Angeline by Karleen Bradford
Summary: Angeline is a fourteen year old living in the 1100s who joins a child’s crusade to march on Jerusalem to reclaim it for the Christians. Enamored by the faith and conviction of crusade’s leader, Stephen, Angeline finds herself being sold as a slave in Egypt when Stephen’s visions don’t turn out as planned. After expecting a triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, Angeline must deal with her disappointment and find a way to adjust to her new life, which includes bullying from other slaves and Stephen’s profound loss of faith. With the help of some unusual circumstances and some new friends, Angeline just might find a way to get almost everything she wants.
Number of Pages: 180
Age Range: 13-14
Review: I was captivated by Karleen Bradford’s exploration of one boy’s devotion to God that leads him and a large number of others woefully astray. Instead of a victorious march into Jerusalem to claim it in the name of Christianity, the journey itself kills some of the child pilgrims and results in the rest being sold into slavery.
What I noticed about Angeline is that Bradford really cares about her characters. She takes the bare bones of a historical event and does her best to write a happy ending for the people involved. I wasn’t sure that Stephen would ever get over the disappointment and questioning that he must have faced after his vision from God went horribly wrong, but I accepted Bradford’s version of possible events because I hoped he could forgive himself.
Considering the subject matter – religious crusades, main character becoming a concubine, and pregnancy at fifteen – Angeline is a remarkably light read. Bradford spares her reader explicit details and focuses instead on the character growth that takes place. Accepting what life has handed Angeline and Stephen and finding a plausible way for them to be together draws her reader’s interest and attention away from the specifics of a life of slavery in a foreign country.
I enjoyed the exploration of religions and religious themes but I was left wanting more. When I looked up Bradford’s website to include the link in my review, I noticed that she has written a whole series of books about the crusades giving me a great place to start.
Memorable Quotes:
“‘Good,’ Ibrahim said. ‘I have enjoyed listening to you.’
‘I have enjoyed talking to you,’ Angeline said. As she made her way back to the mosque she walked with a lighter step than ever before. How good it had been to tell everything! It was almost as if in the telling she had been able to rid herself of a heavy, heavy burden.” – Conversation between Ibrahim and Angeline from Angeline by Karleen Bradford, page 99
“Zahra’s face softened. ‘I only wish that which will be best for you,’ she said, more gently. ‘You cannot change what has happened.’
No, thought Angeline. I cannot change what has happened, but I would give my life to do so. It would have been better if I had died . . .
At that moment she felt the babe move within her for the first time. Amazed, she put a hand to her belly. She felt the faintest of flutters. Then – a kick. The tinest of kicks, but definitely a kick! She felt it! And another. She looked at Zahra, her eyes wide.
Zahra laughed. ‘Is the babe kicking? Is it not amazing?’
And then it was as if all of her bitterness melted away. Her resolve, all of her courage, returned to her in one fierce, flooding, defensive wave. This was her child! And she knew without a doubt that she would do whatever was necessary to protect it.” – Conversation between Zahra and Angeline from Angeline by Karleen Bradford, page 166
“Tomorrow she would tell Stephen what the Emir had granted them. Tomorrow they could make plans for the rest of their lives.
But for now, there was something she must do. She pulled her table over to her and took up her quill. She began to draw. Four pictures. One for each of the girls who had caused her so much misery. Heba, Anka, Nabeela, and Raful. The girls she had not been able to forgive but who, ultimately, had given her life back to her.” – Angeline from Angeline by Karleen Bradford, page 178
Angeline by Karleen Bradford is published by HarperTrophy Canada, (2004).
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The Cripples’ Club by William Bell
Summary: George has a mysterious past that tortures him through nightmares and visions but remains just beyond his conscious memory. When he meets Hook, a young man left a paraplegic after a motorcycle accident, Hook realises George is also dealing with circumstances that make him different and befriends him. New laws mean students dealing with disabilities are all eligible to receive the same education as ‘normal’ students, and Heather and Amie both end up at the same school as George and Hook as a result. Together they form a tight group of friends who call themselves “The Cripples’ Club.” After experiencing a number of events that remind them of how vulnerable they are, Hook comes up with a plan for the group to regain their confidence.
