“Wide Open”
by D, M. Ditson
Published by Coteau Books
Review by Shelley A. Leedahl
$24.95 ISBN 9-781550-509663
Sure it's a cliché, but I had a hard
time putting this book down. Welcome to the literary world, D.M. Ditson, with
your intimate, hard-hitting, and honest portrayal of matters that are not easy
to share. First book? Could have fooled me.
Sexual abuse, Fundamentalist
Christianity, mental health issues, black-out drinking, and a dysfunctional
family are the collaborative demons in Ditson's memoir, Wide Open, and though the subjects are difficult, Ditson's fresh
style, pacing, and example - of how
to live through the pain - are the reasons I'm recommending this book both
publicly and privately.
The former Regina journalist and
government communications consultant is "obsessed with telling the truth".
She relays her story in the way you want someone to tell a story when it's
really interesting: the book moves. Like a pinball game. And I applaud the
structure, with shifts in time ("Now," "Youth,"
"Childhood," etc.) clearly indicated.
After a riveting prologue, the book
swerves to Ditson's return from Belize where she'd gone to let the jungle heal
her. Back in Regina she meets Ian, whom she's loathe to introduce to her
parents: "It's going to go badly the second one of them mentions God,
science, TV, politics or practically anything else," she writes. A few
pages later she's in a "Childhood" section, and the voice is
convincing: "The butterflies dance like fancy figure-skater ladies in
their sparkly dresses but don't come close."
Before meeting Ian, Ditson, at
eighteen, was raped by a forty-year-old, and years later she makes it her
mission to find this man and have him charged. But there are other
perpetrators, too. I've read many books on sexual abuse and its lifelong
repercussions, but Ditson's is the first that opened my eyes to the apparently
not uncommon practice of abused women who - after an initial, forced sexual act
- try to be in a relationship with their attacker. The need to be loved is so
profound.
The author provides numerous examples
of her parents' distorted beliefs, and to quote another cliché, my jaw dropped.
Her sister says "Holy smoke," while playing Barbies and has her mouth
washed out with soap, because "Only God is holy". The writer's father
is in Promise Keepers. The daughters wear chastity rings. On a mission trip to
Timbuktu, Ditson befriends Raja. They share the same "twin fires burning
for God," but can't hug for more than three seconds: "it's against
the rules." Ditson's mother believes there are pimps at the mall and
kidnappers at the fireworks' display. No books allowed unless they're from a
Christian bookstore. ("Rapture Survival Guides" abound.) Dad says
he's been "struggling with pornography" because he's "been
addicted to the Sears catalogue".
And here's the crux: these Christian
parents frequently have audible sex when their family's in the same tent or
hotel room. Holy. Ditson begs her father to stop this.
Even into her thirties, Ditson's still
being told to "honour [her] father". Thank god there's an epiphany in
this fascinating story: wait for it.
THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL
BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM
by Ida Tremblay and Miriam Körner
Published by Your Nickel’s Worth
Publishing
Review by Shelley A. Leedahl
$19.95
ISBN 978-1-988783-39-0
Searching for a book that's
educational, Woodland Cree/English bilingual, and specifically Saskatchewan? If you'd also appreciate
that the story be packaged in a beautifully-illustrated hardcover, then When We Had Sled Dogs: A Story from the
Trapline, should fill your desires.
This upbeat and colourful book was
inspired by the life of La Ronge, SK Elder Ida Tremblay, who shared her
memories of "growing up following the seasonal cycle of trapline
life" with Miriam Körner.
Körner - also from La Ronge - wrote and illustrated the book, which, sadly,
Tremblay never got to see, as she died shortly before it was published.
During the summer, while Tremblay's
father worked as a fishing guide, the rest of the family camped at McKenzie
End, close to La Ronge. Before winter froze the lake, Ida's family would canoe
for five or six days to their cabin on the Churchill River and tend the
trapline until spring.
Körner's had the privilege of
accompanying Tremblay "up north and back to the past," and thus
veracity is maintained through first-hand observation - at least of place - as well as through Tremblay's
reminiscences. The reliance on sled dogs, which "summer" on Dog
Island and are retrieved in canoe as the family paddles across immense Lac La
Ronge to the cabin, is a critical element. Imagine these canoes loaded with excited
children, anxious dogs, and staples like "flour, sugar and tea".
