Three Book Reviews: Leilei Chen; Curtis Collins, Blair Fornwald, Wendy Peart - Editors: DAG Volumes: No 1 (2012); Lisa Driver

“Re-Orienting China: Travel Writing and Cross-Cultural Understanding”

By Leilei Chen

Published by University of Regina Press

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$80.00  ISBN 9-780889-774407   

  

University of Alberta professor and writer Leilei Chen was born and raised in China, but admits she'd always held an idealized vision of Canada. When a doctoral scholarship brought her to Edmonton, that vision was shattered by Canada's social problems and historical racism – even the weather didn't measure up to her red-leafed dreams. Canadian realities made her consider her homeland and how the "seemingly antithetical" countries actually shared many similarities. She credits her travels for her "more nuanced and critical vision" of both countries. In Re-Orienting China, Chen examines books by six contemporary travel writers on post-1949 China, weighing in on their work and ways of understanding "otherness" with a critical eye, particularly when she senses an us vs. them divide.

                                                         

Chen states a lack of scholarship re: travel literature about China, and she addresses the issue of subjectivity in the genre, concluding that travel writing is "ideologically loaded." In her exhaustive reading she found that "women writers who travelled in Communist China" were more inclined to "sensitivity, self-reflection, and comparative visions of home and abroad." Her focus is on "the process of cultural translation," and she maintains that one simultaneously learns about and transforms "self" while travelling. "I look for the connections and the commonalities … and examine the transformations that result from [travellers'] interactions with that foreign place."

Two of the six writers Chen studies are Canadian, and Jan Wong – readers may recognize her from the Globe and Mail – is among them. Wong's book Red China Blues (1996) examines her time as a Canadian student at Beijing University during China's Cultural Revolution. She thought the Communist system would bestow "freedom and equality on every member of the society," but in actuality she found her time in China difficult, overwhelming and "personally traumatic." Her university roommate, she learned, was "assigned to spy on her."

American Peter Hessler wrote about his two-year experiences in Fuling as a Peace Corps volunteer: he determined that it was important to learn Chinese if he was to understand the culture and make friendships. Canadian scientist Jock Tuzo Wilson had his stereotypes challenged in Peking, and says American mass media pre-shaped his opinions.

Based on Chen's commentary, the book I'd be most interested in reading is anthropologist Hill Gates' book, Looking for Chengdu: A Woman's Adventure in China. She writes authentically as an American woman who makes many mistakes along the way, and she even ponders abandoning her career focus on China.

Though much of Re-Orienting China concern's Chen's academic analyses, I also learned facts about Chinese culture, ie: eating all the food on your plate indicates to a host that you're still hungry, and you'll be served again, and that the Chinese only reluctantly identify themselves on the phone.   

This book's important because, as Chen says, travellers are the "translator[s] of culture," and if we want to have meaningful dialogues across cultures in this increasingly globalized society we live in, it's wise to understand, through various perspectives, how we're all in this world together.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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 “DAG Volumes: No. 1 (2012)"

Editors Dr. Curtis Collins, Blair Fornwald, Wendy Peart

Published by Dunlop Art Gallery

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$60.00  ISSN: 1929-9214

The Dunlop Art Gallery is a department of the Regina Public Library, thus it's fitting that Library Director and CEO Jeff Barber provided the foreword to DAG Volumes: No. 1 (2012), a limited-edition hardcover celebrating seventeen insightful essays by eleven contributors, and 130 full-colour photographs that are the next best thing to visiting the DAG in person. The exhibition retrospective features work from DAG's Central Gallery, its Sherwood Village location, and in situ art.   

As this comprehensive volume of the gallery's 2012 exhibitions and events was released a handful of years ago, a little Googling enlightened me that then-director Dr. Curtis Collins now heads The Yukon School of Visual Arts (Dawson City), but I turn to his introduction for words on DAG's 50th anniversary – the reason for this first in a prospective series of books. "Such a feat of longevity in Canada, by any cultural institution, should be duly noted." Agreed!

Collins laments the fact that many show catalogues never get read and  "continue to pile up across the country," and thus he writes hopefully that each copy in the 350 print-run of this book will be sold at the end of 2013. Mission accomplished? I don't know, but I'm elated to have my hands on a copy of this glorious publication, as I find it incredibly interesting to discover the why and how of an individual's art-making, as well as viewing the finished products. Reading the essayists' thoughts on the work is like having my own personal guide walking around the gallery with me to enhance my experience.

The opening essay, written by Linda Jansma, concerns the retrospective of art by Shelagh Keeley, an accomplished Canadian who works on paper and produces wall drawings around the world. As with many of the other artists represented here, the photographs include gallery shots, so readers can contemplate the art as it was presented at DAG. "[Keeley's] drawings take the form of language," Jansma poetically writes, "spreading over the [steel] panels like words over a page."    

Dr. Curtis Collins' engaging essay on the multi-media exhibition Darwin's Nose, by artist Trevor Gould, includes movie (ie: Planet of the Apes) and American-Iraqi military conflict references to elucidate ideas around this Charles Darwin/orangutan-inspired show. Aside from watercolours and sculpture, Gould produced a video of Toronto Metro Zoo orangutans interacting (or not) with his sculptural elements. "The artist was able to elicit a range of emotions from visitors to the Darwin's Nose exhibition, in confirmation of the orangutans' role as an ideal stand-in for the emblematic joy and angst of humankind," Collins writes.

Art enriches us. From Susan Shantz's whimsical frog pots to Terrance Houle's landscape photography that "[reinforces] the notion of ongoing colonial possession." From Robin Lambert's relational art that explores "how we seek and create social connections" to Daryl Vocat's bold prints, often "liberated" from Boy Scout handbooks. From "uncanny" dance performances to botany-inspired watercolours, this beautiful book underscores what many already understand: creating art is a kind of genius. All hail the artists.  

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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“Leap!: How to Overcome Doubt, Fear, And Grief & Choose The Path Of Joy"

By Lisa Driver

Published by DriverWorks Ink

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$19.95  ISBN 978-192757033-3

When I review a self-help book, I'm interested in knowing the author's story. Is he or she writing based on personal experience? If so, I'm immediately more invested. The combination of practical advice and personal revelation is precisely what writer Lisa Driver delivers in her second book, and its long subtitle provides  a summary of what readers are in for: advice on ways to "Overcome Doubt, Fear, And Grief [And] Choose The Path of Joy."  

