Money Boy by Paul Yee
Summary: Living with his father and step-family in Canada after moving from China, Ray Liu is an eighteen year-old frustrated with his lot in life. He’s got two years left of high school because he’s an English-as-a-second-language student, and he’s hiding a secret from his strict father. Looking for some respect and acknowledgement that he is an adult, as well as the freedom to be who he really is, everything blows up when his father discovers the websites Ray has been visiting and kicks him out. Now Ray is living on the street, discovering that he may not be as much of an adult as he thinks he is, and resorting to selling his body to stay sheltered at night. There’s no way he can go back to the life he had before, but his experiences just might give him the confidence to insist on some changes.
Number of Pages: 184
Age Range: 16-18
Review: Definitely a book for older teens, Paul Yee explores the immigrant experience with Ray Liu in Money Boy. This is my second time reading it, and this time I was able to get over my initial shock of Ray’s experiences to take a closer look at the story itself.
This time, I took note of Ray’s struggle for independence. He’s eighteen years old, but since his family’s move to Canada it’s like he has gone back in time and has been forced into a more childlike role. He’s frustrated and angry, and while his being gay drew my attention the first time around, I realised this time that it’s only a symbol of what is going on. Being gay and being open about being gay is a step towards adulthood for Ray. He stands up for himself, has new experiences, and is able to gain more equal ground with his father.
It’s a gritty tale, and I felt for Ray as he found himself in one bad situation after another. He begins the book feeling entitled and naive in some ways and I did find him to be irritating, but no one deserves what he went through. I can’t imagine what it would be like to move to a completely new country and learn a new language while dealing with cultural differences. Though the truth of the experience is painful, I appreciated Yee’s willingness to give me a glimpse.
Memorable Quotes:
“Teachers point at us immigrants and say, ‘Speak up, the class wants to hear you. We really do!’
One day in English, the class read a play together. Each student had to read aloud as we went through the lines. Everyone was bored. No one paid attention until I reached the word ‘awry.’ I must have said it wrong because the entire class burst out laughing as if it was the funniest thing they had ever heard. I thought they were too bored to care. Even the teacher smiled.
People wait to jump on our mistakes.” – Ray from Money Boy by Paul Yee, page 41
“I can’t go with him. Immigrants take care of themselves. If we come and use the welfare system, then other Chinese will have a harder time getting into Canada. That’s what Niang says.” – Ray from Money Boy by Paul Yee, page 49
“If I get angry, then I’m young and lack self-control. I need to be adult and show no weakness. At school, silence is seen as stupidity, because silence means you can’t speak English properly. But here, silence is power.” – Ray from Money Boy by Paul Yee, page 75
Money Boy by Paul Yee is published by Groundwood Books, (2011).
Ink Me by Richard Scrimger
Summary: Bunny (Bernard) O’Toole is not David McLean’s smartest grandson, but when he receives a task like his six cousins after the death of his grandpa, he is the first to complete it without question. ‘It’ happens to be getting the tattoo his grandfather was never able to get, a souvenir from his time in the air force during the war. Getting his tattoo takes Bunny into a part of Toronto he has never visited, and when others recognize his tattoo as a gang symbol worn by a person with a kill. Suddenly Bunny has some new friends and respect he’s never known before, at least until he realises how in over his head he actually is. When the police get involved, Bunny must choose between saving himself and protecting the best friend he’s ever had.
Number of Pages: 210
Age Range: 13-15
Review: Another incredible book in Seven the Series, Ink Me by Richard Scrimger is about Bunny, the grandson of David McLean who is faster with his hands than his thoughts. Written phonetically from Bunny’s perspective, it’s a unique read that challenged my reading skills.
Who would have thought having a simple tattoo could be so complicated? Bunny’s grandfather seems to have intended for the tattoo to give him some confidence and teach him to trust by reassuring him that people have his back, but instead he is recognized as a member of the 15 street gang with a kill under his belt. This is ironic, because while the nickname Bunny is intended to note how quick he is, it also signifies his true nature.
