Unbound: The Life and Art of Judith Scott by Joyce Scott with Brie Spangler

Unbound is the remarkable story of Judith Scott, who overcomes her disabilities and institutionalization to become  an internationally recognized fabric artist. 

Entwined

Judy and Joyce are twins who live with their parents and three older brothers. They are always together, under the sun and moon, playing together in the neighbourhood. But when Joyce begins kindergarten, Judy, who has Down Syndrome, cannot come. She has learning disabilities and a weak heart. Although the doctors tell them that Judy is "slow", to Joyce she is "perfect just the way she is." 

The Colors of Gone

One day Joyce learns that her father has taken Judy away to a special school to live and where she will learn to talk. Joyce overhears her father tell her mother just how hard it was to leave Judy at the school. Although Judy's magazines, dolls and toys are placed in a box by her mother, Joyce takes them out every night and sleeps with them. Eventually, Joyce is able to visit her sister. When Joyce sees Judy's school, she is not happy: there are no books, crayons, or playground. Judy and Joyce hug and look at a magazine filled with pictures of bunnies.

Unbound

Time passes and Joyce brings her friends, her husband and then their children to meet Judy. Joyce still misses her sister and arranges for Judy to move from the institution in Ohio to her home in California. The staff at the institution tell Joyce that this move will be difficult because they believe Judy is deaf, something that surprises Joyce. Finally, the two sisters are together again, when Judy arrives unaccompanied on a flight.

A New Language

Judy and Joyce are much happier now. With Joyce working as a nurse during the day, Judy is enrolled in an art program for adults with disabilities at an art studio, Creative Growth Art Center. Although Joyce has never seen Judy do anything artsy, one day Judy begins working with natural materials: yarn, twine, twigs and wood. Soon Judy is in the studio everyday creating pieces out of many different materials. These creations are colourful and unique. One day after many years, Judy creates a piece that is small and black and she also gives Joyce all her magazines. The next day, Judy dies in Joyce's arms.

Discussion

Unbound is the story about the life of Judith Scott, whose disabilities hid her remarkable talent for decades, until her twin sister brought her home and enrolled her in an art studio. There Judith discovered her gift for communicating through fabric art.

Judith Scott lived at a time when people with Down Syndrome were often institutionalized. They received little education or intellectual stimulation and were often hidden away. In some cases, families were encouraged to send their children with disabilities away, in others, the lack of support for home care and education made living with their families almost impossible. In her Author Note at the back, Joyce Scott writes, "Wherever we live, we find many people who are bit 'different' in one way or another. These individuals, because of their differences, are often thought of as being less than those of us who consider ourselves 'normal'. They are often kept at a distance, not included in the everydayness of our lives....Because they are not valued, their unseen strenghts and gifts often go unrecognized, unexplored, and undiscovered." 

This is exactly what happened with Judith Scott. Institutionalized, her potential remained hidden until her sister, Joyce was able to bring her into her home, and to give her the opportunity to explore through art. Judith eventually discovered that she could express herself through the use of natural materials and so communicate with others.

Judith's twin sister, Joyce, found her sister's institutionalization emotionally distressing. In her eyes, Judy "...is perfect just the way she is. She knows things that no one else knows and sees the world in ways that I never will." Joyce was able to see past her sister's disabilities, knowing her as a loving person who responded in a different way to the world around her.

Judith's story is told through four short chapters from Joyce's perspective. At the back, a photograph of an older Judith is included along with information on the Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland. There is also some information on Down Syndrome, a Timeline of Judith's life, and and Author Note and Illustrator Note. The illustrations for this picture book were created  with watercolor, colored pencils, and mixed media. Illustrator Melissa Sweet strove to interpret Judith's process and art using natural objects like wood, yarn, and thread.

Unbound is the inspiring story of Judith Scott, renowned fiber artist who discovered her ability to express herself through the use of natural materials, and to overcome her major life challenges.

Book Details:

Unbound: The Life and Art of Judith Scott by Joyce Scott with Brie Spangler
New York: Alfred A. Knopf      2021

Iceberg by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Twelve-year-old Hazel Rothbury had plans for her life, but a letter from her aunt in New York City changed everything. Her papa died at sea two years ago, leaving Hazel and her family struggling and in debt. Her aunt invited Hazel to come to America and work with her in a garment factory. Hazel would board for free and send the money she earned home to help. So Hazel set out for Southampton with just over two pounds in her purse. 

Now in Southhampton, Hazel discovers that this is not enough to purchase a third-class ticket on the Titanic. She has to board the ship, but how? On the dock, Hazel meets the wealthy young daughter of a millionaire, Sylvia Thorngood. Sylvia is looking for her governess, Miss Gruber. Although Sylvia is eager to befriend Hazel, Miss Gruber recognizes that Hazel is not from the same social class as her charge, and strongly disapproves.

Hazel manages to sneak aboard Titanic by hiding in a trunk. On board she is helped by a young porter named Charlie Blight who takes her to the first-class deck to watch the ship's departure. While watching from Titanic's deck, Hazel overhears a couple, the Mollison's talking about trying to get money from someone on the ship and about cheating at cards. Hazel decides she will write about her experience on Titanic and questions Charlie after hearing that there is a fire in a coal bin in Boiler Room Six. As she wanders around the ship, Hazel meets Mrs.Ruth Ableman, a widow and former governess who encourages Hazel in her determination to become a journalist.

Eventually Charlie recognizes that Hazel is a stowaway but decides against reporting her when she promises to pay for her ticket once she sells her story to a newspaper. Charlie finds Hazel a small third-class cabin, making her appear to be a legitimate passenger.

Hazel begins to learn as much as she can about Titanic, quizzing some of the ship's crew and officers. Charlie reassures her that the ship is not in danger from the fire and explains what a double hull is. He tells Hazel if the Titanic is damaged on the sides, that might be a problem, foreshadowing what is to come.

She sees the Mollisons speaking with Miss Gruber and wonders if it is Sylvia's money they are after.  When Sylvia invites Hazel to dinner in the Cafe Parisien, she meets Clyve and Letha Mollison. Also in attendance is Mr. Emerson Waddington, who is studying ship design. He fields Hazel's thoughtful questions, much to the dislike of Mrs. Mollison who knows that Hazel is not a first class passenger. 

However, Hazel remains undaunted and even manages to question Captain Smith about Titanic's speed. Embarrassed by the commotion her questions have caused, Hazel abruptly leaves the café and encounters Mrs. Ableman who encourages Hazel to continue investigating and researching, and offers to teach her about icebergs.

As Titanic continues to journey across the Atlantic, Hazel uncovers more potential problems with the ship while becoming caught up in the intrigue that involves the Mollisons, Miss Gruber, Mrs. Ableman, and Sylvia. When Sylvia and Charlie are caught below deck after the ship strikes an iceberg, Hazel must decide whether she should save herself or find her new friends and help them.

Discussion

In Iceberg, historical fiction is combined with intrigue to create an engaging survival story involving the sinking of Titanic.

Twelve-year-old Hazel Rothbury stows away on Titanic and her curiosity is immediately piqued when she overhears about a fire aboard the new ship! Her intention to uncover the secrets of Titanic so she can use it to launch her journalism career ( a weak premise)  leads her to learn that the ship is not so unsinkable as claimed. Nielsen uses Hazel to inform readers about Titanic, how its design was flawed, and how a series of decisions all combine to lead to the sinking of the ship.

Set against the backdrop of the impending disaster, is the intrigue that develops between the Mollisons, Miss Gruber and Mrs. Ableman. Eventually Hazel solves this mystery and her integrity and resourcefulness is rewarded in the end.

Aiding in the telling of the story are the numerous historical images added to the novel such as a copy of Titanic's menu for first and third class passengers, newspaper articles of the launch of Titanic and a similar marine disaster, weather reports and the wireless messages between ships. Nielsen's story also touches on the class division that existed at that time, how this was a part of life on Titanic, even to the point of making some of the third class passengers initially reluctant to flee through first class to safety.

Nielsen has crafted a set of believable characters, the resourceful, intelligent and caring Hazel, kind Charlie Blight, sweet Sylvia Thorngood, and the honorable Ruth Ableman.

At the back of the novel, Nielsen includes an interesting Author's Note Titanic Fact vs. Fiction which sorts out where the author has deviated a bit from history. 

