The Waiting Tree by Lindsay Moynihan
Summary: After being outed in his small and highly religious community not long after the death of his parents, Simon is trying to cope with his boyfriend Stephen being sent off to be reprogramed, and becoming the main caregiver of Jude, his twin brother who is mute. It’s a lot to handle for a seventeen year-old, and with only partial support from his brothers, Simon is forced to drop out of high school and get a job to pay for the necessities of life. Tensions run high at home because Simon’s oldest brother Paul thinks he should automatically be in charge, but Simon finds Paul is more fallible than he appears to be. When the house of cards that is their home life comes down, Simon has no choice but to let the cards fall where they may, but having the courage to build his life again is up to him.
Number of Pages: 218
Age Range: 15-17
Review: Simon Peters, aptly named as a nod to Simon Peter, a disciple of Jesus and the rock upon which the Christian church was built, is the rock upon which his family is built after his parents die. His older brother Paul may think he’s in charge, but it is Simon who drops out of school, takes care of Jude, and gets a job so he can help pay the bills. As Jude’s twin he feels a great deal of responsibility towards him, but he fulfills that responsibility out of love, not obligation.
Paul is a bit of a puzzle. Named for Paul, the apostle who has a revelation on the road to Damascus and comes to Jesus after a life of persecuting Christians under the name of Saul, Paul the character seems more like Saul than his reformed, renamed self. He’s definitely the persecutor in their household, getting angry and resorting to physical violence. He also seems to have a lot of double standards as well as being gay is considered a sin to him but his own pre-martial sex is not. Is he headed for a revelation too? I hope so, but it’s not included in Moynihan’s story.
Then there’s Luke. He pretty much flies under the radar, but once again, is aptly named as Luke was the disciple of Jesus who was considered ‘the beloved physician.’ Luke from Moynihan’s book has deferred university for a year after their parents have died, but ultimately he intends to become a doctor.
I love the layers of Moynihan’s writing. Underneath a powerful story about being gay in a Christian community lie many layers and commentary about religious beliefs. I’m sure I’ve only scratched the surface with my connections, but there’s more to delve into as this is a book with depth.
What I like the most about Moynihan’s book though is that Simon must work through his own beliefs, coming to the point where he has to make a decision to be who he is, or listen to all of the people telling him he is wrong. Thankfully, he realises the person he should be listening to is Jude, who truly lives up to his namesake Saint Jude, the patron saint of desperate cases, when he finds a way to support his brother and encourage him wordlessly to be who he is. Jude was my personal favourite.
Memorable Quotes:
“Our pastor at Cross of Calvary once said during a sermon that God owes us nothing because we are sinners.
Stephen groaned when he heard this. ‘If nobody ever made a mistake, then we wouldn’t even need a God,’ he whispered in my ear.