I loved that even though Bunny’s tattoo is what technically gets him into the gang, he has already proven himself when he rescues Jaden from a fight with a larger member of the Angels gang before getting it. Bunny demonstrates heart and a sense of justice with his first decisive action of the book.
And he just becomes more endearing from there. I loved him as a character. Scrimger’s writing style helped me get right into Bunny’s experience and perspective, and the misunderstandings between Bunny and the gang were hilarious. But the best part was that I had no idea where Bunny’s story was going, and when I found out, I was so shocked I just sat stunned upon reaching the end of the book.
Ink Me is an excellent story that entertained me and made me think, with great characters and a plot that moves. While I had trouble reading phonetically at first, I quickly realised reading aloud in my head worked well as the words I did not visually recognise made sense when I listened to them. If the style is what is holding you up from reading it, then I recommend you listen to the audio version. I can’t imagine the work it must have taken Scrimger to write his book that way, and I think he deserves kudos for a stellar job.
Memorable Quotes:
“‘The tatoo will remind you of sum important things. Your not a kid any more. Your getting older. Your growing up and I bet you feel alone sum times. But your not alone. Evry time you look at your arm youll no your apart of sum thing big. Me and my crew never let each other down. We wont let you down either. Together we fly. That’s our motto. Make it yours Bernard. Trust yourself and trust your teem. Don’t do this for me – do it for you.'” – David McLean from Ink Me by Richard Scrimger, page 16
“I new the nife. It was ours. That’s why I wasn’t scared. Its hard to be scared of your own stuff. I membered that nife from forever. In the sink. In the drawer. In Dads hands. It was part of my house like the couch of the TV remot or the car keys. Wud you be scared of sum 1 waving your car keys at you? Rite.” – Bunny from Ink Me by Richard Scrimger, page 106
Ink Me by Richard Scrimger is published by Orca Book Publishers, (2012).
The Hangman in the Mirror by Kate Cayley
Summary: Françoise Laurent is the daughter of a prostitute and a soldier in 1700s New France. Trained to be a washerwoman by her mother, she has dreams to rise above her station, and when he parents die from illness a neighbour helps her get a position as a ladies’ maid. In her work for Madame Pommereau, she finds what she thinks is an ally and a friend, but her knowledge that she and the Madame should be considered equals gets her into trouble when she steals a pair of ladies’ gloves. Her crime earns her the punishment of hanging by noose to deter other uprisings and maintain the status quo through fear. Faced with certain death, François seeks to use the loophole of marrying the hangman to save her life. After the present hangman dies before her hanging takes place, first she must find a new one to take his place.
Number of Pages: 229
Age Range: 15-17
Review: Using a few historical details, Kate Cayley fleshes out the tale of sixteen year-old Françoise’s journey to avoid the hangman’s noose. Living in the early 1700s, the only thing she’s really guilty of is having the ambition to want to rise above her station in life. As a woman, and what would be considered a peasant if she lived in France instead of New France, this is unacceptable. And when she slips up, those in power will make her pay by making an example of her.
I love the title, The Hangman in the Mirror. Cayley writes beautifully, setting up the end of the book with one of the beginning scenes with François and her friends looking for their future husbands in her mirror. I’m sure she never would have expected to see a hangman there, but when the time comes and he is her only choice, she accepts it.
Françoise’s story is powerful and sad, because I wonder if she really did come to love Jean, or whether she was manipulating him into saving her life, and perhaps selling his own soul in the process as he takes up the hangman’s job. I hope she genuinely loved him, but with her strong will to survive and thrive, I would understand if she was using him. Given her circumstances, one could hardly blame her. Did she stay with him after they married? Were they happy? These are things the history books does not tell us, and Cayley’s book can only last so long.