In her Acknowledgements, Nielsen writes, "Ultimately, any story about Titanic will be a survival story. It will speak of courage, heroism, honor, and trust. Perhaps what appeals most to us about Titanic is that life itself is a survival story. At some point, we much each face our icebergs. Some are more difficult than others, but the solution is always the same: Get on the lifeboat." In Iceberg, it is friends who help one another, Hazel looking for Sylvia and determined to find Charlie, Mrs. Ableman deciding that with most of her life behind her, she could do more good helping people to safety. 

It's always a difficult task to write a story about an historical event in which we know the outcome, but Nielsen has crafted a mostly believable story that both informs and engages young readers. 

Book Details:

Iceberg by Jennifer A. Nielsen
New York: Scholastic Press    2023
339 pp.

They Are Here: How Invasive Species Are Spoiling Our Ecosystems by Roland Smith

In this short book, former zoo curator and research biologist, Roland Smith offers an informative and engaging look at invasive species and how they affect the natural world and human life on the planet.

Smith opens his book with the definition of an invasive species (one "not native to an ecosystem and causes harm") and and a non-native species (one that is not native to an ecosystem and does not cause harm"). From this definition, Smith mentions his first experience with an invasive species was as an eleven-year-old watching the film The Day of the Triffids. In this movie, Earth is invaded by plants called Triffids that arrive from outer space during a meteor shower, determined to eradicate humans. To that end, they hunt humans, who have gone blind after watching the meteor shower. Eventually the murderous Triffids are conquered but most of humanity is not blind. This movie led the author to develop a keen interest in animals. In They Are Here!, Smith presents approximately thirty invasive species, showing "the serious impact these animals and plants have on ecosystems." 

Non-native species can arrive in many ways, but there are specific criteria to becoming an invasive species. For example, a few criteria are the non-native species must grow faster than the native species, produce a lot of progeny, and disperse widely.

The species Smith focuses on include rats, several birds including the European starling and 

the European house sparrow. There is a chapter on the Burmese python which has infested Florida everglades, the Brown Tree Snake, the Black and White Tegu, the Nile Monitor, and the Green Iguana. Chapter Five, Catastrophe explores cats which are considered an invasive species to North America. 

In Chapter Six, Swarms, Smith mentions a helpful invasive species, the western honeybee which contributes significantly to the U.S. economy. However, other invasive species such as the Africanized honeybee, Murder hornets, spongy moth, fire ants, the Emerald Ash borer, Asian Citrus psyllid, Brown Marmorated Stink bugs have all created serious problems.

Other species Smith focuses on include feral pigs  and carp, both of which are becoming a serious problem in the United States and Canada. Plants can also be an invasive species including kudzu, Purple Loosestrife, and Giant Hogweed which is extremely toxic to humans.

Chapter Ten explores the infestation of Zebra mussels in the Great Lakes and the invasive species, African Giant Land snails.

Finally Smith considers whether human beings are an invasive species. While invasive species reduce biodiversity in an ecosystem, Smith encourages his young readers to develop their curiosity about the natural world around them and be willing to lend a hand.

Discussion

They Are Here is a fascinating and informative read about the different species that have invaded North America, wrecking havoc on native ecosystems. Some of us remember the demise of the Elm trees in North America in the 1960's as a result of the invasive sac fungi that was inadvertently introduced into the continent from Asia. The towering elm trees which graced many farms and towns, is mostly gone now.

Smith writes about each species, adding a touch of wry humour that makes the subject of invasive species both interesting and engaging. Each of the thirty or so species are described, and their effects on an ecosystem are explained so readers understand why each species is harmful. Efforts to try to eliminate or at least control the invasive species are discussed, with the author exploring the effectiveness of the various methods used. 

This is a book that certainly could have used either pencil drawings or photographs of some of the animals and plants investigated. Smith has included a Glossary of terms used in the text, a Suggested Reading List for those readers curious about animals and invasive species, and a list of scientific papers and articles for those who wish to go much deeper into the subject.  They Are Here is well-written and informative. Readers are very much encouraged to read The Day of the Triffids!

Book Details:

They Are Here: How Invasive Species Are Spoiling Our Ecosystems by Roland Smith
New York: Henry Hold and Company    2023
138 pp.

Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin

Twelve-year-old Ebo is in a Seahawk Inflatable Rubber dinghy that should only how six people but has fourteen passengers. He is traveling with his brother Kwame and two friends, Nuru and Razak, hoping to reach the shores of Italy and a better life. In the boat they are arguing- they've been at sea for three hours and it is cold and dark. Razak is struggling to navigate the boat. Ebo remembers how they came to be in this situation...

Nineteen months earlier, Ebo's brother Kwame left suddenly, without telling him, to try for Europe. After checking throughout the village and running to the bus depot, Ebo realizes Kwame has left. After putting his Uncle Patrick who has been "caring" for him to bed, Ebo sets out after Kwame, boarding the bus to Agadez, Niger. In Agadez, a woman remembers Kwame after she sees Ebo's photograph, but she has no other information. 

Every day Ebo tries to find work but is turned away. Ebo befriends an older man named Penn after he finds a package of anti-septic wipes. He used the wipes to trade for food. A lucky break happens when Ebo is asked to sing at a wedding and he finds Kwame.

It takes Ebo and Kwame twenty-one weeks to save for passage across the desert on a truck that is filled with many others. Their water bottles are taken from them and they are allowed one mouthful of water when the truck stops. The traffickers show no mercy, not even stopping when a man falls off the truck.

Ebo, Kwame, Nuru, Razak and the others are abandoned in the desert when Libyan men stop their truck, fill it with contraband cigarettes and take off. The group spend days walking, suffering from thirst and the burning sun. They find a jeep with dead men, but it has sealed water bottles and eventually they do cross the desert. Ebo and his brother work to pay for rides from town to town until they reach Tripoli, on the Mediterranean Sea. On the ride into Tripoli, Ebo and the others are smuggled past a check point. By this time Ebo is very ill and Kwame must get illegal medication to save him. While Ebo recovers, Kwame works so they can pay for passage to Europe.

Razak and Nuru visit every day with news about the boats. They argue about what to do and whether they can trust the men with the boats. After the storm drain they are living in is checked by soldiers, Ebo, Kwame and Razak make the fateful decision to book a boat to Europe. The trip to Italy will bring both heartbreak and happiness.

Discussion

Illegal is a graphic novel that effectively portrays the plight of the thousands of men, women and children fleeing war, persecution, and economic hardship in Africa and the Middle East. With few resources available to them, many must work hard and place their trust in people who traffick in human beings. The result is often death or the loss of those they love.

In Illegal, Ebo and Kwame's journey begins in their village in Niger, to Agadez. the fifth largest city in Niger, situated in the middle of the Sahara Desert. To get to the Mediterranean Sea, Ebo and Kwame have to travel through the Sahara, a dangerous journey due to the extreme heat and cold, but also made more so because they must rely on human traffickers to make the journey. Their destination is Tripoli, the capital of Libya and from there they will cross the Mediterranean Sea to land in Italy.

Colfer tells Ebo's story in two parts. The story opens with Ebo, Kwame, and their friends in a rubber dinghy in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. The situation is dire as it is evident the boat is overcrowded, the motor is failing, and they are lost. This causes Ebo to remember how he came to be in this situation. From this point on the story alternates between the events that occurred in Northern Africa as they journeyed from Agadez to Tripoli and the current terrifying situation in the boat on the Mediterranean.

Unlike many refugees, Ebo and Kwame and their friends are not fleeing persecution or war, but are economic migrants. Their parents are both dead and there is no one to look after them except an elderly uncle who spends the money they earn on drink. Although Ebo attended school, there are very few options for a young person in his situation. 

Illegal perhaps best captures the desperation Ebo and Kwame experience, willing to risk traversing the Sahara Desert with traffickers who cram refugees onto trucks and who don't care about the safety of their passengers and even extort them for water. They are again at the mercy of traffickers who take their money but provide boats that are overcrowded and not seaworthy. 

The novel also captures the trauma that refugees like Ebo experience, after seeing people die in the desert and drown in the sea. Ebo also experiences the trauma of almost dying himself during the crossing and of witnessing his own beloved brother drown. 