At that time I just brushed off what Stephen said, deciding to toe the Pastor Ted line a little longer. It was so much easier not questioning everything anyways. But once Stephen was sent away, all there was left to do was question everything. I wasn’t exactly sure who I believed – Pastor Ted or Stephen. But I did know one thing, which was that everyone seems to screw up eventually. So I couldn’t help but wonder; if God really did owe me nothing, why did I feel so betrayed?” – Simon from The Waiting Tree by Lindsay Moynihan, pages 25-26
“I waited for it and then it happened. He looked at me, just for a spilt second, as he was saying that last part about immorality. I knew he would, and I stared back at him. I could not change who I was. I could hide it or lie about it, but I could not change something that I had no control over.” – Simon from The Waiting Tree by Lindsay Moynihan, page 84
“I knew that Paul was wrong, but I didn’t feel like arguing with him. I blamed the Lévesques for sending Stephen away but not for making him gay. No one was at fault for that, because there was nothing to be at fault for. I didn’t ask to be this way. Who would ask to be an outcast? Maybe it was easier in some places, but not here. I wanted to believe that God wouldn’t test me more than I could handle. That if I was meant to overcome the way I was, I would have done so by now and Stephen would have too. I hoped that I was right. I just don’t know for sure if I was.” – Simon from The Waiting Tree by Lindsay Moynihan, page 86
“Great. She must be PMS-ing, I thought. I often wondered how the Captain put up with Lydia’s temper tantrums, and I decided that if being gay meant I could avoid all the female hormonal stuff, then it wasn’t me they needed to feel sorry for.” – Simon from The Waiting Tree by Lindsay Moynihan, page 118
“But Jude never even mentioned it. He genuinely didn’t care. Maybe he thought being gay wasn’t so much a choice as an existence, not unlike how mutism was a part of his existence and not Paul’s or Luke’s. But at the time his reasons didn’t seem all that important. I felt a heaviness sinking away from me that had been there for so long, it had become part of me. There was nothing I could do to change the Captain’s opinion or the Lévesques’ or Stan Rafferty’s. But Jude’s opinion mattered.” – Simon from The Waiting Tree by Lindsay Moynihan, pages 124-125
“I sat down next to Mariama and Renee. Sure, I’ll enjoy the service, I thought. I’ll listen to the upbeat music and the sermon, pray and sing a little, and I’ll leave feeling a whole lot better, like a load has been lifted from me. But it won’t be long before the dubt and the anger will creep back in, and I’ll need to find a new church where no one knows me to get my next spiritual fix.” – Simon from The Waiting Tree by Lindsay Moynihan, page 132
“There would always be people who’d think we were wrong for loving each other, but I knew that I could stop believing they were right. I’d just have to accept that for now, it was only my own mind I could change.” – Simon from The Waiting Tree by Lindsay Moynihan, page 218
The Waiting Tree by Lindsay Moynihan is published by Amazon Children’s Publishing, (2013).
To Dance at the Palais Royale by Janet McNaughton
Summary: Moving across the ocean from Scotland to Toronto, Ontario, Aggie Maxwell is joining her sister Emma in a new country to work as a domestic and raise money to fund the rest of her family’s immigration to Canada. At seventeen, Aggie finds herself the recipient of more than one young man’s affections, but love takes its time finding her. Her job and life as an independent young woman change her and give her confidence, so when she does fall in love with a man named Will, she is ready to make her own decisions about her life. Now she just has to figure out if she can stand up for herself with her father.
Number of Pages: 218
Age Range: 13-14
Review: Aggie Maxwell is seventeen and starting a new life in Canada. After living in Scotland as the third in a family of eight children with a father who has strict beliefs about physical punishment, Aggie comes to Toronto, Ontario with a mind to take care of herself and live her own life.
To Dance at the Palais Royale by Janet McNaughton is the story of a young woman finding her feet in a new country. Still grieving the death of her older brother Dougie, moving across the ocean from her home country is not something Aggie wants to do, but rescuing her family from the bleak life of coal mining by moving them to Canada is her duty as a daughter. Through a bit of a meandering storyline with some memorable characters, McNaughton develops Aggie’s character and takes her from yearning for a life beyond her station to finding love with a Newfoundlander with his own secret shame. She grows up, and gets to the point where she can step aside from the responsibility she feels toward her family and begin a family of her own making.
The best part of McNaughton’s book, besides her natural storytelling ability, is that it captures a period of time before the stock market crash of 1929, and before World War II. It is based on the stories of numerous women who immigrated to Canada as domestic workers to pursue a different future for themselves and their families. I love McNaughton’s way with words, and as she is a native Torontonian who moved to Newfoundland, I also love how she slipped in a fellow from Newfoundland to be the love of Aggie’s life in a story set in Toronto.
Memorable Quotes:
“‘Rachel,’ she said, ‘I don’t understand why bad people are not punished, how there can be such hate in the world.’ Aggie paused. ‘But now you are in a different country, you have a different life. If you let what has happened ruin your life, it will be as if…as if the porgrom continues in your heart forever.’
