The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned To Read by Rita Lorraine Hubbard & Oge Mora

The Oldest Student tells the story of Mary Walker, born a slave in 1848 and her remarkable feat of learning to read when she was 116 years old.

When Mary was a young girl, working in the fields, she often gazed at the birds flying above and wondered what it was like to be free. At age eight, she knew there was no time for daydreaming on the Union Springs, Alabama where she was a child slave. Mary also knew that slaves were forbidden from learning to read or write. Mary decided that one day when she was free, she would learn to read.

Mary, her mother and her siblings eventually became free with the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation. While many freed slaves left the  South, Mary's family stayed. she and her mother, brothers and sister shared a one-room cabin. Mary worked at many different jobs to help her mother support their family. 

One day Mary was given a Bible by a group of evangelists as she traveled along a road. She couldn't read the words inside, but owning the Bible became her inspiration for learning to read. It would take Mary many decades before her wish came true.

Discussion

The story of Mary Walker is a lesson in determination, resiliency and the importance of life-long learning. Although not much is known about Mary's life between the ages of fifteen and one-hundred-sixteen, author Rita Lorraine Hubbard has creatively fleshed out her life story in an engaging way. Once Mary learned to read, her life took on a more public aspect. Her accomplishment was honoured by Chattanooga's mayor, the press and even the US Department of Education.

Inside the front and back covers of The Oldest Student, Hubbard has included photographs of Mary Walker and also included is an Author's Note about Mary's life, featuring a few more interesting details. A Selected Bibliography can be found in the front matter of the picture book. The illustrations accompanying the text were rendered in acrylic paint, china marker, coloured pencil, patterned paper, and book clippings by artist Oge Mora. 

Book Details:

The Oldest Student. How Mary Walker Learned To Read by Rita Lorrain Hubbard
New York: Schwartz & Wade Books           2020

A Whale Of The Wild by Rosanne Parry

A Whale Of The Wild tells the story of a young orca who endures a catastrophic event to save what's left of her family.

Vega is part of the Warmward Kinship of Great Salmon Eaters that includes her Greatmother Siria,  her mother Arctura, her Uncle Rigel, her younger brother Deneb, and her cousin Aquila and Aquila's son Altair.  Mother is carrying Vega's sister, Capella, and will soon give birth. Her pod live in the Salish Sea where they depend on the salmon that migrate from the sea back to the mountain streams every year. Vega,  Mother and Greatmother have been unsuccessfully searching the islands and inlets of the Salish Sea for Chinook salmon. Vega is young and she doesn't yet have the skills to be a good hunter like Mother or a master wayfarer like Greatmother.

When Vega catches a salmon, Mother invites her to lead the family as a wayfarer to The Gathering Place, where their kin meet up to hunt the salmon. Disaster almost ensues when Vega attempts to lead them across an open passage where they encounter a large boat. The noise from the boat drowns out their click stream and disorients Deneb and the rest of the pod. They are led to safety by Greatmother who has them dive deep to avoid the boat's growler (engine propellers).

This mistake devastates Vega who recklessly heads off on her own when Greatmother takes over. Aquila follows Vega, leaving behind her son Altair. She scolds Vega, telling her she must try harder, and that their family needs her. Vega follows Aquila as she leads them back to the Gathering Place. On their journey there is an earthquake on the seafloor that scares the two orcas. Vega notes though, that above water everything seems the same. Finally they meet their family at the Gathering Place where they also hear the voices of other families as they make their way in from the ocean.

Deneb is thrilled that Vega has returned. That night he overhears Greatmother telling of a time long ago when the earth shakes and how the open ocean is a refuge but also a danger. Greatmother tells Vega that they will stay because they need to wait for the salmon but they also must listen too. Mother gives birth to Capella, but she is still born. In her anguish, Vega steals the dead baby to take it to a graveyard of orcas called Blood Cove. Uncle Rigel sends Deneb to search along the shore for Vega, but when he's unable to find her, he continues on. But as Vega is returning through Deception Pass, another violent earthquake hits. Separated from her family and now in great danger, how will Vega manage to survive and meet up with those in her family?

Discussion

A Whale of the Wild tells the story of a young orca or killer whale who becomes separated from her family during an devastating earthquake and the subsequent tsunami. 

The main character of the story is Vega, a young orca who is on the threshold of learning the skills that will make her a wayfarer for her family. Parry employs anthropomorphism, giving her animal characters many human traits and emotions. For example, Vega is kind, impulsive and inquisitive. She questions everything and wants to learn. "When I was a youngling, I thought Greatmother knew the sea down to its last drop. I thought she and Mother and all the greatmothers of my kinship were the ones to call salmon out of the ocean. But the more I learn, the more questions I have."

Vega's journey to the Gathering Place after the earthquake and tsunami is not only a physical one to be reunited with her family, but it is also a journey that sees her grow more mature and confident in her abilities. After a brief time in the deep ocean, Vega successfully leads her brother Deneb and Aquila and Altair back to safety and to the Gathering Place.

Parry incorporates many interesting facts about orcas and other cetaceans, about the ecosystem of the Salish Sea and how human use of the land and water has impacted that ecosystem and the orcas. Vega remembers the stories Greatmother told of what the sea was like before when she sees the longboats of the local Indigenous people.

"The old stories tell of a time when all the boats in the Salish Sea were as quiet as these. In those days, boats did not bleed poison. No one tried to capture orcas. And the salmon ran so thick and strong that not a single orca of any kinship ever knew hunger. There were so many fish that rivers shone silver in the summer sun."  Greatmother told of how the Indigenous peoples and the orcas "...had a settled way between us. They hunted salmon in the rivers and coves, and we hunted them in the sea."

A Whale of the Wild tells an interesting story from the point of view of the orcas. At times it's confusing to figure out who is narrating as the story switches from Vega to Deneb and back again. However, readers who are interested in whales, orcas and dolphins will enjoy this novel as well as the beautiful illustrations by Lindsay Moore. Parry includes a large section on information about the Salish Sea ecosystem as well as a detailed map. There is also a list of resources for further study.

Salish Sea map credit: https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/salish-sea-change

More information about the Southern Resident Killer Whales: https://www.salishseacentre.org/resources

Protecting the Core Habitat of the Southern Resident Killer Whales: https://tinyurl.com/4tb8z2kk

 Book Details:

A Whale Of The Wild by Rosanne Parry
Greenwillow Books        2020
322 pp.

Masters of Silence by Kathy Kacer

Masters of Silence is the second novel in the Quartet series by Kathy Kacer. In this story, two young refugees from the Nazis are helped by Marcel Marceau to safety.

Fourteen-year-old Helen Rosenthal and her ten-year-old brother Henry, have journeyed from Germany to southern France with their mother in the hopes of finding safety with the nuns at a convent. Their home had been in Frankfurt, but as Jews, the city and the country had become increasingly unsafe. Mr. Rosenthal was seized by the Nazis a year earlier and they do not know his fate. After his seizure, Helen, Henry and their mother packed a few belongings and traveled to Kronberg where they were taken in by a Catholic family. Frau Weber was willing to keep their mother because she could be passed off as a servant. However, the presence of Helen and Henry would have been more difficult to explain even though their blond hair meant they did not look Jewish. 

After Frau Weber told their mother about a convent in southern France taking in Jewish children, the three set out on their journey. Now at the convent, Helen and Henry's mother hands over their identity documents and to their shock says goodbye. She tells them she is returning to Kronberg to wait for news of their father and that she loves them both. Henry cries loudly and Helen is so shocked all she can do is stare at her mother.

The two children are taken to their dorm rooms by the kindly Sister Cecile. The next morning Helen meets one of the girls in her room, Michelle who tells her that they are all in the same situation. Many have no idea where their parents are or have no parents at all.  Michelle explains the convent's routine, that they have church services, go on outings to town to shop and have visits from a clown who does shows. Michelle also warns Helen to watch out for Sister Agnes, who is very strict and seems to have a mean streak.

Helen and Henry go to meet Mere Superieure. She tells them to stop thinking about their parents and to focus on learning the rules of the convent. Mere Superieure explains that the convent houses Jewish children from all over Europe. Although the convent is a safe place for the children, Nazi soldiers are searching through the towns of southern France for Jews who are in hiding. Because of this, they must learn and obey the rules to keep everyone safe, and learn to get along with the other children. They are to pretend they are Catholic children who have been orphaned and they will attend church, learn Catholic prayers so they can pass as Catholic if questioned.   They must also change their names. Mere Superieure tells Helen and Henry they will now be called Claire and Andre Rochette.

After dismissing Henry, Mere Superieure tells Helen she is very concerned for Henry who has not spoken since his arrival. Helen pleads that he just needs time, but the nun warns that if he does not adjust this may become a problem. Henry continues to struggle, doesn't speak or interact with anyone, even Helen, and isn't eating well. Instead he spends time writing in a small notebook that Sister Cecile has given him.