Number of Pages: 198
Age Range: 13-15
Review: Titled The Cripples’ Club in 1988 and then re-titled Absolutely Invincible in 1993, William Bell’s book is about the life-changing friendships that develop between George, Hook, Heather and Amie, four students who are each crippled in various ways.
What I love about this book is that Bell fosters respect for his characters instead of pity and no one dies. Faced with being targeted by bullies and personal injury because of their disabilities, the self-named Cripples’ Club decides to take control by going on a camping adventure to prove their independence and strength.
Although the second title suggests George, Hook, Heather and Amie are not affected by all of the things that happen to them, Bell’s story becomes more powerful because all of them face hardship and go on anyway. It’s not about a lack of emotion, it’s a choice that they all make on a continual basis, to not give up and to take life as it comes. Their friendship via The Cripples’ Club supports all of them and even provides a safe place for George to work out his repressed past.
This is one of my favourite books, and I love that part of it is a traditional story about connecting to the Canadian wilderness in spite of dealing with physical disabilities.
Memorable Quotes:
“I do not answer. I study his face. I see things there. I understand. His no-power feeling as the chair carried him like an egg into the traffic. His burning anger at the jeers of the Black Ones. His smallness feeling.
Maybe the shadows own his legs.” – George from The Cripples’ Club by William Bell, page 20
“He talks again. ‘You know, George, most of the time I can handle it, but every once in a while I hate being a cripple. God, I hate it!’
He looks down. A tear plops onto his wet lap.
He sits like that for a few minutes.
Before I know it, the words are out of my mouth. ‘I’m a cripple, too, Hook.’
I don’t know why I say it. But I know I am. Like Hook but different.
He looks up at me, wiping each eye with the back of his left hand. He smiles. Strength seems to flow back into him.
‘What a pair we are, eh, George? Absolutely. You with no memory bank, me with no stilts and a fish hook for a hand. We oughta team up. George and the Dragon.'” – Conversation between Hook and George from The Cripples’ Club by William Bell, page 20
“It sounds strange, but I don’t mind being called a cripple. I like it. Hook and I are different, but this is a big thing we have in common. We belong to – I don’t know to what, but that is a feeling I have.” – George from The Cripples’ Club by William Bell, page 40
“No, it was like he was somehow making things normal, not in a phony, pretend way, but like he was saying, ‘Okay, life is tough. End of philosophy lesson. Now, let’s get to work. I got a race to run here. And racers wear socks.” – George from The Cripples’ Club by William Bell, page 53
“‘I want to say this,’ she continues, ‘because it’s important. Before, even at school where I learned to sign, I felt alone most of the time. Everybody around me had the same problem, more or less, so the whole school was set up for us. There were no normal kids there. You felt like you were living in a big cocoon, with miles of cotton padding insulating you from the rest of the world. It was a different kind of aloneness, you know?
‘But now I feel like I’m making it in the real world. The Club helps me be . . . be, I don’t know, be me. Yeah, that’s it. In the other school, I never felt like the real me. Now I do.'” – Heather from The Cripples’ Club by William Bell, page 90
“I look at him there, waist deep in the water. His legs are like white tubes. The wavelets move them under the water. The legs disappear into the green shorts with the leaping red frogs on them. Above the shorts, Hook is big, with a thick, tanned chest and wide shoulders. His hook is off and the scar on his stump shows up white against his tan. Hook is weak and strong at the same time.
So is Amie. She is blind, but she is really smart. Heather is a deaf-mute but she is smart, too, and she always knows how people feel. All three are strong in spirit.” – George from The Cripples’ Club by William Bell, page 197
The Cripples’ Club by William Bell is published by Irwin Publishing, (1988).
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Forbidden City by William Bell
Summary: Alexander’s father is a cameraman for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and when he is offered the opportunity to help cover Mikhail Gorbachev’s visit to the People’s Republic of China in 1989, he decides to take his son along for the trip. Fascinated by historical miltary operations, Alex hopes to see China’s Terra Cotta Warriors in person. Instead, Alex finds himself in the middle of a student protest after the death of a prominent Chinese official, seeking a more democratic China. The story flips from Gorbachev’s visit to the the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) moving in on the protestors in Tian An Men Square, and on June 4th, 1989, irreversable action is taken. Caught in the crossfire, Alex finds himself not only fighting for his life, but also trying to honour the story of those who did not survive.