Rachel nodded.
‘It does,’ she said. ‘The ones who die. I live my whole life with them. Now they are dead. On that day, part of me dies too.'” – Conversation between Aggie and Rachel from To Dance at the Palais Royale by Janet McNaughton, page 142
“‘I travelled to St. John’s just the once, to get a berth on a sealing vessel. The seals comes up on to the pack ice in the spring to pup, see? The ocean turns right white – a sea of ice. Sometimes, on a the foggy day, the light seems to come more from the ice than the sky, almost as if the world were upside down. And everything right silent, still and calm…but the ice bears in on the ship till all the timbers creak. You wants a wooden vessel on the ice, because it gives. I seen square hatches in the deck of that vessel pushed to diamonds by the pressures of the ice.'” – Will from To Dance at the Palais Royale by Janet McNaughton, page 176
To Dance at the Palais Royale by Janet McNaughton is published by Tuckamore Books, (1996).
Virginia by Susan Hughes
Summary: During the summer before starting high school, Ivy receives an odd phone call from her former friend Virginia. Convinced she has been visited by an angel and is going to have God’s baby, Virginia wants Ivy to bear witness to these miraculous events, but Ivy is skeptical. In her own home life, Ivy is dealing with an alcoholic mother who defies any interventions, and a sister who is getting married, much to her mother’s dismay. Still Ivy finds the time to follow up on her concern for Virginia, picking up on the strange vibes from Virginia’s family and investigating their religious beliefs. All is not as it seems and the culmination just after Ivy’s sister’s wedding will change everything.
Number of Pages: 287
Age Range: 15-17
Review: A lot is going on in Susan Hughes’ Virginia. Ivy’s trying to live somewhat peacefully with her alcoholic mother. Virginia’s being visited by a messenger of God, and her brother Paul is busy starting his own extremist religion.
Okay, so it sounds a bit over the top, but it turned out to be a great philosophical read about the fine line between faith and madness. I still can’t decide if Virginia was actually seeing an angel, or if she had a mental illness that made her see an angel, but it was really a hallucination. Either way, I believed that she believed she was being visited by an angel – and to me it means it doesn’t matter if the angel was real or not, because he was real to her.
But I did wonder, was an angel visiting Virginia because she was so upset over her brother Paul’s plans? Or is it possible she was also being abused by Paul and being visited by an angel, a source of comfort in Virginia’s life, was her way of coping. And also preparing herself for a possible pregnancy. By the time I had finished the book I still had questions, but I liked the mysterious and slightly mystical nature of Virginia’s part of the story.
Paul was… surreal. I know some people are charismatic and others seem to have supernatural ability to draw people to them, but what Paul could do to people seemed to be a bit beyond that. Dubbing himself “The Watchman” in reference to the Bible, he is obsessed with aiding God in bringing about the end of the world. It all seems to escalate after Virginia’s and Paul’s father dies unexpectedly, and then it further escalates when their mother has a heart attack.
I found that part interesting because losing a parent is like the end of the world. So I could see how maybe Paul’s grief put him over the edge in a highly extreme way, enough to want to go on a religious quest to help God bring down Earth more quickly. Although, on the other hand, with both parents having heart attacks, I wondered if Paul orchestrated them instead of just suffering from grief afterwards. Again, it’s hard to tell.
The part of the book that made the most logical sense was Ivy’s story, and it was powerful. Ivy gradually learns ways to distance herself from her mother, and finally takes in that her mother’s life is hers to destroy as she wants. But ultimately, it doesn’t mean Ivy’s life will be destroyed, because she is free to make her own decisions.
I thoroughly enjoyed the mental gymnastics I went through considering topics of true faith, mental illness, megalomania, virgin pregnancies, and true friendship, even after years of having no contact.