Several days later, Sister Agnes takes Helen and Henry into town to purchase some new clothing. However, the trip almost ends in disaster when Henry wanders off and is spotted alone in a store by several Nazi soldiers. Henry doesn't answer the soldiers' questions, leaving Helen to rush over and give their names. Fortunately, Sister Agnes intervenes, but the three leave the store badly shaken.

This leads Mere Superieure to stop the visits to the town because they have never had the Nazis so close until now. Helen is so shaken, she is unable to sleep that night. While up to get a drink of water, she meets a Jewish boy, Albert Gotliev. Albert is from Vienna and has lost both his parents after they were taken by the Nazis. He was smuggled out of Austria along with a group of Jewish children. Albert tells Helen about the visits by a clown, Marcel Marceau, who normally visits the convent every week.

Meanwhile Henry continues to struggle, feeling both profoundly sad and scared over the absence of his parents. He refuses to get up one morning and starts a fight with another boy who suggests that Henry's father may be dead. The fight is broken up by Albert, who tries to talk to Henry.

However, things drastically change when the clown, Marcel Marceau arrives one day to give a show at the convent. Henry is mesmerized by his performance and stays behind afterwards. Marcel helps Henry deal with his feelings but more than that, he helps Henry find his voice and leads him and his sister to safety after the Nazis raid the convent.

Discussion

Masters of Silence is the second book in the Quartet series by Canadian children's author Kathy Kacer. The focus in this second series is on the World War II hero, Marcel Marceau who was responsible for saving the lives of Jews and Gentiles. He was born Marcel Mangel, in 1923, in Strasbourg, France to Charles Mangel, a kosher butcher and Anne Werzberg.

With the Nazi invasion of France imminent, the French government evacuated the population of Strasbourg to Perigord in southern France. The Jews of Strasbourg fled the incoming Nazis and Marcel's family fled to Limoges. Marcel was only sixteen at this time. He and his younger brother Andre joined the French Resistance.  He used the name Marcel Mangel and posing as a Scout Master, he helped evacuate a Jewish orphanage in France to the safety of neutral Switzerland.

When he was a young child, Marcel was fascinated by American silent movie star, Charlie Chaplin. After the war ended, Marcel studied at the School of Dramatic Art in Paris. By 1947, Marcel's career as a mime was firmly established with the success of a character, Bip the Clown whom he created. What most did not know at this time, was the important work Marcel had been a part of during the war.

Kacer has crafted a believable storyline to showcase Marcel Marceau's work with the French Resistance in saving Jewish children. The two main characters in the story, Helen and her younger brother Henry have just arrived at a Catholic convent in southern France. The story could have just centered on these two children and their journey into France but Kacer adds another layer to the story. Henry Rosenthal, is a young boy who is so traumatized by what he and his family have experienced that he has become mute. No one is really able to help Henry and he continues to withdraw into himself as well as act out by fighting with the other boys, until Marcel, affectionately called "the clown" by the children at the convent, arrives to do a show. Through Marcel's patient teaching of mime, Henry finds a safe way to express himself and is able to verbally communicate when a dangerous situation develops at the convent. From this point on he shows himself to be a very brave little fellow.

The novel also highlights how many of the of the French helped the Jewish people during the war. Ordinary French citizens like the nuns at the convent were taking very serious risks. While hidden Jews were sent to camps, French citizens hiding them were shot.Hiding an entire group of Jewish children in a convent under the guise of an orphanage would have been an incredible risk and required a great amount of courage. Kacer also portrays just how dangerous it was for Marcel and his young charges to journey to the Swiss border.

The title, Masters of Silence is a play on the name given to Marcel Marceau who was given the same title for his work as a mime. And of course, Henry turned out to also be a "master of silence" with his skill as a mime. 

Book Details:

Masters of Silence by Kathy Kacer
Toronto: Annick Press Ltd.     2019
263 pp.

Red, White, And Whole by Rajani LaRocca

Thirteen-year-old Reha is part of two worlds: one that is Indian and one that is not. She wants to chew gum, wear tight jeans, go to dances and have fun. But Amma tells her they are different from Americans. They "focus on what is important to succeed."

Reha and her parents live in New York where her father works as an engineer and her mother works in a hematology lab at a hospital. After giving birth to her, Reha's mother, whose name Punam means moon, couldn't have more children, so Reha is an only child. Her best friend is a girl named Sunita who comes from another Indian family. Sunita doesn't attend Reha's private school so they see each other on weekends. Rachel is Reha's best friend at school. She's smart and funny.

When Reha was eight-years-old, a trip to the emergency room made  her realize she wants to become a doctor. The only problem is that the sight of blood makes her queasy.

Reha struggles to fit into two worlds: the world at school which is very American and the world at home which is very Indian. Regular trips to India to visit family and relatives help ground her in her own culture, but make coping at school more difficult. 

When her school hosts a dance, Reha struggles to get permission to attend. Eventually, her parents relent, on the condition that Amma make her dress. Reha agrees even though she would rather buy something more fashionable from the mall. However, after the festival of Deepavali (Diwali), Amma begins to feel unwell. She has nosebleeds, is tired and cold, and spends a lot of time sleeping. Finally, Amma agrees to let Reha buy something from a store. At the dance, Reha has a wonderful time dancing to her favourite songs. She even sits outside holding hands with Pete, a classmate whom she has been studying with the past few weeks.

That night, Reha's life takes a dramatic turn when Amma is taken to the hospital. After many tests, Amma is diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and she undergoes chemotherapy. Amma's illness fills Reha with guilt. She feels badly about being embarrassed of her parents, by worrying over fitting in at school, and so she decides to fight her guilt with duty and virtue: Reha will become the daughter her parents wish her to be by focusing on school. But when that isn't enough, Reha must deal with loss and find the courage to be the girl her mother always wanted her to be.

Discussion

Red, White, and Whole is set in New York, 1983. LaRocca manages to capture many of the cultural facets of that decade, listing songs that Reha and her friends listen to such as The Safety Dance and Time After Time and the Star Wars movies. Readers will likely recognize at least some of the cultural references, as many are still popular today. (Tip: no one from that generation called the first Star Wars movie a New Hope!) Contrasting with this is are several poems which tell the story of Savitri and Satyavan, a Hindu couple whose love seems doomed.

The novel explores the challenges first generation children of immigrants encounter while growing up in a new country. These children are often caught between the culture of their parent's homeland and the culture of their new home. The clash between old and new cultural and social norms, as well as family expectations can make life confusing and difficult.

In Red, White and Whole, Reha experiences all of this. Unlike her parents, Reha was born in America. However she feels trapped by her parents' expectations, especially those of her mother. "I'm caught between the life I want to lead and the one she thinks I should."  This is especially a problem for Reha who is an only child and who therefore is the sole focus of her parents. She notices this especially when visiting her friend Sunny's large family where things go unnoticed.

In the poem, Expectations, Reha lists some of the expectations on her; she is expected to focus on her studies, not to like boys and not expected to date. But Reha would love to follow her own heart but because she is the only child on her mother's side of the family, she is "the one who carries everyone's hope, everyone's expectations."

When Reha visits India, within her own family she feels like she fits in. But outside her family, even in India she is different, 

"...not just because of how I dress,

but because of how I talk, and walk,
and breathe. 

No matter where I go,
America or India,
I don't quite fit."

This makes life challenging for Reha who sees her friends going to dances and wearing clothes that are in fashion. Before asking permission to attend a school dance, Reha feels that she is "always halfway, caught between the life my parents want and the one I have to live." In a secret aerogramme addressed to her parents but not sent, Reha expresses her deepest wish, that her parents would tell her "You don't have to worry about living in two worlds. You live in only one world, and that is the world in which we love you. No matter what your choices are. We raised you, we trust you, and we love you."

However, after her mother's death, in an aerogramme her mother wrote to her before she died, Reha learns that her mother really did understand the challenges of dealing with two cultures. And that her resistance to Reha, was based on the fear that she might forget the values and culture of her heritage. But Reha's mother also encourages her, telling her she really does belong. "You, my girl, should take your gifts and your hard work and be whatever you want with them. Be a doctor, if you liek. Or be a poet, or an actress, or a mother who stays home with her children. Or all of these things together. Surround yourself with good people, and be happy."
It's a message all young people need to read and hear.

LaRocca highlights some of the ways Reha and her mother experience both discrimination and a lack of understanding. Her mother, who works in a lab, has been asked to stop wearing the Bindi, a coloured dot worn in the middle of the forehead by Hindu women to indicate they are married, because it makes her coworkers uncomfortable. Reha is asked if she speaks "Indian" and thinks, 

"I want to tell her that
people from India,
just the small sample of Indian people in her own city,
speak over a dozen languages.
We are Hindu, Muslim, Christian,
and other religions.
We are all different shades,
from dark brown to almost as pale as she is."