Illegal does end on a hopeful note with Ebo reuniting with his long-lost sister. The novel's back matter offers a map of Ebo's Journey, a Creator's Note written by the authors and illustrator, and another refugee's experience, titled Journey: Helen's Story. 

Illegal offers young readers the opportunity to experience the humanity of refugees, their hopes and struggles. Written in 2017, Illegal was inspired by the 2015 crisis which saw mass immigration from Africa and the Middle East into Western Europe. As the creators of the graphic novel note, all these migrants and refugees are human beings.

Book Details:

Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin
Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky     2018
122 pp.

The Fossil Whisperer: How Wendy Sloboda Discovered a Dinosaur by Helaine Becker

Wendy loved hunting through hills and gullies for unusual things like rocks, birds, burrs and bird feathers. She also loved to take pictures of her finds with her camera.

During a class field trip to the badlands near her home in Alberta, twelve-year-old Wendy discovered a piece of fossilized coral.  Her teacher explained that "Millions of years ago, this land was the Western Interior Seaway - an underwater world teeming with marine life." 

Wendy was intrigued by the information a fossil could provide about the past and so she began hunting for fossils in earnst. Her favourite place to hunt for fossils was Devil's Coulee, part of the badlands. Soon she was finding many fossils. 

When she was seventeen, Wendy made an rare find - a fossilized dinosaur eggshell. This discovery brought paleontologists to Devil's Coulee to explore for more fossils and they found them: more fossilized dinosaur eggs from Hypacrosaurus. Even more  important was the discovery of dinosaur embryos in the fossilized eggs!

These discoveries led to Wendy working at the Royal Tyrell Museum of Paleontology and traveling the world to find fossils in other countries, including Greenland and Mongolia.

Wendy continued to hunt for fossils in Alberta, uncovering the fossil of a unique horned dinosaur. Because the rest of the fossilized remains of the dinosaur were buried deep, it took four years to excavate and extract the bones. Paleontologists were able to determine that this was the remains of a new horned dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous. The dinosaur was named after Wendy, Wendiceratops pinhorensis. Meanwhile, Wendy continues to find fossils.

Discussion

Wendy Sloboda is a Canadian fossil hunter who has made many significant fossil discoveries over the past few decades that have led to a great understanding of dinosaurs. Born in Warner, Alberta, Sloboda found her first significant fossil in 1987 as a teenager. This discovery was of fossil eggshells, as described in Becker's picture book that led scientists to discover several nests of duck-billed dinosaurs called hadrosaurs. Other notable finds include a fossilized turtle containing eggs, the footprint of a new ichnospecies of dinosaur, as well as her discovery of a new species of horned dinosaur which was named in her honour.

Becker's detailed account of Slobada's contributions to paleontology includes some information on the types of animals that populated the Western Interior Seaway, and explanations as to why the discovery of the  Hypacrosaurus embryos was so significant. Becker's research for the book included interviewing Wendy Sloboda.

Telling Wendy Sloboda's story in picture book format does make her contributions accessible to younger readers but photographs of locations and of Wendy would have been nice additions to the book. A map showing Wendy's hometown, the location of the Alberta badlands (including some photographs of this unusual landform) her discoveries would also be helpful. Sandra Dumais' colourful digital illustrations round out the story.

Included in the back matter are several pages with information about the real Wendy, How to Be a Fossil Hunter, Alberta's Amazing Bone Beds (a picture of the Alberta badlands would have done nicely here), How Are Fossils Formed?, About Wendiceratops, a Glossary and where to find more information.

The Fossil Whisperer will help inspire a new generation of girls to consider geology and paleontology as potential career options. Wendy Sloboda's life demonstrates that a childhood interest can develop into a life-long career.

Book Details:

The Fossil Whisperer: How Wendy Sloboda Discovered a Dinosaur by Helaine Becker
Toronto: Kids Can Press      2022

Alone: the journeys of three young refugees by Paul Tom

In Alone, readers will explore the real-life stories of three young refugees as they journey alone to the safety of another country. 

Ashfin is thirteen-years-old and lives in Iran. In the summer he and his family often slept on the roof of their house because it was so hot. While his country has been at war, it is only now that it has come to his city. Now instead of spending nights on the roof, they hide in basement with the lights off. Afshin can't wait to become a soldier as he feels he is a superhero. War seems exciting to him. But his parents have other ideas: they decide to send him away to Canada. 

Thirteen-year-old Alain lives in Bujumbura, Burundi with his two older brothers, Igor and Camille and his mother who is a businesswoman. His father is often away as he is in the army.  One day Alain learns that his father has been arrested and is being questioned by the authorities. His brothers and his mother are deeply frightened. They begin to get threatening phone calls and letters, and their house is watched at night by men on motorcycles. So Alain's family decides to flee.

Sixteen-year-old Patricia lived with her mother in a shipping container after her father abandoned them. Patricia wasn't able to attend school because she had to work with her mother so they could make enough money to be able to eat. Eventually, she was sent to live with her father's sister but when her parents reconciled she returned to live with them.

When she turned sixteen Patricia signed up to play softball and found herself attracted to another girl on the team. Eventually her secret comes out, horrifying her parents. If other people find out, Patricia could go to jail and her family will be persecuted. So as the news spreads, her parents make arrangements for Patricia to travel to New York to stay with her uncle for a supposed "softball tournament". However, this is a one-way trip.

For all three young people, their journeys will be complicated and dangerous. They will suffer loneliness, separation and poverty but like many refugees, they will also work hard, and persevere. 

Discussion

Alone is poignant account of three young refugees who flee their homelands because of war or persecution. Their stories are told in five short chapters, Chapter 1 Leaving Everything Behind, Chapter 2 Saying Goodbye, Chapter 3 It Isn't Over Yet, Chapter 4 Mama, Where Are You, and Chapter 5 Hope For Tomorrow. Author Paul Tom was born to Cambodian refugees in camp in Thailand. Now a Montreal-based director, author, video editor and curator of museum video exhibitions, Alone is Paul Tom's first book. 

Although their circumstances are different, all three refugees, Afshin, Alain and Patricia face uncertainty over their future as they travel to a strange country. All three endure the loneliness of separation from their parents, in particular their mothers. This is highlighted in "Chapter 4 Mama, Where Are You?"  Afshin must watch his Iranian classmates at lunch eat the food their mothers make for them.  Alain whose mother has died in a hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, the loss is especially keen. He wakes up crying one morning. "But I'm tired of being strong all the time. I'm broken. Mama is gone forever. And I miss her so much." In Canada, talking on the phone to her mother reminds Patricia of the long distance between them and how much she misses her mother. "I was prepared for many things when I came here. But not for a life without her." Patricia states that "I don't realize that this is the last time I will feel the enveloping weight of her love." 

All three experience setbacks once they arrive in the United States or Canada. They feel the loneliness and separation from those they left behind keenly: When Afshin is invited to a classmate's home for dinner, the smell of ghormeh sabzi is overwhelming. "The smell brings back happy memories. I see familiar faces and I hear laughter, the sounds of children playing and adults talking loudly, carefree. I take a bite. The world stops. I'm caught under a wave of emotions. My throat tightens. I start to tremble. It's so intense that I burst into tears. At that moment, I can feel every kilometer separating me from my childhood and the people I love."  For Alain, the accomplishment of graduating high school is painful. "At the high school graduation ceremony, the other students are surrounded by their parents and loved ones. I pretend to look for my parents in the room. I know they're not here." The cover of Alone effectively portrays this sense of loss and of separation.

Alone highlights the experiences of three real-life young refugees who fled their countries, leaving behind family, friends and their culture, in the hopes of being able to live in peace, safety and dignity. Tom concludes Alone by letting his readers know what has become of all three refugees after being accepted into Canada. The short text and digitally created illustrations help those of us who live in countries receiving refugees, to empathize and understand, to be more accepting and to put ourselves in their situations. Few want to be a refugee, and most refugees would love to return home to their families and their countries. Alone helps us to understand and to empathize. This biography is an adaptation of the documentary film, Seuls.

Book Details:

Alone by Paul Tom
Toronto: Groundwood Books  2022
143 pp.

Hungry Ghost by Victoria Ying

Hungry Ghost is a touching graphic novel about one girl's journey out of an eating disorder, towards self-acceptance, self-love and healing. 