I especially loved this book because I learned a lot about the role of women in the 1700s. With the class system and the gender roles, Cayley conveys the role of woman as useless, pretty objects or hard-working servants with striking clarity. While Françoise is ambitious and wants to rise in the ranks of society, I’m not sure she would have been happy having the same station as her employer, Madame Pommereau, because I think she would have found such a life to be tedious and unfulfilling. Though she steals the gloves, implying that she does want to be a fancy lady, she constantly notes the wastefulness and entitlement of those in the house with judgement.
For Françoise, being a wife was not a role she aspired to, so when marriage was the only way to save her life, I felt for her. In the end she had to settle for marriage or death, and she chose marriage. How frustrating it must have been for her to realise that her life was once again dependent on a man.
The Hangman in the Mirror is a thoughtful, well-written piece of historical fiction, and I would recommend it for mid to older teens because it contains great depth and character development.
Memorable Quotes:
“‘A glove is one of the marks of a lady. You see, a lady’s glove is useless. You can’t even make a fist.’
She put the gloves on, turned her hand gently, showing me how her hands were suddenly molded, seeming smaller, softer, perfect. – Madame Pommereau from The Hangman in the Mirror by Kate Cayley, page 107
“‘And,’ she said to me, though as if she were speaking to someone else, ‘is it not unkindness, to teach such girls as you to read?’
‘How – unkind?’
‘Because to read is to imagine another life, a world elsewhere, is that not true? And for a girl, especially a servant girl, to read would surely mean to learn to imagine such another life, and so be dissatisfied with how she must live and what she has been born into. Surely it could only lead to unhappiness, Françoise.’
I did not know what she wished me to say, and so did not answer. It seemed she felt reading would lead to the knowledge of freedom, but not the knowledge of how to be free. I felt the same flash of dislike as I had felt about all that uneaten food. But I buried it deep. Besides, I was growing used to her careless patronage and the richness of her meals, and it seemed less strange as time went on. Slowly, I was learning, as she had promised I would.” – Conversation between Madame Pommereau and Françoise from The Hangman in the Mirror by Kate Cayley, pages 111-112
“If we had not been as we were, if I had not been her servant, she might even have asked for my forgiveness, for calling me a liar and my mother a liar. I wished, as I smoothed her skirt, that she might speak; I would have readily given up my anger, and we could have gone on, happy. But we were as we were, and there was no help for it. I do not know if this was the obstinacy of our tempers, or the places to which we were born. Perhaps both. But fate, of person and of place, is a powerful thing, and so I could not muster a single thing to say.” – Françoise from The Hangman in the Mirror by Kate Cayley, page 125
“And underneath that lay another mystery: the mystery of myself. For I was no fool, and yet I took the gloves, and I wondered, turning it over and over in my mind, if I had somehow willed my own end. If I had taken the gloves not only from my rebellious spirit but from something much darker, something in me that must perversely throw away the good fortune that life had offered me, something in my that must throw away life itself. And this thought was so big and so terrible that I pushed it away. Yet here I was, caught in the hard stone.” – Françoise from The Hangman in the Mirror by Kate Cayley, page 167
“‘Françoise?’
‘Yes?’
‘Why did you say it was only a story, not a lie? What is the difference?’
‘Because stories are how we keep ourselves from going mad, here.’
‘In these cells?’
‘These cells. This land. This world. Jean, let us not be liars too much, but for God’s sake, let us tell stories to bear out burdens better! It is all we have!'” – Conversation between Jean and Françoise from The Hangman in the Mirror by Kate Cayley, page 197
The Hangman in the Mirror by Kate Cayley is published by Annick Press, (2011).
Grist by Heather Waldorf
Summary: Charlie, short for Charlena, is an only child whose mother died from cancer when Charlie was just a little girl. Faced with the decision of whether to spend her summer in Toronto with her dad and his new girlfriend or in Lake Ringrose with her grandmother in the house her mother grew up in. Just before the summer begins she has an intense conversation with her teacher and takes offense when he challenges her writing. When the teacher has a heart attack later that night, Charlie feels guilty and takes his criticisms to heart. Turns out her summer away is going to provide her with a lot of grist for her upcoming writing career as she learns more about her mother’s past than she ever thought possible.
