help others. But in 1943, the final transport of Jews was about to begin and Fred knew he had to go into hiding. 

Chella Velt Meedcoms Kryszek and her sister Flora as well as her father and stepmother went into hiding with the arrival of the Nazis in the Netherlands. The family was eventually transported to Westerbork, a transit camp near the Dutch border. With the help of an old friend, Chella and Flora  were able to get transported to Vught, at least delaying their transport to a death camp. There they were able to work in the Philips factory but they were both eventually sent to Auschwitz where they endured many horrors.

Gertrude Michelsohn Sonnenberg along with her younger sister Herta and their parents were deported in 1941 from Hanover Germany to the Riga ghetto in Latvia. They were able to survive multiple "selections" and as the war began to end, forced marches. They were saved by the intervention of Count Folke Bernadotte of Sweden who had them transported to Denmark and then to Sweden.

In Part Two, Families Torn Apart, the experiences of Ruth Oppenheimer David, Hanne Hirsch Liebmann and her husband Max Liebmann and Alfred Moritz are told. Ruth's life was saved through the rescue effort of the Kindertransport. Ruth's family was deported to the Gurs internment camp in France. Her younger brother Michael was rescued from Gurs by two Scandinavian helpers while her sister Feodora was taken by the Jewish resistance group OSE (Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants) and placed in semi-hiding. Sadly her parents, Moritz and Margarete Oppenheimer were murdered immediately upon arrival at Auschwitz. 

Hanne and her mother were also sent to the Gurs internment camp. There she met and fell in love with Max Liebman who along with his mother had been deported from Mannheim, Germany. Both managed to escape to Switzerland and we married after the war in 1945. Their mothers were murdered at Auschwitz.

Alfred Moritz along with his younger brother Ernest and their parents lived in Becherbach, a small village in southeastern Germany. They fled to Luxembourg and then to France. As the Vichy government began allowing the Germans to proceed with their policies against the Jews, Alfred's parents decided to have the OSE take the two boys into hiding at their children's home located at Chateau Le Masgelier in central France. Even here, Alfred and his brother were not safe and they were eventually removed to the more remote location of Vernoux-en-Vivarais. They stayed in this village for eighteen months until the Allies landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944. They were reunited with their parents, a rare Jewish family that survived the war intact.

In Part Three, Desperation and Defiance tells the stories of survivors and resisters from Poland. Not content to be herded into ghettos and then sent to the death camps, Polish Jews fought back. Paula Burger and her younger brother Isaac lived with their parents in Novogadek, Poland. Paula's father, Wolf Koladicki managed through his many connections to stave off being sent to the Novogrudek ghetto. He was eventually able to get his children out of the ghetto (their mother had been murdered by the Nazis) and to safety in the Naliboki Forest. There the Bielski partisan group led by Tuvia Bielski worked to save Jews and fight back.

Ten-year-old Bronka Harz Kurz lived in Kolomyja, part of Poland at that time. Her family were forced into the Kolomyia ghetto. When she was eleven, Bronka, her mother, aunt and cousin escaped to the forest. They were captured and sent back to the ghetto and escaped a second time. But Bronka's mother was recognized at the train station and Bronka and her mother were sent back again to the ghetto. A third attempt was successful. They spent the war posing as Christians.

Wloda Blit Robertson and Helly Blit were smuggled out of the Warsaw ghetto. Because their mother was part of the Jewish council, the two girls were exempt from being transported to the work camps in the east, which in reality, were extermination camps. They were hidden by a Polish Catholic couple.

Vladka Meed (born Feigele Peltel) and Benjamin Meed (born Benjamin Miedzyrzecki) helped plan and lead the Warsaw ghetto uprising.

Discussion

We Must Not Forget is a timely resource geared towards middle and upper grade students but can also be read by teens and adults. Recently it was reported that a significant number of American and Canadian students believe the Holocaust was fabricated.  "One in three of our respondents stated that they believed that the Holocaust was fabricated or not reported in a way that was accurate to what actually happened,” said Alex Lerner, researcher and assistant professor of political science at the U.S. Naval Academy." 

In Canada, January 27 is Holocaust Remembrance Day and an increasing number of schools are beginning to incorporate age-appropriate material on this significant historical event into the school curriculum. As fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors remain each year, it is important their stories be told. Remembering and learning from the past means preventing future atrocities.

We Must Not Forget incorporates survivor and resister stories with many black and white photographs, allowing young readers to put faces to those who suffered in the Holocaust. This is important because in the age of disruption and misinformation, the photographs help to humanize those who died. The stories are divided into three parts, according to country, each part beginning with a title page, a section  providing a short bio of those whose stories are featured and a page highlighting key dates. At the end of most of the personal accounts, there is a Look, Listen, Remember section that features primary sources, audio recordings and video. 

The book also contains a Glossary, a Selected Timeline of World War II in Europe, a a Look, Listen, Remember: Resources to Explore. The last section offers an extensive list of resources that includes museum websites and online resources, and links to oral histories, articles and interviews. There is a Bibliography which highlights resources of special interest to young readers, Source Notes and an index.

We Must Not Forget is probably best suited for students in Grade Six and up, given the extensive amount of information covered. A map showing the various European countries at the beginning of the war and the areas occupied by Nazi Germany would have been especially useful. Bur overall, this is a wonderful resource to help inform younger readers about the Holocaust so that these kinds of atrocities do not happen again.

Book Details:

We Must Not Forget: Holocaust Stories of Survival and Resistance by Deborah Hopkinson
New York: Scholastic Focus       2021
346 pp.

 

 

Under Amelia's Wing by Heather Stemp

Under Amelia's Wing is the second book in the Ginny Ross series. 

Ginny arrives in Lafayette, Indiana, in August 1936, after a six day journey, to attend Purdue University. She is enrolled in the Mechanical Engineering program. University president Dr. Edward C. Elliott has hired Ginny's mentor, Amelia Earhart to provide career counselling and to be a part-time aviation counsellor.

At the train station, Ginny meets another student, Mabel Anderson. Together they make their way to the university and to the Women's Residence. Miss Schleman, director of the residence suggests they room together which Ginny and Mabel agree to. Mabel is very impressed that Ginny not only has met Amelia Earhart but that she has also helped her on her transatlantic flight.

The next morning, Ginny takes Mabel to the Purdue University Airport. As Ginny is admiring the Lockheed Vega in the hangar, they meet a boy named Matt Baker who is attempting to fix an engine. Ginny assesses the engine and quickly fixes the problem. This impresses both Matt and Captain Aretz, the airport manager. He invites Ginny to return to the airport the following day to share what she knows about engines. 

When Ginny does return to the airport with her friend Mabel, Cap has her run through servicing a Taylor Cub, the plane they use for training, while he watches. Impressed at her knowledge and skill in doing the servicing, Cap takes Ginny on a short flight over the campus. This flight thrills Ginny and makes her determined to become a pilot.