For as long as Valerie Chu can remember, her mother has watched what she eats. She remembers the birthday party where she first met Jordan, her best friend and where she was told to taste and not eat. Valerie has always wanted to be "gwai" or good or obedient.

But at school, although Val gets  good marks, she forces herself to throw up in the school washroom. To Val, it's something she has to do to be pretty. Val's mother reaffirms this belief when she remarks how fat her friend is when she sees Val walking home with Jordan. Val finds it comforting to "get rid" of the food she eats at family dinners. She also spends a lot of time online looking at other people's bodies and comparing them to hers.

When Val, Jordan and their friend Allan hang out together, Val tells them that her father is planning a trip to Base Camp 1 at Mount Everest. During this time with her friends, Val finds herself wishing that she and Allan were together. When they order burgers at the Fender Bender, Val is glad she purged earlier in the night, after dinner at home. But the time with her friends is stressful for Val who believes that in order to be liked by boys she has to be thin

Lunar New Year celebrations turn out to be very challenging for Val, with extended family visiting to celebrate. Val gets mixed messages: Auntie Shelby warns her not to get fat, while Auntie Nikki tells her she's beautiful. Val struggles with her need to purge after eating. When her mother serves pig trotters and dumplings, Val is conflicted over whether she should eat.

At a family meeting prior to his trip to Everest, Val's father briefs them on what to do if he doesn't survive. This is something he does frequently, as he loves to embark on challenging adventures.

As her father embarks on his trip, Val along with Jordan and their classmates travel to Paris, France. It's her first trip away from home, with friends and with a boy - Allan whom she is crushing on. For Val, Paris is the most romantic city in the world, and who knows what will happen between her and Allan? At dinner, Mrs. Owens encourages the students to order in French but Val notices the menu has lots of carbs and wonders how the French women stay so thin. Jordan doesn't care and Allan never noticed.

Dinner creates more stress as Val can't use a bathroom right away to purge. Eventually she becomes so distraught over eating dinner that even a moment alone with Allan in the art museum can't stop her from rushing to the bathroom to purge. Sensing Val is distressed about something, Jordan takes her on a impromptu exploration of the city, looking at fashion and eating delicious crepes. But when Val posts a picture of herself eating the crepe on Instagram, her mother responds critically.

Val's Paris trip is cut short when she is awoken during the night to learn that her father's plane on the way to Everest has crashed. She returns home to San Jose to find her mother unable to cope and mostly sleeping. However, after the funeral Val's mother continues to monitor her eating and calories. 

But coping with her father's death and her mother's control are not all Val must contend with. When she learns that her friend Allan has chosen Jordan over her, Val is forced to confront her own feelings about her body and how she views others. She must also decide whether she is going to live life on her own terms or those her of her mother.

Discussion

Hungry Ghost was written by Victoria Ying, a young writer who herself has struggled with an eating disorder and now considers herself fully recovered. In her Afterword, Ying writes, 

"When you have an eating disorder, all you can think about is food. First in the eating of it, and then in the guilt around having eaten it. It's an exhausting state of being.
I freed myself by letting go of any expectation for my body to fit the cultural ideal. I chose to be free, and I've never been happier."

In Hungry Ghost, Valerie, believes that being thin will make her happy. This is something she has learned from her mother who often makes comments about Val's friend, Jordan who has a full figure. Val thinks, "Poor Jordan. She's my favorite person in the whole world, but a football player wouldn't look at her twice." 

For Val, looking pretty takes work...and pain and sacrifice. Keeping herself thin is equated with "being good". She does this by eating and then purging, an eating disorder known as bulimia. Val can appear to eat normally but purges afterwards, so she looks normal to her friends and family. She describes it as making her feel "warm, comforted." Her purging allows Val to hide her eating disorder and blend in. 

While Val's mother treats her as though she doesn't think about what she's eating, in fact, it becomes apparent that this is all Val is thinking about. Her brief time in Paris sees her quickly notice the bodies of the French women there,  in contrast to her classmates who are busy enjoying the sights and sounds of Paris. After eating, Val becomes consumed with the task of finding a washroom to purge the calories she just consumed. However, at the same time, Val is beginning to notice that her friend Jordan, is a very happy person despite having a different body shape -despite being what her mother labels as "fat". For the first time Val asks herself, "Why am I so afraid? Maybe it doesn't take being thin to be....happy."

Her father's death forces Val to re-evaluate her own life. Val's father lived life on his own terms without any regrets. However, Val feels like she's "lived like a prisoner to my body." She believes her father would be disappointed in her. She wonders "Will people care that much about my body when I die? Am I my body?...How can this thing, this thing that I hate -- how could anyone care about it that much?"

The crisis point comes when Jordan visits Val after returning home from the Paris trip and reveals that she and Allan kissed at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Shocked, Val asks Jordan why Allan would choose her, since she is not pretty and she's fat. Jordan can't believe that her best friend sees her as "fat and ugly" and she leaves. Later on, at dinner in a hotel, Val admits to her mother that she purges but the only thing that matter sto her mother is that Val is thin. At this point though, Val has made huge strides because she has admitted to her mother that she is sick.

It is Val's Aunt Nikki who helps set her on the path to recovery. She explains that although Val's mother loves her in the best way she knows how, it might  not be enough. Aunt Nikki advises that Val will have to find her own way to be happy. To that end, Val apologizes to Jordan and courageously reveals her illness to her best friend. This is a wonderful act of courage, as those with eating disorders often experience profound guilt and shame. Val tells Jordan that she believed that a person has to be thin to be happy but now realizes that she was self-centered and understands that being happy with who you are is the best way. With counselling and the decision to attend the school she wants instead of staying home with her mother, Val begins to heal and to have some self-acceptance. It is her choice to get better.

Ying has written a truly touching and deeply emotional story that promises to encourage those who are struggling with an eating disorder - and to offer them the hope that healing is possible. Although the novel makes it sound like a few counselling sessions and some deep thinking can cure an eating disorder, Hungry Ghost does get across the important message that first steps include acknowledging their illness,  and making the decision to seek help - sometimes referred to as taking ownership of their illness.  Val did all of this and although we don't know the end of the story, the novel does end on a very positive and hopeful tone.

Congratulations to Victoria Ying for writing such a difficult story. She too reflects the courage and determination of her character Valerie Chu. 

Book Details:

Hungry Ghost by Victoria Ying
New York: First Second    2023

200 pp.

Grand Canyon by Jason Chin

Grand Canyon is an exquisitely illustrated picture book about the formation of this amazing landform located in the United States.

The Grand Canyon is located in the state of Arizona and forms the major feature of the Grand Canyon National Park. It is one of the largest canyons in the world, an astonishing two hundred seventy-seven miles long and more than a mile deep.  The climate in the canyon varies from top to bottom, meaning there are different plants and animals as well.

The warmest part of the canyon is the Inner Gorge which is at the very bottom. Water is brought into the Inner Gorge by creeks, giving life to many different species. These creeks run into the Colorado River which runs the entire length of the canyon. This river has eroded through the various layers of rocks for over five million years.

The Colorado River is currently eroding into the very bottom rocks of the canyon, the Vishnu Basement Formation which is at least 1.64 Billion years old.

Walking up out of the canyon, means passing younger and younger rocks. From the basement layer, a hiker will first encounter the rocks of the Grand Canyon Supergroup (1.2 billion years old), the the Bright Angel Shale containing trilobite fossils when the area was covered by a sea. 

The Redwall Limestone comes next, overlain by the Hermit formation which formed 280  million years ago when giant dragonflies filled the sky and fish, amphibians and reptiles had evolved. the sea had treated but rivers were an important part of the landscape.

Above the Hermit Formation is the Cocinino Sandstone, formed 275 million years ago when the area was filled with sand dunes. The Cocinino Sandstone is overlain by the Toroweap Formation then capped by the Kaibab Formation which was deposited when the ocean once again covered this area 270 million years ago. Bryozoans, sponges and corals were a part of this diverse ecosystem, along with trilobites, nautiloids and sharks. 

As the hiker and his daughter climb through these different rock formations, the present-day ecosystem of the canyon also changes, offering a wide range of climates and habitats to experience.