Driver wears multiple hats. The Regina-born writer is a "certified Angel Therapist, Advanced Angel Tarot and oracle card reader, Medium, and Reiki Practitioner," and in 2016 she became a new mother. In this ninety-six page softcover she conversationally discusses her decision to leave the financial security of traditional employment and follow her dream to focus exclusively on her business, Above 540, which serves to inspire others "to the joy and wonder that exists around them, and [help] them step into their power" via readings and spiritually-based teaching and healing. Setting intentions, meditating, creating awareness, setting boundaries, practicing gratitude, journaling, and gaining clarity re: what one wants are all part of Driver's recipe for more joy.  

The book also balances two disparate events in the author's life: her sixty-one-year-old father's death, and the birth of her daughter. Advice on improving one's own happiness is woven through these stories, and several meditation-style exercises are included, ie: using deep breathing to "fill you up with energy," and then imagining a dazzling light filling your body. "With this shield of light surrounding you, you are always safe and connected to the Divine." 

The "Divine" here is also inclusively named "God" and "the Universe". Driver subscribes to "The Law of Attraction" ("like attracts like" and "what you focus on, expands"). She and her business partner, Carla, teach a vibrational scale that "associates numbers with certain emotions." Driver says "The Law of Attraction" responds to the "vibrations we emit every day" - the higher the vibrational number, "the more powerful and positive the emotion."

Resiliency is critical in this life, and when the author/healer learns that her beloved father has a "fist-sized" cancerous mass in his abdomen, her spiritual beliefs and coping skills help her navigate through the hell of his Stage IV colon cancer. His diagnosis "kicked me in the butt and helped move me forward," she writes. Sadly and ironically, the day she learns - via phone call in a Tim Horton's restaurant - that her father's cancer has spread is the same day her much-awaited pregnancy is confirmed. "Life goes on," her father sagely tells her.   

This book serves as a reminder that living well and joyfully is our own responsibility, and regardless of our circumstances, it's completely up to us to make the necessary changes that ensure we remain on a positive track. Readers will take away what they need to from Driver's story, but for me, it was the statement that "The only moment we know we have is this one." Yes. Better make it great. 

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

Four Book Reviews: Jordan, Kehler, McCrosky, Burton

“Been in the Storm So Long"

Written by Terry Jordan

Published by Coteau Books

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$21.95  ISBN 9-781550-506877

I've long considered Terry Jordan to be a masterful writer, but if there's any justice in the literary universe, his latest novel - the epic and historical Been in the Storm So Long - should earn him national award nominations. This captivating story centres on the sometimes discordant rhythms of family and community, the restless and hungry Atlantic, and the music that scores and changes lives. The mesmerizing tale moves with lyricism and grace, transporting readers from a small Nova Scotia fishing village to New Orleans.

Protagonist John Healy is "just another sickly Irish infant begun in Sligo," whose father moves the family to Canada for a brighter future. Jordan's characters are imaginative storytellers and dreamers, some with peculiar gifts (ie: John has "the ability to listen to clouds"), and they've brought their superstitions across the pond. "There was sorcery everywhere on the water; be wary," a young John is warned, "and it was left at that." When a whale beaches on a shoal and the curious come to inspect (and slaughter) it, John's mother claims that "Pure grief'd be the cause of that," and wonders "How much sorrow does it take to fill the likes of a poor thing its size." From then on, John dreams of becoming a whaler.

 

Jordan deftly creates atmosphere. Odette, a gifted violinist from childhood (and John's future wife), plays her music from the hills above the village, competing with sea birds. "At times, on the hill, she walked in a fog so calm and thick she could turn and still see the path where the movement of her legs and body had made a cloudy stir." Odette's dream is to see the world and "experience music that was not her own." A third significant character, Daniel Burke, was tragically orphaned as a teen and thus moves in with Odette's family. Daniel dreams of Odette.

The text is rife with foreshadowing, though the story's so broad and rich, one would need to return to the beginning to thread all the clues together. On each page the author wields his pen like a poet who knows the secret to mesmerizing readers. Here Jordan describes the all-important weather: "It snowed the sad spring day they sailed, in Halifax, too, the hopeful first morning they arrived in Canada. The air was shaggy with it …"

The tale transports us across borders, generations and cultures. Here's a gem from a sweaty New Orleans' dance hall scene: "Shadow shapes – all alphabets of arms and legs – jumped to the music, every face dark-skinned except for his." Another fine line, concerning John and his precocious son, Gabriel, as they pull in their fish net: "Line upon layer of fish had spilled onto the sand, head to tail to head to tail all the same direction inland, lying there obedient as dogs and so uniformly configured they seemed like the scales on their own dying sides."

This is a storm-tossed and heart-swelling sea of a book. You should experience it.    

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM THE SASKATCHEWAN PUBLISHERS GROUP WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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“Goodbye Stress, Hello Life!”

by Allan Kehler

Published by Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$15.95  ISBN 978-1-927756-53-9

Stress: every person deals with some amount of it. Some turn to vices (drugs, alcoholism, over-eating); some become angry, fearful, or depressed; many become physically ill; and fortunate others view stress as a challenge to be dealt with in positive ways (ie: changing routines, practicing mindfulness, exercising). If stress is threatening to sink you, reading Saskatonian Allan Kehler's latest book could be a swell start to swimming out of it.

Kehler is a public presenter with a wealth of experience, both professional (addictions counsellor, clinical case manager, and college instructor) and personal (mental health and addiction issues) that fuel his authority on stress and living a healthier life. The blurb on Goodbye Stress, Hello Life! is a strong motivator for any potential readers: [Kehler] empowers you to take an honest look at what lies beneath your stressors, and provides the tools to heal through a holistic approach. You will be inspired to stop existing and start living …"

What I appreciate most about this book is the great and diverse analogies Kehler employs, ie: he talks about the body's "sympathetic system" acting like a gas pedal during a stressful event. This is the "fight or flight" response: in times of stress, we tend to either jam the gas (flight) or hit the brake (fight). (Doing nothing is another option.) Among balanced individuals, a natural ebb and flow exists between these reactions, but one can become "stuck" on either response, and this is where addictions and other negative choices may kick in.