Yet the story and the characters do not get bogged down in focusing on racism or cultural insensitivity. When Reha's mother becomes ill, Reha receives support from many students in the school, who try to comfort her or show their concern for her.

Despite the somewhat sad storyline, LaRocca has managed to write an uplifting story about a young girl who has the courage to face the death of a beloved mother and the courage continue on, to be who she wants to be. In the final poem of the book, LaRocca leaves her young readers with this important message:

"I have one life.
That's all any of us gets.
And I know that I will make my way.
For all rivers lead to the same ocean,
we all look upon the same sky.
I will write my own story."

LaRocca, in her Author's Note at the back, points out that "...even when you feel torn apart, you can still be a whole person, ---not just despite the things you struggle with, but because of them."

Book Details:

Red,White and Whole by Rajani LaRocca
New York: Quill Tree Books     2021
217 pp.

The House By The Lake by Thomas Harding

This beautiful picture book tells the fascinating story of a real house, located in the village of Grob Glienicke, about fourteen kilometers west of Berlin. It was built by a German physician,  Dr. Alfred Alexander for his family. The book takes young readers through the various families that lived in the house, beginning with the family of "a kind doctor and his cheery wife who wanted to live with their four children away from the busy city." This " house held their dreams."

After a few years, the doctor's family was forced to leave when soldiers showed up. After a year empty, the house saw a new family arrive. The family was musical, the father played piano and the mother sang. Their two boys joined a youth group and spent time marching around the house. The metal gutters were given to make guns. War was coming and the father was told he needed to fight. This family fled and the house was once again empty.

More families would come to live in the house over the next many decades. The house would cut off by a large wall. It would be abandoned eventually, the floorboards and doors taken for firewood. Until one day a young man came to the house, saw that the house needed to be repaired. That man worked along with the villagers to clean and restore it until he was able to hang a picture of his great-grandparents above the fireplace.

Discussion

The House By The Lake is a picture book adaptation of Thomas Harding's hardcover of the same name. Harding is the great-grandson of Dr. Alfred Alexander, who built the house for his wife Henny and their four children in 1927.  In July of 2013, Thomas Harding returned to Germany, and was able to locate the lake house or Glienicke he had been told about all his life. 

Harding's ancestor, Alfred Alexander was a Jewish physician who was part of Berlin society in the 1920's. His hard work meant that he was able to build a small, nine room wooden house on the shore of a nearby lake for his family. The Alexander family was the first Jewish family to live in the village of Grob Glienicke. Summers were spent at the house, swimming in the lake and hosting parties. However, this idyllic time was soon to vanish with the rise of Nazism and the threat of another world war.  As Germany began to sink further into the mire of Nazism, the Alexander family's situation began to change. The various laws passed by the German state restricting the rights of Jewish citizens began to impact Alexander. His practice was affected and even some of the children were no longer able to attend school. 

However, Alfred refused to leave Germany as he believed the political situation would eventually improve. By 1936, the Gestapo were beginning to arrest prominent Jews like Alfred. At this time he was visiting a daughter who had just given birth, in London, England. A friend warned him that he was on a Gestapo list and so Alfred remained in London. Their remaining adult children left Germany, while Henny and Elise worked on selling the building where Alfred had his medical practice.

Henny and her daughter Elsie, who would become Thomas Harding's grandmother, closed up the lake house and gave the key to the family lawyer, Dr. Goldstrom. So began the next chapter in the history of the house by the lake. The Alexander family officially lost ownership of the house in 1939 when the Gestapo seized their assets. From this point on, the house would be occupied by four different families over the next sixty years.

While the picture book does not go into great deal about the history of the house, it does give young readers the basics of the story. The story of the house is not only one that is tied to five families throughout the 20th century, but it is also tied to the history of Germany and the Berlin and Potsdam area, spanning the period from the late 1920's to 1999 when the house became permanently vacant.

Accompanying the text are the mixed media illustrations of Britta Teckentrup. The illustrations capture the many moods of the events that occurred during the last eighty years of the house's existence. For example, illustrations showing happy, summer days at the house are filled with greens and blues, while the arrival of the Nazis is portrayed in black, grey and brown colours. Nazi war planes flying over the house and the coming of war feature black, orange and greys, symbolizing war, bombing and fire. The final illustration of the restored house is one of lovely summer colours.

The House by the Lake is a picture book that provides the opportunity to study the effects of war on a personal level, exploring how one family lost and regained a beloved family home, but also a chance to explore some important historical events of the twentieth century.
For more information, readers are directed to the Alexander Haus website: https://alexanderhaus.org/

Book Details:

The House by the Lake by Thomas Harding
Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press      2020

Britta Tecketrup illustration: https://twitter.com/BTeckentrup/status/1258771788722511876/photo/1

Dog Driven by Terry Lynn Johnson

Fourteen-year-old McKenna Barney is losing her vision. Her younger sister, eight-year-old Emma, is almost totally blind. Emma has Stargardt disease, a degenerative condition that affects the retina. Emma's symptoms began at age six, when she was finally diagnosed. Although she has 20/600 vision, which is far  worse than the legally blind criteria, Emma can see some things in her peripheral vision.

In the last few months, McKenna has noticed her vision is deteriorating too. At first she hoped she just needed glasses, but as her ability to see patterns failed, and she has started to lose sight in the center of her vision, McKenna knows she has the same disease as Emma.

One day after school, Emma excitedly tells her about a new dogsled race, the Great Superior Mail Run. She wants McKenna to enter it so that they can increase awareness of Stargardt disease and secure donations for research. She would be carrying letters written by Emma's classmates which would generate publicity and donations to research. McKenna's mom thinks this could work as McKenna has run the dogs this winter and they are in good shape.

The problem is that no one yet knows what is happening to McKenna's vision. She has told no one, not even her parents. The thought of running in a dogsled race with her poor vision is terrifying so McKenna attempts to refuse her sister's request. But when Emma balks, McKenna shares her secret with Emma, telling her that she is having trouble with her vision but refuses Emma's request to tell their parents. McKenna backtracks and tells Emma she will do the race. They make a deal that if McKenna's vision worsens, she will scratch the race and tell their parents. 

McKenna and her family prepare for the race, choosing the dogs that will race, preparing food for the dogs and getting equipment ready. After these preparations, her family drives north to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario to meet up at Ermatinger House Museum, once a Hudson's Bay Company outpost. Inside McKenna is told how to get to the McNabb staging area, the dogs are checked out by veterinarian, and is told relevant information about the three hundred and fifty-four kilometer route of the race. She is also given her mail bag that she will carry during the race and deliver to White River, Ontario post office and sworn in as a temporary letter carrier.

McKenna enters the race focused on winning but as she starts out on the first stage of the race, she encounters another junior racer, Guy Desjardins whose family has a history of involvement as dog couriers in Northern Ontario. Guy's friendship will have a profound impact on McKenna's life, helping her to face her fears and challenge the path she and her family have taken in dealing with a life altering disability.

Discussion

Dog Driven is an exciting novel about a girl participating in a challenging dogsled race while also coping with significant vision loss and what that might mean for her future. McKenna is certain she has Stargardt disease, a condition her younger sister, Emma has. Stargardt disease is an inherited disease that affects the retina, resulting in vision loss during childhood and also the teen years. The macula, a small area located at the center of the retina, which is responsible for sensing light, progressively degenerates. There is currently no treatment for this form of macular degeneration.

In the novel, McKenna has begun to notice significant degeneration in her vision and the symptoms she is experiencing are similar to those her sister Emma experienced. McKenna has not told her parents because she has seen how they have responded to Emma's situation. Her mother does everything for Emma, refusing to let her use her cane and even feeding her. McKenna does not want to lose her autonomy and independence and is filled with fear as she watches how her mother treats Emma.

This overwhelming fear is expressed often throughout the novel. At the beginning of the novel McKenna thinks, "There is no denying it any longer. I have it. A hot bubble of fear and grief swells inside me. How can I live with this?" After telling Emma about her deteriorating vision, McKenna refuses her request to tell their parents. "I don't have a plan yet besides keeping it from my parents at all costs. I have to stay independent."  She reasons, "Now that I'm sure I've got Stargardt disease, I'm even more determined to keep it from Mom. If she knew, she'd force me to get tested. And as soon as I got diagnosed, she'd start treating me the way she treats my sister. And she treats Em like she's helpless." No matter what, McKenna doesn't want to end up in this situation, so she decides to run the race. If she's able to complete it, this will be proof to her parents that she has a life with low vision.