Discussion

Grand Canyon by Jason Chin is a beautifully illustrated book that offers readers information about the geology, climate and wildlife of the Grand Canyon. This is done through the story of a young girl and her father as they walk the South Kaibab Trail up to the South Rim of the canyon.

To help readers become oriented, Chin offers two cross-sections at the beginning of the book: the ecological communities in Grand Canyon which highlights the boreal forest for example, and the Rock Layers in Grand Canyon which identifies the different rock formations and their ages. As the hikers make their way along the trail they also journey through geologic time from the oldest formation to younger and younger rocks. Chin explains what the Grand Canyon area was like during this time by highlighting fossils or geologic features they see in the rocks. For example  in the Grand Canyon Supergroup he writes that hikers "may find ripple marks preserved in the stone. Clues like these tell us what this place was like when the rock formed. They are like windows...." A cutout showing the ripple entices the reader to turn the page and view an illustration of what that vast sea with ripples on the tidal flat might have looked like 1.2 billion years ago! 

Following each geological period are colourful picture panels showing the ecological community the hikers experience as they climb past the rocks in the canyon. For example, as the hikers encounter the Redwall Limestone formed 340 million years ago from a vast sea, they see the California condor, an endangered vulture that nests in the caves of this rock formation. Chin also includes native species found in each of the ecological communities as well as how some geologic processes such as erosion, occur. 

Grand Canyon is rich in detail and facts, all presented in a wonderfully engaging way. There is a beautiful two-page panorama view of the Grand Canyon and at the back of the book there are numerous notes on the Grand Canyon. These include Human History of the canyon, Grand Canyon Ecology, Grand Canyon Geology which informs on sedimentary rocks and fossils, How Canyons Are Formed, The Colorado River, Grand Mystery which presents a short geologic history of the canyon area. A Note From The Author also explains his interest in geology and rocks, and how the illustrations for the book were designed based on his research. The illustrations were rendered with pen and ink, watercolour and gouache. There is a beautiful generalized cross-section of the Grand Canyon at the back of the book. Chin has also included a list of selected sources in the back matter.

Anyone who has marveled at the Grand Canyon and wishes to know more, will enjoy Jason Chin's masterpiece picture book Grand Canyon.

Book Details:

Grand Canyon by Jason Chin
New York: Roaring Brook Press   2017

When Clouds Touch Us by Thanhha Lai

Eleven-year-old Ha lives with her mother and her brothers Quang and Khoi in Alabama. They fled their home country of Vietnam, without her father who was missing in action, something her mother won't talk about. Ha's middle brother, Vu Lee lives in San Francisco.

Ha is in grade six and has a best friend, Pam who wants to celebrate their birthdays together. She decides they will celebrate this on Ha's birth date with a special party.

At a family meeting, Ha's mother announces that she wants to move the family to Texas where Vietnamese seem to have more opportunities. Ha's mother wants this because she hopes this will take some of the responsibility away from Ha's older brother Quang who is working as a mechanic and so that Khoi can study to become an animal doctor. She also doesn't like that Pam's mother pays for Ha when the two girls do things together.

A first family vote has the three children Quang, Khoi and Ha vote to stay in Alabama. But a second vote sees Khoi side with their mother, creating a tie. Ha knows that her mother is scheming and will bring Vu Lee into the vote. He does return home and the family decides to move to Texas. They begin packing but Ha's mother delays their travel to Texas so Ha can have her day-of-birth party with Pam. After the party and roller skating, Ha, her mother and Khoi leave. 

In her new school in Texas, no one remembers Ha's name and she finds herself the only Asian student. Her mother works in a radio factory, while Vu Lee works in a bakery as well as at a second job finishing wood. They live in a pay-by-week rental. Eventually, Ha and her family move into an apartment. They have no furniture or beds. Starting over is hard, and for Ha this is just the beginning of many more changes.

Discussion

Thanhha Lai has crafted a realistic portrayal of a Vietnamese family's struggles to settle in 1977 America. The Vietnam War, which the Americans and South Vietnamese lost, has only been over for two years. Initially Ha's family, having fled Vietnam without her father, had settled in Alabama. However, Ha's mother has heard there is a larger Vietnamese community in Texas along with better job opportunities. In the beginning, life seems no better for Ha in Texas.

When the family moves into their first apartment they have very little - five boxes and four pillowcases. But her mother tells them to "...lengthen your gaze, toward where land meets cloud."  All Ha wants though, is an end to refugee living. She is in her third Grade Six class in the past month and she misses evenings with her mother who works late. Added to this, Ha has her first menstrual period at school despite some help by her teacher, she is left waiting on a bench for over two hours for her bus. 

Although she meets a few friend, Diggy, who is Puerto Rican, she knows this friendship will likely not survive their eventual move to a house. When Ha tells her mother about things that happen at school, her mother  panics, trying to protect her only daughter by having Ha presented at a Buddhist temple where she is scrutinized by Vietnamese mothers looking for prospective wives for their sons. Because her mother works long hours, Ha takes to signing school forms and her report card.

Ha also has to endure an insensitive class discussion of the My Lai Massacre which she doesn't know about because she was three-years-old when it happened in 1968. Charlie Company, part of the American Division's 11th Infantry Brigade, numbering less than one hundred men, was ordered to search for Viet Cong guerillas in nearby Son My. However, when they searched the village, they found no guerillas, only women, children and elderly men. Lieutenant William Calley, after ordering the villagers rounded up, gave the order to shoot them. The soldiers also raped a number of women. The massacre was only stopped by Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson who placed his helicopter between the soldiers and the fleeing villagers. They flew many wounded villagers to a medical hospital for care. Five hundred and four people were killed, including one hundred eighty-two women, seventeen of whom were pregnant. The U.S. military attempted a cover-up but the war crime was exposed when Rod Ridenhour, a soldier in the 11th Brigade gave an interview to an investigative reporter after the military refused to act.

When Ha confronts her mother about this event, she tells Ha that she has invested in her children rather than being angry. 

"Instead I chose you children,

vowing to educate

your minds and hearts

so you would know the result

of your every action.

Choices to no

pick up a gun,

glorify a leader,

hide behind commands,

claim honor, blame others.

You would then 

begin to create

a different history." 

Ha's mother advises,
"Contemplate on yourself

until you're a solid anchor,

then ensure kindness to family

then society then earth."

Beautiful words, that ring true for everyone.

The lack of understanding between Vietnamese and American culture reaches a crisis point when Ha's mother is accused of abuse, after Ha returns to school having been ill. Treated at home by her mother, Ha has a leaf imprint on her back which is mistaken for the marks of a beating. Ha's mother stands up to school officials and with the help of a Vietnamese doctor they are exonerated.

When Clouds Touch ends on a much happier note: with the help of her brothers and her own contribution, Ha's family is able to buy a home. The clouds on the horizon have dived down to touch Ha and her family. And Ha discovers that her mother is their true anchor, working to provide a home that they can return to, one that replaces what was lost from war. Even more so, her mother refuses Ha's offer to study nearby, to be with her mother. But Ha's mother tells her,
"I relinquish you

to a world

unknown to me."

In some ways all mothers do so, but even more so, the refugee mother.

When Clouds Touch Us is a fitting sequel to Inside Out & Back Again which was written over a decade ago..

Book Details:

When Clouds Touch Us by Thanhha Lai

New York: Harper Collins Children's Books    2023

244 pp.

Fury of the Vikings by Dominic Sandbrook

In Fury of the Vikings, Dominic Sandbrook traces the history of the Viking rampage through the known world during a three-hundred-year period beginning with the Norse mythology.

The Prologue opens with the attack on the monastery on the island of Lindisfarne, off the Northumbrian coast on June 8, 793.  The monastery held the remains of St. Cuthbert. The attackers killed and enslaved the monks, destroyed exquisitely crafted Bibles, and plundered the treasures of the monastery. It was the beginning of three hundred years of Viking raids that saw pirates from Denmark, Norway and Sweden loot and pillage their way across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland as well as France, Southern Spain and North Africa. In the East, they established a new kingdom at Kyiv which eventually became Russia and Ukraine. The Vikings traveled as far east as the Holy Land, Turkey and the deserts of Asia. They even attempted to destroyed Constantinople. They founded new settlements on Iceland and Greenland as well as travelling further west to North America. But the Vikings never called themselves that. Instead the label comes from the voyage to go "viking" or plundering. But the name became synonymous with the people who raided the coasts of Britain and Europe.