The next day classes begin and Ginny's first class is Engineering with Professor Malcom Jones, who happens to be Mabel's uncle. She assures Ginny that her Uncle Malcolm is a kind man. The class turns out to be a nightmare: Ginny is moved to the back of class and laughed at by the boys. However, one boy asks her to meet him at Frank's Coffee Shop on State Street after class. That boy turns out to be Jamie Baker, Matt Baker's brother. Ginny also meets Eddie Elliott, son of President Elliott. Eddie tells Ginny that his father wants to invite her when Amelia Earhart arrives at the university. When Ginny explains to Mabel how her uncle behaved towards her in class, Mabel brushes her concerns off as her uncle being strict. This leaves Ginny feeling confused.

Ginny decides the best plan is to "lay low, do my work, and leave the classroom as fast as I could." Both Jamie and Jack Stinson another boy in her class are willing to stick up for Ginny. However, Professor Jones continues to ridicule her, accusing her of writing notes to Jamie. After class both Matt and Ed suggest that Ginny fight back by showing what she can do and that she belongs in the class. The only positive news is a letter from Amelia Earhart telling Ginny that she has finally arrived at Purdue in her new Lockheed Electra.

The next morning Amelia is at breakfast in the Women's Residence. Amelia is staying in the guest suite on the first floor. Miss Schleman invites all of the women to a special presentation by Amelia on her transatlantic flight. As Amelia is leaving, she stops by Ginny's table to warmly greet her. Ginny's first class this day is physics taught by Professor Abernathy. He is impressed that Ginny knows about celestial navigation and is very friendly and supportive.

Ginny and Mabel meet Amelia at the Purdue University airport where Ginny is able to  inspect Amelia's new Lockheed Electra 10E. Unfortunately, Mabel learns that her beloved Uncle Malcolm has been harassing Ginny to force her to drop out of his engineering course. This upsets Mabel so much that she runs away from Ginny, refusing to talk to her. 

However, the situation with Professor Jones continues to deteriorate during the semester, despite Ginny's efforts to lay low. He accuses her of being a liar and a fraud. The situation reaches a crisis over Ginny's end-of-semester exam. Added to this is a heartbreaking letter from her friend Llewellyn. Even as her situation begins to be resolved at Purdue, Amelia's disappearance at the end of her flight around the world is a second blow to Ginny. With her mentor gone, Ginny must now find a new path forward to persevere in her dream of becoming a pilot.

Discussion

In this second installment of the Ginny Ross series, Ginny begins her studies at Purdue University with the goal of becoming a pilot. To help her is mentor and famed woman aviator, Amelia Earhart. It was Amelia who helped Ginny gain admission to Purdue.

This novel is set in the pre-war period, from 1936 to 1940. Ginny encounters stiff opposition from her engineering professor, Malcolm Jones, the uncle of her new friend, Mabel. This sets up the first crisis in the novel when Professor Jones removes a sheet from Ginny's exam, effectively failing her. While opposition and discrimination were common for women in science and engineering during the early 20th century, tampering with an exam seems an extreme tactic. During the first half of the 20th century, quotas were a significant reason women were unable to attend university or college but women were admitted to engineering programs. Much of the discrimination came after graduation: most women weren't given the same opportunities and recognition as their male counterparts. A woman might graduate with a degree in science but found she was often given lab work instead of a teaching and research position. World War II would begin to change that, but it wouldn't be until the late 1960's and 1970's that the situation would really change. In the novel, Ginny meets this challenge with fortitude and resiliency, forging on with the support of several male friends and help from the university president.

When Amelia Earhart is lost at sea, her disappearance and its effect on Ginny is profound. Stemp doesn't really provide her young readers with much information about the disappearance, but instead focuses on how Ginny struggles to cope with the loss of her mentor and friend. This presents a realistic picture of events at the time, as Amelia's disappearance was and remains today an unsolved mystery. All we know is that she never made it to Howland Island and most likely crashed into the sea. The remains of Amelia Earhart and her navigator Frederick Noonan and their Lockheed Electra have never been found despite extensive searches. 

Instead, the story moves on, as Ginny completes her her engineering degree and aviation training. When she graduates, along with friends Mabel, Jack, Jamie and her friend Matt, war looms in Europe. With everyone enlisting, Ginny has to decide what her contribution to the war effort will be, since women pilots are not allowed in the United States Air Force. 

Stemp has crafted a beloved, strong heroine in Ginny Ross. As in the first novel in the series, Ginny shows her mettle when she refuses to let Professor Jones bully her into quitting his engineering class. Instead, she fights back going to the Dean of Engineering and then the President of the university. In this regard, Ginny was fortunate, as most women would not have had the support and friendship of people in significant positions. Nevertheless, she is determined and accomplished, proving both academically and technically that she belongs in the Purdue aeronautical engineering program. This is another characteristic of systemic discrimination that women in science and engineering encountered: they often had to produce superior results compared to their male counterparts.

Stemp provides readers with a map of Purdue University as it looked in 1935. As with the first book, Under Amelia's Wing also includes some of the last photographs of Amelia Earhart, taken during her time at Purdue University. However, there is no information on Amelia Earhart's world flight nor of her disappearance in July, 1937. Readers can  find more information from the Amelia Earhart Collection in the University of Purdue archives. There is no information provided about the novel's cover image but it is from the Purdue University collection, taken in 1936 and shows Amelia Earhart sitting on top of the Lockheed Electra with a group of women aviation students.

The third book in the Ginny Ross series will most likely focus on the war years and should offer a fitting conclusion to her story. .

Book Details:

Under Amelia's Wing by Heather Stemp
Halifax: Nimbus Publishing     2020
253 pp.

Rescuing Titanic: A true story of quiet bravery in the North Atlantic by Flora Delargy

In this new picture book about the sinking of the Titanic, Flora Delargy focuses on the Carpathia, the ship that came to the rescue in the hours after the disaster.

The story begins with a pictorial of the key crew and passengers of the Carpathia and to a lesser extent, the Titanic. For the Carpathia, there is Captain Arthur Rostron and First Officer Horace Dean. For the Titanic, Captain Edward Smith, wireless operators Jack Phillips and Harold Bride.

The setting is that of the Hudson River Harbor, in New York in the  golden era of steam travel. Steamships offered a relatively fast way (under eight days) to cross the Atlantic. 

On April 10, 1912, the "grandest ship ever to take to the ocean, the RMS Titanic departed from Southhampton bound for New York."  Meanwhile, on April 11, 1912, the RMS Carpathia, captained by Arthur Rostron was preparing to depart from Pier 54 on the Hudson River. Her destination was the cities of Genoa, Naples, Trieste and Fiume. The Carpathia's journey would take eleven days. Her passengers were mostly American tourists or Europeans who lived in the United States.

At 11pm on Sunday, April 14, the Carpathia was making steady progress crossing the Atlantic Ocean. The last of the passengers were being settled into their cabins, the night was clear and cold. But on the Titanic, an iceberg had been sighted dead ahead. An attempt to avoid it failed and the ship struck the iceberg on her starboard side. Captain Smith was told but within the first ten minutes, five forward compartments had flooded. Thomas Andrew, the ship's designer informed the captain that the ship was doomed and would sink within ninety minutes.

From their Marconi Wireless Room, wireless operators Jack Phillips and Harold Bridge frantically sent out distress signals. In the Carpathia's wireless room, Harold Cottam was preparing to retire when he received the Titanic's SOS distress signal. He immediately told First Officer Dean and together they raced to Captain Rostron's cabin to inform him. Rostron immediately set into action, ordering the ship to turn around and head to Titanic's reported position.