But it's evident that McKenna is experiencing intense grief over her situation. She's already lost so much over the last year. McKenna's attempts to hide her low vision are not just restricted to her family. She's isolated herself from family and friends. As her vision deteriorated and she lost the ability to see what was written on the board at school, she's had to sneak back into class to read the board and has made the rule never to read in front of anyone. Her grades began to slide but this was blamed on the stress of coping with Emma's illness. McKenna began to mistake other girls for her best friend Gabby and couldn't recognize any of her friends from a distance. Hiding her condition has meant McKenna has had to skip lunch with her friends, drop the afterschool committee, and stop spending time with her best friend Gabby who no longer calls her.

However, during the course of the race, McKenna meets two young mushers who change her thinking about how she is dealing with the onset of Stargardt's and her parents. The first is Guy Desjardins, a young musher whose great-great-grandfather was involved in delivering the mail by dog courier and who has a blind lead dog, Zesty. Guy quickly discovers that McKenna has issues with her vision. When McKenna tells him that she's been able to hide it from her parents by not spending time with them, Guy points out that she knows and that she can't hide this from herself. He is pointing out that she's not being honest with herself and she can't hide her condition from herself. As McKenna's friendship with Guy develops, she comes to see how his lead dog's disability is a strength under certain conditions and has made her a good lead dog.

The second person is Harper Bowers whose father has won many dogsled races. McKenna is stunned to learn that Harper hates dogsledding. It's dirty, loud and scary to her. When McKenna asks Harper why she hasn't told her father how she feels, Harper tells her that she's forced to live up to her "parents' life-crushing expectations." McKenna urges her to confront her father about how she feels.  Harper does take McKenna's advice and tells her father she hates dogsledding. Her father's response is to tell her she can quit racing if she wins this race but after barely making it through the Cascades during a blizzard, Harper's father allows her to quit.

Her interactions with Guy and Harper give McKenna the courage to reveal her situation to her parents. While they are devastated, they do allow her to finish the race, especially when McKenna stands up for herself. She tells her parents, "We spend so much time worrying about what Em can't do anymore when we should be thinking about what she can do. What I can do...I'm not pretending anymore. It is harder for me now. It doesn't do any good to ignore that I have a vision impairment. Em and I both. And it's not going to go away. We have to learn to live with it. We all have to learn....We need help accepting this and learning how to live with it...."

Dog Driven is a novel that succeeds because the author knows her subject well. Johnson, who lives in Northern Ontario, owned and operated a dogsledding business for many years. She also taught the skill of dogsledding, has been a conservation officer with the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) and she's also worked as a backcountry ranger. Her love and knowledge of dogs and dogsledding shows in this engaging short novel for younger readers. There's plenty of interesting details on dog care and dogsledding. Johnson provides a short Author's Note on the dogsled mail couriers as well as the route described in the novel, and she grounds her readers with a detailed map of the race at the beginning of the novel. Readers who have an interest in the outdoors and animals will truly enjoy Dog Driven.

Book Details:

Dog Drive by Terry Lynn Johnson
New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt   2019
229 pp.

Harvey Comes Home by Colleen Nelson

Harvey is an energetic West Highland terrier who belongs to Maggie. He's a West Highland Terrier, "...a ratter with a white coat, extra shiny and clean..." It's early November and Harvey is out for a walk with his beloved Maggie, a freckled girl with beautiful red hair. "Harvey never knows that the day will bring with Maggie. Some days she is at home with him and other days she leaves and comes back with a bag layered with so many smells."  

Harvey just loves all the different smells on his walks. The smells are distracting but he could "spend all day drinking them in at one lamppost."  Harvey also loves and hates squirrels.

When Harvey and Maggie return home, Harvey notices that today is different. There is a lot of activity in the house. There are three big items by the front door whose smells attract Harvey.

A new person named Olivia arrives and Harvey is told she will be caring for him. He senses that Maggie wants him to like this girl.With the arrival of a second car, a taxi, Maggie and her twin sisters and parents leave, and Harvey finds himself alone with Olivia.

The next morning Harvey is put outside in the backyard. Immediately he goes after a squirrel. But when the squirrel races out of the yard, and Harvey finds the gate unlatched, the chase is on! Soon Harvey finds himself at the end of Maggie's street. Unable to catch the squirrel, other scents lead him in a nearby forest. 

Harvey's travels take him to Norman Dog Park where he is attacked by a larger dog. A couple, Miles and Lucy walking their own dog at the park, help Harvey. Lucy, who works at a vet clinic decides to take him to the clinic so she can scan the chip in his ear to find his owner. However, in the clinic parking lot, when Harvey catches the sweet and spicy scent of the taxicab that took his Maggie away, he jumps out of the car and races off in pursuit of the cab. For another day, Harvey wanders on the streets. He's now tired, thirsty and very dirty. He decides to lay down behind a planter at the front door of the Brayside Retirement Villa.

Eleven-year-old Austin is volunteering at Brayside Retirement Villa where his grandpa Phillip works. Austin made a deal with his grandpa after he was caught with firecrackers in the boys bathroom. It was supposed to be a stunt to make him popular but all it got him, was trouble. So every weekday Austin works at Brayside until six o'clock, cleaning, dusting and helping. 

Austin doesn't like the chatty old people but his grandpa asks Austin to treat them like he would his own grandpa. He's a bit afraid of Mr. Pickering, a very elderly man who's been in the home for fifteen years. Austin tries to engage with Mr. Pickering whom he is convinced is grumpy because he is lonely.

When Austin shows up for his shift at Brayside, he spots Harvey behind the planter. Quickly the Brayside staff help Austin with the exhausted and hungry terrier. Louise, Artie, Mary Rose and even Austin's grandpa get involved in getting Harvey a blanket, food and water. Austin manages to convince his grandpa to let him take Harvey home to his mother, who is not pleased to see the dog.

The next evening Austin is supposed to walk Harvey to the animal shelter to get his chip scanned but he doesn't go in. Instead, he returns to Brayside and lies to Grandpa and the staff at Brayside, telling them the shelter is full and that they will call if they locate Harvey's owner. Meanwhile, Maggie and her family return home from vacation. Maggie is so distraught when she learns that Harvey is missing, that she's unable to return to school. Eventually she and her mother post lost-dog posters in their neighborhood.

As Austin struggles over whether or not to keep Harvey, the little white terrier serves as the impetus to bring Austin and Mr. Pickering together, allowing the elderly man to share the stories of growing up in difficult times during the 1930's Dust Bowl. It is these times with Austin that bring Mr. Pickering healing, the chance to forgive himself and in the end peace.

Discussion

Harvey Comes Home is a delightful novel for younger readers. The story is told from three perspectives, that of Harvey, of Austin the young boy who finds him and also Maggie to whom Harvey belongs. While Austin's narrative is in first person, Harvey and Maggie's stories are told in third person. 

The novel also employs a story within a story. The overarching story is that of Harvey and his misadventures that lead him to Brayside Retirement Villa and Austin, and of Maggie's attempt to find Harvey. This part of the novel was inspired by the loss of Nelson's own beloved Westie, Maggie as well as her learning of therapy dogs visiting nursing homes.

Nested within this story is a second, poignant story about the life of the elderly Mr. Pickering, the grumpy resident of Brayside. Austin is determined to be nice to Mr. Pickering who seems so grumpy.  Austin is drawn in by the picture of a three-legged dog in Mr. Pickering's door collage that prompts him to talk to the elderly man. This flicker of interest from a young person, along with the presence of Harvey, opens Mr. Pickering to telling about his life as a young boy, during the 1930's when widespread drought destroyed crops and made life very hard.The story centers around Walter Pickering and a girl, Bertie who was abandoned, abused and very poor, and their friendship.

Their story is one of perseverance during hard times, of friendship, forgiveness and healing. When tragedy befell his dog, General, Walter blamed Bertie, and soon after left the family farm, leaving behind Bertie. When he didn't return, Bertie also left. Walter never reached out to her and only learned about her life through her obituary. This part of his life weighs heavily on him because he feels he failed his best friend.

Mr. Pickering's story spans the worst of the Dust Bowl era and is situated on the Canadian prairies in Saskatchewan. His story was inspired by Nelson's uncle, Wayne Pickering who recalled a story from his own family about a dog named General who had three legs and once chased horse thieves away from Nelson's grandpa's farm. 

The novel also chronicles the change in Austin as his work at Brayside sees him develop more understanding of, and empathy for the elderly. Austin's work at Brayside and his interactions with Mr. Pickering alter how he views elderly people. When he first began working at Brayside, Austin couldn't decide " if Mr. Pickering was lonely because he was mean, or mean because he was lonely." He wonders why the old man is so grumpy. As he spends time with Mr. Pickering and learns more about him, he comes to view him differently and is no longer scared of him. "I thought about the farm and Bertie and General. When he was talking about them, I forgot he was old Mr. Pickering. I started seeing him as the boy in the pictures in his photo collage." When he remembers that Mr. Pickering is ninety-six, he imagines how many people he's lost and this makes him sad. "I couldn't help wondering if I'd been wrong about Mr. Pickering. Maybe he was grumpy because he was lonely, and not the other way around." He learns to be patient with the elderly man and lets him tell his story at his own pace. After listening to Mr. Pickering tell his story about his dog, General, Austin had changed. "I shook my head as I left his room. I wished I'd given Mr. Pickering a chance a long time ago." In the end, it is Austin who comforts Mr. Pickering as his memories cause him so much pain and he tells the elderly man that Bertie would have forgiven him.