Number of Pages: 198
Age Range: 14-16
Review: William Bell is one of my all-time, favourite Canadian authors. Skilled at writing powerful works of teen fiction that put teens right at the centre of conflict, Bell is perhaps best known for this novel, Forbidden City.
Based on the Tian An Men Square massacre, the execution of protesting students by the People’s Liberation Army of China that took place on June 3 and 4th, 1989, Forbidden City fleshes out this historical tragedy through the eyes of a seventeen year-old Canadian teen named Alex. Formerly a miltary buff, things take on new meaning for Alex when he finds himself in a real-life conflict where the lives of people he knows are in danger.
Bell uses Alex’s story to personalize the tragedy for teens, making history come alive in a gruesome but true way that will hook readers. Alex’s growth as a character throughout this ordeal is thought-provoking, and provides relateable insight into an experience that will change him forever.
As a piece of historical fiction this is a story that needs to be told and re-told, especially since the perpetrators of this tragedy continue to try and hide it, even twenty-five years later.
Memorable Quotes:
“Anyway, I’m only saying that I think that’s when I started getting interested in all this miltary stuff. What I like most about reading battle plans was the feeling that there were rules and strategies and traditions and everything was clear. And when I got into building model soldiers and reconstructing battles I like the feeling of control. I’d draw plans and try to picture the troop movements, attacks, feints, retreats, traps, all that, and I’d lose myself for hours in a world that made sense.” – Alex from Forbidden City by William Bell, page 12
“I passed a road sign with some characters and an arrow on it pointing down a side street. The arrow triggered thoughts about Ziu Ge-liang and the way he fooled both Cao Cao and Sun Quao. He did it by feigning one thing and doing another. Classic strategy, I thought. Then I remembered a famous quotation from Sun Zi’s The Art of War in the chapter on strategy. Make yourself appear to be weak in order to make the enemy proud and rash, he wrote. Even though you are capable, feign incompetence. The enemy would be put off guard.
Were the PLA playing games with the people? And, in their eyes, were the people now the enemy?” – Alex from Forbidden City by William Bell, pages 81-82
“If I told them that in China one of those little washing machines was a status symbol, they’d laugh. If I told them about Nai-nai’s house and how peaceful her courtyard was, they’d tell me to get real. But whose world was more real? Ours, or the world Xin-hua lived in?
She was different from the girls I knew, too. Really different. Their idea of a tragedy was running out of mousse or breaking a fingernail. They were a lot like the woman I had seen this morning on the movie billboard. They were almost all heavily into feminism and talked about being taken seriously as persons while they put on purple lipstick. I don’t know. Maybe I was being too hard on them. But nobody I knew was like Xin-hua. To me, she was a hero. A strong woman with more character than most of the kids I knew, male or female, put together.
Including me.” – Alex from Forbidden City by William Bell, page 167
“I took a long drink of my warm tea. ‘Nothing will be the same now, will it, Dad? Everything will be different, and we will too.'” – Alex from Forbidden City by William Bell, page 197
Forbidden City by William Bell is published by Doubleday Canada, (1990).
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The Color of Silence by Liane Shaw
Summary: After her best friend Cali dies in a senseless car accident, Lexi turns to silence in response to her feelings of grief and guilt. Through court-appointed volunteer work, Lexi is assigned to be a companion for Joanie, another seventeen year-old girl who lives at the hospital. Joanie is also silent, but her silence is because of a neuromuscular disorder, not by choice. Together, Lexi and Joanie both find their voices through a blossoming friendship, and the use of a computer called the Wizard that can read Joanie’s eye movements. When their friendship comes to an untimely end, Lexi is left to pick up the pieces of herself and figure out how to move on.
Number of Pages: 261
Age Range: 14-16
Review: A complex yet sensitive read, The Color of Silence by Liane Shaw gives readers a window into the perspective of a teenage girl dealing with a neuromuscular disorder. Joanie is at the whim of her body and unable to communicate as others do without assistance. Lexi’s companionship opens up new opportunities for both of them, as well as a deep friendship that goes beyond words.