Carpathia would arrive over two hours after the Titanic sank, but would save seven hundred and six passengers and crew, thanks to the efforts of Captain Rostron and the crew of his ship. 

Discussion

For those fascinated by the tragedy of the sinking of Titanic, Rescuing Titanic offers a retelling from a fresh perspective, that of those on the Carpathia.

In this account, Flora Delargy focuses on the details of the ship and the actions of the crew and passengers as the rescue of Titanic was undertaken. Delargy notes that as the Carpathia raced to the Titanic, Captain Rostron had his crew undertake a number of preparations both above and below deck. He is portrayed as competent and professional. His crews' preparations were focused on getting survivors out of the lifeboats quickly and safely, setting up makeshift hospitals and increasing the Carpathia's speed as much as possible. At the same time, Captain Rostron was not reckless: he worried about the safety of his crew and his ship as it navigated the iceberg infested waters. Many of these small but important details are not often told in the sinking of the Titanic. And once all of the survivors were on board, Rostron was careful to protect his traumatized passengers. The wireless operators were under his strict orders not to divulge the names of any survivors to news reporters. When Carpathia arrived in New York bay it was surrounded by the boats of news reporters desperate to interview Titanic's survivors. Captain Rostron did not allow any to board his ship. Delargy

To tell the Carpathia's story, Delargy has crafted many interesting illustrations, rendered in watercolor and ink. Some of the illustrations are very basic such as those portraying the key crew and passengers, the tools of navigation used by the crew of a ship and the different decks and areas of the Carpathia. Other illustrations, such as the pages that portray the Titanic frantically messaging nearby ships, the Titanic shooting flares as it lowers lifeboats, the Carpathia navigating the ice field, and the survivors seeing the shadow of the Carpathia as she arrives, capture the atmosphere of that night, brilliantly clear, and cold. One feels the vastness of the ocean and the danger too. Other illustrations portray the hurried preparations on the Carpathia in contrast to the almost ambivalent atmosphere on Titanic as her passengers struggled to believe the unsinkable ship was actually sinking.

Rescuing Titanic is sure to appeal to Titanic fans who might want a different perspective on the disaster that occurred almost one hundred and ten years ago. It is well written, with a lively attention to detail, and evocative illustrations. Delargy has included a Glossary, Sources and suggestions for Further Readings.

Book Details:

Rescuing Titanic: A true story of quiet bravery in the North Atlantic by Flora Delargy
Beverly, MA: Wide Eyed Editions      2021
75 pp.

Rock by Rock: The Fantastical Garden of Nek Chand by Jennifer Bradbury

 Nek Chand lived in the busy city of Chandigarh, India. Ned was homesick. He was one of millions of Indians who had been displaced due to the partition of India into two countries: India for Hindus and Pakistani for Muslims. The northern part of India became Pakistan, a country for Muslims. Nek and his family were Hindu and no longer welcome in their village so they fled south to India. Nek missed his village with its beautiful rosewood trees.

Years later, Nek began exploring the patch of forest near the edge of the city. He began to clear the forest of fallen branches and winding vines. He brought in stones, placing them in rings or using them to line the paths he made. Soon Nek began to collect other materials as well including broken dishes, tiles, discarded cement powder and wire bangles. He spent time hunting through the rubble of the villages that the new city had been built on.

From these discarded items, Nek began creating beautiful things: figures made from wire, concrete, bangles, animal figures from cloth. He made paths and tunnels, arches and stairs. As time passed, Nek continued to plan. Until one day his secret garden was discovered. Workmen planning a new road hacked their way into Nek's garden and were stunned at what they found. 

The city leaders were supportive of what Nek Chand had created and they offered him a job working full time on his rock garden. Soon his garden was open to the public and people came in large numbers.

When one city official grew jealous and tried to destroy the garden, the people came forward to protect their beloved space.

Discussion

Nek Chand Saini was born December 15, 1924 in Shakargarh "township" located in what is now Narowal District, Punjab, Pakistan. When he was born his town was located in the Gurdaspur district in British India. With the Partition in 1947, Nek and his family moved to India. In 1951 Nek began to work as a road inspector for the Public Works Department.

In 1958, he began collecting rocks, discarded and recyclable items from the villages that were being demolished to make way for the new city of Chandigarh. In 1965 Nek was working creating his garden in secret at night and on weekends in forest reserve. He was inspired by the building of Chandigarh, watching how the concrete was being used. Building in the reserve was forbidden but Nek began creating sculptures and settings of Indian life. 

It wasn't until 1975 that his garden was discovered by city workers. At first city officials wanted the garden destroyed but pressure from the people managed to save his work. Eventually the garden was designated a "Rock Garden" and opened to the public in 1976. At this time, Nek was given a salary and was asked to work full time designing the garden. 

With the recognition of the area as a special garden, Nek began to design his space in earnest, creating plazas, a waterfall, paths and over five thousand concrete figures. He also created a miniature village. Some of his statues have been exhibited in shows around the world. In 1997, the Nek Chand Foundation was created to protect and administer the garden. Thousands of people visit the Rock Garden of Chandigarh every day. Nek passed away in 2015 at the age of ninety. You can read more about the different phases of Nek Chand's work in the garden in an  article published in the Winter/ Spring 2000 issue of The Folk Art Messenger.

 Jennifer Bradbury presents all the interesting details of Nek's story in an easy to read manner, accompanied by the colourful digital artwork of illustrator Sam Boughton. The story of Nek Chand, not well known outside of India, will inspire young readers as they learn about a man struggling to cope with displacement and loss. Bradbury writes that Nek's missing his village,  "...moved from his heart into his hands, and his hands knew what to do." Creating the garden helped heal Nek from his experiences of the Partition. Nek took his disappointment and loss, channeling it into a creative endeavour that brought people together. His resourcefulness at using discarded materials allowed him to create a space where people could explore, come together and enjoy. This was important for a country like India, where differences had resulted in the partition of a country into two new countries, separating people of different religions . Instead of making a monument to differences, Nek Chand created a space for everyone, based on his own country's culture. Nek Chand's garden remains a space where people can come together.

Readers will find  more information in A Note and a Timeline located at the back of the book, both of which include a few photographs. 

Nek Chand garden image credit: https://www.greatgardensoftheworld.com/gardens/rock-garden/

Book Details:

Rock by Rock The Fantastical Garden of Nek Chand by Jennifer Bradbury
Toronto: Atheneum Books For Young People    2021

The Queen's Wardrobe by Julia Golding

The Queen's Wardrobe presents the life story of Queen Elizabeth II, ruling monarch of Great Britain while also providing an interesting history of the clothing she has worn throughout her reign.

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was born on April 21, 1926 to the Duke and Duchess of York. Her family called her Lilibet. Lilibet's great-great-grandmother was Queen Victoria and her uncle Edward was to be the next ruler of England. 

Elizabeth was christened in a gown Queen Victoria had made for her first child in 1841. It was designed and sewn by Janet Sutherland, daughter of a Scottish coalminer. Janet was eventually awarded the title of Embroiderer to the Queen for her exquisite work.  The baptismal gown was retired in 2004 after being worn by sixty-one royal babies!

