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.

The Wolf Mother by Hetxw'ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson)

In the month of May, during the Lasa'yanja, the Budding Trees and Blooming Flowers Moon, plants are blooming and spring is beginning to take hold. During this time, many animals are giving birth. The Now Gibuu, the wolf mother has recently given birth to six new wolf pups. One of the wolf pups is black with a tiny white strip above her left eye.

By the time of the Lasa maa'y, the Gathering and Preparing Berries Moon, the wolf pups are now travelling with their family, hunting gax, the rabbit. The black pup aggressively pushes to the front of the other pups to get the meat she loves. 

After two years of growing, hunting and learning from her pack, it is time for the black wolf to leave and find her own group and become a Nox Gibuu or wolf mother.

During the time of Lasa gangwiikw, The Groundhog Hunting Moon, there is plenty of prey for the black wolf, especially the well fed groundhogs, as she seeks out a new home.

In November, during Lasa gwineekxw, the Getting-Used-To-Cold Moon, the black wolf approaches a group of wolves she has been following for some days. One of the wolves, a grey female is wary of the strange black wolf but eventually submits, rolling over on her back. The black wolf is now the leader of this group of wolves.

By January, Nox Gibuu is bonding with a strong male wolf with grey fur. Soon the wolf mother will be able to begin her new family.

The arrival of  spring, Nox Gibuu's third Lasa 'yanja is heralded by the birth of her first litter of five pups. There are now ten animals in the pack. Nox Gibuu has made a good start for the future of the wolves in her ecosystem.

Discussion

The Wolf Mother is part of the Mothers of Xsan series written by award-winning storyteller and artist Hetxw'ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson) from the Gitxsan Nation in the Northwest Interior of British Columbia. As Gyetxw mentions in his note "The Gitxsan" at the back of the book, the territory of the Gitxsan encompasses the headwaters of Xsan or its colonial name, the Skeena River.   The Gitxsan Nation is a strong matrilineal society, meaning that "all rights, priviliges, names and stories come from the mothers". There are four clan that make up the Gitxsan Nation, the Lax Seel (Frog), Lax Gibuu (Wolf), Lax Skiik (Eagle), and Gisghaast (Fireweed).  The Mothers of Xsan series include The Sockeye, The Wolf, The Grizzly and the Frog, fitting nicely with three of the Gitxsan clans. 

Like other books in the series, The Wolf Mother offers young readers the story of the life cycle of the animal in the title, in this case the grey wolf. The Wolf Mother blends biology and Indigenous knowledge and culture, showing how the natural world and the human world share similar practices. For example Gyetxw mentions how both wolf packs and the Gitxsan people share the responsibility of raising the young, teaching them the skills they need to know to survive.

Beyond the life cycle of the wolf, readers will also learn the importance of the wolf in the ecosystem in the Gitxsan Nation territory and Gyetxw also points out how the wolf should not be considered a feared predator but in reality are "...some of the most loving and caring beings."

Gyetxw also incorporates some of the Gitxsan language into his text such as gal ts'ap (village), gibuu (wolf).  The author also uses terms that are familiar to the Gitxsan to describe the world around them. The months of the year are defined by the names the Gitxsan have for each lunar cycle. For example, the moon in May is very appropriately called Budding Trees and Blooming Flowers Moon or Lasa 'yanja.  To make the text more understandable to younger readers, more difficult words and terms are highlighted in separate boxes where a definition is provided. 

Accompanying the descriptive text is the colourful artwork of Metis illustrator Natasha Donovan who incorporates many beautiful indigenous motifs into her work. This artwork really enhances the story being told. Overall, this graphic series is very well done, the artwork outstanding and the information presented in an appealing and engaging way.

The Mothers of Xsan series is highly recommended for students interested in wildlife.

Book Details:

The Wolf Mother by Hetxw'ms Geytxw (Brett D. Huson)
Winnipeg, Manitoba: Highwater Press      2021

Luck of the Titanic by Stacey Lee

It's April 10, 1912 and Valora Luck is waiting at the first class gangway to board the White Star's newest ocean line, Titanic. Valora's former employer, Mrs. Sloane had secretly purchased the tickets for them without telling her grasping son and his wife. However, she died suddenly over a week ago and Valora's here now, taking her place.