Memorable Quotes:
“Staying in control. It’s important. And maybe that’s why people try to look for signs of what lies ahead, or believe in God. Maybe that’s why some people read their horoscope or try to interpret lines on palms. So they can stay in control. So they can use these signs to make sense of the world, to make the right choices, to stay safe or even stay ahead of the game. I guess others decide they just don’t want to know what might happen, especially if it’s something bad coming their way. They stick their heads in the sand, turn away from any indications that things aren’t quite right, ignore the butterflies that unsettle their stomachs when certain ideas, implausible, impossible, are spoken, are set in motion.” – Ivy from Virginia by Susan Hughes, page 9
“An angel came to her? She’d been chosen to have a child, from God? I wasn’t religious, but I knew this story. It was Christmas all over again. That’s how Jesus was born. And angel had come to Mary and told her that she would have God’s child, and then … well, the rest is history, or not, depending on what you believe.
Virginia had to be kidding. Sure, she was a Christian – a Catholic – but she couldn’t really believe this had actually happened, could she? It was a story. The virgin birth was definitely a symbol of … something – I wasn’t sure what – but it had to be about as connected to reality as the number of crows flying outside this window was to the actual future. And here was Virginia telling me that something that couldn’t possibly have happened the first time was going to happen again.” – Ivy from Virginia by Susan Hughes, page 53
“I couldn’t answer. She was behaving like a regular person, speaking in a normal tone, asking a standard question. She had emerged from her cocoon of drink and wandered into the dinner hour in the life of her daughter and husband. It wasn’t fair. It was so simple, and she made it look easy. For a moment, I let it wash over me, the relief of it, and almost instantaneously felt regret. Because as I took that full deep breath of relief, anger also escaped, overwhelming everything else. It made me want to scream. There was no normal anymore. She had taken that from us. I couldn’t even feel good making dinner with my mother because normal was something weird and strange, and so unexpectedly pleasant that it made me furious to be reminded of all the other times when it wasn’t like this and when it wouldn’t be like this. Feeling good about it required months of it, years of it, so that it was so common, so taken-for-granted that I didn’t even notice it. Why should I have grab for these tiny fragments of how life should be? Why did she have to do this to me?” – Ivy from Virginia by Susan Hughes, pages 79-80
“I listened to her, wondering. It was odd. She was the center of our family. We circled around her, treading water. Anyone watching would have thought she was what was holding us together in our synchronized pattern, when in the fact she was the one who was drowning and almost taking us down with her. It was only our superhuman efforts to stay afloat, to keep our heads up, that kept her up, too. She struck out at us, grasping instead of supporting, and we, too frightened to watch her sink, refused to give up contact.” – Ivy from Virginia by Susan Hughes, page 90
“I leaned back in my chair, my eyes still closed. And for a moment, resting there, wanting more than anything to open my eyes and see something fantastic and all-powerful, something that could look after me, all this, and everything else that was beyond me, I could understand how Virginia might allow herself to sink into a belief that was so impossible.” – Ivy from Virginia by Susan Hughes, page 166
“Virginia had wanted to tell her that an angel had come, and that she would be having a baby, and that he was God’s gift. He was a sign to them that they could resist – all of them – what was life destroying, what was drawing them into dark, dangerous places, and everything would be all right. But she wasn’t certain how to put all this into words, because it was more about feelings and faith, and so she had just stood there with her for a time, on this wedding day.” – Virginia from Virginia by Susan Hughes, page 253
“Katie was burning her eyes into mine. ‘Ivy, she can’t wreck my party. Do you understand that? She can’t wreck it.’ She shook me slightly. ‘She can’t wreck my life. She’s my mother, and she’s your mother, but she can’t wreck our lives. She can wreck her own life. It looks like that’s what she’s doing, and I’m sorry about that, but she can’t wreck mine. She’s not me.'” – Katie from Virginia by Susan Hughes, page 262
“It’s a habit for me to count the crows now, even though I don’t really believe they can help us know what is to come. I do find it appealing, though, to imagine that what lies ahead is somewhat predictable, that we’re pieces within a bigger picture, that we’re moving toward something good and complete. But Paul used that to justify what he was doing. So I’d like to think that if there’s someone or something greater than us, if there is some divine plan, some bigger picture that we’re moving toward, then its final form is not really decided yet. And maybe it’s what we do in the world – our individual choices, decisions, and beliefs, the responsibilities we decide to take on, and how we decide to fulfill those – that will shape the details of that picture, fill it in, give it color and substance, and even breathe life into it.” – Ivy from Virginia by Susan Hughes, pages 286-287
Virginia by Susan Hughes is published by KCP Fiction, (2010).