No story of Viking history would be complete without beginning with the Norse myths, with the kingdom of fire - Muspelheim, with Buri the forefather of the gods, his son Bor who had three sons, Odin, Vili and Ve. The Norse people believed the world consisted of nine realms spread over three levels and that Midgard or Middle Earth was one. There was  Asgard, the kingdom of Odin and the Aesir. Vanaheim was another dynasty of gods, the Vanir. Alfheim was the land of light-elves connecting Asgard to the middle level - the fourth kingdom Midgard or Middle Earth.

In Midgard, the ice covering the land finally melted and humans came to live there. "From hunters they became farmers living in wooden longhouses." As they built up their own society, they heard fantastic stories of the Romans to the south who lived lives in wealth and comfort.  During the sixth century B.C., there was a three year period without spring or summer, cold and with frequent snows. As the harvests failed, people starved. By the seventh century, the Western Roman Empire had collapsed, leaving the world to the south in disarray. Meanwhile, the men of Denmark, Norway and Sweden began to rebuild, sailing east and west, trading furs, cloth and tools, fishing and farming. 

By the eighth century, some of the North chieftains would sail along the fjords of Norway to attack settlements along the coast. The loot they obtained from these raids made them wealthy and able to build great wooden halls and earn loyal followers called housecarls. The existence of these wealthy chieftains or sea kings was unknown to the people of northern France, the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms (now England), western Germany or the Low countries. 

The raids first began in the East, in the Baltic where Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are located. They took furs, slaves and amber. The Norsemen explored south along the rivers that traversed the forests of Europe to Lake Ladoga, in what is now Russia.

But on a summer day in 789 B.C., the people of England had their first encounter with the people who came to be knowns as "Vikings".  The attack on Lindisfarne signalled the beginning of a new era of raids, plundering and death. Further attacks on monasteries along the coast and in Scotland and Ireland only further enticed the Norsemen who saw the Christians as weak and afraid. 

While the Franks had dominated western Europe for the past three centuries, in the 800's, civil unrest and war saw them become vulnerable, and the Norsemen took advantage. The next three hundred years would see the Norsemen ravage the Anglo-Saxons in England, taking huge hauls of silver and enslaving the women, destroying the Christian culture and eventually ruling a large part of the country. 

The Norsemen's voyages would eventually traverse a large part of the known world. They would travel to Constantinople or Miklagard as they called it, in an attempt to conquer the city. They would establish river towns in what is now eastern Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. They would attack towns and cities throughout Christendom, including France, Italy, Spain, Morocco, Ibiza and Majorca, returning home with huge hauls of gold and silver.  They would settle Iceland and Greenland and travel west to Vinland, now called Canada. There is evidence  their voyages extended as far east as Afghanistan and Baghdad and that they had fought for the Emperor Basil II in Israel, Turkey, Greece, Georgia and Armenia. Their influence on European culture would be significant and lasting.

Discussion

Fury of the Vikings is a fascinating, detailed and enjoyable account of the Viking Age.  Fury of the Vikings sets the stage for the Viking era with details about Norse mythology, offering young readers insight into how the Norse people viewed the world around them and their place in it. From this point on, the author chronicles the rise of the Norsemen, beginning with the rebuilding of their society after three years of devastating cold, likely brought on by volcanic eruptions. They moved from raiding their own villages and settlements to those of their richer Christian neighbours to the south. They quickly discovered the Christians were rich, weak and afraid and thus began centuries of pillaging, plundering and murder.

It's impossible to write about the Viking era without including a wide cast of characters, some courageous, but many cruel and ruthless. In England, there was King Aethelred who valiantly defended Wessex, the last holdout in the country from the Danes. His son, Alfred of Wessex saved his corner of England from the invaders, thus keeping alive the dream of a united England some day. Edward, Alfred's heir, his older sister Aethelflaed and his son Athelstan, were formidable adversaries of the Danes, reclaiming occupied English lands and uniting Angles and Saxons under one king. 

Other characters include the well known Erik the Red, a Norseman brought to Iceland by his father and whose fiery temper led him to settle Greenland. There is St. Olga, the cruel widow of Igor, Grand Prince of Kyiv, who supposedly buried alive the Derevlians, but who came to be baptized and ruled until her son could take over. Others like Eric Bloodaxe, a warrior and a killer, son of the first sea-king to rule Norway, are less well known.

Sandbrook descriptions of various battles and confrontations between rival Vikings, and between the Vikings and the leaders of lands they were bent on pillaging, demonstrate the cruelty of this era.  The Norsemen not only murdered entire villages and towns, enslaving women and children, but also plundered and desecrated many Christian monasteries and relics. 

Sandbrook, describing the plundering of the city of Canterbury by Sweyn Forkbeard's chief warlord, Thorkell the Tall, writes, "What happened next was like a scene from the last days of mankind. 'Some were slaughtered with the sword, some destroyed by the flames,' wrote one chronicler. 'Many were also thrown from the walls, while some were killed by being hung up by their private parts. The women were dragged by their hair through the streets of the city, and then, being thrown into the flames, were thus put to death; infants were torn from their mother's breasts and were either caught on the points of spears, or ground to pieces under the wheels of vehicles."  It was a brutal revenge for the English massacring of Danes in the St. Brice's Day Massacre. 

Fury of Vikings portrays how extensive the Viking presence was throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland, through northern and western Europe and extending well into Asia and how this presence influenced the local culture. For example, Sandbrook points out that in the United Kingdom today,  many words, surnames and places names are derived directly from Dane influence. 

Like the other books in the Adventures in Time series, Fury of the Vikings is  filled with tidbits of interesting information. Sandbrook, in his Author's Note, writes, "To weave all these tales together, I read as many Viking books as I could, mercilessly looting their most dazzling treasures." 

Fury of the Vikings will definitely satisfy young readers who are familiar with Norse mythology and who have a strong interest in Viking history and culture. It is another strong and fascinating installment in Sandbrook's books on history for young people.

Book Details:

Fury of the Vikings by Dominic Sandbrook
Canada: Particular Books     2022
341 pp.

The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman

Valentina Kaplan lives in Pripyat, Ukraine with her mother Galina Yurievna Goldman Kaplan and her father, Nicolai.

One Saturday morning in April, 1986, she awakens to find that there are no blue jays, blackbirds or sparrows in the sky or on her windowsill waiting to eat the pieces of salami. To the south, instead of the robin-egg blue sky, there is a crimson glow with blue smoke lifting into the sky. Underneath that smoke is the nuclear power station,  the V.I. Lenin Power Station, also called Chernobyl, where her father works. Valentina's father is usually home from his night shift at the power station by morning, but today he hasn't returned.

Although Valentina is beginning to panic, her mother reminds her that they were running a safety drill at the station and that he might simply be late. She also tells Valentina that they must act normal, go to school and work so they don't attract the attention of the government and the secret police. And because they are Jews and hated, it was important to be safe. 

Outside, Valentina notes that the air tastes like metal and sees policemen everywhere. At school, Valentina meets Oksana Savchenko, a Ukrainian girl with blond hair and blue eyes. Oksana lives with her father, Ilya who works at the power plant. She dislikes Valentina who is Jewish because her father has told her that all Jews are liars who work together to try to destroy everyone else. Valentina's father had been given the promotion at the nuclear station that should have gone to Oksana's father. Oksana challenges Valentina to a race in the  hopes she can win and go home to brag to her father, but she loses the race. When Oksana taunts Valentina about being Jewish, their teacher, Svetlana Dmitrievna steps and punishes the two girls by having them kneel on rice. 

While none of her classmates seem concerned, when they leave school at noon, Valentina sees military trucks with drivers wearing gas masks driving into Pripyat. As the two girls return to their apartments in the same building, Valentina meets Dyadya Sergei who is very brown from "tanning" on the roof. In Oksana's apartment just as they are getting ready to eat, Valentina and her mother, Galina Yurievna arrive and tell Oksana and her mother Eleonora that she has learned that reactor number four exploded during the safety drill, causing the explosion and a fire. The men are now at the hospital and the mothers and daughters leave carrying their family's radiation medicine: a glass bottle of milk and cucumbers. On their way out of the building they encounter Dyadya Sergei who is now suddenly desperately ill. Oksana's mother tells him he needs to get to the hospital. Oksana wonders if there is something in the air that can hurt them.