When the Tremblay's arrived after the
labour-intensive journey, the first order of business was to portage - and not
just once. Then there was "wood to be cut, cranberries to be picked,
rabbits to be snared," and cabin repairs. Körner's young characters don't
complain; they also find time to play with the numerous Husky-looking puppies. We
see Tremblay's father - in his fringed and beaded buckskin coat and fur-trimmed
mittens and mukluks - load the dogs and sled with needlepoint Christmas gifts
for family, and furs to trade for food back in town.
Körner's adept at the small, authentic
details in her lively, watercolour illustrations. Each page warrants a long
look, and children will enjoy the dogs featured throughout. Can they count all
the dogs in the book? What other animals do they recognize? Adults might also
ask a young audience how the artist demonstrates that the seasons are changing,
discuss then and now differences, and point out culturally significant experiences,
ie: for Christmas, Ida's sister receives a sewing kit. Sewing would've been
seen as an integral skill within a culture where creating one's own warm
clothing could be a matter of survival.
As we speed toward ever more advanced
technologies and transportation systems, to urban centers, and into lives lived
at breakneck speed, it's important that these records of traditional ways be
preserved. Congratulations to writer-illustrator Miriam Körner for once again spotlighting
a critical part of Saskatchewan's history and people. (Another of her titles is
L’il Shadd: A Story of Ujima, also by YNWP.) And thank you Ida Tremblay, for
the vivid memories and beautiful teachings.
THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE
OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM
__________
“The Happy Horse"
Written by Carolyn Williams,
Illustrated by L.E. Stevens
Published by Ghostmountain Publishing
Review by Shelley A. Leedahl
$20.00
ISBN 978-1-9994737-0-9
There's so much adoration and delight -
both in and between the lines - of Carolyn Williams' slim, illustrated
softcover, The Happy Horse, I'm
reminded of a movie opening where it's all blue skies and butterflies … which
portends a forthcoming turn into darkness.
Williams, a "transplanted
Englishwoman living life (and loving it) out in the wilds of the great Canadian
prairies" has teamed with Ohio illustrator L.E. Stevens to produce a book
about the sweet life of a never-officially-named-in-the-story horse (I glean
it's "Snoop" from the dedication) that the writer actually owned -
his photo appears above the book's dedication - and clearly admired, as the
book's an homage to that extraordinarily ambitious animal. You could say that
this is a book about a horse with a life well-lived. A happy horse with a life well-lived!
Williams employs repetition of the
phrase "He was a Happy Horse" as the last line in the first thirteen
pages of this thirty-two page text - each facing page features a line-drawn
illustration of the horse and its activities - and alters that phrase slightly
near the end. Using repetition helps beginning readers to learn; it's a device
often used in children's literature.
The story begins with the horse's
birth, "Late at night, [w]hen the stars were bright," and we're told
that both the horse's mother and the horse's "human" loved him. We
see the horse "playing" with friends, and learn that both he - and
his human - loved it when his coat was brushed. The horse learns how to play
with a ball, to ride quietly in a trailer ("So that he could go to
different places [w]ith his human," and to play chase. Eventually he
transitions into a racehorse, a cow horse, and a participant in a "Cow
Horse Competition". That's quite a horse!
But what he loves best is being at home
with his human.
This story demonstrates how even quiet
stories can be effective, and in fact, an homage to a loved one - or a loved
animal - is as worthy of being printed as a story that includes a grand plot.
Illustrator Stevens' cartoon-styled
illustrations, surrounded by ample white space, are a good match for the
minimal text, and the cover features the smiling horse on a background of denim
blue. Stevens' bio states: "His dogs love him and his beautiful wife
tolerates him".
I knew what was coming, of course. It
had to. All I'll say is that the only colour within the story proper occurs in
the symbolic rainbow at the end of the story. Gulp.
On the back cover the writer - who's
also passionate about dogs - explains that her horse "taught [her] how to
love life again," and other important lessons, including to "HAVE
FUN" every day. The dog-human connection is often remarked upon and
written about; perhaps less so the horse-human connection, but clearly the bond
is remarkable. That comes across. Indeed, for Williams the connection's been
life changing.
THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL
BOOKSTORE OR FROM THE SASKATCHEWAN PUBLISHERS GROUP WWW.SKBOOKS.COM