Throughout her life, Elizabeth's clothes reflected her position within the royal family and the activities she took part in. Unlike her brothers, Elizabeth and her sister Margaret did not attend school, and were taught by their governess, Marion Crawford. They often wore matching coats, dresses or long gowns when they attended public events.

 

In 1936, Elizabeth's grandfather, King George V died and his eldest son Edward became king. However, Edward wished to marry an American divorcee, Wallis Simpson, something not allowed at that time. He abdicated and Elizabeth's father, Albert became king in 1937. Elizabeth wore a specially designed gown for his coronation. 

During World War II, Elizabeth's wardrobe was more practical: her clothing was made from cloth purchased with ration coupons and were plain. When she joined the Auxillary Territorial Service, she wore a khaki uniform and  even overalls!

When Elizabeth married on November 20, 1947, she had to buy the material for her wedding dress using ration coupons. England, like the rest of Europe was still struggling to recover economically from the war. Her gown was designed by Norman Hartnell and made from Chinese silk embellished with crystals and pearls. 

 

In 1952, her father King George VI died while Elizabeth and her husband were on tour in Kenya. She returned home to be crowned Queen. Once again designer Norma Hartnell crafted her gown, in white satin, decorated with the emblems of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Throughout the decades of her reign, Queen Elizabeth's wardrobe changed somewhat but often did not reflect current trends. She continued to wear a hat, an accessory most women in the early 20th century wore. Today, the Queen continues to wear hats, or scarves when she "dresses down" and loves practical, comfortable clothing.

Discussion

 

The Queen's Wardrobe offers not only a biography of Queen Elizabeth II but also some interesting facts about her wardrobe, crown jewels and customs.

 

Readers are invited into this picture book by the exquisite cover with its gold accents, created digitally by illustrator Kate Hindely. Golding traces each era of Queen Elizabeth's life, focusing on the most important events while describing the clothing she wore during that time. There are plenty of interesting facts sprinkled along the way. For example, about Elizabeth's baptismal gown, Golding writes, "The silk was woven in London, the lace came from Devon, and the gown was designed and sewn by a Scottish coalminer's daughter, Janet Sutherland." Of the Queen's coronation gown Golding writes, "The embroidery alone took the workers 3,500 hours over three months."  Golding mentions the designers who created Elizabeth's unique outfits. Of her wardrobe in the 1970's Golding states, "The designer Hardy Amies, who had been making clothes for the Queen since the 1950's, brought some more daring looks into the Queen's wardrobe around this time. He created her two most famous Silver Jubilee outfits: a pink day dress and matching hat with dangling blossoms,and the white beaded gown that appeared on nearly all the souvenirs from that year."

Although illustrator Kate Hindley does a good job of portraying the Queen's outfits using digital media, this picture book would have benefitted greatly from a few photographs of the Queen's more important pieces such as her wedding and coronation gowns.

Nevertheless, The Queen's Wardrobe is a fascinating and informative account of Britain's longest serving monarch. Elizabeth has just reached her  Platinum Jubilee, her 70th year as Queen of England.

Book Details:

The Queen's Wardrobe by Julia Golding
London, England: Two Hoots      2021

As Long As The Rivers Flow by Larry Loyie

One day ten-year-old Lawrence's papa returns from checking his trapline with a surprise - a baby owl - and owlet he has found beneath a tree. Unable to find its mother, Papa has brought it home and tells Lawrence and his younger sister, Maruk to care for it, feed it wild meat until it is big enough to return to the forest. They decide to fix a place in the shed for the owlet to roost. Lawrence suggests they call it Ooh-Hoo, which means owl in their language. Every day the children feed Ooh-Hoo pieces of uncooked rabbit meat, bring him clean water and keep the shed clean. At night the children take him out to play: he loves hanging upside down on the clothesline.

 

Soon Papa and Grandpa work on the wagon, greasing the axels in preparation for the journey to the summer camp near the river. While Lawrence and his family eat moose stew and fresh bread inside their log home, Mama talks about taking the vegetables and the canvas tarp for drying berries. She tells Papa that Kokom has heard "that children are being taken from their families and put in school far away." This puzzles and worries Lawrence because he doesn't want to leave home. 

The time to leave for summer camp arrives. While Lawrence and his mother retrieve the remaining vegetables from last summer from the root cellar, his Uncle Louis hitches Blackie and Nellie, their horses to the wagon. With Papa and Uncle Lois leading the way on foot to clear branches that may have blown down, Grandma and Grandpa sit in the front seat of the wagon. Maruk will stay behind with Aunt Jenny to look after Ooh-Hoo. Accompanying Lawrence's family is another wagon with Auntie Rose, Uncle James and his cousins Clara, Leo, William and Sammy.

The two families camp at the same spot on the river every year. Lawrence and his cousin Sammy go swimming after rubbing down the horses. Grandpa and Grandma set up the lean-to for sleeping, laying canvas tarp and blankets over the spruce boughs. During the summer camp, Lawrence helps pick tasty saskatoon berries and works on his bush skills. But it is while out with his kokom looking for medicinal plants that Lawrence has his greatest adventure!

But when they return home from their summer camp, Lawrence and his  sister learn that they will be taken away from their home to go to a school far away. They must go otherwise their parents will be sent to prison. When the day arrives, both Lawrence and his sister cry as they are put into the truck with its high sides. 

Discussion

As Long As the Rivers Flow offers young readers a window into the life of a young Cree boy before he is taken way to a residential school. Ten-year-old Lawrence doesn't attend school but is busy learning the ways of his people; learning bush skills, how to care for animals, medicinal herbs and so forth. Life is simple, carefree, and almost idyllic. It is a life that includes many generations of his family, his grandparents, uncles, parents and siblings and it is a life in which knowledge and oral history are passed from one generation to the next.

Loyie fills his account with many pieces of  Indigenous knowledge and ways of life. For example, while out on a walk with his kokom, Lawrence is told,  "When it is dried, this rat root is good for a sore throat or a cold. Chew a small piece or make a tea with it. I always carry rat root wherever I go." His father encourages him to practice certain skills that will enable him to be a good hunter. "There's a family of beavers living in the river. They come up for food early every morning and late in the evening. If they smell you, they will dive down and go somewhere else. See if you can fool them." Descriptions of preparations for summer camp, making the beds in the lean-to portray a simple but practical way of life in the bush. The sense of community is demonstrated after his grandmother kills an attacking grizzly bear;  the bear is taken back to camp, the meat cut into portions, smoked and dried to be shared with all the families.

Loyie's detailed account of his last journey to his family's summer camp gives readers some sense of what he lost by being forcibly sent away from his family to school. It's not just the cultural knowledge that was never learned, but the time spent with parents and grandparents, the experiences of living with family and community over the years that were forever lost. 

 

The lovely water colour illustrations by Heather D. Holmlund capture the beauty of the land where Lawrence and his family lived. This beautiful artwork also captures the wide range of emotions from the joy of Lawrence and Marluk when they are shown the owlet, Lawrence's quiet patience by the beaver pond, the grief of his mother and grandmother over their children being forcibly removed to the childrens' sadness as they are driven away in the truck.