The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten
Summary: In group therapy for teens dealing with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Adam falls for Robyn, a fellow group member. Adam’s life isn’t easy, he’s trying to figure out how to best manage his illness but finds himself taking care of everyone else before himself. Determined to rescue Robyn too, Adam builds a friendship with her that turns into a relationship, and as she works through her issues Robyn is able to let go of her obsessive compulsive behaviours. For Adam though, OCD is something he will probably deal with for the rest of his life. Inspired by his friends and the superhero personas they have taken on, Adam is able to draw on his inner strength to accept help and take care of himself first.
Number of Pages: 272
Age Range: 13-15
Review: After reading The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten, my mind is spinning. Sometimes I am so struck by a book that it’s difficult to settle my thoughts and pull out what I need to if I’m going to write a good review.
I loved when the characters took on the personas of superheroes, because I got it. When I was a teen, my fictional heroes were the X-Men because they were people with genetic problems who were considered to be despised freaks but then used their powers to fight evil, gaining society’s respect. It’s about wanting to be more, and also drawing on fictional inspiration and strength to keep going.
The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B is about first love, managing chronic illness in a responsible way through prescription medication and therapy and keeping family secrets. I enjoyed Toten’s sensitive exploration of the role of religion in illness, learning to trust people, and the necessity of taking care of yourself first so you can then take care of others. Toten’s masterful character development of Adam takes us from a relatively immature teen falling in love so he can be someone’s knight in shining armour, to the mature man who lets go of his relationship to take care of himself and not bring her down with him.
Once again, Toten uses her characters’ shared experience to foster a family of friends who support each other and help each other face their fears. Adam was my favourite, but it’s hard not to have a soft-spot for his brother, Sweetie, and Thor, his ultimate protector.
I found it to be a The Fault in Our Stars-esque type read, but much deeper even though no one dies. I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a bit of a chicken and the egg situation going on with Adam and his mother. Did his OCD get triggered by his parents’ divorce and his mother’s hoarding response or did Adam’s OCD trigger his mother’s mental illness? Either way there was a lot going on, and the story kept me reading with its’ well-paced action.
I’m looking forward to Teresa Toten’s next book, because I’m sure what ever she decides to write about will be filled with valuable insights into the human condition.
Memorable Quotes:
“And even though he had never noticed girls before, not at all – okay a bit and sort of, but not really – Adam knew he had to save her, must save her, r die trying. He loved her deeply, wildly and more intensely than he would have believed possible even minutes ago. Robyn, his Robyn, needed someone larger than life – a victor, a knight – and he would be it. For her, Adam would be and could be normal and fearless. He so wanted to be fearless. He could do it. He would be her superhero.” – Adam from The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten
“4. I believe that my four-year-old half-brother, ‘Sweetie,’ loves me more than all the adults in our lives put together. This does not stop him from being a considerable pain.” – Adam from The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten
“Adam returned his gaze to the cross. The Jesus was hurting. Guilt simmered and then boiled in him. Jesus had a whole world of suffering and horror to worry about and here Adam was in all his punk puniness. He didn’t want to add to Jesus’ burdens, but…
‘Sorry about that. Look, I know you’re busy and I don’t want to get greedy with your time, but still, if you could just help me … If you could find a minute, please, please, please, dear sweet Jesus, fix me.'” – Adam from The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten
“‘A day in heaven,’ Adam whispered. What would that be like? To wake up one morning and be normal? To not bite down and parcel out each second of each day. To not wrestle and negotiate with your obsessions. To not have thoughts that ran you into the ground.