Though the characters are believable and thoughtful, I had a hard time reading this book because of the subject matter. I find myself triggered when it comes to reading books about hospitals, and while I was happy to read a teen fiction book about a character with a neuromuscular disorder, because I have one myself I wanted more specifics about what type it actually was. I was also very disappointed when Joanie died, as so many books about teens dealing with illness end the same way.
But for those who don’t have the personal experience that Joanie has, The Color of Silence is an eye-opening, lyrical read. I loved Lexi’s journey through grief and how she blamed herself for her friend Cali’s actions. In the face of such a random accident, it was easy to empathize with Lexi and understand why she would keep replaying how she could have done things differently in her head.
An emotional and enjoyable story geared toward younger to mid female teen readers, I’d recommend Shaw’s book for those looking for character development and insight.
Memorable Quotes:
“Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly, and listen to others…. they too have their story.” – (Excerpt from Desiderata, Max Ehrmann 1927) from The Color of Silence by Liane Shaw, Preface
“I actually use words very well. I have listened to stories and movies and plays and people talking around me and to me for seventeen years. I am so full of words and thoughts and images that if I ever could figure out a way to let them loose, they would come swirling out of me in a torrent of syllables, sweeping aside anyone unlucky enough to be standing in their path. I would fill every room with the colors of my dreams until the whole world became a rainbow of my making.
If I could figure out a way.” – Joanie from The Color of Silence by Liane Shaw, page 30
“For a long time, all I did was cry. But it didn’t make the pain go away.
It just made it wet.
At some point I ran out of tears. Now I’m nothing but a hollow tree, empty and dry, just waiting for someone to come and chop me down.” – Lexi from The Color of Silence by Liane Shaw, pages 36-37
“My raggedy outsides hide my brain as well. Even though some people treat me like I can think and feel, no one really understands how much of me there really is. Maybe someday I’ll find my own wizard who will show the world that I have a fully operating brain that was really inside of me all along. Maybe he’ll give me a diploma to hang on my wall so people can read it, even if they can’t read me.” – Joanie from The Color of Silence by Liane Shaw, page 82
“They feel sorry for me. Not in the apologizing kind of way but in the way that says they think my life is somehow less because it is different.
When I was younger, I sometimes overheard people saying things like ‘it’s a shame’ and ‘too bad she’s so damaged.’ Damaged! A strange word to use for a person. As if I’m broken or something. I tried not to listen, but it’s hard to do when they’re standing right in my room and speaking in perfectly loud voices, seemingly believing that my ears are unable to hear their words. At least I’m guessing that’s what they believed.” – Joanie from The Color of Silence by Liane Shaw, page 106
“From what I can see and imagine, it seems as if anger usually comes when people think they don’t have control over some part of their lives. The feeling of being unable to change something no matter how much you want to seems to fill people with storms.
I have no control over any aspect of my outside life. I should be filled with wind and rain and dark clouds that threaten me every moment of every day. But I’m not. There are clouds in there sometimes, definitely, but mostly I want to be filled with sunlight and rainbows and things that make my life better, not harder.
But maybe it’s because I never had the control in the first place, so I was never faced with losing it.
Maybe people’s anger comes from the loss.” – Joanie from The Color of Silence by Liane Shaw, page 120
“Being sorry doesn’t make it go away.
Being sorry doesn’t make it all right.
Being sorry doesn’t make time go backward so you can fix it.
Being sorry doesn’t make you a better person.
Being sorry doesn’t bring people back to where they’re supposed to be.
Sorry is a useless word. It should be thrown out of the dictionary.” – Lexi from The Color of Silence by Liane Shaw, page 159
“Does Alexandra ever think about dying, I wonder? Do most people our age wonder how long their bodies are going to last, or do they put off thinking about that stuff until they are wrinkled and gray-haired and ready for a bed in a hospital room?” – Joanie from The Color of Silence by Liane Shaw, pages 194-195
“Death doesn’t care about love. It just comes in and takes whoever it wants. Death isn’t about losing someone. When you lose something, usually there’s a chance that you might find it again. Death is nothing but a thief, and when it steals someone away from you, that’s it.” – Lexi from The Color of Silence by Liane Shaw, page 241
The Color of Silence by Liane Shaw is published by Second Story Press, (2013).