The title, As Long As The Rivers Flow is a reference to what Lawrence's grandfather tells him during a family gathering, " This land has always given us what we need to live...Like they told us long ago, as long as the rivers flow, this land is ours. It is up to all of us to care for it..." Despite the injustice of the residential schools, Lawrence worked to reclaim his Cree heritage in an effort to heal.  The Epilogue, at the back of the book is filled with black and white photographs of Lawrence and his siblings, the residential school and his grandparents. Lawrence attended St. Bernard's Mission residential school in northern Alberta. He would not return home until he was fourteen-years-old and struggled to fit in to a very changed world as an adult. He taught himself to type and had a successful career as a First Nations author. 

As Long As The Rivers Flow won the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Nonfiction. Lawrence (Larry) Loyie passed away in 2010 after a lengthy battle with cancer.

Book Details:

As Long As The Rivers Flow by Larry Loyie
Toronto: A Groundwood Book    2002

Stealing Home by J. Torres

In the summer of 1941, the Asahi baseball team were the pride of Powell Street, the champions of the Japanese community in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Asahi helped the Japanese cope with life a culture that was mostly unwelcoming.

Because the Asahi were smaller players, they developed a strategy they called "Brain Ball", of bunting and stealing bases, to win against teams with much larger, stronger players.But during the summer, the Asahi were knocked out of the season playoffs in the semi finals. Sandy's father felt it was an omen.

In December, 1941, the Japanese attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawai'i. Sandy's parents listened intently to the radio report, his father looked worried. The attack would change everything in Sandy's life. Before the attack he attended school, read comics and loved to listen to the radio show called the Lone Ranger. Sandy also attended Japanese classes. He loved watching baseball, especially watching the Asahi play and to play catch with his father.

When Sandy returns to school on Monday, December 7 though, he finds a very different situation. Their teacher has to remind students that their Japanese classmates are their friends. Later in the week at the park, Sandy and his friends Charlie and Hiro are turned away from playing ball with the other kids. They are called names and have rocks thrown at them.

In January, 1942, Sandy hopes to play ball with his father at the park but he is told that he is too busy with his patients. His father has a busy doctor's practice on Powell Street. In February, a notice is posted that people who are Japanese are not allowed to be in areas on the coast. At dinner, Sandy's mother, Mariko tells his father that there are camps being built in ghost towns. This scares Sandy and Ty.

In March, Sandy's parents are forced to give up their radio, their car and their camera. They are also forced to follow a curfew, making it difficult for his father to visit his patients. His father's visit to the women's dormitory at the old exhibition grounds is deeply upsetting as he sees the terrible conditions Japanese women and children are forced to live in. When James receives a call to see Mr. Takahashi, Mariko refuses to let him go, because of the curfew. Mr. Takahashi dies, leaving Mariko deeply distressed and James so angry he yells at her and leaves the house. Sandy is angry at how his father behaved and doesn't want him to come home. By April, the RCMP show up at their door informing them that their father has been sent to "where he's needed most" and they are to pack two suitcases and board the train.

Sandy's  mother frantically packs their bags, taking only what's needed, the rest supposedly to go to the "custodian" for "safekeeping". What Sandy, Ty and their mother did not realize is that this would be their last day in their home - ever.

Sandy believed they were going to see Papa, but that was not the case. The long train ride, followed by a ride in the back of a truck led them to a camp, with shacks, no electricity and no running water. The bare shacks, the poor food and the harsh living conditions are to be their home, their prison. 

Discussion

Stealing Home is a graphic novel about the internment of Japanese Canadians during World War II. Written by award-winning Filipino-Canadian comic book writer, J. Torres, Stealing Home focuses on  the period leading up to the internment and the early years in the camps. 

The novel, with its realistic illustrations by comic book artist, David Namisato, focuses on how the bombing of Pearl Harbor impacted Canadians of Japanese heritage. They were already marginalized in Canadian society but had managed to find a way to lead mostly normal lives. In the novel, Sandy explains how he and his friends and even his normal reticent father found enjoyment in their local Japanese baseball team. Sandy led a mostly normal life, attending school and playing catch with his father. There were hints that his father, a doctor, was not completely accepted into Canadian society as he had to practice medicine at the local Japanese hospital.

However, because of the bombing, all Japanese living in Canada became suspect, with the Canadian people and the Canadian government viewing them as potential threats. The results of this fear were curfews, confiscation and incarceration: the loss of personal possessions such as cameras, radios and cars and eventually  the loss of businesses, farms and their homes. But Stealing Home shows the effects on families like Sandy's. He watches as his parent's marriage is strained, with his father yelling at his mother and hardly coming home. Sandy loses his friends at school and is no longer welcome to play with the other kids. With his mother and younger brother Ty, Sandy is forced to travel to the interior to what was really a prison, and live in appalling conditions.

And yet, Stealing Home is also a testament to the ingenuity, resiliency and courage of many Japanese Canadians. In the novel, Sandy finds hope and solace in playing baseball, a sport that has always helped his community. After recovering from a serious illness, Sandy learns that the Japanese have made a baseball diamond in the camp and that his father is playing the position of right fielder. Sandy states that for himself and the other Japanese in the camp, baseball is a metaphor for life. "It was about dealing with whatever is thrown your way..."  For Sandy and the others in the camp, "...baseball was the one thing they were able to steal back. It did not discriminate against us. It did not impose any limits on us. It helped us forget everything that was wrong in the world. Even if just for one moment in time." Baseball gave the Japanese Canadians in the camps, back their humanity and their dignity. May we always remember the dignity and humanity of all peoples with whom we share this planet.

Torres has included an Afterword by Susan Aihoshi, author of Torn Apart: The Internment Diary of  Mary Kobayashi, which provides  further information on the internment of Japanese Canadians from a personal perspective. It should be noted that the Vancouver Asahi team was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.

Book Details:

Stealing Home by J. Torees
Toronto: Kids Can Press   2021
111 pp.

A Terrible Tide by Suzanne Meade

It is early in the evening of Monday, November 18, 1929 on the Burin Peninsula, located on the southern tip of Newfoundland. Celia Rose's family are preparing to celebrate her thirteenth birthday with everyone home for this special dinner. Her sister Winnie, who has a limp due to a bad leg is helping set the table for seven. Celia has just set down the last of the new porcelain plates her father purchased last year when the floor begins to shake. As the shaking intensifies, the everyday plates fly out of the cupboards to the floor, 

Celia's father orders everyone out of the house. Celia's older sister Viola, her fifteen-year-old brother Eddie, Winnie, her younger brother Eddie, and her mom Addie and her father George, all grab their coats and run outside. Celia's family, along with their neighbours, watch as buildings sway and boats bob wildly. After the shaking stops they all wonder what might have happened. An explosion or low flying planes? No one seems to know.

After their home is checked by Celia's father, they return home, wary that the shaking might start again. Celia worries about their dog, Boomer, a huge black Newfoundland Lab, who hasn't been seen since the shaking began. Celia and her family go down to the Taylor's General Store when Eddie arrives with the message that Uncle Ray has called on the telephone. Before Celia gets a chance to talk to her uncle, the shaking resumes and they have to hang up.