At Pripyat Hospital it is chaotic and filled with horrific smells. Valentina and her mother find her father, Nicolai, burning with fever, sweating profusely. Valentina is hauled out of the room by a doctor who tells them that the explosion has made her father's body very radioactive and that being close to him might kill her. He tells them to leave immediately and that he cannot tell the other families because the government is worried about causing widespread panic. The doctor also tells them that their husbands are being flown to a special hospital in Moscow and that they should return with clothing for them.  But when they return they learn that the men have already been taken to Moscow.

In her apartment, Oksana tries to study but instead focuses on drawing. Her father wanted her to study engineering and Oksana was good at math and science but she hated these subjects. Oksana's mother reveals that her father was buried under the rubble from the explosion and is dead. Her mother mostly ignores Oksana and is worried about being alone. In Valentina's apartment, her mother makes her take the tablets, they shower and throw away the clothing they were wearing. 

The next day they are ordered to be evacuated from Pripyat. When they are checked with dosimeters, Oksana's mother is sent to the hospital as her radiation levels are too high. A terrified, distraught Oksana is taken in by Valentina's mother who tells her they must take the bus to Kiev where she has a friend who can help them. On the bus, Oksana notes all the dead blackbirds and sparrows and the damaged trees and bushes.

In Kiev, Oksana wants to travel to Minsk where her mother has been hospitalized but Valentina's mother discourages her from doing so, telling her the trip is too far and that she will call to find out about her mother. Instead they take the subway to Dimeezskaya Street where Valentina's mother's friend, Masha Petrovna lives

At the apartment, the girls bathe and that's when Valentina sees Oksana's wounded back and scars. They are unable to learn much about Oksana's mother and unable to reach her relatives near Pripyat. When they listen to the foreign radio station they learn that "... high levels of radiation were detected at a Swedish nuclear power plant this morning..." and that "Swedish nuclear experts traced the weekend's wind currents and determined the radiation originated from the Soviet Union."  With the government denying everything, Valentina's mother realizes this is much worse than she believed. As a result Masha insists Valentina's mother and the girls leave immediately, believing them to be a health risk. 

Valentina's mother decides they will travel to Leningrad to live with her mother but when they try to get train tickets, only two are available so Valentina and Oksana are put on the train while she stays behind. In Leningrad the two girls are met by Valentina's grandmother or Babulya, Rits Grigorievna. 

Life with Babulya proves to undo the lies that Oksana has been told by her father about Jews. Not only that but for the first time in her life, she begins to feel good about herself and truly loved. Oksana learns the truth about herself and it is this belief in her own goodness that ultimate saves Oksana when she finds herself back in an abusive situation with her mother.

Interspersed with Valentina and Oksana's stories, is the story of twelve-year-old Rifka Friedman who is living in Kiev, Ukraine, Soviet Union with her pregnant mother and two younger brothers. In August of 1941, the Germans begin their invasion of the country. Rifka's mother, who has just given birth to her brother Avrum, insists that she flee east with her fifteen year old cousin, Nathan. 

The two leave but when the German army catches up to them, Rifka and Nathan hide in a farmer's barn. However, the farmer forces Nathan to work for him, while Rifka must continue on alone. She escapes the German bombing with the help of fleeing Ukrainian refugees who do not realize she is Jewish. Rifka realizes this when they accept her presence and uses the name Yelena. However, as fall turns to bitter winter and Rifka suffers from hunger and the cold, she is overheard mumbling in her sleep about Adonai - the Jewish word for God. She is forced out into the cold. Near death, Rifka is rescued by a young Muslim girl, Feruza Chorieva and her mother Ona.

Rifka stays the remainder of the war in Tashket, Uzbekistan, a part of the Soviet Union, living with Feruza and her seven siblings. Feruza and her mother Una accept Rifka even though she is Jewish. She attends school but works on their farm and is treated with love and care. Believing God has abandoned her, Rifka decides to ignore God.

When the war ends, Rifka returns to Kiev to find her family have all been murdered. In despair and unsure what to do she travels to Leningrad. There at the Shabbat service at the Grand Choral Synagogue, she meets a young boy, Yuri Goldman, whom she eventually marries. They have a daughter, Galina, which mean "light". Galina will go on to marry and have her own daughter, Valentina, thus completing the circle and connecting all the characters.

Discussion

The Blackbird Girls is a beautifully crafted story about friendship that spans a forty-year period and two major catastrophes, the German invasion of Ukraine in 1941 and the Chernobyl disaster of 1986.

The novel opens in April, 1986 in the city of Pripyat, Ukraine on a Saturday morning as two girls, Ukrainian Oksana Savchenko and Jewish Valentina Kaplan are going about their day, attending school in the morning as usual. The Chernobyl nuclear reactor has malfunctioned during a test overnight, has exploded and is now on fire. The people of Pripyat are unaware of the deadly situation they are in. They believe whatever has happened, their government will protect them and their men who work at the reactor. As the day progresses and the situation worsens, they are evacuated. However, Oksana's mother is taken away because she has been exposed to a higher level of radiation, having worked for a short time on the rooftop garden. Oksana finds herself alone, her father having died during the explosion, with no where to go. It is Valentina's mother who kindly takes charge of Oksana, telling her they will care for her.

From this point forward, against the backdrop of the Chernobyl disaster and their evacuation, this story focuses on the relationship between Oksana Savchenko and the Jewish Kaplans.  Although the two girls are classmates, they are not friends. Oksana has been told by her parents that "All Jews are liars...They're always watching you, trying to find a way to steal your job away from you or take your place...." Oksana has been told her father didn't get the promotion he deserved because of Valentina's father. Her deeply entrenched anti-Semitic views make Oksana reluctant to be connected with the Kaplans.

In Kiev, Oksana continues to feel alone and afraid. "What should she do? Who would help her? She couldn't stay with the Kaplans. Her father hated them." When Valentina's mother insists that Oksana stay with them in Kiev, Oksana continues to feel conflicted. "Stay with Jews. In the same room. Eat the same foods. Sleep under the same ceiling." Oksana realizes she has no one to rescue her except two Jews. 

As Valentina and Oksana are sent on alone to Leningrad to Valentina's grandmother, Oksana begins to realize that what she's been told about Jews by her father doesn't seem to be true. Valentina's gratitude towards Oksana for helping her understand her father's last words trigger Oksana to remember her father saying "that gratitude from a Jew was a poisoned gift. That they were liars...."  These revelations create a deep sense of conflict within Oksana regarding her father.

Babulya's modest apartment, called a kommunalka or community apartment is where the poorest people lived. Oksana's father had said that Jews were secretly rich and hid their money. But Babulya's home and lifestyle was that of a poor person. These revelations crush Oksana. Was her father just mistaken or lying? If her father was wrong about Jews perhaps he had been wrong about other things too. Oksana feels confused and angry.

Valentina and Babulya's kindness deepen Oksana's conviction that she has been lied too. Oksana arrives at Babulya's with a badly infected wound from a cigarette burn inflicted on her by her abusive father. Her abuse is discovered when Valentina and her grandmother have to take her to the hospital. This revelation  makes Valentina realize how little she really knows about her classmate. The kindness Oksana experiences begins to change her. When Valentina is bulled at their new school, Oksana defends her.  She also begins to believe in herself, that she is good, not weak or bad as her father had repeatedly told her. Valentina changes too, deciding she no longer wants to hurt Oksana.

Oksana's deepest desire is to be reunited with her mother, believing that with her abusive father now dead, she and her mother will have the chance to forge a meaningful relationship. However, this doesn't come to pass when her mother becomes involved with yet another abusive man. Losing all hope, Oksana reaches out to the one person who has been a faithful friend, and that is Valentina. In an act of friendship and love that unites the three main characters and transcends time, Valentina and her mother reach out to Feruza, to once again rescue someone in dire need.

The Blackbird Girls is a wonderful story of the healing power of friendship. Blankman has created realistic characters who suffer deeply but also grow as a result of the kindness of others. Just as Feruza and her mother helped Rifka heal from the extreme suffering and hate she experienced during World War II, Rifka now a grandmother (Babuyla) and Valentina help Oksana heal from the abuse and lack of love within her own family. This gives Oksana the courage to leave and find safety once again with Feruza, bringing the circle of healing to a close.