Dressed in one of Mrs. Sloane's traveling suits, Valora is determined to board Titanic to find and reunite with her twin brother Jamie Luck. He is one of seven Chinese men from the Atlantic Steam Company being transported to Cuba to take on a new job.

Despite her ticket, Valora is refused entry because she is half Chinese. The Chinese Exclusion Act bars Chinese from entering America. Valora lies and tells the officer her lady is expecting her, but to no avail.

Undaunted, Valora manages to board Titanic by hiding underneath a Renault being hoisted into the ship's hold. When Valora is seen climbing out of the hold by a crewman, she is reported to Officer Merry. Luckily she is saved by a Miss Hart who distracts the officer, allowing Valora to concentrate on finding Jamie.

Valora knows from the late Mrs. Sloane's list of passengers, that Mr. Albert Ankeny Stewart, part owner of the Ringling Brothers Circus is on board. Her plan is to find Jamie, convince him to do the routine they choregraphed with Ba months ago for Mr. Stewart and get hired.

Valora is able to find Jamie's cabin, but the Chinese sailors don't trust her and offer no help. However, as she wanders through the ship, Valora stumbles upon Jamie who she finds helping Miss Charlotte Fine with her poodle. Jamie is with two young Chinese boys, Olly and Wink and a young Chinese man, Chow Bo Wah who works as a fireman on Titanic. Valora tells Jamie about her plan for them to go to New York and become circus performers by impressing Mr. Stewart. But Jamie isn't interested and he reminds Valora that he doesn't want to go to America and that it's illegal for them to do so.

Jamie's attitude makes Valora angry but determined. Tired, she makes her way to B-Deck and when confusion arises over the room that Mrs. Sloane would have occupied, Valora is offered a beautiful stateroom after identifying herself as Mrs. Amberly Sloane. With Mrs. Sloane's dress and her face covered by a veil of bees lace, Valora has created the perfect disguise.

As the ship leaves Cherbourg, Valora finds herself settling into her new role when April Hart knocks on her door. April knows who she is and makes Valora the offer of having her wear her own creations from House of July, her haute couture fashion label. At first she refuses but April reveals that she knows exactly who Valora is and suggests they can help each other. She tells Valora she could be the "Merry Widow" and "the mysterious woman in mourning" and that she can help her hide in first class. Valora agrees to model April's outfits in exchange for her finding out about Mr.Stewart. Now all she needs to do is convince Jamie to perform their act for Mr. Stewart so they can start their new life in America. 

Discussion

With Luck of the Titanic, New York Times best-selling author Stacey Lee has crafted another riveting novel for teen readers. She has taken the well known and much written about historical event of the sinking in 1912 of the White Star ocean liner, Titanic and focused in on the little known fact that there were eight Chinese passengers on board the ship. Six of the Chinese survived and sadly these men were shamed for surviving. 

With this detail as her foundation, Lee has created a believable and moving story. The challenge, when using a historical event like the Titanic in which the outcome is well known, is to write a good, plausible story with believable fictional characters whose fate is not known to the reader. Lee accomplishes this remarkably well. Also, as she notes in her Author's Further Note at the back, "The challenge of writing historical fiction lies in creating a fictional story within the confines of the historical record without doing to much damage in the process." Lee has remained faithful to the events of the Titanic disaster while also educating her readers on the discrimination so prevalent against the Chinese, that there was a specific law barring them from entering America and that their efforts to survive the disaster were considered dishonourable and shameful.

In Luck of the Titanic, the main character, Valora Luck is posing as her recently deceased employer, the wealthy Mrs. Amberly Sloane. Valora initially planned to board Titanic as Mrs. Sloane's maid but when that attempt fails she manages to sneak onto the ship - perhaps the most implausible part of the entire story. Her goal is to find her brother Jamie whom she knows is on the ship working on the boilers. Valora wants to go to America and begin a new life there as a circus performer and part of the act she and her brother developed as Valor and Virtue. Jamie is simply not interested in Valora's idea, although he eventually decides to help her. Their plans are never realized as the ship strikes the iceberg and begins to sink. 