Austin also experiences conflict in another area of his life and isn't quite as successful in doing the right thing. When Austin finds Harvey he just wants to keep the dog. He begins to rationalize why he should keep Harvey; if he takes him to the shelter, he'll be put in a cage, his owner couldn't have taken care of Harvey very well if he lost him and there's no way he can return Harvey in those circumstances. But then Austin reconsiders. "But then I had another thought. What if Harvey was my dog and I lost him? I'd want whoever found him to help get him back to me. Saying I'd gone to the shelter and then keeping him was like stealing -and I'd be lying to Grandpa and Mom." Unfortunately, Austin doesn't act on this empathetic thought and do the right thing. He lies to Grandpa, the staff at Brayside and his mom. He keeps Harvey and each day brings him to Brayside. 

This act is the driving force for the story as it sets up the relationship that forms between Harvey, Austin and Mr. Pickering. Harvey seems quite content to be with Mr. Pickering and his presence starts Mr. Pickering reminiscing about his life during the Dust Bowl in the 1930's.

When Austin sees a lost dog poster of Harvey at his school, he knows his days with Harvey are probably coming to an end. Instead of answering the ad, Austin rips it down, runs home, gets Harvey and takes him to Brayside where he lies to his Grandpa and the staff about school being closed. Austin wants to hear the end of Mr. Pickering's story, believing that he needs Harvey's presence to accomplish that. But really, it is not having Harvey, but having Austin to listen that is the key for Mr. Pickering. Eventually, through tragic circumstances, Maggie is reunited with Harvey.  Austin not only apologizes to Maggie but invites her to bring Harvey to Brayside some day. 

Harvey Comes Home is a delightful novel that will appeal to young readers on so many levels; the story of a lost pet will resonate with many readers, the high interest story of Walter Pickering and his friend Bertie, and the gritty details of the hardship of the Depression on Canada's prairies. Austin, Walter, Bertie and Mr. Pickering are well developed characters who are realistic and interesting, making them very relatable to readers. Add to this the beautiful book cover, and Harvey Comes Home is an excellent addition to Canadian juvenile fiction.

Book Details:

Harvey Comes Home by Colleen Nelson
Toronto: Pajama Press    2019
219 pp.

Which Way Is Home by Maria Kiely

It is summer vacation, 1948 and life for eleven-year-old Anna is tainted by worries about life in her beloved Czechoslovakia. Her family including aunts, uncles and cousins have gathered at her grandparents' farm in Roven on the tenth anniversary of her grandfather's death. He was prime minister of Czechoslovakia before the Second World War. 

Before the war, Anna's father was a Czech diplomat in Paris. During World War II and the Nazi occupation, the Czech government went into exile in London, England. Anna's father became a spy in the Czech underground, communicating with the British, providing them with information on the location of Nazi weapons. 

After the war, the Communist Party pretended to support the Czech government. However, they wanted to be in power and eventually the Russian Communists formed a new government. They allowed Jan Masaryk, a supporter of democracy to remain in the new government. But when he died suddenly and the communists claimed Masaryk committed suicide many people believed he had been murdered. Anna's father had proof of this and he fled to France with the evidence, hoping to get help from the French to oust the communists. He has been gone for three months.

On the morning of the anniversary of their grandfather's death,  Anna's cousin Pavel who is visiting from Prague, is in the barn grooming the horses. Her other cousin, Maruska, whose family runs a hotel between the farm and Prague is also visiting.  Her older sister Ruzena is practicing a Chopin prelude in preparation for her first solo piano concert in Prague next month. 

The three children walk along the village road and into the forest, Pavel tells his cousins how he had to listen to the minister of education's propaganda on the radio. The minister told them their parents and teachers are enemies who want to stop the building or the communist state and that it is their duty to report them. They stop to say a prayer for the safety of Anna's father before they decide to pick mushrooms. 

On Sunday morning Anna and her family attend church. Afterwards former members of the Czech government in their formal military uniforms pay their respects to Anna's babicka and dedecek. It is a brave and dangerous act. Anna, Ruzena and Maruska along with Pavel tend to their grandfather's grave. Anna tells Pavel that she is frightened because she's been told that the Communists will send those who oppose them to prison.

Several days after the celebration, Anna's mother takes Ruzena to Prague to have a lesson with her piano teacher in preparation for her concert.  Pavel has already left for camp, and Maruska's mother Teta J has left to go back to work at their hotel. About a week later, while Anna and Maruska are getting ready for bed, Teta J arrives unexpectedly.  She tells Anna that she is to pack quickly as she will be going to visit Pavel at his camp. Maruska is terribly upset when she learns she won't be going along. Anna's babicka gives her a large cloth satchel full of food for the trip which puzzles Anna, but Anna is too excited to think more about this.

Teta J takes Anna to her hotel so she can return her car and then they travel to Prague. Instead of going to their home in Prague, they walk to the apartment of Anna's father's best friend, Dr. V. Inside the apartment is chaos, but Anna is surprised to see her mother and Ruzena. On her way to buy train tickets, Ruzena explains to a very shocked Anna that they are fleeing the country.  What will happen to her beloved Babicka, Teta J, Maruska and Pavel? Will she ever see Roven again? The journey to freedom proves to be one that is bittersweet.

Discussion

Which Way Is Home is a short, historical fiction novel based on the real live events experienced by the author's grandmother, mother and aunt as they escaped communist Czechoslovakia in 1948.  Kiely provides some background context in the novel for her young readers through the characters of Anna and Pavel. Readers learn that the communists have taken over the country and that Anna's father has had to flee because of his opposition to the communists and because he holds sensitive information about the death of Jan Masaryk. They also learn that people who do not support the communist regime are in danger, which is why Anna and her family must also flee. 

While young people reading this story in 1960 would probably know who Jan Masaryk was and what had happened in Czechoslovakia, a new generation of readers, over seventy years later, will not. This is where a short prologue might have been helpful, to set the stage for the events in the novel. The map, located at the back of the novel showing Anna's family's journey to freedom could have been placed following the prologue.

During World War II, Evard Benes led the Czechoslovakian government which was in exile in London. In 1945, with the end of the war, Benes returned to lead his country after the Soviet army withdrawal. In 1946, many communists were elected, forcing Benes to form a coalition government with these groups. At this time the U.S. was beginning to see the Soviets not as allies but as a threat to Europe. They wanted to rearm Germany as a deterrent to any Soviet actions, but the Czech government was opposed to this. When the U.S. cancelled a loan to the government, the communists were able to garner more votes in the next election. As the country experienced increasing economic issues and there were more protests, the communists were able to force other parties out of the coalition in early 1948. Rigged elections saw the communists take over the government. Benes resigned and Jan Marasyk, who had been his foreign minister died under questionable circumstances.

This is the situation in Czechoslovakia at the beginning of the novel. Life for Anna and her family on their estate called Roven is still happy and somewhat carefree despite the communist takeover. As her grandfather was prime minister prior to the war, Anna's family still enjoys considerable respect from many people. But increasingly, some like Mr. Z who acts in a threatening manner, are turning against those who supported the former democratic government. And the government is encouraging children to report family who do not support the communists, as Anna's cousin Pavel reveals.

Eventually Anna and her family decide to flee. Kiely effectively portrays the fears, difficulties and sacrifices refugees encounter in leaving a beloved homeland for an unknown destination. This is done in a way that is not overwhelming or too detailed for younger readers. The author sets the stage by painting the idyllic life that Anna and her cousins experience at Roven. The nearby forest is filled with "...the sweet and earthy scents of pine trees, moss and mushrooms...." There is the "...aroma of Babicka's delicious chicken soup..." and her use of their freshly picked mushrooms which she makes "into a delicious sauce over chicken and knedliky - her bread dumplings that are as soft and light as air." And of course Anna has her cousins Pavel and Maruska. But from this warm and loving home, Anna will leave behind everything familiar.

Kiely is able to portray just how vulnerable refugees are in a way that is non-threatening and thought-provoking. Anna, Ruzena and their mother are dependent on many people as they make their escape. They must trust people they do not know, including a guide who they later learn has led people to the Russians rather than to safety. Anna's family arrive in Germany with little money and no where to stay, ending up in a cold and damp houseboat, dependent on a refugee camp for food while they wait to make contact with Anna's father. 

They are very much dependent on the kindness and goodwill of those around them. And they do find kindness. Honza, a Boy Scout who unexpectedly becomes part of their group leaving the country, helps them as they walk to the border through "No Man's Land". He and Ruzena grow very close, but in the end go their separate ways. They are treated kindly by the American soldiers who drive them to the German border post. There is the kindness of a German shopkeeper who gives them butter for free as they purchase food with the little money they have. 