On their way home, Celia's Uncle Bert meets them to ask her mom to come and tend to Nan who has fallen and cut her head. When her mom returns, Celia asks to go search for Boomer but she is told to go to bed. However, Celia can't sit still, so under the premise of using the outhouse she grabs her coat and boots and heads outside. Down at their dock, Celia meets Eddie who reassures her that Boomer is able to take care of himself. At the dock, Celia hears a strange sucking sound as well as a low rumble. When she walks to the end of the dock, she sees the water in the bay has drained away and the boats laying on their sides in the mud.

Suddenly Celia hears voices yelling to run fast. She turns and is shocked to see at the end of the bay, a frothing wall of water racing towards her. As she sprints up the shore past her home, Celia notices the door of her family's home wide open and hopes they have fled. Ahead she spots her mother, Viola pulling Winnie and Henry to higher ground. Can she make it to safety before the wave crashes into her and her family?

Discussion

A Terrible Tide is a short novel by Canadian author Suzanne Meade about the 1929 tsunami that killed twenty-eight people in Newfoundland. The tsunami was the result of a magnitude 7.2 earthquake along two faults on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. The quake caused an enormous submarine landslide that disabled twelve submarine transatlantic cables. It also caused a tsunami that was comprised of three waves which crashed into the coast of the Burin Peninsula. The residents of Newfoundland had no warning of the impending tsunami, as the region had no buoys to measure water height. Twenty-five of the deaths were due to drowning, while three others died of injuries sustained in the disaster.

A Terrible Tide captures the initial terror of the earthquake as the people of the Burin Peninsula struggled to understand what was happening, the devastation the tsunami caused and the difficulties the residents of Taylor's Bay endured in the days immediately afterwards.  The story is told through the eyes of thirteen-year-old Celia Rose, who is struggling to find her place both in her family and in the community. The novel covers the time period from 5:00pm on Monday, November 18, 1929 until Tuesday, November 26, 1929, a little over a week. Meade highlights some of those struggles which included the lack of warm clothing and even proper boots, the destruction of most of the food supplies including winter supplies stored from gardens, a lack of fresh water due to fouling from sea water, the loss of most homes and most of the fishing boats and gear. 

 

The destroyed telegraph cables, left the Burin Peninsula isolated and unable to contact the outside world for help. As conditions continue to deteriorate, Celia's father and mother debate whether he should attempt to travel by boat to get help. Celia and her family, along with others in the town, struggle to find enough food to eat, relying on turnips and a few ducks. Without proper fishing gear and likely because of the tsunami, they are unable to catch fish. Without medical aid, they only watch as young Henry becomes desperately ill from a wound on his leg. Despite all of this, the residents find the time to enjoy a dance, to raise their spirits and bring the survivors together.

When help does finally arrive, Celia's father makes a life changing decision to leave their community and start over elsewhere. This is a difficult thing for Celia to accept. She is devastated because it means leaving behind some beloved members of her family. But her mother tells her, "Oh, my child, it's the way of life. A family must grow and change. We could never stay together forever."

This well-written story offers younger readers a glimpse into life in the early 20th century on a remote part of Canada's East Coast (Newfoundland would become a Canadian province in 1949).  It is a story of resiliency and courage, of self-sufficiency and community. Meade includes a Historical Note at the back, complete with black and white photographs of the aftermath of the disaster.

Book Details:

A Terrible Tide by Suzanne Meade
Toronto: Second Story Press   2021
185 pp.

Out Of My Heart by Sharon M. Draper

Eleven-year-old Melody Brooks is on summer vacation which means she and her four-year-old sister Penny spend most of their days at their neighbour, Mrs. V's, short for Violet Valencia.  At the end of school, all everyone is talking about is going to summer camps: rock climbing camp, and even mermaid camp. Melody wondered if there were even camps for kids like her so with the help of the local librarian, Mr. Francisco, she's been able to find a nearby camp that might just work. 

When Melody's mother, who is a nurse, arrives home, Melody using her Medi-Talker which she calls Elvira, tells her mother that she wants to go to summer camp. The Medi-Talker allows Melody to communicate with her family and those around her. When she shows her mom the information on Green Glades Therapeutic Recreational Camp, her mom and Mrs. V just seem like they might be on board. 

The camp offers four girls per cabin with their own individual counselor, boating, hiking, swimming and nightly campfires along with ziplining and even horseback riding! Although it's late June and there are only a few spots left, Melody's mother downloads all the paperwork for the camp and they send off the application. 

However the next day, they receive a reply that all the spots are taken and that Melody has been placed on a waiting list. This is devastating to Melody whose heart was set on attending the camp. But  then a few days later, with a sudden cancellation, Melody finds herself headed to Camp Green Glades facing a whole new set of experiences she never, ever imagined.

 

There are numerous shopping trips to buy new shorts, Nikes and jeans. Finally, Sunday morning arrives, and Melody along with her four-year-old sister Penny, and her parents make the two hour drive to the camp. On the way Melody begins experiencing panic and doubts about attending camp. When they arrive, Melody and her family are greeted by Cassie, the camp's director and given a tour by Melody's camp counselor, Trinity.  Melody's still not certain she wants to stay but as the day goes on, that uncertainty changes into a determination to meet this new challenge head-on!

Discussion

Out Of My Heart is the sequel to Draper's popular novel, Out Of My Mind, about a young girl with cerebral palsy. In this story Melody is beginning to grow up and wants to have the same life experiences as her peers. One of those experiences is going to summer camp.

Melody overcomes her fears and not only participates fully in all the activities in the camp, but she also has her first crush, and even manages to survive a ride on a runaway horse! Draper details all of these experiences in a day by day account that is both interesting, but at times tedious too. But in reading through all that Melody experiences at camp, we see a young girl on the verge of her teen years, who is both intelligent and courageous. 

Green Glades offers Melody the chance to make real friends for the first time in her life and for people to see the real Melody, to see past her disability and to what she can do. One night Melody reflects on the atmosphere of the camp. "And that made me think about how here at camp, no one was doing what so many people I've met seem to do. Lots of folks still have a tendency to just look at me from the outside. They notice the wheelchair and the head wobbling and the fact that my hands just can't hold still. I drool sometimes -- which, yes, is totally embarrassing. Folks don't often look deep enough to see the kid who knows the names of every single bone in the human body. I'm almost twelve, but I read on a twelfth-grade level." 

When Melody makes a close friend in Noah Abercrombie, she tells him "I'd give anything for people to see me first, not my chair, and to do more stuff on my own, like hanging out with my best friend...if I had one."  She discovers that she does have a best friend in Noah who holds her hand. To that end the camp gives Melody and the other campers the chance to "fit in". Whether it was sitting around the campfire or playing in the park Melody finds herself and the other campers as "insiders instead of the outsiders for a change."

Camp widens Melody's perspective, showing her the possibilities to be independent. She and the other girls in her group, Jocelyn, Athena and Karyn assert a bit of that independence when they ask their counselors to be able to spend time alone together. And when she returns home, she's determined to see if she can make better playgrounds in her town for kids like her.

Overall, Out Of My Heart is a fitting conclusion to Melody's story from Out Of My Mind. Some of the musical references are dated and young readers may not relate to them. Tweens today are into Instagram and Twitch and prefer rap and would probably relate more to superheroes. It's likely kids like Melody, Noah and Jocelyn would have similar interests. It's also difficult to believe that someone like Melody would never have been in a pool, especially given that her mother is a nurse. Physical therapy in a pool would probably be something a child with cerebral palsy would definitely have experienced, particularly by the age of eleven.