To have a quiet mind.
A quiet mind.
Quiet.
Shh.” – Adam from The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten
“‘Sometimes it’s actually necessary to hurt the ones you love. You can check that out with your fancy-pants doctor, or whoever you do to every Monday.’ She patted his hand. ‘Letting go, Adam. It’s the really hard part of growing up. You’re ready.'” – Mrs. Polanski from The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten
“‘You are the bravest person I have ever, or will ever, meet.’
‘I sweat terror, Robyn! I’m scared every single second about every goddamned thing. I worry obsessively about being buried under an avalanche of fear. Jesus, Robyn, I’m scared like only the truly crazy can be.’
‘But that, you dope, is the definition of courage: you go on despite the fear.'” – Conversation between Robyn and Adam from The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten
“‘Your mom is … like, your mom is just a little sensitive. She kind of sees things and feels things about people.’
‘Like you, ‘cept you’re really, really sensitive, right?’
‘No, I’m – ‘ Wait! Was it true? ‘Uh, okay, maybe you’re right, Sweetie. Maybe I can recognize when people are hurting or sort of lost, more than other people.’
‘And that’s why you can fix me when I’m bad scared?’
‘Maybe.'” – Conversation between Adam and Sweetie from The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten
“Everybody lies.
Well, hell, maybe everybody has damn good reasons to lie. Maybe we all just lie to hide the hurt or to fake being strong until we can be strong. That’s not so bad is it?
Is it?” – Adam from The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten
The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten is published by Doubleday Canada, (2013).
The Tiffin by Mahtab Narsimhan
Summary: Every working day in Bombay, India, people pack up hot lunches for their loved ones to be delivered in tiffins to their work places. Kunal’s life is changed before he is even born when his mother, Anahita, slips an important note into the tiffin she’s sending out, and it never reaches its destination. Years later Kunal believes he is an orphan, and he works in a restaurant owned by the people he lives with. Exploited and in physical danger, Kunal takes Vinayak, a tiffin deliverer, up on his offer to provide a home. When he finds out he’s not an orphan after all, Kunal seeks to use the tiffin system to find his mother.
Number of Pages: 192
Age Range: 12-14
Review: A heartfelt story about the true meaning of family, The Tiffin by Mahtab Narsimhan gives insight into the colourful world of India. I loved Narsimhan’s writing because she took me right to the streets of Bombay with the frantic yet highly organized sorting and delivery of the tiffins. The thought of tiffins holding notes ranging from messages between lovers to grocery lists was especially intriguing, and the premise of the one lost tiffin containing the most important message of all made me think. How different would Kunal’s life had been if that tiffin had made it to its destination? Maybe it wouldn’t have changed at all because Anahita’s lover would have stood her up anyway, but it’s easy to imagine a happier family for Kunal.
Except even though Kunal didn’t get the family he expected, I absolutely loved the family he ended up with. Narsimhan shows her reader that family doesn’t have to be blood related to be family, and sometimes shared grief is a greater unifier than blood. Yinayak is my favourite character when he looks out for Kunal, taking him under his wing when he needs it the most. When Kunal encourages him to recover because he needs his family, I almost cried. And surprisingly, while Mrs. Smith seemed rather heartless at first, she actually turns out to be a surrogate mother for Kunal. Though he saw himself as an orphan, he had more family around him than he ever realised.
I have to say that now I want to know more about the tiffin system though. Do people hire others to make their tiffins everyday? How did Anahita meet her lover? Did they just start sending notes to each other through tiffins and then meet up in person? I know that wasn’t the focus of Narsimhan’s story and I did love the story as it was, but I can’t help being curious.