Anna and her family also reciprocate the acts of kindness. For example, when she and her family encounter two boys begging for food in the refugee camp, they contribute some of their food into the boys' bucket.  Anna expresses empathy for their situation, "I try to imagine what it must be like to have nowhere to go, and I almost cry with relief at the knowledge that Papa is coming for us."

The book takes it's title from the question Anna asks her older sister Ruzena after their first night in a hotel. When Ruzena points out the direction and tells her that they are never going back there, Anna begins to cry. It is a scene that emphasizes what many refugees feel; intense sadness, and a sense of loss. However, Which Way Is Home ends on a positive note with Anna's family being reunited. The author includes her own family's story in her Author's Note at the back.

This short, well-written novel is reminiscent of juvenile historical fiction written in the 1940s and 1950s by authors like Kate Seredy and Marie McSwigan. Highly recommended.

Book Details:

Which Way Is Home by Maria Kiely
New York: Nancy Paulsen Books     2020
179 pp.

Traitor. A novel by Amanda McCrina

Traitor is a historical fiction novel set during World War II that explores the little known events during the war in Poland and the Ukraine. It is told through two narratives, that of Tolya and Aleksey.

Tolya Korolenko is a sniper with the First Ukrainian Front of the Soviet Red Army which has now moved into the Ukraine. On Stalin's orders, the First Ukrainian Front are rounding up and disarming every Polish Resistance fighter left in the city of Lwow. The officers are to be shipped east to the labour camps; the rank and file soldiers offered amnesty if they will join the Soviets.

It is late in the day when Tolya comes across a man assaulting a woman. Tolya fires a bullet into the back of the Soviet, only to see that it is Zampolit Sergei Petrov. Toyla finishes the job with a bullet to the back of the head and offers to help the young woman whom he suspects is Polish resistance. But she is having none of it. Instead she robs the dead Petrov of his gun and ammunition turns on Tolya but leaves him unharmed with his rifle.

Tolya has no regrets about killing Petrov as he's wanted to kill him after what happened in Tarnopol. Tolya's friend and mentor, Comrade Lieutenant Spirin had managed to make it back from behind German lines despite two broken ribs and a bullet in his back. Petrov had him executed by firing squad, believing he'd survived because he was a double agent. After the girl leaves, Tolya is spotted by Russian soldiers and runs through the streets to lose them.

Back with his unit at the train station, as the night settles in, Comrade Lieutenant Maksym Rudenko, the battalion commander warns Tolya not to miss curfew again. He tells him he will inform Comrade Colonel Sokolov, commander of their division, "it was an accidental discharge."

The next day Tolya meets up with Nataliya Koval, a sniper also with the First Ukrainian Front. Koval warns Tolya that the Soviets suspect one of them killed Petrov. She tells him that the NKVD (Narodnyi Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del - the People's Commisariat for Internal Affairs) Soviet secret police will be certain to investigate.They will torture him to reveal "all the other anti-Soviet elements in the company." She warns him that the NKVD will know he had issues with Petrov and that other soldiers will talk. Koval tells Tolya that he could be far into the mountains in two days but he refuses to run. He lies to Koval and promises her he will leave that night for Stryy.

But at noon, the NKVD come for Tolya. Three men take him from the noon mess hall to the station and into a black car. They tell Tolya they are not NKVD, introducing themselves as Andriy, Taras, Yakiv and Aleksey known as Solovey. They are with the L'viv group of the UPA (Ukrainska Povstankska Armiia) - "the Insurgent Army, radical Ukrainian nationalists and anti-Communists." Tolya believes their claim of being part of the UPA and speaking Ukrainian is an attempt to trick him. When they show papers supposedly from the Front's senior NKVD officer Fyodor Volkov at the roadblock, Tolya is certain they are NKVD. 

They leave the city behind and eventually pull off the road.As they begin hiking into the woods, Tolya tells them to just shoot him. Solovey insists they are not NKVD and that they have "extracted" him. Tolya tries unsuccessfully to convince Solovey to let him go but when he refuses, he runs and is shot in the shoulder. When Solovey opens Tolya's shirt, he sees the rosary around his neck and knows this means he is Polish and a Roman Catholic. With Andriy, Taras and Yakiv coming, Solovey rips the rosary off and pockets it. Still Tolya believes the UPA who hate Poles and believe in cleansing the Ukraine, will kill him.

Tolya is given morphine, the bullet removed by a Red Cross nurse and he begins to recuperate in the UPA's field camp. Solovey tells him that their source in the Front arranged to get him "extracted" as he was in danger. But Tolya has no idea what's going on. The Red Cross nurses want to take Tolya to Toporiv to recover but Solovey refuses and offers Tolya another choice after he proves he can still shoot. He is asked to assassinate Fyodor Volkov, the highest ranking NKVD officer in the western Ukraine. Tolya agrees and the group begins planning. When they are told by Yakiv that Volkov is not at headquarters, Tolya goes to sleep. He awakens to find the camp under attack by NKVD forces. They have been betrayed. He and Solovey escape, running into the forest, Tolya without his boots and Solovey with a broken leg from a machine-gun slug. 

Initially they planned to stay at Solovey's grandfather's cabin however they encounter NKVD and realize that this no longer an option and head to Hruszow. Solovey wants Tolya to leave him behind as he is becoming weaker from his injuries but Tolya refuses. At this time Solovey reveals that his real name is Aleksey Yevhenovych Kobryn and he tells Tolya a bit about himself. The issue is settled when they are attacked by the NKVD and Solovey, badly wounded by gunfire, kills himself. Tolya escapes but goes back to bury Solovey and is captured by Vitalik and his UPA squad. 

He is tortured by Vitalik who believes Tolya is really NKVD and that he robbed Solovey. However, when their cabin is surrounded by NKVD who are then surrounded by the Polish Resistance, Tolya is rescued and taken to the home of Mrs. Kijek where he begins to recover from the torture. However, during his convalescence, the NKVD attack the house. As he's taking out the machine gun nests in the forest, Tolya unexpectedly meets up with Nataliya Koval whom he thought was dead. She explains what has happened over the past few months. She gives Tolya a chance to escape along with Mrs. Kijek and her daughter, Lena. The truth about the informer in the Ukrainian Front is revealed.

A second narrative by Aleksey Yevhenovych Kobryn, set three years earlier, in 1941 as the Germans are entering Lwow,  provides some of the backstory of the characters encountered in Tolya's narrative. Like Tolya, Aleksey encounters the various factions fighting in Lwow, including the Nachtigallen, Ukrainians who are the advance troops for the Germans, Vitalik of the UPA, and the Kijeks who work for the Polish Resistance.

Discussion

In Traitor, the complexities of war in Eastern Europe are explored along with the themes of loyalty and betrayal and what it means to be a traitor.

The main story is told through the narrative of Tolya, an eighteen-year-old of mixed Ukrainian and Polish ethnicity. The story is set in Galicia, a region that contains parts of both Poland and the Ukraine. In this region, with a long history of conflict, people were fighting not only occupation by the Germans (Nazis), but the Russians (Communists) as well as each other; Polish against Ukrainian and vice versa. Tolya's mixed heritage makes  him a possible traitor no matter which side he chooses and this seems to be his lot in the story. His father, a Ukrainian had died in prison while his mother was murdered simply because she was Polish. With the death of his parents, he was taken in by his Aunt Olena and his uncle who were Communist Party members but eventually when the Germans arrived in 1941, he was conscripted into the Russian army as a sniper.

Some characters in Aleksey's story are found three years later in Tolya's story: Aleksey is now Solovey of the UPA, Vitalik a brutal man who tortures Tolya and who killed Aleksey's father because he knew too much, and Mrs. Kijek, a nurse who treats both Aleksey and Tolya.

Readers will not find Traitor an easy read. There are many characters, who switch in and out of the various factions and at times it's difficult to know which side a character may be affiliated with.  While this serves to drive home the complexity of the conflict in Galicia during World War II, it can also be very confusing. And Aleksey, one of the narrators, appears as a character under a different name (Solovey) in Tolya's story. Thankfully McCrina does provide her readers with a List of Characters at the back of the book - something that should have been placed more prominently at the front.

Overall the impression after reading this novel is that it is really two books meshed together. What would have made the novel more readable and more enjoyable was to simply tell the stories chronologically, first Aleksey's story set in 1941 with the coming of the Germans as they were initiating Operation Barbarossa, then Tolya's story set in 1944 as the Germans were fleeing the area and the Russians moving in to occupy Galicia. Most adults don't know the 20th century history of this region, never mind teens. The alternating narratives added a layer of complexity that wasn't necessary.