However, before the tragedy, Valora comes to realize that what she thinks is best for her might not be the right thing for Jamie. This realization in the cabin of Mr. Stewart of Ringling Bros. comes at the exact moment the Titanic strikes the iceberg. "Life is a balancing act, and the better you get a juggling, the better you get at living. But juggling is not an act of holding tight. It's an act of letting go -- of giving the people you love the time and space to find their own orbit. And it's an act of catching. I'll always be there for Jamie, just as he'll always be there for me." And so Valora makes a deal that works for both her and Jamie, giving him the freedom to live his life as he chooses, not as she wishes. And as it turns out that is for the best as the tragedy of the sinking unfolds.

One contentious detail in the novel is whether Valora would be able to move so easily about on Titanic between first class and the quarters where the Chinese crew are housed. Lee does add a touch of realism to this as Valora's true identity is eventually revealed.

Lee also makes use of considerable foreshadowing in the novel through Valora's dreams and also with the gift of the carved whale that Bo gives Valora. When questioned as to why a whale, Bo tells her, "A whale rules the sea. It goes where it wants without fear. And if troubled, it can become a bird --he flaps his hands, his long fingers moving gracefully -- "beating wings hard enough to stir up the sea. It means being in control of your destiny."

The novel's gorgeous cover is sure to draw readers in but Titanic is so overdone in novels, that the theme may be off putting for some readers. Those that do take up the challenge however, will find an enjoyable, well-crafted story with a very bittersweet ending. The novel includes a List of Characters in her novel and maps of the layout of the R.M.S. Titanic. 

Book Details:

Luck of the Titanic by Stacey Lee
New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons        2021
366 pp.

Flip! How The Frisbee Took Flight by Margaret Muirhead

Flip! uncovers the story behind the invention of the Frisbee.

One story is that the Frisbee originated out of Yale University. Joseph P. Frisbie whose father was a baker,  delivered desserts to the university.  The left-over tin pie plates, stamped Frisbie's Pies were soon being tossed around on campus by students!

In 1937, Fred Morrison and his girlfriend Lu were in the backyard of his home in Southern California after a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. Someone picked up a tin popcorn lid and began flipping it through the air. This was so much fun that Fred and Lu became hooked on flipping their tin lid around until it became too dented to use. So they switched to pie plates and then cake pans! Fred and Lu had never heard of the Frisbie Pie plates but one day they would!

Later, while Fred and Lu were playing with their plate on the beach in California, another beach goer offered to buy it from Fred for a quarter. Fred realized he was on to something. Soon his new business venture of selling pans at parks and beaches allowed him to buy an engagement ring for Lu and in 1939 they were married.

With World War II, Fred enlisted as an Army Air Corps pilot but he continued to think about the "flying cake-pans". The post-war years saw intense public interest in unidentified flying objects, UFOs because of the reports of an alien aircraft crashing at Roswell, New Mexico. This got Fred thinking about how he might connect his "flying cake-pans" to the UFOs!

He decided to make his cake pans out of light, brightly coloured plastic and with help and financial backing of a friend, Warren Franscioni,  renamed them The Amazing Flyin-Saucer. He thought he had a hit, but the plastic was brittle in cold temperatures, meaning the flyin-saucers broke.

In 1955, Fred remarketed his product as the Pluto Platters, this time made out of a more pliable material. With the help of Lu, he sold them at fairs, dressed in a spacesuit costume. The success of the Pluto Platters captured the interest of Wham-O, a California toy company. They bought the rights to the design with the intent of marketing them all over the country.

But when they got to the New England area, they noticed that students there were already playing with discs but they called them Frisbies. Wham-O decided to change the name of their discs to Frisbees and the rest is history!

Discussion

Who knew the strange and convoluted history of the Frisbee, that plastic disc you can toss around? In this enjoyable picture book, Margaret Muirhead tells the story of how the Frisbee came to be with a delightful touch of humour. 

Although several people appeared to have the idea of tossing a plate or pan around for fun, it was, as Muirhead suggests in her Author's Note at the back, Fred Morrison's entrepreneurial spirit that took an neat idea and made it into a business. It is this quality that Muirhead highlights in her book, that persistence can pay off.