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Night Runner by Max Turner
Summary: With no parents or family, and a complicated, undefinable medical condition, Zach has lived for the past eight years in a mental institution. One night Zach’s world opens up when a strange man runs his car into the facility, claiming that someone is after Zach and that he should run before it is too late. The uncle Zach never knew he had appears a short time later, telling Zach that he is a vampire, and before he died Zach’s father was a vampire hunter. Suddenly the pieces of Zach’s life are all falling to place, but getting out of the mental institution and facing his true nature prove to be more of a challenge than he thought they would be.
Number of Pages: 261
Age Range: 14-16
Review: Because I read Night Runner by Max Turner as an e-book, I had no opportunity to read the book description on the back cover. When Zach turned out to be a vampire I was completely surprised, because up until then I thought he had a mysterious, genetic-type illness.
I’m not usually a huge fan of vampire fiction, but I loved Turner’s take on the struggle between the animal instinct for blood and the conscious choice not to harm other humans faced by all vampires. Zach goes through a thoughtful journey of self-discovery while encountering some road blocks along the way.
What I enjoyed most about Turner’s book is that while vampire stories have previously fit into the fantasy genre, they are now legitimately finding their place in science fiction as being a vampire becomes a disease and a battle against human nature.
With many plot twists and a theme of survival, sometimes at any cost, Night Runner is an enthralling read that adds depth to the vampire genre.
Memorable Quotes:
“So, I fell asleep and had a dream about my father. This didn’t surprise me. I once read that dreams occur because your mind has to reorganize itself when you’re sleeping. So much happens during the day that you need to sort what is important from what is not. Some memories you keep close to the surface and others get buried. I think my mind was just trying to keep the memories of my father close to the top, where they belonged.” – Zach from Night Runner by Max Turner
“‘You must understand, Zachary, vampires aren’t very different from normal people. They have choices to make, just as you will have choices to make. They can choose to be good, or to be something that is less than good. I suppose the huger for blood makes the choice more difficult for vampires, but it remains a choice.'” – Maximillian from Night Runner by Max Turner
“It was true that I had no idea what was going to happen to me, but there are many kinds of uncertainty, and uncertainty about the future is just one of them. There is also the uncertainty of where you fit in. Where you belong. Until my escape with Mr. Entwistle, I never felt as though I really belonged anywhere. My parents were dead. I had no brothers or sisters. No home of my own. And as much as I loved Nurse Ophelia, I certainly didn’t belong in a mental ward. But those days were over. At that moment, I knew my place. I knew what I was. The problems that had made my life miserable back at the ward – my reaction to the sun, my food trouble, my transfusions, my bouts of anger, the need to be alone – thses things had always been shrouded in mystery, because no one could explain why I was like this, why I was so different. I’d been waiting for an answer. For a cure. Well, the waiting was over. I was a vampire. A creature of the night. Inhuman. Beyond human. Stronger.” – Zach from Night Runner by Max Turner
“Werewolves? It was nonsense. Then I laughed. I was a vampire now. It was sort of like a doctor not believing in a dentist.” – Zach from Night Runner by Max Turner
“I look back at this moment with a mixture of sadness and something else. Understanding, maybe. Or acceptance. I’m a vampire. Sometimes I wish I could live on tofu and alfalfa sprouts, but I can’t. And I understand that I’m not consistant. I don’t always act the same way. I’m a nice guy as often as I can be. As my Uncle Maximilian said, I have a choice. And I choose to be good. Until I get hungry. Then I’m something that is less than good. Then I’m a killer.” – Zach from Night Runner by Max Turner
“Blood for a vampire is life. Another day. Another week. Another month. Another year. You can’t imagine how this felt, to drink life. I was undead, and then for a moment I was more than alive. Let’s leave it at that.” – Zach from Night Runner by Max Turner
“I couldn’t move. It was as if Mother Nature had forgotten to equip me with any real tools for dealing with trouble. I wondered if this was a human failing. In nature programs, other animals could dod all kinds of things when they were threatened.” – Zach from Night Runner by Max Turner
“‘Because you are a vampire, because you are immortal, you think that time is not your enemy, but it is,’ he said. ‘Time is a thief. It will take everything from you. All of your friends, the ones you love, they will die centuries before you. All that you value will be stripped away. Music will change. Your language will change. Your religion. Everything will change but you. Cling to the past and it will drive you insane.'” – the Baron from Night Runner by Max Turner
“I wished at that moment that there were some way to back in time. I would have returned to the bonfire and started all over again. I felt cheated. Like this could have been a different story if I’d just done a few things differently. It seemed a terrible injustice – that I’d spent all those years alone in a mental ward only to die so soon after tasting real life for the first time. But life is like that sometimes. The things you want most are impossible and there’s nothing you can do about it.” – Zach from Night Runner by Max Turner
Night Runner by Max Turner is published by HarperCollins Publishers, (2008).