Tolya is representative of the theme of what it means to be a traitor. First there is his heritage. When Lena Kijek mentions that at first she thought Tolya was a Polish conscript, but then realizes he's Ukrainian Tolya doesn't bother to explain. "What was there to say? He wasn't Polish, and he wasn't Ukrainian. He was a traitor to his father's people on account of his mother, and a traitor to his mother's people on account of his father, and a traitor to both on account of the Reds, and a traitor to the Reds on account of Zampolit Petrov."

But Tolya's story is also about the hunt for an informer in the Ukrainian Front - the Russian Red Army moving into the Ukraine in 1944. The Front were afraid the UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) would place an informer into its ranks.In Tarnopol, they believed the informer was now within their ranks. After Colonel Spirin was executed, Zampolit Petrov was certain Tolya was the informer and wanted to act. However, Colonel Sokolov refused mainly because he did not want to lose another soldier. Instead, they allowed the UPA to take Tolya and tracked them to their camp. Koval was part of the NKVD who attacked Solovey and the UPA. The NKVD continued to follow Tolya;  he was recaptured by the UPA, then tortured and freed by the Polish resistance. Eventually the NKVD caught up with him at the Kijek's house where Tolya unexpectedly meets Koval and learns the truth about what has happened over the last few months. She admits to being the informer but she participated in the attacks so as to not blow her cover.

Unlike most young adult novels today, Traitor does incorporate some of the Catholic culture which was a part of the Galicia region into the story. Tolya is Catholic and carries a rosary which is considered by the Ukrainians as a way to identify a Polish person. He only knows some of the prayers, but he prays those bits he knows. Although he has no problem as a sniper taking out other soldiers, in his mind he's constantly recalling the counselling of his priest. Father Dmytro tells him "Hate is like hogweed...easily seeded, easily spread--but have you ever tried to root out hogweed? And you've got to root it out, because it chokes out everything else." 

Aleksey spends time in prayer when he returns to the room he shares with Mykola. "I went to the icons and made my prayers in silence -- To Christ first, with the sign of the cross, then to the Theotokos, then to the saints in turn, Saint Yevhen last of all."  Despite his prayers, Aleksey finds himself  considers stealing. "The obvious thing would be to take advantage of the fact that Altshuer's was closed. I'd stolen before, of course, when I'd needed to. It was easy to justify stealing from Poles and Reds. They were the ones who'd created the need in the first place. Repayment in kind -- God would understand and forgive."  When he kills Strilka, Aleksey's surprised at his lack of reaction. "I waited for the pangs of conscience. It was never as easy as you thought it was going to be. I knew that because I'd failed every time before. I hadn't even been able to kill that Red sentry, down at the station. I hadn't been able to kill Andriy, and I hadn't been able to watch Andriy kill that Pole... It was because I didn't have time to think about it, I decided. It would be harder later."

Traitor is a novel that manages to convey the brutality of war both for soldiers and the general population. It is a reminder that during this time people were murdered simply because they were a certain ethnicity (Jewish, Polish or Ukrainian) or because of their political beliefs or for no reason at all. In this regard, Traitor is an important book for our times.

Book Details:

Traitor: A Novel by Amanda McCrina
New York: Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers   2020
355 pp.

Bobby Orr And The Hand-Me-Down Skates by Bobby Orr and Kara Kootstra

In this delightful picture book, hockey legend Bobby Orr tells the story of the time he wished for a brand new pair of skates but ended up with his brother's hand-me-downs.

Bobby who lived "in a small town by a big lake" loved to play hockey. He played hockey before and after school, on the lake near his home. Just before his eleventh birthday, Bobby wanted a new pair of skates. The skates Bobby desperately dreamed about getting were the brand new pair with black leather and gleaming silver blades in the window of the sports shop in town. He wanted these skates so badly that he left hints for his parents and even told them how tight his old skates were becoming. 

On his eleventh birthday, Bobby was given a big box which he was certain contained the brand new skates that he wanted so much. But when he opened the box...inside were his older brother's hand-me-down skates that his father had sharpened. The hand-me-down skates were scuffed and smelly and even had a few patches of rust on the blades. Although Bobby was deeply disappointed, he thanked his parents and smiled. But he couldn't imagine scoring a game-winning goal in these skates.

At first Bobby found it difficult to adjust to his new skates but soon he was "sailing up the ice in his Hand-Me-Down skates as though they were extension of his very own feet."  For the next year, Bobby continued to practice on the ice at home and play hockey. 

It was an invitation to play in a hockey game before a Toronto Maple Leafs game in Toronto that would not only get him noticed but get Bobby what mattered most to him as an eleven-year-old - a new pair of skates!

Discussion

Bobby Orr And The Hand-Me-Down Skates tells about one episode in the life of hockey great Bobby Orr who grew up in the town of Parry Sound, Ontario.  Orr's family was not well off, so it wasn't surprising that he would end up with his brother's old skates. But even wearing skates too large for him, Bobby's determination and skill got him noticed and he eventually got those brand new skates, paid for by someone who recognized his talent.

This picture book is perfect for young hockey fans, offering readers the opportunity to learn a bit about this legendary hockey player. Orr's story about the hand-me-down skates touches on the themes of gratitude, and the importance of hard work. Orr really wanted the new skates, but he was grateful for what he was given and he showed his parents his appreciation. Then determined to improve his skills, he worked with what he had. His hard work and determination eventually paid off in a pair of new skates. Helping the story along are Jennifer Phelan's richly coloured illustrations which were rendered in oil pastel and watercolour pencil. 

A lovely story about one of Canada's great, if not greatest hockey players.

Book Details:

Bobby Orr And The Hand-Me-Down Skates by Bobby Orr and Kara Kootstra
Tundra Books of Northern New York       2020

Stay Curious! A Brief History of Stephen Hawking by Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer

Stay Curious offers young readers an introduction to the life and accomplishments of famous cosmologist, Stephen Hawking.

Hawking grew up in England, in a family who loved to read, even through dinner. The listened to opera and they even had beehives in their basement. The also enjoyed stargazing at night in their backyard. Stephen and his friends loved to create complicated board games and they enjoyed talking about how the universe came to be.

Inspired by his math teacher, Dikran Tahta, Stephen and his friends invented a computer made from recycled parts. Tahta encouraged Stephen to study physics, which he went on to study at Oxford University, the alma mater of both his parents.

As in high school, Stephen never studied or took notes, but he still did exceptionally well. At Oxford, he joined the rowing club, which helped him to make many friends. Then Stephen began to have trouble controlling his body. He had difficulty tying his shoelaces, his speech was sometimes slurred and he fell down the stairs. But it wasn't until he fell ice skating one day with his mother and was unable to get up that the mystery was solved. 

His parents took him for a series of medical tests and he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or what is called ALS. Stephen, who was just twenty-one-years-old, was given a devastating prognosis: he had two years to live.

At first he retreated from the world, Stephen remembered he was not the only one facing down a terrible illness. ALS allowed his mind, which was unaffected by the degenerative disease to focus on specific problems that interested him. He began to think deeply about the universe and how it might have formed. At this time Stephen had also fallen in love with his girlfriend, Jane Wilde, to whom he became engaged. This relationship gave him the strength to move forward with his life despite the crushing diagnosis.

Jane and Stephen would marry and have three children, Robert, Lucy and Timothy. Meanwhile, Stephen's health continued to decline, but not in the precipitous way predicted by doctors. And he would go on to become the premier cosmologist of his generation, proposing the theory of the Big Bang and discovering interesting features of black holes. His adventuresome and mischievous nature continued throughout his life. Stephen died peacefully, at home, at the age of seventy-six.

Discussion

Stay Curious! is an interesting picture-book biography of Stephen Hawking that focuses on his remarkable attitude, which allowed him to live a fulfilling life and to make major contributions to our understanding of the universe. The book's title is a play on Hawking's best-selling book, A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes.

The picture book is a good blend of highlighting Stephen Hawking's achievements while also chronicling his health struggles. As his body began to fail him, his mind began to compensate and his character was often revealed. For example, Krull and Brewer write that when Stephen lost his ability to write, "his memory became a kind of superpower." 

With each physical setback, Stephen didn't give up but met the challenge. When finally having to use a wheelchair, "he became notorious for daredevil driving."  Stephen's incredible attitude towards life was matched by his sense of humour and his eccentric ways. He loved to have parties in his hotel room and his birthday usually meant some sort of themed party.

Stephen's ability to live a fulfilling life was in part due to the efforts of his wife and friends which the authors also mention. For example, when he lost the use of his voice after a procedure, "Friends fitted a small computer and a speech synthesizer to his wheelchair. Stephen now 'spoke' in a robot-like voice with an American accent." 

Boris Kulikov's colourful mixed media illustrations further enhance this inspiring account of Stephen Hawking's life. Stay Curious! offers young readers the opportunity to learn about Stephen Hawking, his work and ability to meet life's challenges with fortitude, perseverance and humour.