Helping the story along are the colourful, humorous 1950's and 1960's retro artwork, by illustrator, Adam Gustavson.

Book Details

Flip! How The Frisbee Took Flight by Margaret Muirhead
Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc.  

Finding Narnia: The Story of C.S. Lewis and His Brother by Caroline McAlister

Jack and Warnie were two brothers who were very different.  Jack used his imagination to create new worlds while Warnie preferred to create worlds that were like the real world and how it worked. Warnie would pretend to be an Indian raja whose world was like the real world with trains. Jack pretended he was a brave knight in a world ruled by a mouse king.

Despite their differences the two brothers were close and spent time playing together, often in each other's worlds.

When they moved to a new house, the two brothers discovered an old wardrobe in a room next to the attic. It smelled strongly of moth balls. Jack wondered, as he felt into the deep, large wardrobe, if it had no end!

When Jack and Warnie's mother became very ill, the two boys created their own imaginary world which they called Boxen. The brothers each created specific parts of Boxen's kingdom.

Sadly their mother died, leading their father to send them away to boarding school in England. Jack didn't like his time in England. Instead of being able to read, he spent much time working on math problems. When war came, both Jack and Warnie enlisted but were sent to separate regiments. After the war, while Warnie stayed with the army, Jack gave lectures as a teacher at Oxford. 

When Warnie retired from the army, he came to live with Jack in a spacious house that contained the same wardrobe from their home in Ireland, years ago.

When a second war broke out, the English sent their children to the countryside to be safe. To help the displaced children, Jack and Warnie took in two girls. One day while exploring their new home, the two girls found the wardrobe and wondered, "What was on the other side of the door?"

So did Jack! Soon his imagination was filed with ideas: a lamppost, a faun, two boys and two girls who entered a strange world through a wardrobe, a place covered in snow called Narnia and a white witch.

Discussion

Most readers know C.S. Lewis for his Chronicles of Narnia series or his many books exploring Christian and philosophical ideas including The Screwtape Letters and Mere Christianity.  In Finding Narnia, McAlister provides young readers with the background story of Lewis and how his love of imagination created one of the world's most beloved stories. 

Born Clive Staples Lewis in 1898, he adopted the name of Jacksie after the death of his beloved dog of the same name. Eventually that would be shortened to Jack. His older brother Warren Hamilton Lewis (Warnie) was Jack's best friend and childhood playmate.

As a child Jack loved fantasy and especially loved Beatrix Potter's stories. With Warnie he created a fantasy world called Boxen that featured talking animals but also Warnie's technology.  As a teenager, he read Norse and Greek mythology as well as Irish mythology. This love of fantasy and mythology led him to become a Fellow and Tutor of English Literature at Magdalen College. In 1954 he became the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Magdalen College at Cambridge University. 

Eventually, Jack would meet J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the Hobbit and creator of the Lord of the Rings saga and the world of Middle Earth. Jack, along with Warnie were members of a literary group called The Inklings that met at Oxford. Tolkien was to be a profound influence on Jack, helping him to rediscover Christianity and inspiring Jack to further develop his Narnia world. This is the one very important influence lacking in McAlister's account: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien's friendship was to result in two of the most important works of fiction written in the 20th century.

McAlister's picture book provides readers with the integral points about Jack and Warnie; their deep friendship that bound the two brothers together and their creativity and imagination that led Jack to write the Narnia stories. However, in her Author's Note, McAlister fleshes out the story of Jack and Warnie Lewis's lives in more detail, offering readers

McAlister's biography is illustrated with the watercolor artwork of Jessica Lanan. A unique feature of this picture book biography is the comprehensive Illustrator's Note at the back in which Lanan goes through each illustration and explains specific details. For example, on pages eight and nine, the famous wardrobe that inspired the magical wardrobe in the Narnia chronicles is portrayed. Lanan writes that although, "It is darker in color than I have depicted here, ...I tried to be true to the size and decoration of the original."

Finding Narnia is a great addition to any unit on C.S. Lewis and for those who are reading the Narnia Chronicles and may want to learn something about the author and how his imaginary world came to be.

Book Details:

Finding Narnia: The Story of C.S. Lewis and His Brother by Caroline McAlister
New York: Roaring Book Press     2019
39 pp.