The Tiffin is highly enjoyable read and while there is some violence, as well as characters who seem to about to abuse Kunal, I still think it’s a suitable book for early teens.
Memorable Quotes:
“The dog stayed out of reach, eyeing the food and then Kunal. Drool glistened at the corners of its mouth but it did not come any closer. ‘I know how you feel,’ thought Kunal. ‘Better to be cautious than stupid. Trust no one.'” – Kunal from The Tiffin by Mahtab Narsimhan
“He slipped the green bangle from his pocket and ran his fingers over its glassy surface. Mrs. Seth had given him something to hold on to, something to believe in even though she had lost all hope that his mother would ever return. And for a moment he was glad she had lied. That green bangle had helped him through many a dark moment. And then there was the money she had given him last night. In her own way she had loved him and he would never get the chance to thank her. He blinked back tears that threatened to spill out.” – Kunal from The Tiffin by Mahtab Narsimhan
“He stared at the scratched countertop instead. Some of the cuts ran so deep, repairing them would be impossible. Rustom would have to replace the entire tabletop. If only he could do the same: throw away his old life – scratches, scars, and all. Get a brand new one – a happy one.” – Kunal from The Tiffin by Mahtab Narsimhan
“Kunal stared at his friend lying in the hospital bed and shuddered. There was so much more bed than Vinayak. Tubes and wires were attached to his chest and arms, and huge machines behind him hummed and beeped. It seemed like it was sucking the life out of him rather than keeping him alive.” – Kunal from The Tiffin by Mahtab Narsimhan
The Tiffin by Mahtab Narsimhan is published by Dancing Cat Books, (2011).
This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki
Summary: Up at her family’s cottage for the summer, Rose and her friend Windy are inseparable, watching horror movies, checking out the local guy at the corner store, spying on the older teens in town and talking about growing up. Often overlooked, Rose is an observer, watching her parents struggle with their marriage in the face of her mother’s depression, and witnessing local girl Jenny try to make her boyfriend take responsibility for the fact that she’s pregnant. Being a woman is more complicated than Rose and Windy originally thought, and this one summer will show them what growing up really means.
Number of Pages: 319
Age Range: 12-14
Review: While Jillian Tamaki’s illustrations are instantly memorable and expressive, pulling their reader into memories of cottage season in Canada, it took me a bit to realise the beauty of Mariko Tamaki’s story. This One Summer captures a poignant story of two girls on the cusp of maturity. Rose and Windy are gazing into their future and realising womanhood is more complex than just getting boobs.
The backstories are telling. Jenny, a local girl, is pregnant and being continually rebuffed by her boyfriend as he refuses to take responsibility. Witness to Jenny kissing another guy, Rose questions whether the baby is Dunc’s like Jenny says it is or not. Since Dunc seems to be Rose’s first crush, Rose sees him in an idealistic light, but the events of the summer change her point of view.
Rose’s mother is depressed, but it isn’t till Rose overhears her mother talking to another adult that she realises why. At a loss as to how to console her, Rose’s father gives her mother space instead, leaving mother and daughter at the cottage when Rose’s mother is in no shape to care for either one of them.
I enjoyed the female culture of this book. It is the women that truly have the pulse on what’s going on, and they are also the only ones able to console each other when things go wrong. It’s as if Rose is being introduced into a world she never knew about, but of which she will soon be a member. I’d recommend it for early female teen readers, but I think it works for women as well.
Memorable Quotes: The cover is just one of many gorgeous illustrations in this book. Jillian Tamaki gives Mariko Tamaki’s story a solid background with illustrations that capture adolescence and summer life in its entirety.
This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki is published by Groundwood Books, (2014).
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Amy Mathers has been passionate about reading from a very young age, and hopes others will share her enthusiasm for funding a teen book award. Read more Follow Amy
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