Book Details:

Stay Curious! A Brief History of Stephen Hawkings
New York: Crown Books for Young Readers   2020

Yara's Spring by Jamal Saeed and Sharon McKay

Yara's Spring is a heart-breaking fictional story of a young girls life in Syria during the Syria War and her journey to freedom.

Yara's story begins on March 11, 2011. Ten-year-old Yara lives in Bustan al-Qasr, in the middle of Aleppo with her mama and baba and her Nana. Baba's brothers and sisters had left Syria years ago and her mama has only one brother, Sami who lives in Damascus. On this morning, Yara gets up and runs errands for her Baba who is a baker. Their bakery sits in front of their two story family home. Yara's best friend, Shireen lives across the street. After delivering bread to their neighbours in need, Yara returns home to find her Uncle Sami visiting. Sami works as a high school teacher in Damascus, and Yara loves him dearly. 

Uncle Sami tells his mother, Nana that a revolution is coming, that they need democracy, a chance to choose their own leaders. He tells her the "Arab Spring" is coming. The Arab Spring began in Tunisia and then to Egypt and now has come to Syria. Schoolboys wrote graffiti on the walls of the school in the city of Dara'a. The words were about President al-Assad, so the principal called the police. who then arrested the boys. Sami tells Nana, that it is like what happened before. Yara doesn't know what Sami is referring to and he refuses to elaborate.

Shireen comes to get Yara for dance class. As they leave, they see her father getting into a car to go to a funeral. Shireen's mother, Roja and her twin brother, Ali watch him leave. At dance class after they watch the senior girls rehearse, Nana gives Shireen a whispered message that sends her running out of class. Nana tells Yara that Shireen's father has been arrested at the funeral. The man who died was a rebel, who belonged to the Kurdish Future Movement which Shireen's father supported. He is now a political prisoner, worse off than a criminal as there will be no lawyer or trial for him. Nana explains to Yara that Shireen's family will suffer too: Roja will not be able to continue working at the university.

A year later, Yara's mother gives birth to a baby boy, Saad, at home due to the war that is raging in Syria. Shireen's father continues to languish in prison. Another year passes, it is now 2014. The war continues on as Yara celebrates her fourteenth birthday. Aleppo is now a divided city, with West Aleppo controlled by the government of President al-Assad and East Aleppo where Yara and her family live, under rebel control. As a result, East Aleppo is bombed frequently. Yara's mama had wanted to move, but Nana and Baba were against leaving behind the bakery they had built. 

On her birthday, Yara is playing with two year old Saad, now a happy, active little boy. On the roof, as Yara is helping hang the laundry, Nana gives her a small paper bag of candies. On the opposite rooftop, Shireen and Ali wave their happy birthday greetings to her. Ali had  wanted to join the rebels but Roja refused to allow it, scolding him about ending up in prison like his father. Suddenly, Yara sees six helicopters coming and as they fly over her home, they drop their bombs. The rooftop collapses, sending Saad flying past her, while Yara tumbles through the air and is buried in the rubble of her home. After being rescued, Yara learns her baba and mama have been killed in the bombing, but Saad is safe, having landed in Roja's laundry basket. However, he is so traumatized, he stops speaking. Nana is injured and Yara sees her being taken away in an ambulance to a hospital.

Yara and Saad are taken in by Roja. After several days, Ali goes to search the hospital but cannot locate Nana. Determined to find Nana, and believing her to be still alive, Yara insists on continuing the search. Meanwhile, Shireen shows her family's passports to Yara, but tells her that they will never leave Syria while her father is in prison. Shireen points out to Yara the difficulty in leaving the country: getting to Turkey means getting past ISIS, Iraq requires a visa and Hezbollah in Lebanon makes that route unlikely as well. But Yara suggests they could travel to Jordan where her Uncle Sami lives in Damascus.

Remembering that her parents kept their papers in a tin box under the big table in the bakery, Yara and Shireen struggle their way into the ruins of Yara's home. With the help of Ali, Yara manages to pull out the red tin that contains their passports. And waiting outside the ruins of their house is Nana, thin and limping because of her wounded leg. Back in Roja's home, the tin box is opened revealing a horde of jewelry and American money as well as photographs from Nana's past. The box also contains Yara's family's passports, their Syrian National Identity Cards and their family registry document.

The next day, Nana tells Yara's the story of her past, a story identical to the one being played out again with Yara's generation. Nana also tells her that she spent time at the home of a man, Rifa'at, who helped her after the hospital she was at was bombed. Rifa'at also helps people escape Syria. And that is what Nana is determined to do, along with Yara and Saad. She plans to hire Rifa'at to take them to Damascus, where they will journey on to Jordan. It is a dangerous journey that will require every bit of courage and determination Yara has to survive.

Discussion

For young readers wanting to understand the impact of war, Yara's Spring offers a realistic portrayal through the eyes of a young girl caught up in the Syrian conflict. Jamal Saeed, himself a political prisoner in Syria for over ten years, has experienced the tragedy of war in his home country of Syria and his first-hand experience is evident throughout this novel. 

To help orient his young readers, Saeed offers two maps at the front of the novel, one showing Syria's placement in the Middle East and a second map showing the major cities in Syria and Yara's journey from Aleppo, south to the Azraq Refugee Camp where the story begins. This is where the reader first meets Yara, an exhausted, emotionally traumatized refugee, struggling to come to terms with everything she has experienced on her flight out of Syria. She is haunted by what has happened, her conscience troubled in a way no young person should have to experience. As she sits down to rest, in a part of the refugee camp that's private, she tells her story in a flashback.

Saeed is able to capture the war and refugee experience from many different perspectives. There is Yara's Uncle Sami, who was filled with hopeful expectation at the coming Arab Spring, only to have it turn to fear. In Nana, there is the fear that what happened before is now happening again and she is determined to save what's left of her family. There are the rebels who patrol the streets in East Aleppo, seeking "men and boys of fighting age" to come out and join their cause. "...Tell them that only by fighting will their lives have meaning. Tell them that they will go to paradise if they are killed fighting for our faith." There are Shireen and Ali who desperately want to fight for a better future for the country. There is Umm Fadi, the woman who lives upstairs in the safe house in Damascus who is blindly devoted to President al-Assad and who believes he is protecting Syria and that the bombing of Aleppo is justified, "The people in those areas are not only hiding terrorists, they are allowing their children to be used a human shields! It is not the President's fault..."

Yara's Spring highlights the resiliency, courage and determination of those in Syria who decide to leave. Yara embodies all of these qualities but Saeed also portrays the toll the war has had on her. After the death of her parents, sights and smells in her ruined home trigger panic. While staying at Hafa's compound in Ar Rastan, the smell of the food and spices, suddenly triggers a flashback. "Suddenly overwhelmed, she closed her eyes and once again heard the chu-chu-chu of helicopter blades. The sound of the explosion, the sensation of flying through the air, of her limbs trying to detach themselves from her body, of a scream caught in her throat, of being buried alive. No, no, no!"

It's no surprise Yara has anxiety and likely post traumatic stress. Yara must also come to terms with the fact that she killed a man when Ali was kidnapped and she experiences deep conflict over leaving Syria. She believes she is a coward, not a warrior like Ali and Shireen who have remained in Syria to fight on for their country. However, Mr. Matthew, Matthew McGonagall, Yara's case counselor points out to her that she has protected Nana and Saad and that this required great courage. He also reminds her that the fate of Syria does not depend on her choice to emigrate to Canada.

Yara's Spring is also a portrait in compassion and charity amidst the ruins and violence of war. When Yara and Saad are left alone, Roja, herself in dire circumstances, doesn't hesitate to take the two children into her house. When Yara's group is traveling south through checkpoints, they encounter unimaginable brutality. At one checkpoint, while Yara's group has their documents checked they witness a young boy being handcuffed and forced from his father who begs for his sons life. In an act of courageous kindness, Nana intervenes, pretending to be the father's neighbour and to bribe the terrorists with American money and save the boy's life. These acts of kindness are not just restricted to Yara's group either. After almost dying in the mountains, Yara and her group are rescued by a monk who takes them to a Catholic monastery. There Father Ricardo and the nuns care for Yara, Nana and Saad. He tells her that they help all regardless of religion and offer her safety. It is a wonderful tribute to the few Christians who remain in the Middle East, often at great risk and persecution.

Jamal Saeed and his co-author Sharon E. McKay have crafted a book that feels realistic in its portrayal of the Syrian conflict, of the plight of Syrian refugees, while also ending on a hopeful note. Yara, in her heart hopes to return some day to her beloved Syria. Yara's Spring is well written and a must-read for young Canadians, to help them understand the backstory of Canada's Syrian refugees.

Book Details:

Yara's Spring by Jamal Saeed and Sharon E. McKay
Toronto: Annick Press    2020
298 pp.