Despite these obvious inconsistencies, Draper has crafted a lovable heroine whose determination to become the master of her own life will resonate with young tweens. Out of My Heart encourages everyone to really see the person behind whatever physical, mental or emotional challenge they may have.

Book Details:

Out Of My Heart by Sharon M. Draper
Toronto: A Caitlyn Dlouhy Book     2021
342 pp.

A Struggle For Hope by Carol Matas

Ruth Mendenberg is safe now - at least from the Nazis. She survived the Holocaust and after leaving the displaced persons camp in Germany, returned to Poland. When she went to her Uncle Moishe's home, she found his maid living there, wearing her mother's dress and pearls. 

A man named Saul asked Ruth to help a group of Jewish children in Poland travel to Palestine. Believing everyone in her family dead, Ruth agreed and so she made the dangerous trip through Europe, without identity papers or permission, to cross into each country. In Italy they were taken aboard a boat and it was on this boat that Ruth found her brother Simon.  

It is May, 1948 and Ben-Gurion has just declared the land they are living on in Palestine to be the new country of Israel. Ruth is living in Kibbutz David along with Simon. When she first arrived at the kibbutz, she, Simon and her boyfriend Ziv joined the Haganah, the underground Jewish defense force.  Ruth is recovering from an injured arm and Zvi from injuries from a land mine.

Their kibbutz is under siege by Arab soldiers and to calm the children, Ruth is asked to tell a story. While she is doing this, one mother, Aviva realizes her five year old daughter, Batya is missing. After a brief search, Batya is found in the garden, shot in the stomach by a sniper. Ruth decides to risk rushing Batya by jeep out of the kibbutz to a hospital. With Zvi driving, Ruth holding Batya and Aviva manning a gun they race long.  Aviva is shot dead by a sniper but they make it to the hospital.  Batya's life is saved and she begins to recover.

When Simon comes to visit Ruth, Zvi and Batya at the hospital, he tells them that Kibbutz David is holding their position but that many kibbutziim are in trouble. Simon has come to determine if Ruth is well enough to go to the Syrian front to help Kibbutz Degania which is under siege. She is sent to Kibbutz Degania, where she and Zvi dig trenches. When they are attacked by Syrian tanks, Ruth and Zvi throw Molotov cocktails and set a tank on fire leading to the Syrians retreating. While their actions help save the kibbutz, both Ruth and Zvi are back in hospital. 

Simon tells them that the two Israeli factions, the Haganah led by David Ben-Gurion and the Irgun led by Menachim Begin are in conflict over an incoming shipment of arms. Even Simon who joined the Irgun and Zvi who belongs to the Haganah can't agree as to what should happen to the arms. During the ceasefire with the Arabs, the ship, the Altalena arrives with more refugees from Europe and the weapons. But suddenly the two Jewish factions fire on one another and Simon is seriously injured. Although his life is saved, the loss of his leg triggers the haunting memories Ruth has kept buried for so long. The memories of a loss so great that she loses all hope for the future.

Discussion

A Struggle For Hope is a thought-provoking short novel for middle grade readers set in 1948 in the newly formed state of Israel. As the title indicates, the main character, seventeen-year-old Ruth Mendenberg is struggling to recover a sense of hope in her life. A survivor of the brutality of Auschwitz, she has been struggling to deal with the loss of her friend Lotte, who saved her life in the camp, and the ongoing war in Israel that she is now a part of. The novel deals with not only the theme of hope, but the existence of evil in the world.

The novel consists of three parts; Part One is set in Israel from May to June, 1948,  Part Two covers Ruth and Lotte's experiences in Auschwitz from 1943 until the end of the war, and Part Three resumes the story in Israel, June 1948. An Epilogue set in Israel, 1958 provides the satisfying ending to Ruth's story.

Matas explores several relevant and timely themes in A Struggle For Hope, the most interesting being the one of evil in the world. In the kibbutz in Israel, Ruth, her brother Simon, and her boyfriend Zvi discuss the existence of God based on the horrendous evil they have all confronted as Jews during the Holocaust. Three years later, Ruth continues to struggle to understand what happened to her. "Why did they do it? How could they do it? Why did so-called good, ordinary people let them do it? How could God let is happen? Does he exist? And if he does, does he care, even a little bit?"

Simon believes that God wants people to behave a certain way, but Zvi doesn't believe in God at all. "Any god that would murder millions because they didn't pray enough or follow his stupid rules is a cruel and vindictive god," says Zvi." However, Ruth suggests that maybe God couldn't do anything because of free will. "If he makes us do thing we would just be puppets." She tells Zvi, "...why would God create a world where men can be so evil and in fact where evil can thrive?"  Ruth then goes on to explain what Lotte told her while they were in the concentration camp - that people freely chose Hitler because they wanted to make their lives better. The problem is people, not God.

In Part Two, a flashback to Ruth's time in Auschwitz, we learn that she was helped by an older girl named Lotte Rosenthal. Lotte tries to explain to Ruth how things got to the point where the Nazis are now murdering millions of people. Lotte explains this to Ruth because if she survives she wants her to make sure this never happens again. Lotte explains that Hitler succeeded because "he  repeated a lie over and over and over again. At first, people knew the things he said weren't true. But they got tired of correcting him over and over again, and they became confused too. What was a lie and what was the truth? You never knew with him. And then it didn't matter because it became too dangerous to correct him. And then people simply began to believe the lies..."

At the end of the novel, Ruth tells Zvi she desires real peace. Remembering Nazi Germany she states, "...I want us all to be better Zvi. I never want us to be small or little or mean. I want peace,...Real peace, except not at any price. Not at the price of giving in to our leaders if they are wrong. We could easily go down the wrong path here, in our new land, if we aren't careful."  He tells Ruth that they can "choose to make ourselves better. We can be the hope." The hope is that in remembering how Nazi Germany happened, we can make the choice to never allow it to happen again.

A Struggle For Hope is set in the aftermath of World War II in the newly created state of Israel. It's likely most young readers may not have the background knowledge to appreciate the setting of the novel or the events of the War of Independence in the Middle East. Matas does offer some background information in her Afterword. A map of the newly formed state of Israel would have been helpful for her readers to help them situation the events in the novel.

A Struggle For Hope is another well-written novel by Carol Matas and is highly recommended for middle grade students. Matas, who was born and lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba is known for incorporating important issues into her novels. 

Book Details:

A Struggle For Hope by Carol Matas
Toronto: Scholastic Canada Ltd.  2021
186 pp.

Amelia and Me by Heather Stemp

It is predawn, on an August morning, in Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, 1931. Twelve-year-old Ginny Ross quietly slips out of bed, dresses and manages to sneak out of her home through the basement without waking her mom, six-year-old brother Billy, Nana and Papa. Ginny, along with her cousin Pat Cron and her best friend Jennie Mae Stevenson are headed to Harbour Grace airstrip to see the City of New York take off. 