The blackbirds, mentioned throughout the novel and in the title, are "...a symbol for eternity" Feruza tells Rifka. Feruza believes their friendship will last their entire lives, binding them together no matter where they are. Like Rifka and Feruza, Valentina and Oksana are also "blackbird girls".  Valentina, who wants to have Oksana return to Leningrad, fears she will never see Oksana again. Babulya tells her "Distance between true friends doesn't matter when their friendship lives in their hearts..." and that Oksana, after hearing her story about living with Feruza, believes that Valentina is her "blackbird girl". 

Blankman had wanted to write a book about the Chernobyl disaster ever since she met a new friend at the ninth-grade sleepover. That friend, Victoria Belfer Zabarko told her she had survived the disaster as a child. Victoria was one of thousands of Soviet children who were sent out of the Chernobyl region. Her parents had one plane ticket which they used to send her to relatives in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Eventually, her whole family would emigrate to the United States. 

The Blackbird Girls offers a historical perspective on both the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, as well as the German invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II. Surprisingly, even in 1986, widespread anti-Semitism still existed in the Soviet Union, something many readers may not realize. Overall, The Blackbird Girls is a well-written piece of historical fiction that offers many themes to explore including abuse, the meaning and role of friendship, and racism. Blankman offers resources in the back matter for those suffering from abuse and there is a section, Further Reading providing fiction and nonfiction resources on the Soviet Union. 

This is a novel that may have been overlooked since it was published in 2020 just prior to the onset of the Covid pandemic. Well worth the read!

Book Details:

The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman
New York: Viking    2020
340 pp.

My Nest of Silence by Matt Faulkner

Mari Asai, her older brother Makoto and their parents, Ichiro and Aki are living in the Manzanar prison camp in California. They were sent to the camp after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Like most other Japanese-Americans, the Asai were forced to sell their farm in Florino, California.

It's April, 1944 and with Mak turning eighteen, he's decided, against his father's wishes, to enlist in the U.S. army. After Mak leaves on a greyhound bus, Mari decides she won't talk anymore. She's angry at Mak for making this decision without talking to her and she's angry at her father for seeming not to care. But being silent hasn't been easy. Mari is hoping that being silent will bring Mak safely home, but her father feels Mari's silence is "abnormal" while Mama understands that Mari is "upset over Mak leaving." The adults at the camp see Mari's silence as insulting.

Finally after two weeks, a letter from Mak arrives. He tells her that the bus ride from Manzanar to Camp Shelby in Mississippi was long. Although he tells Mari that their drill sergeants are "not a bad bunch of fellows" they are yelled at, have their heads shaved and are sent on a five mile "hike" before bed. Mari suspects that Mak is not telling her the whole story.

Life at Manzanar consists of lots of dust and bad food, although it's not as bad as when they first arrived. Eventually, the Issei and Nisei took over cooking at the camp. But the dust and windstorms are still a problem. One of the oldest people in the camp is Oba-chan Yuki who Mari likes and who is a great storyteller. Oba-chan Yuki has a terrible cough which the constant dust makes worse. One morning after telling Mari and her mother a story, Oba-chan Yuki asks to see Mari's sketchbook. She tells them her daughter Eunice is a water colour painter who has created artwork for Reader's Digest magazine and she offers to have Mari meet Eunice.

Another letter from Mak in July, 1944 tells about the schedule at Camp Shelby and meeting boys who are from Hawai'i. He asks Mari to have Father write to him. A third letter mentions his friend Kazuo (Kaz) who is from Hawai'i and how the Hawaiian Buddhaheads and the Mainland Kotonks are at odds with one another.  But when Kaz learns that Mak's family is in a prison camp, he is proud that Mak enlisted. A fourth letter from Mak reveals that he's put in to be an army mechanic while his friend Whitey Kurasaki has been made a unit leader. 

Back in Manzanar, Mari meets Eunice who praises her artwork and invites Mari to join her art class at the camp. But during her first art class, Mari cuts her finger with a razor blade while sharpening her pencil and her father refuses to allow her to return to the class. After Oba-chan Yuki dies in her sleep, Mari falls ill with pneumonia. As she begins to recover, Mari learns that Eunice and her family have left the camp after obtaining a waiver to move to Chicago, and that baby Keiko and the other orphans have been adopted out. 

As the war drags on, Mari struggles to recover from pneumonia and she becomes emotionally distraught. Mari is worried and sad. After becoming delusional in the old camouflage factory, Mari is hospitalized with a serious fever.  As the U.S. government no longer sees the Japanese as a serious threat and more people leave Manzanar, Mari's parents  argue about where to move after the war, with Father wanting to return to their hometown and Mama wanting to move East where they will be accepted. 

Meanwhile, Mak is determined to help out the war effort in a more meaningful way then driving a jeep. He begs to be sent to the front so he can help his friends Kaz and Whitey but is refused. When the lieutenant he drives for, abandons his orders to go to the front at Bruyeres, Mak and Harry decide to push on and find themselves in a deadly situation that sees them going missing and almost costs them their lives. 

At home, Mari and her parents learn only bits and pieces of what is going on overseas, further adding to Mari's stress. With a second telegram, Mari is certain Mak is dead, leading to a serious crisis. Once Mak's situation is clarified, the Asai family make a decision for their future, Mari begins to hope that life will be better.

Discussion

My Nest of Silence is a novel that combines two stories, one written in narrative prose, the other in graphic novel format. The two stories serve to contrast one another: Mari and her parents struggling to cope amid the injustice and racism of the Japanese internment, while their brother/son willingly sacrifices for the country that has treated them so badly.

The narrative story focuses on a Japanese-American family, the Asai's, sent to Manzanar prison camp and is told from the point of view of their ten-year-old daughter, Mari who decides to take a vow of silence both to punish her father and to protect her beloved brother Mak who has enlisted in the U.S. Army.  Mari's narrative exposes the reality of  life in Manzanar, showing the suffering Japanese American families endured but also highlighting their determination and resiliency in the face of racism and injustice. Mari's family who were farmers in Florin, California have lost their home and all their possessions. They live in dusty, cold barracks, surrounded by barbed wire. Even orphans and the elderly are incarcerated.

Mari struggles to cope with her older brother Mak enlisting and what seems like a lack of understanding by her father. The camp conditions, stress and worry about her brother and their future, lead her to become seriously ill. But Mari's real crisis comes when she believes a second telegram is about Mak having died and she climbs into the rafters of the old camouflage factory. She is almost seriously injured but saved by her father. 

Interspersed with Mari's narrative is Mak's story told through the use of graphic art. Mari receives  letters sent home to her by her brother Makato. These are dated and have some short text. However, the content of the letters is contradicted by what is shown in the graphic novel panels. Mak reveals the strenuous training, awful food, and the struggle to get along with the "Hawaiian Buddhaheads" who dislike the Japanese-American (Kotonk) soldiers as well as their white (haole) superiors, and the racism they encounter from other soldiers. In his letters, Mak doesn't reveal to his sister or family the dangers he and his fellow Japanese-American soldiers encounter, nor the real extent of his wounds later on. Instead, knowing the difficulties his family must deal with at Manzanar, he is positive, encouraging and humorous.

But it is the graphic novel pages that really are the novel's outstanding strength. Faulker successfully captures the sacrifice, bravery and fortitude of these young Japanese-American men, who, in spite of being imprisoned along with their families, chose to fight for their country. They put aside the injustice, the hatred and indignity shown them, and enlisted, perhaps believing in a better America in the future. Set against this sacrifice, is the suffering of their families imprisoned back home.  It is a debt as Faulkner writes in his blog, that must be remembered: 

"I believe it's essential that our country regularly express regret for what we did. That expression won’t fix the vastness of what was done to that community. But it might help. Let’s learn the history of the internment and share it with others. Let’s never forget what we did as a nation to Japanese Americans, so that we can help them heal and so that we may never do it again. Not ever again."

It is novels like My Nest of Silence that will help Americans remember, and move forward the process of healing and forgiveness that is so necessary. 

Book Details:

My Nest of Silence by Matt Faulkner
New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers    2022

373 pp.