Number of Pages: 228
Age Range: 15-17
Review: The cover looks like Charlie has perhaps just killed someone, but I promise she didn’t. Instead, Grist by Heather Waldorf is about a blossoming writer who needs to learn to take criticism while gleaning material from her own life to inspire her writing. The summer she goes to live with her grandmother in Lake Ringrose, her father is spending the summer in Toronto with his girlfriend and her best friend is in Australia. There’s plenty of grist for Charlie’s stories as she gets to know the people in town and falls for Kerry, a slightly older and scarred young man with demons of his own.
I don’t want to write too much about the plot because I’m afraid of giving something away, but I loved how Waldorf begins the book with a scene where Mr. Pollen asks Charlie to expand on a story she wrote and ends the book with Charlie giving him the completed story after her complicated summer.
I also love that Grist is about more than Charlie just finding things to write about. Waldorf brings in an element of grief when it is revealed that Charlie is so afraid of dying from cancer like her mother that she makes her life uneventful on purpose so she won’t grow too attached to it in case she gets sick. Even at the beginning of the book, Charlie already has a wealth of material from her past to fuel her writing, but it takes a summer of learning about her mother and her family to bring it all out.
It’s a great book for teen writers because Charlie’s story will spark inspiration and imagination. I had forgotten the joy that came when I used to be a journal writer, but Grist brought it all back. Charlie is a strong character who is encouraged to follow her dreams, and this is the complex story of how she gains the confidence to do so.
Memorable Quotes:
“‘Think about it. You talk about creating this parallel storybook universe where people say and do the things you’d like to do in real life, but don’t have the guts. Don’t you think your writing would be stronger if you lived a little more outside your head, if you let yourself have a little fun and disaster in your life, then write about it?'” – Kerry from Grist by Heather Waldorf, pages 102-103
“I giggled, then started blubbering all over again. ‘I’m sorry.’ I wiped my eyes angrily.
‘Don’t be sorry for crying, Char. You have every right.’
‘I hate crying. I always wanted to be tough for you.’
‘Forget about being tough for me,’ Mike said. ‘Be strong – for yourself. Strong enough not to hide from your emotions.'” – Conversation between Charlie and her father Mike from Grist by Heather Waldorf, page 186
“I shrugged. ‘I just always figured that if my life was dull and ordinary, if I didn’t feel things too deeply, or try too hard at anything, that it wouldn’t hurt as much to die young. I wouldn’t know how much I was going to miss. Other people (you, Mike!) wouldn’t miss me so much when I was gone.’ We were drifting out in the middle of the lake but I didn’t care.
‘Char, you know life doesn’t work like that. There are no guarantees. Not for you, me, Geri, or anyone else.’
‘I know, I know, we could all get hit by a truck tomorrow. But – ‘
‘It’s no excuse not to make the most of the life you have!’ Mike was empathic. ‘It is a reason to work every day to pursue your dreams and follow your heart, even if in the end your life gets cut short. It took me a long time – way too long – to understand that.'” – Conversation between Charlie and her father Mike from Grist by Heather Waldorf, pages 190-191
“‘Of course not,’ I said, trying not to laugh. Mr. Pollen would never change. And maybe I loved him for that; he was the only adult in my life who’d never lied to me. ‘I need to learn to question myself, right?’ I asked. ‘And to question the world. Nothing – not this town, this school, my friends, my foes, my life – is mundane if I see it through the eyes of a writer.'” – Charlie from Grist by Heather Waldorf, page 224
“‘I had writer’s block.’ And heartache. And apathy. And boredom.
Mr. Pollen shook his head. ‘You were afraid.’
I hated to admit it, but he was right. Dead on. I’d been afraid. A total chickenshit. Afraid of the future. Afraid of being left behind. Afraid of my own shadow.'” – Conversation between Charlie and Mr. Pollen from Grist by Heather Waldorf, page 226-227
Grist by Heather Waldorf is published by Red Deer Press, (2006).