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The Whole, Entire, Complete Truth by Caroline Rennie Pattison
Summary: As punishment for disobeying her detective father on several occasions, Sarah Martin must write a report about her experiences for him to read. Determined to prove to her father that all of her decisions were justified, Sarah throws herself into the telling of her story, from her initial lies about going to neighbour’s farm she was forbidden to go to, all the way up to her part in taking down a poaching scheme. Writing out her tale allows her to reflect on her decisions, but also inspires her to pick a career path, much to the dismay of her father.
Number of Pages: 220
Age Range: 13-14
Review: Sarah Martin is truly a fun character. I loved her spunky nature and strong voice as well as the natural sibling tension she has with her brother, Roy. Sarah is so confident about her choices and indignant when she thinks other people will disagree with them. I just loved reading from her point of view, and I found myself laughing out loud while I read The Whole, Entire, Complete Truth a lot.
When her brother Roy takes over the narrative to make himself look better, the story becomes even more hilarious. Roy and Sarah have a great sibling relationship because Sarah feels Roy is a schmuck who is only out to embarrass her and Roy, ever the older brother, insists she does it to herself.
Though the main story is about Sarah and her friend Mindi discovering a bear poaching set-up, I found it to be a lighter read for younger teens because it is essentially a discussion between Sarah and her father as she tries to explain her actions to him. Her father is also a great character because while he has a gruff nature, it is still obvious that he loves his children and would do anything for them.
The first book in the Sarah Martin mystery series, The Whole, Entire, Complete Truth details the birth of a young detective in the case that started it all.
Memorable Quotes:
“Wouldn’t you know it? Cori the grouch-queen undergoes yet another magical transformation at the sight of the opposite sex. Bitter, unattractive frowns instantaneously disappear, to be replaced by wide, toothy smiles. Not only is she a fake, she’s a flirt. A regular Dr. Jekyll and Miss Hyde.” – Sarah from The Whole, Entire, Complete Truth by Caroline Rennie Pattison, page 92
“Also, I’m getting really tired of all the written abuse I’ve been taking in this report. You know that I’m not the schmuck that Sarah keeps making me out to be, don’t you? I don’t care what she says, I don’t constantly embarrass her in front of other people – she does that to herself – and I don’t always act like a goof. In fact, I’m very responsible, and I wanted you to read that for once. You know, the truth.” – Roy from The Whole, Entire, Complete Truth by Caroline Rennie Pattison, page 145
“You know the saying that just before you die you see your life flash before your eyes? Well, I was watching the big-screen 3-D IMAX edition for the eighth time just as Ginger hurtled down my driveway. I was never so happy to sit back and yell, ‘Whoa!’ in my life.” – Sarah from The Whole, Entire, Complete Truth by Caroline Rennie Pattison, page 180
“I had to get Ginger to slow down. She was puffing like a crazed beast. As for me, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to hold on much longer. Problem was, I didn’t know how to get her to stop; I’d never gone that fast before. I tried to remember what Mindi had told me to do if a horse bolts, but it isn’t easy to think when you’re on the back of a wild, raging monster trying with all your might not to fly off a wet, slippery saddle while being blinded by rain. And to think I once thought of Ginger as a calm, gentle horse!” – Sarah from The Whole, Entire, Complete Truth by Caroline Rennie Pattison, page 187
The Whole, Entire, Complete Truth by Caroline Rennie Pattison is published by Dundurn Press (2006).
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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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