Another analogy concerns the teachings of a turtle … the turtle "teaches us the importance of going within" and, in this fast-paced and instant gratification-society, "to slow down." When we truly look inside ourselves, Kehler maintains we "will find all of [our] answers," and slowing allows us to be silent and listen to our "gut" for "strong and accurate information." Agreed. I took a Mindfulness class recently, and the instructor spoke of people having two brains: the gut brain and the intellectual brain, and said that the deepest thinkers think very little. Instead, they go still and wait for the "gut feeling," which is a much more reliable brain.

Kehler's text is peppered with interesting statistics, ie: "One study revealed that 75 to 90 percent of all doctors' office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints (Goldberg, 2007)." Learning to deal effectively with stress could be beneficial at so many levels, from reducing doctor's visits for ulcers and fatigue to extending lives that ended too early from stress-influenced diseases like cancer, diabetes and stroke.

The author discusses remedies for workplace stress, ie: time management and progressive muscle relaxation; the importance of not only talking about one's pain but also "feel[ing] your feelings; and the lessons we can learn from children. He says "A sense of child-like wonder manifests itself when you build a tree fort or engage in a game of tag." Again, I find myself agreeing: only yesterday, I went skating … and even tried a few spins.  

 

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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 “Lifting Weights”

by Judy McCrosky

Published by Thistledown Press

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$18.95  ISBN 978-1-77187-105-1

   

Saskatoon's Judy McCrosky has a reputation for pushing the limits. As a multi-genre writer she's authored an eclectic repertoire of material, including literary short stories, sci-fi and fantasy, non-fiction, and even (under a pseudonym) a Silhouette Romance novel. In her latest short fiction collection, Lifting Weights, McCrosky asks us to step slightly outside the borders of reality and spend a few hours in unusual worlds that may be closer than we think.

This imaginative ten-story collection features a wide range of plots, from the moving "Shelter," about a distraught mother navigating both her brain-injured son's care and the return of her estranged husband, to a tale about a lonely pathologist, Andrea, who finds a "disgustingly cute" hamster in her home and soon has sixty-one furry new animal friends. This story makes parallel statements about the earth's ecology (the shrinking ozone layer), and men's inability to see beyond the surface of appearance when considering a partner. Andrea finds a warm community among her female, quilter friends, but when she goes to a party she has to "wear a dress of cute hamsters to be seen by men."

  

The crowning story is "Death TV". There's a strong science fiction trend in movies (and Netflix TV series) currently, and I could easily see "Death TV" produced as a "Black Mirror" episode. The story concerns Perry, a photojournalist who is the "acknowledged expert on anything to do with the Death TV Network," which is every iota as grim as it sounds. As the story opens, Perry's sitting in a bar with a friend watching a TV screen: "… a man, wrinkled face peaceful, rolled his eyes toward the camera, and breathed his last. Perry reached for another handful of potato chips and munched on them, watching as the show switched to another deadbed scene." The more gruesome the death scene - ie: motorcycle accidents, deaths on the series Gladiators - the more potential TV viewers. Sadly, this does not seem far-fetched.

Perry stays tuned to accident calls and races on his motorcycle to be first to photograph the deaths. In this future world – again, it seems frighteningly nearby – he breathes fresh air through an "Airomatic" (oxygen tank connected to his motorcycle). "Darwin laws" have made mandatory helmet-wearing a thing of the past: "New laws left people free to make their own choices, and that was the sign of a civilized society." How brutal has civilization become? When a train-car collision call comes in, Perry considers what he may find. "Maybe the vehicle hit by the train would be more than just a single car. Maybe it would be a school bus." Dying children, he thinks "would be good TV."

Symbolism and contrast are major features in McCrosky's unique work, and in "Death TV" the public's hunger for death scenes is balanced against the life of a gentle mortician whose passion is caring for monarch butterflies. What happens when an associate producer from Death TV arrives at his door? Oh, you should really find out.     

  

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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 “Road Allowance Kitten”

Written by Wilfred Burton, Illustrated by Christina Johns, Translated by Norman Fleury

Published by Gabriel Dumont Institute

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$15.00  ISBN 978-1-926795-72-0

This bilingual children's picture book - with the green-and-yellow-eyed, plot-important kitten on the cover – gently tells a true and unpleasant story in prairie history: the poverty, hardship and displacement of the Road Allowance Métis. Like it sounds - and as explained in the back-notes - a road allowance is "a strip of [government-owned] land adjoining a parcel of surveyed land … set aside in case roads will be built in the future."

One need not know the historical truth to appreciate this well-delivered story about family and friendship, sharing, and both the joys and hardships of living a basic lifestyle, but it bears a reminder. After the 1885 Resistance, numerous Métis displaced from their traditional homes and land used scrap materials to build new, often uninsulated and tar paper-roofed shacks on road allowances. They worked for local farmers (ie: clearing fields of rocks and trees), and picked Seneca root and berries, grew gardens, trapped and hunted (though a 1939 law made year-round and unlicensed trapping and hunting illegal, and expensive fines resulted). "Squatters" don't pay tax, and their children, therefore, were not allowed to attend school. The government began relocating (aka "evicting") the Road Allowance people in the 1930s, and Burton's story concerns the 1949 displacement of Métis from the Lestock area to Green Lake. It's a story he'd heard told, in slightly different form, by three women.        

The author does a lovely job of unobtrusively painting a realistic picture of the lives of the Métis characters, complete with jigging, sashes, and bannock in the grub box. Cousins and best friends Rosie and Madeline crack ice in the ditches, play a game called Canny Can, and chase "flittering butterflies and nectar-seeking bumblebees." The girls discover a calico kitten "in a dusty Christmas orange box under a pile of rubble," and proceed to share the beloved pet.

It's a happy, if simple, existence for the children, but when "strange men in suits from town" arrive, their families are given just a few days' notice that they'll have to move "way up north in the bush". Rosie's father tries to put a positive spin on it: "'They promised us our own land. There are lots of trees to build a log house. There'll be good fishing in the lakes and good hunting in the bush. Maybe even a school for you!'" Will the kitten go with them?