The plane, with pilot Mr. George Brown and owner Mr. Henry Mears had landed the previous afternoon on a stopover before continuing their planned flight around the world. The Harbour Grace Standard reported that their journey would continue this morning with their departure at seven a.m. but Ginny overheard Uncle Harry, the airport supervisor telling Papa that they actually planned to leave before dawn.

The three girls run to the airfield where Pat tells them the City of New York with be the ninth plane to fly from Harbour Grace across the Atlantic. Jennie, whose father is the night watchman for the airport, wants them to get to her dad's shack. If they are found around the plane or on the runway, she's afraid her father will get in trouble. But as Jennie is leading Pat and Ginny to the shack, Ginny breaks away and runs over to the plane. Once in the plane, she slips into the pilot's seat, pretending she's flying over Harbour Grace. However, her daydream abruptly ends when Brown, Mears and Uncle Harry are driven to the plane by Mr. Stevenson. When Mr. Stevenson leaves, Ginny overhears the men arguing. 

George Brown believes the strong wind makes an early morning takeoff risky but Henry Mears wants the speed record. Mears puts his dog Tailwind into the plane and the three men walk to the end of the runway. Ginny jumps out of the plane but badly injures her right knee when she bangs it against the edge of the wheel cover. Ginny is seen limping away into the rocks by Mr. Mears but she is able to hide from him. They decide to go ahead with the flight but disaster strikes when the plane crashes into the rocks. 

Ginny is horrified and tries to run to help but collapses on the runway. Thankfully both men are saved, but Tailwind is not found. While Uncle Harry gets the car to pick up the two injured men, Ginny limps home. There, Llewellyn Crane, who works for Ginny's Papa in the store, helps her upstairs. Papa carries her to Doc Cron's to get stitches. At the doctor's office, Ginny tells Mr. Mears she wants to be a pilot but he is dismissive, telling her flying is not for girls. Then, seeing her split knee, Mears becomes angry, suggesting that Ginny is to blame for the crash. Both Mr. Brown and Uncle Harry try to convince him otherwise but Mr. Mears decides to speak with the constable.

After Doc Cron stitches Ginny's knee, she has to deal with her mom's anger at being at the airfield. Ginny's mom believes that planes are for men only. Pat visits Ginny while she's resting in bed and shows her a piece of metal she's found from the wreck of the City of New York plane. They look over her scrapbook of Amelia Earhart, who Ginny finds thrilling.

When Ginny receives a letter from Jennie Mae telling her that her actions at the airfield may cost her father his job, she gets Llew to take her in his wagon pulled by his black Labrador to see the constable at the jail. At the jail Ginny appeals to Constable Watts telling him she didn't cause the crash and that Mr. Stevenson didn't know she was at the airfield or in the plane. As they are leaving the jail, Llew tells Ginny about the one hundred dollar reward to find Mr. Mears' dog Tailwind. Ginny is certain she knows where the dog might be and she has Llew take her to the rocky area near the airfield. There they find Tailwind and return to the Stevenson's farm to show Jennie. They also learn that her father has been exonerated in the crash. At the Archibald Hotel, Jennie Mae, Llew and Ginny present Mr. Mears with his dog. Ginny splits the reward three ways, so they each receive thirty-five dollars.

At home, Ginny gives some of her money to Papa to help pay for a shipment from Bowring Brothers. This leaves her with ten dollars to put towards her future flying lessons. But suddenly her mother grabs the money, telling Ginny it will do fine for new material for winter coats. Stunned at her mother's meanness, Ginny becomes even more determined to take flying lessons.

To that end, later that night Ginny decides to write Amelia Earhart to ask for her help. She confides that like her, she wants to be a pilot and that she needs to plan to take lessons. To get around her mother's antagonism towards planes and flying, Ginny uses Uncle Harry's address as the return address. 

As her leg heals, Ginny faces more challenges both at school where she experiences bullying and at home regarding her desire to become a pilot. Her mother is determined to stop Ginny from pursuing her dream of flying. But the more Ginny's mother attempts to thwart her daughter's dream, the more determined Ginny becomes. Eventually Ginny makes a drastic choice that ultimately helps her achieve what she most needs: the support of Amelia Earhart and a future as a pilot. Even more, Ginny is a small part of  Amelia Earhart's historic milestone in women's aviation!

Discussion

Amelia and Me is a fictional story based on some of the real life experiences of author Heather Stemp's family. Ginny Ross, the main character in the novel was Heather Stemp's aunt while Billy Ross was her father. Papa (Joseph Ross) and Nana (Ross) were Heather's great-grandparents who owned a household goods store in Harbour Grace. As in the novel, Uncle Harry Archibald was the real life supervisor of the Harbour Grace airstrip and Aunt Rose Archibald owned the Archibald Hotel where pilots and newspaper reporters often stayed. As in the novel, Ginny Ross really did meet Amelia Earhart prior to her transatlantic flight where she landed in Ireland.

Using family members, and the setting of Harbour Grace, Stemp weaves an engaging story about a young girl determined to follow Amelia Earhart's trailblazing path and become a female pilot. Twelve-year-old Ginny Ross is determined to forge her own path and become an aviatrix. Ginny believes her draw towards flying may be due partly to the fact that a plane offers her a place where she feels she finally belongs. But Ginny also wonders if maybe her attraction to flying is because she's looking for something she can excel at.

 

This sets up a source of conflict between Ginny and her mother who believes planes are for men and who doesn't understand Ginny's obsession with planes. After a fight at school when Ginny wins the reward money for finding Tailwind, Ginny's mother is so furious she tells her she won't be seeing her friends and must only go to school. When her mother discovers Amelia Earhart's letter she destroys it and tells Ginny she will no longer be attending school but instead will be working full time. In her letter to Ginny, Amelia had advised her to finish school first before taking flying lessons. Not finishing school means an end to the possibility of becoming a pilot. So Ginny, in a show of grit and determination, runs away to Boston to find Amelia Earhart. Eventually, upon her return home, Ginny confronts her mother about her plan to become a pilot. Her mother tells Ginny that she doesn't believe she has what it takes and that she will fail. Where Ginny sees possibilities, her mother sees failure. Even meeting Amelia Earhart doesn't really change Ginny's mom's perspective. It is only after Amelia's successful transatlantic flight that Ginny's mother reveals her fear of losing her daughter. When Ginny outlines her plans and offers to help support their family, only then does her mother begin to relent.

 

Heather Stemp has crafted an interesting story with an endearing heroine, that is true to the Depression-era. The author incorporates many historical facts about life in the Dominion of Newfoundland (before it became a province of Canada) as well as during the Depression, that readers will find interesting. The novel also captures some of the interest that was so prevalent surrounding the exploits of Amelia Earhart as well as the interest generally in aviation during this era. Ginny's determination to follow a different path than that of her grandmother and mother, was part of the trend of young women working to forge new opportunities for themselves: to be better educated, to do the same things men were doing and to break free of the social and family expectations about what was proper for a young woman.

Amelia and Me is the first book in the Ginny Ross series. Stemp has included many photographs of the real-life people and places in the story, as well as a map of Harbour Grace and a Glossary of terms and words used in the  novel. 

Book Details:

Amelia and Me by Heather Stemp
Halifax, NS:  Nimbus Publishing Ltd.    2020
238 pp.