The Girls They Left Behind by Bernice Thurman Hunter
Summary: With most of her childhood male friends going off to fight in World War II, Natalie feels left behind as she waits for the war to end. When her beloved cousin Carmen enlists Natalie is left behind once more to her dismay. Determined to play her own part in supporting the war effort, she takes jobs at factories working diligently in munitions and then building mosquito airplanes. Though her job helps her gain self-confidence and some financial independence, Natalie is reminded of the reality of war when Carmen goes missing in action, presumed dead. When the war ends, Natalie must figure out what a post-war world holds for her and those she loves.
Number of Pages: 192
Age Range: 13-15
Review: I couldn’t have my Marathon of Books list without having a Bernice Thurman Hunter book on my list. The books of Hunter’s I grew up reading were all juvenile fiction, so I was thrilled when I realised The Girls They Left Behind fit my reading criteria.
I love Hunter’s writing because it is heartfelt and character-driven. Natalie, the main character of this story, does not disappoint as she matures into an adult during the tumultuous time of World War II by stepping up and taking factory jobs. She’s indignant about the fact that time and time again, as a woman, she is left behind. The boys and men go off to war, but the women must wait at home for news. Hunter paints a vivid picture of various women’s roles during the war, and it is an informative read.
It’s also a deceptively simple book, because when you look beneath the surface, Hunter is exploring issues of equality between men and women, trauma experienced by those going to war, the attitudes toward civilians who were deemed medically unfit to fight, resistance and anger toward war brides and girlfriends from England, as well as the need for love and stability through marriage at an uncertain time.
This is Hunter’s last book, and it was only partially completed when she died so her daughter Heather Hunter finished it for her. Heather writes about her mother’s motivation to write the story in an Afterward, and it turned out Hunter was drawing on her personal experiences of her cousin dying in World War II.
The Girls They Left Behind is a gently powerful book with a story behind the story. I hope writing it gave Hunter some resolution to the events of her life, and I am glad her daughter honoured her wishes by finishing it for her. This is an enlightening historical fiction read and one I would especially recommend to fans of the television series “Bomb Girls.”
Memorable Quotes:
“I sighed so loudly my mother said, ‘What’s the matter?’
‘Oh, I’m just sick of being left behind all the time.’ I said.
‘I know how you feel,’ she said. ‘It was the same for my generation. I guess we’ll never learn.'” – Conversation between Natalie (Beryl) and her mother from The Girls They Left Behind by Bernice Thurman Hunter, page 62
“When the news was over Dad turned off the radio. To keep our spirits up, we usually listened to “The Story Hour,” which came on every night after the news. The stories about great heroism under fire were always uplifting. But in the stories, miracles happened – the planes always made it safely back to home base, the soldiers always lived to tell the tale because they had only sustained flesh wounds, and the sailors always got rescued at sea by patrolling corvettes.
But the telegram was read. This was not a story with an automatic happy ending.” – Natalie (Beryl) from The Girls They Left Behind by Bernice Thurman Hunter, pages 119-120
“I was done with being sad. Deep down I knew that I had a future made different from my friends’. I finally realised what I wanted to do with my life. I would become a teacher – a history teacher, so the past would not be forgotten. I wanted the young to know how awful it was for all of us, not only for the boys who went away – James and Reggie and Will and Alison’s brother, Ira – but also for the girls they’d left behind. It must never, never happen again! There must be no more war. … No more corpses floating in the shallow water, bloated and nameless as dead fish. Maybe one day I would meet a man with a mission, like me, and we’d get married and have babies and live to a ripe old age, as those boys never would, but always remembering what they did for us thousands of miles from home, defending our freedom.” – Natalie (Beryl) from The Girls They Left Behind by Bernice Thurman Hunter, page 184
The Girls They Left Behind by Bernice Thurman Hunter is published by Fitzhenry & Whiteside, (2005).
About Amy
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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