The colourful illustrations tell their own stories, ie: clothes drying over a barbed wire fence; beaded moccasins and a homemade quilt; a wagon transporting families' entire, boxed-up lives to the train station. The softcover comes with its own soundtrack - the story's read in English by Wilfred Burton; Michif narration's by Norman Fleury- and includes a glossary, map, and even instructions for Canny Can.

Road Allowance Kitten tells an important story that prairie children may not learn in school, but should. "This was their home. The only home they knew. The home they loved." How tragic that it should all go up, literally, in smoke.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

Four Book Reviews: Pamela Roth, Deana J. Driver, Janice Howden, Trina Markusson/James Hearne

“Deadmonton: Crime Stories from Canada's Murder City”

by Pamela Roth

Published by University of Regina Press

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$21.95  ISBN 9-780889-774261

   

  

In 2011 I lived in a notorious Edmonton neighbourhood where I wouldn't walk the length of a block alone at night. That same year Edmonton was deemed the "Murder Capital of Canada." Journalist Pamela Roth was also living in the city at that time, and the court and crime reporter has now published a collection of true stories about several of the cops, the criminals, the victims and their families who made headlines in "Deadmonton," both in 2011 and across the decades.

The book's title, shadowy cover image, and back cover copy all prepare readers for the disturbing content inside. "These stories are not for the faint of heart," Roth writes in her introduction, and adds that what the murdered and/or missing victims' families have in common is "the need for closure, no matter how much time has passed."

There's been no closure for eleven-year-old victim Karen Ewanciw's friend, Shelley Campbell, who was ten when she and her best friend were exploring the river valley by Edmonton's McNally High School, and, after finding an upside down cross, Ewanciw "walked off in a trance." Within two days the girl's body was discovered in the ravine: she'd been sexually assaulted and killed by blunt force trauma. "The blow was so fierce that an imprint of Karen's face was left in the soft earth where she came to a final rest." The killer was never found, and in the aftermath, Campbell's suffered decades of grief and survivor guilt. "It would have been a lot easier to have died with Karen," she said. Ewanciw's father-who claims to know who the now-deceased killer was-"regrets not taking care of the killer himself while he had the chance."

A desire for vigilante justice was also expressed by Michelle Shegelski's widower. Shegelski was one of three murdered in the University of Alberta's HUB mall case (2012). All three were armoured car guards, as was their killer and coworker, Travis Baumgartner. "I think [Baumgartner] should just be taken out behind the shed and put down," Shegelski's widower said. Roth recounts the night's tragic events, victim biographies, and how the shooter-described by a former schoolmate as "a quiet kid who got bullied a lot"-was apprehended at the Canada/US border.

Several stories involve innocent victims, like six-year-old Corinne "Punky" Gustavson (1992), baby Robin Thorn (1997), the St. Albert seniors Lyle and Marie McCann (2010), and those who died during "robberies gone wrong." Other victims lived high-risk lifestyles. The police who investigate these crimes are victims as well: of anguish due to the horrors they encounter, and of frustration when murders go unsolved.            

Any light here comes via the organizations and support groups that've evolved from tragedy. Young Tania Murrell's disappearance (1983) "sparked the formation of the Missing Children Society of Canada." Cathy Greeve's 1988 death-she was murdered in an Edmonton LRT station-resulted in her father helping to found the Victims of Homicide Support Society.

Although definitely not for the faint of heart, Deadmonton tells compelling stories. Roth now lives in Victoria.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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 “Fun on the Farm … True Tales of Farm Life"

Compiled and edited by Deana J. Driver

Published by DriverWorks Ink

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$17.95  ISBN 978-192757030-2

Even if they've never lived on a farm, I'm going to take the bull by the horns and suggest that most readers will get a chuckle (and perhaps a nostalgic lump in the throat) from Fun on the Farm … True Tales of Farm Life!, a light-hearted anthology concerning the trials, tribulations, and tricks (including many practical jokes) inherent in farm living. DriverWorks Ink publisher, editor, and writer, Deana J. Driver asked for submissions of "stories, poems, and memories," and two dozen folks responded-including published writers Bryce Burnett, Jean F. Fahlman, Mary Harelkin Bishop, Ed Olfert, and Marion Mutala-to recount the good old days back on the farm. Other writers I'm unfamiliar with also made generous contributions: Peter Foster (Craven, SK) has four accounts, Regina's Keith Foster's work is found six times, and Laurie Lynn Muirhead, from Shellbrook, appears seven times. 

Many of the writers shared shenanigans in which they did something foolish, innocently or otherwise. Jean Tiefenbach and her brother thought it a wise idea to tip the outhouse over and wash it for their mom on Mother's Day. Eleanor Sinclair was showing off her (underaged) pickup driving skills to a friend and sunk the truck up to its running boards in the mud of a slough bottom while a threshing crew looked on. Leo Moline was adept at playing practical jokes on the threshers who came to his farm, and they got even by nailing him to the granary. "They nailed my wristband through my shirt and stretched me out spread-eagle on the west side of the granary wall, in the sun and dust."

Cow pies, machinery mishaps, animal high-jinks, and outhouses are common threads, the latter I suppose because they are particularly unforgettable. In his poem, "Cat in the Can," Keith Foster admits that "We were terrible kids," but fortunately the cat in question survived the outhouse adventure. Muirhead shares an outhouse story via poetry: "we girls stuck it out together/through nightmares and thunderstorms," she writes. In her comical prose piece, "You Waved, My Lord," Fahlman also gets poetic: "One of the prettiest sights on earth is watching the sun go down in a red blaze, harvest dust hanging in the air, shimmering, as twilight settles over the field."

Clearly most of these stories concern decades-old experiences, and that's one of the values of a book like this. We're reminded of the hard work, large families, and the ingenious thriftiness of our rural friends, ie: manure banking around a home's foundation to help keep drafts out. And then there are the characters, like Mrs. Anderson, an independent elderly woman who lived in a refurbished granary. She "canned" her pony after he'd done the summer work of hauling firewood out of the grove.

The book's contributors seem to agree with Marlene Hunter, who writes that the farm "was a wonderful place to grow up." As one who grew up in town, it's also pretty wonderful to read about how the kids who took the bus made their fun.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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"Rescued"

by Janice Howden

Published by DriverWorks Ink

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$13.95  ISBN 978-192757031-9

Before reading Rescued-Saskatoon writer Janice Howden's touching story for young readers about a dog's journey from a puppy mill into the arms of a loving "forever home" family-I'd never heard of Tibetan Terriers. As their name implies, these shaggy-coated dogs originated in the Himalayas, and their "big round feet act like snowshoes in the deep snow." They're intelligent, determined, and affectionate, and, as Howden proves in this hybrid story-part non-fiction, part fancy (as told by the canine protagonist)-they can be inspirational.

Howden's combined her passion for promoting pet adoptions from animal rescues, her love for the puppy Hawkeye (later renamed Rahj) she adopted from the Saskatoon SPCA, and her writing skills into a story that works well between the genres of fiction and nonfiction. After an italicized introduction into what lead to Hawkeye's adoption, she switches to storytelling mode. Here Hawkeye takes over the narration, and this little guy's feisty. He says the story thus far is "being told rather badly by the human," and he goes on to share how he and his meek brother, Freddie, were evicted from the kennel (aka puppy mill) they'd been born into because a new litter was coming and the owners had to make room for younger and more easily-adoptable dogs.

Hawkeye's the thinker of the siblings, and he resents it. As they scavenge for food and navigate through dangers that include a "huge, angry dog," alley cats, traffic, and cruel boys, Hawkeye says "Good grief … How come I have to do all the thinking?" They find temporary shelter in a park, but soon Freddie's caught by animal protection officers, and Hawkeye's capture follows shortly after.

Howden establishes a strong and humorous voice for the lead dog using tricks like understatement. While wandering free in the park, Hawkeye muses "So far, it had not been too bad-if you didn't mind sleeping in the cold, eating from garbage cans and being chased by mean boys." Later in the book, after another italicized, "human" section, the dog responds to his inability to play fetch by saying, "Really, who thinks fetching a sock sounds like fun?" He's also quite the dramatic dog. Three different times he says "This was the worst day of my life!" Fortunately, he also has the opportunity to later exclaim about "the happiest time" in his life.

Rescued is about acceptance (ie: Rahj must win over Howden's husband), generosity, and the bond between humans and pets. The book contains black and white illustrations and several photos (so you can see Rahj in the flesh, er, fur), and would be suitable for juvenile readers, or as a story read to younger children, but be warned: reading this might result in a trip to your local shelter and the addition of a four-legged family member.

Howden's on the board of the Saskatchewan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and promotes "compassion and respect for animals" through education. Buy her book, and a portion of the sale's donated to animal welfare organizations.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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"Good Morning, Sunshine! (A Story of Mindfulness)"                                                          

by Trina Markusson, illustrated by James Hearne

Published by Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$15.95  ISBN 9-781927-756775

   

There's much talk these days about mindfulness, and truth be told, this reviewer has signed up for a class on that very topic. I'm also starting to hear that mindfulness-or "living in the moment"-is being taught in some schools, and I can only imagine how much this will benefit students who adopt the practice into their daily lives. Perhaps you remember some of the worries you had as a child, or you recall how stressful teenage years can be. Maybe you have a son or daughter who is fearful or anxious, and you don't know how to help them. Let me introduce you to Good Morning, Sunshine! (A Story of Mindfulness), a gently-told (and sweetly-illustrated) children's book by Regina teacher, speaker, and writer, Trina Markusson. 

Drawing from her youngest son's experience, as well as her own, Markusson, has penned a sensitive story about Zachary-a boy old enough to play football but young enough to enjoy the company of a teddy bear-that demonstrates how hanging on to the past or worrying about the future prevents us from enjoying the present, and can even manifest in physical ailments. Speaking of the "what-ifs" (future thoughts) her son's experiencing, ie: doing poorly on a spelling test, public speaking in class, missing his bus, his mother says "Most of the time, the what-ifs never come true, but we spend so much time worrying and it makes our bodies worry too! We might get a tummy-ache, feel panicky or even make our hearts beat faster."

Fortunately, the family keeps a shoebox with mindfulness tools (six simply- illustrated cards that symbolize keys to practicing mindfulness) on hand to help Zachary focus. As the worrying boy goes through each of the cards, he practices the steps, ie: when he draws the Five Senses card, he feels his pillow, listens to the chirping birds, and smells "the coffee Dad was making in the kitchen." The Gratitude card reminds him to name three things he's grateful for, including his brothers and "the blue-sky day!"

The book ends with an encouraging note to caregivers and teachers re: the benefits of practising mindfulness, and encourages these adults to "model the use of these tools," as children learn most via observation. Child-geared language, ie: "His eyebrows squinched together" and "His tummy flippity-flopped" help keep the message fun, and the repetition of the phrase "Everything was all right in this moment" helps underscore the story's upbeat message.

Calgary illustrator James Hearne has created a series of colourful and darling images for the story. The little bear appears on each illustrated page, and his expressions match the child's: nice visual touch. And even big people (like yours truly) will appreciate the six, punch-out-able cards at the back of the book … to help keep us peacefully present.        

This book would fit well into the library of any child, and any adult who cares about a child's lifelong well-being and happiness … parents and grandparents, counsellors, teachers, etc. For more information about the author, see www.presentmomentliving.ca.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

Book Review: Line Dance: An Anthology of Poetry, selected and edited by Gerald Hill

“Line Dance”

An anthology of poetry, selected and edited by Gerald Hill

published by Burton House Books

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$20.00  ISBN 9-780994-866912

Before I say anything else about Line Dance - the cool new poetry anthology driven by SK Poet Laureate Gerald Hill's "First Lines" project - a disclaimer: two lines from one of my poems appear within it. Apart from that, I had zilch to do with this book that handily demonstrates the wealth of poetic voices in the homeland, the range of human imagination, and how art inspires art.

Each weekday during Poetry Month in April, Hill e-mailed SK Writers' Guild members a pair of first lines he'd selected from SK poetry books and invited folks to respond with poems of their own. Some, like professionals Brenda Schmidt and Ed Willett, sent poems every day. In the end, almost 500 pieces were submitted, and SK writing veteran-turned publisher, Byrna Barclay, bound what editor Hill deemed the best into a handsome package, featuring Saskatchewanian David Thauberger's art on the cover. 

If you already read homegrown poetry, you'll recognize several names here. The quoted include Dave Margoshes, Judith Krause, Paul Wilson, Gary Hyland, Elizabeth Philips, Bruce Rice, Louise Halfe, and Robert Currie. Their quotes spawned poems by the likes of Katherine Lawrence, dee Hobsbawn-Smith, Lynda Monahan, Sharon MacFarlane, and Jim McLean. The book also introduces newer writers, like Lumsden's Karen Nye, who incorporated something from all the selected quotes for the book's opening act.   

Although the poems appear in the order the quotes were e-mailed, the book proper begins and ends with strong pieces – as books generally do - by multi-genre writer Dave Margoshes. A few pages later, in a poem that blooms with prairie imagery, Laurie Muirhead delivers the beautiful line "a mirage of tiger lilies". Dee Hobsbawn-Smith deserves a bow for her phrase "the mud of missing you," and for the emotional depth of her dog-related poems in this collection. (Five stars for the "November-coloured dog" in her graphic piece "Hunting".) Similarly, Lynda Monahan packs a punch with her powerful and heartfelt pieces. In "Saying the Unsayable Things" she writes of "the white heart of your suffering" and how "nothing I write anymore matters/in the face of it".    

Ed Willett's penned sci-fi/fantasy poems and showcases his sense of humour ("Please don’t think we're prejudiced/against vampires" and "my husband hasn’t held a steady job/since he became a werewolf"), as does the ever-clever and perceptive Brenda Schmidt, ie: "I've always known the backroad/is the road less graveled". Ruth Chorney wrote a terrific piece inspired by Brenda Niskala's humdinger line: "The man at the door with a gun is our son./We think he's after our money." Robert Currie puts his voice to fine use in story-poems.

This is Saskatchewan. From Fort Qu'Appelle to Prince Albert, SaskPower to the Co-op. From "little sandwiches and bowls of bitter pickles" (Schmidt) in halls to "the bellering heifer/helpless in the chute" (Bonnie Dunlop). Congratulations and thanks to the poets, to Gerry Hill, to the SWG (for their hand in the project), and to Byrna Barclay for making Line Dance Burton House Book's inaugural poetry title. Reading this book was like being in a room with several of my favourite Saskatchewan folks. In other words, great dance!

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM THE SASKATCHEWAN PUBLISHERS GROUP WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

Three Book Reviews: Silverthorne, Cripps,Shklanka

“Convictions”

by Judith Silverthorne

Published by Coteau Books

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$16.95  ISBN 9-781550-506525

 

  

I've now read enough of Judith Silverthorne's numerous books to know that anything she writes will be a worthy read, and my belief was confirmed again with her latest, the historical novel Convictions. This time the multi-award-winning Regina writer (and Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild) has penned an action-packed, fact-based tale about 14-year-old Jennie, a British lass sentenced to serve seven years in a penal colony in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania, Australia) after she was ungenerously convicted of theft. First however, Jennie must survive the four or five months of sailing on a convict ship with 234 other women and children, and a crew that includes more than a few letches. It's cramped, filthy, and there's precious little food or medical aid. Before long Jennie finds herself stitching up a fellow convict, Lizzie, a "doxie" who's been flogged almost to death by the evil guard Red Bull. 

I'm in awe of how Silverthorne pulls it all together: the historical and sailing details, the adventures (including fistfights, a hurricane, and a shipwreck of Titanic proportions), and even the first sparks of a romance between Jennie and the ship's youngest guard, Nate. This is extremely competent writing, and what's more, it's a story that's hard to put down.

It's 1842. Jennie's doomed to the faraway penal colony because she stole "a mouldy sack of oats" from a garbage bin to feed her starving family. Silverthorne brings the story to life in paragraph one via sensory details, including "sun-baked cobblestones" that burn Jennie's bare feet, and the "sudden cloying stench of dead fish, rotting wood and slime." As with an establishing shot in cinema, the author immediately transports readers into the story's time and place. In the next paragraph she introduces conflict. A guard yanks Jennie, and she "winced as he cuffed her wrists behind her back. A second guard snapped shackles on her ankles". Soon after, the veteran writer includes a scene: we hear the rough voices of other convicts and guards, plus bystanders' comments, and this dialogue smartly provides background information while also increasing the story's plausibility.

The convicts get little time on deck, but when they do Jennie notes "no sign of a coastline in any direction; only the never-ending grey sea mirrored by the dreary mackerel sky. The desolate sounds of the wind, the water and the odd call of a seabird." Red Bull and other guards are constant threats, and the women's nights are spent "fending off vermin and nightmares." Prisoners are threatened with a flogging frame, and there are "punishment balls and torture irons strapped to the wheelhouse."

This is no pleasure cruise. Jennie's smart, resourceful, and strong, but when she finds herself having conversations with herself, she worries she'll end up like "Crazy Mary". Fortunately there are a few warm hearts on board, including matronly Sarah and young Alice, who become Jennie's closest friends during the life or death journey.

Will they survive? The answer's in the book. I highly recommend you discover it.   

   

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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“Sibling Shenanigans”

by Marjorie Cripps, illustrated by Val Lawton

Published by Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$12.95  ISBN 9-781927-75706

 

I can't imagine a better title for first-time author Marjorie Cripps' collection of stories for young readers than what she's chosen, Sibling Shenanigans. This fun and ably-written series of short tales features likeable siblings Amanda and Mitchell, who get along exceptionally well with each other, their parents, and their beloved Grandma. The senior's a central character (and sometimes accomplice) in several of the ten pieces. Saskatchewan-born Cripps is a retired school librarian whose love of quilting is evident in many of the stories.

Using different styles - some stories are written in First Person, others in Third Person; some are realistic, others fantastic - and an upbeat tone, Cripps welcomes us into the active lives of young Amanda and Mitchell, beginning with the latter's spectacular adventure in a "runaway stroller". Cripps shares anecdotes about sleepovers, birthdays, Christmases, pet dogs, camping, and a family move from one side of Vancouver to the other.

I appreciated how easily the author's pen swung between real life and fantasy, making both feel credible. In "Barkley on Wheels," we learn that Grandma is living in a seniors' complex, Summitcrest Lodge. "'This new hip is not nearly as good as my old one,'" she says. Barkley is her dog, but the Jack Russell terrier has gone to live with Amanda and Mitchell's family now. When the family takes him to the cottage, the dog zips around as happy dogs do, and a few days later the leash-free dog is struck by a car. There's an interesting synchronicity between Grandma's use of a walker and the dog's new harness and two-wheeled cart that support its hindquarters. "'If Barkley can keep rolling, so can I!'" Grandma says.   

Anyone with a doll phobia might find the next story somewhat creepy. In "Magic Moonlight Dance," Amanda sleeps over at Gram's doll-filled house, and during the night the dolls – from Gram's favourite, Celeste (circa 1890s) to Barbie and Ken, Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy, 1960s Chatty Cathy, and wooden Pinocchio  - come alive to dance and play with the unfrightened girl.  

Then it's back to reality, with Gram taking the kids tenting: the thin foam mattress gives her bones a devil of a time, and it's a three-store chore to find a better mattress in town. Rings true!

The final story concerns the imaginative children flying across Canada on Grandma's magic quilt. They touch various squares on the quilt and voila: away they zoom. They spy a humpback whale in the Pacific, and "… the quilt dropped low enough for them to salute the Mountie in front of the Parliament Buildings." At one point a lobster even attaches itself to the quilt.   

The book is minimally illustrated with black and white drawings by veteran book illustrator Val Lawton, from Calgary. Once a child has graduated from picture books, this would be a great early reader – with or without a parent or grandparent snuggled up to listen. The author can be proud of her first title. Hopefully there are more to come.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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“Ceremony of Touching”

by Karen Shklanka

Published by Coteau Books

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$16.95  ISBN 9-781550-506679

It's gratifying to possess some knowledge of where, both literally and metaphorically, a poet is writing from. The first piece in BC poet/doctor/dancer Karen Shklanka's second book of poetry – which originated as her master's thesis – is a touchstone. It introduces us to "the wounded soul of a doctor" who finds repose on Salt Spring Island among the "scent of salted forest, wrap of humidity/from logs returning to earth, and reassurance/from thickets of salal flowers cupped in prayer." It's a strong, unique, and elemental premise.

In many ways I feel this seven-sectioned book is not unlike one long prayer, or at least a meditation: upon one's profession, personal relationships, nature and human nature, how "everything is connected," and upon the atrocity of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The section that recounts the historical event (from a fictional tailgunner's perspective; I'm thankful for the poet's extensive notes on the poems) is titled "Flight Log," and it's no small deal that it was long-listed for the CBC Poetry Prize. More interesting to me, however, are the numerous poems in which one can almost feel the poet's personal grappling about the here and now. 

Shklanka is an empathetic physician with many drug-addicted patients. Some of their sad lives, like that of patient S, are recounted in narratives that expose their desperation: "Hospitalization is a home away from homeless," the author writes. She recognizes that given the pressures on time, doctors sometimes "default to efficiency and having less compassion than a pig."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, hands often appear in the book. In a poem that nods toward the collection's gorgeous cover image – a bleeding pomegranate – Shklanka writes: "Hands are pale bloody parentheses."  In a poem about a self-harming patient, we read "There's too much on my hands. My hands are empty." 

In the poem "Indiferencia," she writes: "the doctor's fingers/march the cold bell of a stethoscope across/a chest," and in a Japanese-set poem, there are "Nervous fingers of rain/on the roof of the temple."

I applaud the poet's one-stanza poem that describes a hike up Mount Robson ("the summer before/our wedding") and does not overtly mention marital discord except via the title: "Neither of Us Wants to Keep the Photographs," and well-chosen, ambiguous words like "stumble," "hunger" and "sharp descent." Perhaps all readers also appreciate those lines in which they recognize their own innocuous folly, ie: "I've been looking into the wrong end/of the binoculars."  

  

Shklanka makes excellent poetry of her personal life and her profession, and she doesn't shirk from the stereotype of doctors as gods: "We have important things to do/and we will fit them into time's tight dresses." Wow.

I especially admire the last poem. Written in couplets, "Behind the Cabin at D'Arcy" melds natural details (ie: "rose hips left by the bears"), the calming rhythms of ceremony (achieved partly via word repetition), practical elements (ie: "the wood stove"), and a spectacular image of a love-making couple "superimposed, faintly, on the mountains." The poem leaves the reader with a sense of healing calm.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM THE SASKATCHEWAN PUBLISHERS GROUP WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

Three New Reviews: Minevich and Waterman, Tracie, Sharfe

“Art of Immersive Soundscapes”

Edited by Pauline Minevich and Ellen Waterman

Published by University of Regina Press

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$39.95  ISBN 9-780889-772588

   

Music, laughter, the rustling wind: sound enriches our lives. Of course it can also work the other way, as anyone with belligerent neighbours can attest. Sound is an interesting field of study for scientists and artists. I'd never heard of "immersive soundscapes," and was curious to learn what they are, why they matter, and who's creating them.

Enter editors Pauline Minevich (associate professor in the Department of Music, University of Regina) and Ellen Waterman (dean of the School of Music and  professor of musicologies at Memorial University of Newfoundland), who collected the disparate papers presented at the 2007 international conference "Intersections: Music and Sound, Music and Identity," held in Regina, and published them and a DVD of the presenters' audio and video explorations with sound in the book Art of Immersive Soundscapes. Combining science and art, rural and urban, nature and technology, macro and micro, the featured composers in this book show us a fresh and interesting way to experience and understand our social and physical worlds.

The interdisciplinary "soundscape movement" began in the 1960s at BC's Simon Fraser University, when composer R. Murray Schafer (and grad students) wanted to spotlight the "critical lack of attention to our sound environment, and its effects on our well-being." They sought to increase public awareness of sound environments, including noise pollution, and how those environments impacted on people. Schafer differentiated "hi-fi" environments (harmonious sounds, ie: streams, with low ambient noise) and "lo-fi" environments ("the confusing 'noise' of modern life"). The composer felt that, like music, soundscapes had the ability to "enrich the inner lives of the creator and listener," and he and his students collected sound from Canadian cities and European villages. From this they created "aural images".

The "immersive" aspect is the "social life of sounds," ie: "the myriad reflections, refractions, and reverberations that depend on the configuration of a particular performing space."

Practical examples include John Wynne's work with sound at a hospital in London, England. Using recordings and photography, Wynne provides the experience of "lying in the next bed trying to interpret" what's going on with a neighbouring patient. The project stimulates imagination.

Contributor Andrea Polli discusses the history of music from natural processes, ie: Aeolian harps and wind chimes, Balinese bamboo organs, and the light whistles attaches to the tails of young pigeons in China that produce "an open air concert".

Gabriele Proy's Austrian project, Waldviertel: A Soundscape Composition, was one of the most accessible, and his recording among my favourite. He designed his soundscape to represent a "portrait of a day," using only nature sounds, church bells, and a fire siren (played Saturdays at noon) … things that represented his fond childhood memories of this forested rural region. He combined these "sound memories" and layered them with meanings.

      

Like reading poetry, engaged "listening" gives us pause, and opens us to deeper realms of perception. Sound like a great idea? If you agree, you'll gain much from this illuminating text (which includes photos and charts) and the accompanying DVD.   

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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“Shaping a World Already Made: Landscape and Poetry of the Canadian Prairies"

By Carl J. Tracie

Published by University of Regina Press

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$27.95  ISBN 9-780889-773936

   

The respectful and sweeping premise for this new book – the brainchild of author/cultural geographer Carl J. Tracie – is to "make meaningful observations about the interconnected themes of poetry, landscape, perception, paradox, and mystery on the [Canadian] prairies." In his examination of the poetry of place, Tracie seeks to view the prairie landscape "through the lens of poetry," and asks how the physical elements impact on poets and their work, and how their representation of the landscape influences readers' ("residents and outsiders") vision of this land.

A self-professed fan of poetry, rather than a poet himself, Tracie analyzed the work of nine "prairie" poets (they might not currently live on the prairies, but their work demonstrates "a long attachment" to it), including Di Brandt, Lorna Crozier, John Newlove, Tim Lilburn, and Eli Mandel, and found commonalities and differences in their subjects, sentiments, and styles. He also refers to the work of a number of Indigenous poets, including Louise Halfe and Marilyn Dumont.

Why would a cultural geographer use poetry to better explain a place? As John Warkentin states in the introduction, it's not uncommon for geographers to turn to the arts, as they offer "a more profound sense of region and the life of the people who live in it." Perception, imagination, memory, and myth all contribute to a sense of place and how one interacts with it. Tracie says poetry's concision and imagistic nature "gives us a sense of region defined by resonances."

The author starts with the obvious: the poets' treatments of land and sky - what he calls the "enduring elements." As a reader and a writer, I was interested in how the various poets portrayed similar features. Dennis Cooley writes of "an enormous sky far as you can see" and telephone posts that "[stipple] the prairie," whereas Lorna Crozier - whose work Tracie often found to include spiritual elements - writes "God had to stretch and stretch the sky to hold it." Patrick Friesen's sky is "a blue silk umbrella/arching over the city."

The text includes work that both venerates and laments elements of the prairie (ie: winter) and prairie life. Eli Mandel writes evocatively - if not fondly - of snow in his poem "Blizzard": "sluff of a dead god/in whose hair/like fleas/we are white entangled knots."

I appreciated the examples of philosophic poetry by Tim Lilburn, which Tracie says "suggest a mythical union of flesh and spirit," and demonstrate the "intimate connections that are possible between the landscape and its creatures," and Tracie's explication re: the differences between how Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals write about landscape – the former provide much less detail, as their culture matter-of-factly "embraces the land." The author also examines the prairie in terms of rural/urban, and it's no surprise that rural's the preferred terrain. John Newlove's strong declaration that cities are "concentration camps of the soul" underscores this sentiment better than any.

This book would be a great senior high or university resource. I'd call it "accessibly academic," and I enjoyed it.    

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

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“My Good Friend, Grandpa”

Story by Elaine Sharfe, Illustrations by Karen Sim

Published by Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing

Review by Shelley A. Leedahl

$9.95  ISBN 9-781927-756713

 

You don't have to be a grandparent to appreciate Saskatoon writer Elaine Sharfe's illustrated children's book, My Good Friend, Grandpa. Indeed, anyone with a heart will adore this beautifully-rendered tale about a boy's strong connection with his beloved grandfather, and, as in all the best writing, the author skillfully evokes emotion without regressing into sentimentality.

Want to write your own children's book? Reading and studying great books is the best way to learn, and I'd definitely recommend Sharfe's well-written story to anyone who has an emotional children's story to tell. The tenor is spot-on here. Sharfe starts and ends on just the right notes, immediately establishing the characters' close relationship by simply stating it: "Noah and Grandpa Ed had been good friends for as long as Noah could remember. Grandpa Ed said they had been friends forever."

Nanaimo illustrator Karen Sims ably demonstrates this tight bond via full-colour images that show the young, big-eyed boy and his loving grandfather involved in activities that range from watering plants at the family cottage to enjoying treats in the bleachers at a football game (and I don't think the green and white flag Noah's waving is a coincidence). In an e-mail, Sims explained that she used digital paintings to give the illustrations the "memory/dream-like look" the author desired. "Not too cartoonish."  

Noah and Grandpa Ed are each other's biggest fans. The images reveal a smiling, animated child until page 15, when the story turns: "Noah was nine when Grandpa Ed got sick." Again, no embellishment's necessary: stating the facts does the job perfectly; the reader's heart drops. (You'll have to read the book yourself to learn what follows). 

Sharfe admits in the bio notes that her inspiration stems from "childhood memories of her four children and the antics of her 14 grandchildren." It should not matter that the story is based on "real" people, but this fact does heighten the emotional impact for me personally. As someone who lived in Saskatoon and for a few years worked as a radio advertising copywriter there, I'm familiar with the Sharfe family's car dealership, Sherwood Chevrolet, and the author addresses this auto dynasty in her story. "Grandpa Ed sold cars," she writes, and the first illustration in the book shows the grandfather and grandson in a showroom car, where they are "[pretending] to drive away."

What I liked best is how Sharfe (and Sim) so effectively conveyed love. Imagine an esteemed businessman taking a day off work so he could walk his grandson to kindergarten, then calling him every day to ask how school went for his "good friend". Imagine a creative child who, when his grandfather's too ill to go fishing, suggests they "pretend" fish off the end of the sickbed.

Real, moving, consistent, gorgeous. This intergenerational story is one to be cherished and shared. Thank you, Elaine Sharfe and Karen Sim, for making me feel so much on a rainy afternoon in August. Where it matters most (the heart), your book's an overwhelming success.

   

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM