War Brothers: The Graphic Novel by Sharon E. McKay, illustrated by Daniel Lafrance
Summary: Jacob and a couple of his friends are taken captive by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda. Some are forced to be soldiers; all are threatened with death if they do not obey Commander Opiro. Holding on to the hope that their parents will find a way to save them, they form a brotherhood to take care of each other until that happens. When rescue isn’t possible, they decide to try and find a way to save themselves, and a girl named Hannah they meet at the camp.
Number of Pages: 176
Age Range: 13-14
Review: I liked the visual cues of the black and white pages – black for scenes with the LRA and white for scenes without them. Because it’s a story dealing with serious issues and some graphic violence, it was helpful to know when those scenes were eventually coming to an end.
But I couldn’t help but realise that it wasn’t just a story Sharon McKay made up. Children are forced into being child soldiers in Africa, forced to kill to eat, and mutilated if they disobey. It’s incredibly frightening because I know it is real, and I thought McKay and Daniel Lafrance did a fine job of making the stories of child soldiers accessible to younger teen readers without making it too overwhelming. As with any child/teen fictional book about real life atrocities, there is a delicate balance in providing the right amount and quality of information on the subject.
Because I am an older reader though, I found that reading the graphic novel version of War Brothers made me want to read the novel it was based on for more information. I’m going to see if I can fit it into my list.
Memorable Quotes:
“‘In each of us there is the possibility to be a beast, but also there is the possibility to reach the stars.'” – quote from Eleanor Roosevelt from War Brothers: The Graphic Novel by Sharon E. McKay and Daniel Lafrance, unpaged
“‘Listen to me. The army, our fathers, they will come. We have to stay together. We have to try to keep each other safe. We are brothers. We are family.'” – Jacob from War Brothers: The Graphic Novel by Sharon E. McKay and Daniel Lafrance, unpaged
War Brothers: The Graphic Novel by Sharon E. McKay and Daniel Lafrance is published by Annick Press (2013).
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Light the Way Home by Nancy L.M. Russell
Summary: Christine is not thrilled when her dad loses his job and her parents decide to move cross-country from Toronto, Ontario to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Looking forward to starting high school with her best friends, Allie and Brittany, Christine instead finds herself in a intermediate school for her grade nine year. While she is referred to as a CFA (come from away) and others are skeptical of her city attitudes, Christine manages to make new friends and becomes involved in a project to save a local lighthouse that will change her life and the lives of others.
Number of Pages: 230
Age Range: 13-14
Review: Christine starts out as an unlikable character but Nancy Russell uses her move to Prince Edward Island to mature her into someone that you want to read about. And Russell does it all while providing her reader with a memorable window into real life in PEI.
I loved Russell’s contrast between big city and small town life and how she manages to point out the pros and cons of both. I enjoyed the theme of the lighthouse guiding people home and appreciated Christine’s struggle between wanting to go back to Toronto, but also feeling like PEI has become her home. But most of all I simply felt Light the Way Home was a valuable cultural piece of writing.
My favourite parts were Old Salt’s stories and songs, because they brought PEI to life for me. I’d recommend this book for early teen readers looking for a recreational or cultural read.
Memorable Quotes:
“‘Aye, it’s part of living by the sea, lassie,’ he added, sensing her reaction. ‘She’s magical and powerful and you must always respect her. At least, I always have.'” – Mack from Light the Way Home by Nancy Russell, page 81
“‘You know, you think it’s so glamorous, this life by the sea,’ he snapped. ‘Well, it’s not. My grandfather lost his boat in storm and the family had to live on welfare for years. My father’s brother hit the bottle after a couple of bad seasons and he lost his boat to the bank. My dad’s back is shot, thanks to years of hard labour. And now my brother wants to throw his life away, too. Isn’t that a lovely picture of life on the Island?'” – Scott from Light the Way Home by Nancy Russell, page 194
“Christine went back out onto the balcony. As she sat with Mack, Christine thought about Scott’s problems with his family. She wondered what Mack would think of Scott’s decision to give up fishing. Mack’s family also chose to go away, to Alberta, and to leave the Island and the lighthouses behind. It’s like the end of an era, she thought sadly, more of the brain drain that Jennifer had told her about. At the same time, she could see the young person’s point of view. They had a chance for a better living and they weren’t taking their life in their own hands every time they went to work.” – from Light the Way Home by Nancy Russell, page 196
“Looking out at the harbour again, Brittany gasped with pleasure. The sun had dipped below the horizon, but the afterglow had spread across the sky. The red Island soil glowed in the fading light, and the sky had turned a deep, velvety shade of blue. Even the grass seemed more alive than usual, turning the most lush green that Christine had ever seen it.” – from Light the Way Home by Nancy Russell, page 213
Light the Way Home by Nancy L.M. Russell is published by Ragweed Press (2000).
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The Last Wild Boy by Hugh MacDonald
Summary: In a world where women (the Insiders) rule society and men (the Outsiders) are practically an endangered species, hetrosexual love and traditional conception are a thing of the past. Babies are raised to childhood by a care centre to prevent women from bonding too deeply with their daughters, and women have partnerships with other women to provide stable homes to raise their daughters in. When Nora, partner of Alice, comes across a male baby named Adam one day, she is forever changed. Nora makes the choice to tunnel outside the city’s walls to keep Adam from the Insiders. Luckily she runs into Mabon, a young man with a kind heart who is willing to keep Nora and Adam safe at any cost. Adam needs the protection, because he is the only male who still has the ability to procreate and the Insiders want him dead.
Number of Pages: 232
Age Range: 15-17
Review: I love books that present me with new ideas to consider and Hugh MacDonald’s The Last Wild Boy is a great book for that as he explores what a matriarchal society would look like as a backlash to the patriarchal society we live in now. It’s complex, but it works, and MacDonald’s background as the Prince Edward Island Poet Laureate lends to vivid imagery and rich description throughout the book.
It’s an intriguing concept, although I’m still having trouble getting my head around how exactly women managed to overpower men and take over society. That question aside, MacDonald presents his reader with a detailed, dystopian story that highlights the bitterness and sense of injustice women feel over centuries of oppression at the hands of men and the creative, and somewhat disturbing, ways they use to remedy the situation.
My favourite character was Lucky, the dog that bonds with Mabon and Nora and protects them at all times. I have a soft spot for loyal animal characters and he is such a sweet one.
I’d recommend this book for dystopia lovers mid-teens or older. While MacDonald spares us the more grisly details of things like how the men end up becoming infertile, I still think it requires a more experienced reader to fully appreciate it.
Memorable Quotes:
“She wasn’t used to this life in the raw, where things were totally outside of her control.” – from The Last Wild Boy by Hugh MacDonald, page 71
“‘That might not be possible,’ said Blanchefleur. ‘She wouldn’t be the same. She might not even wish to return. Something powerful occurred in her mind to allow her to make the decision she did. The moment she decided to flee, she also decided to give up her life with us. The child became more important than you and me and the world we have built.’ She brushed a blonde lock from her daughter’s tear-stained face. ‘The bond between woman and child is a powerful one once accepted.'” – Mayor Blanchefleur from The Last Wild Boy by Hugh MacDonald, page 94
“‘What kind of history is this?’ she asked regularly. She gave her opinion that these were just stories of overgrown boys scurrying across the face of the planet, leaving behind paths of destruction wherever they travelled, and pointed out that they ignored the lives of every woman who had ever lived.” – Nora from The Last Wild Boy by Hugh MacDonald, page 151
“‘You and Adam have read from the old history books. They tell of armies of men that spread like poison clouds across the face of the planet. People’s lives were worth nothing. It was the men that did this – to one another, to women and children and the old. And these were men who had children of their own, men who loved their own women and their own old ones. How could that happen, if they weren’t inherently dangerous?’ Mabon shook his head in dismay. ‘There are things in us that I’ll never understand.'” – Mabon from The Last Wild Boy by Hugh MacDonald, page 153
The Last Wild Boy by Hugh MacDonald is published by Acorn Press (2013).
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The Manager by Caroline Stellings
Summary: Angry and feisty, Tina is a short person who hates terms like “dwarf” or “little person.” She’s been saving up for an operation to make her taller for a long time, and when the opportunity presents itself for her to have the procedure done for free she jumps at it. Tina and her sister Ellie begin a journey down to Boston from Cape Breton Island, but are side-tracked along the way when they encounter a potential Mi’kmaw boxing champion named Jesse Mankiller. When trouble arises with Jesse’s manager, Tina is determined to step in, having helped out at her father’s gym training boxers for years without recognition. It is an unlikely pairing, but it works, and soon not only is Jesse winning matches but Tina also has a chance to prove her worth.
Number of Pages: 174
Age Range: 15-17
Review: Short and powerful, The Manager by Caroline Stellings packs a punch much like the character of its protagonist Tina. I loved reading about her growth as a person, finding real confidence under her bravado to be herself and go after what she wants. She surprises her reader again and again with her spirited and abrasive yet warm-hearted actions.
Stellings makes an interesting choice casting sister Ellie as the narrator of the story, but when The Manager comes down to the final thirty pages it is easy to see why the narration has to be that way to work. Having the outside narration maintains the dramatic tension of the book as Ellie is not privy to all that is going on in Tina’s head. And when the story reaches its conclusion, it is a revelation that no one will expect. Also, Ellie is the perfect narrator to see through Tina’s armour to the heart within.
This is another book that is challenging to write about without giving plot points away and I even had to leave out a quote I liked so I wouldn’t wreck the book for other readers. I can say though that at first I was a bit skeptical about how much I would enjoy reading a book about boxing. Stellings doesn’t make it a chore though, instead it is easy, engaging and mostly accessible to those who don’t have much knowledge about the sport. As a result I would recommend this book to both female and male readers in their mid-teens.
I know the book had to end where it did to maintain its strength, but I found myself wishing it was longer because I enjoyed Tina’s character so much.
Memorable Quotes:
“After all, Dad had boxed during the late fifties and early sixties, when Cape Breton was a breeding ground for champions. Back when young men from New Waterford and Sydney Mines and the Pier spent long days working underground or the mill and tried to fight their way out of the grind by entering the ring. They had their eyebrows torn off and their jaws broken, but they kept on fighting because they needed to.” – Ellie from The Manager by Caroline Stellings, page 5
“My sister couldn’t be cajoled into seeing her life in a positive way – she resented being a dwarf. And hers was not a feeble little stick-out-your-tongue sort of resentment, but a deep-seated, I’ll-make-you-and-everyone-I-know-miserable-because-I’m-miserable kind of bitterness. And there was nothing I could do to change her mind.” – Ellie from The Manager by Caroline Stellings, page 13
The Manager by Caroline Stellings is published by Cape Breton University Press (2013).
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Friends With Boys by Faith Erin Hicks
Summary: Maggie has been homeschooled for years and is starting her first day in a traditional high school. The youngest in her family and the only girl since her mother’s recent disappearance, Maggie is used to hanging out with her older brothers and her father and needs time to adjust to high school life. Fortunately she is immediately befriended by Lucy and her brother Alistair and while they are considered the freaks of the school Maggie fits right in with them. Haunted by a widow whose husband and three sons died at sea, Maggie is a bit of a freak herself. When connections are made and Maggie opens up about being haunted, the trio come up with a plan to give the ghost some peace. But it’s going to take some family support to fix things when the situation goes awry.
Number of Pages: 211
Age Range: 13-15
Review: Friends With Boys was recommended to me just a couple of weeks ago at the Ontario Library Association Super Conference by Andrew, an exhibitor at the Expo from the Toronto graphic novel store, The Beguiling Books & Art. I’m so glad he recommended it. Full of memorable characters brought to life with vivid illustrations and short, succinct prose, Friends With Boys is a highly enjoyable read that left me wanting a sequel.
I loved Maggie because she is a thoughtful character, but I found I loved her brothers even more. Hicks introduces them with a scene of brotherly aggression that completely sets up their love/hate family relationship. I loved that despite their personal issues, they all have Maggie’s back when she needs them and they aren’t afraid to expression their affection for each other.
And then there’s spirited Lucy and her mysterious brother Alistair. Lucy’s willingness to befriend Maggie was aptly portrayed, and when Alistair’s whole story comes out and he stands up for himself with his former friends, Hicks’ subtle illustration of Maggie’s feelings in that moment was insightful and powerful.
I would recommend this book to reluctant female readers in their early teens. The characters are well-developed and the theme of being an outsider is one teens will easily identify with through Hicks’ skilled illustrations.
Memorable Quotes:
It’s challenging to pick out good quotes from a graphic novel, because in a graphic novel there are usually more illustrations than words. A memorable quote from a graphic novel would be an illustration, which means I should be scanning in pages to include one. It’s a bit high-tech for me, so instead I’ll tell you that you can see a sample of Friends With Boys here to get an idea of Hicks’ multi-layered illustrations. I do have one word-based quote though, and I promise it’s not misspelled.
“‘Jebus, Maggie, use your words.'” – Lloyd from Friends With Boys by Faith Erin Hicks, page 172
Friends With Boys by Faith Erin Hicks is published by First Second Books (2012).
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The View From a Kite by Maureen Hull
Summary: Living in a sanatorium in the 1970s to treat her tuberculosis, Gwen is supposed to spend her days resting and taking medications. But tuberculosis in the 1970s is not the same dire, fatal, wasting disease that it was for writers and composers of the past, and Gwen finds herself getting into mischief with the friends she has made despite the rules her doctors have set out for her. Driven by personal tragedy in her family, Gwen is determined to unlock the secret of curing her disease, seeking control over another uncontrollable situation in her life.
Number of Pages: 338
Age Range: 15-17
Review: Maureen Hull had some thoughtful insights about being sick and having to stay in a hospital for a prolonged period of time that she shares in The View From a Kite. I especially liked the one about how sanatoriums can’t be too fancy because then patients would be ill-suited to return to their normal lives. As Gwen says, that explains a lot about how hospitals are set up. I included it in the Memorable Quotes section.
I liked Gwen as a character, although I didn’t always understand where her emotions and decisions were coming from. Reading about hospital life in the 1970s was enlightening for me because of my life-long experience with hospitals. The book has some fun, humourous moments, and I enjoyed the over-arching imagery of the kites and the role they played in Gwen’s life. But overall, reading this book takes some dedication.
I would recommend this book mostly as a historical piece, because it contains a great deal of information about the treatment of tuberculosis and its history.
Memorable Quotes:
“No wonder men go home on passes and stay drunk for three days. No wonder girls go home and stay out all night and get themselves knocked up – whatever it takes to pretend you are a normal person with a normal life. We’re all just holding our breath until we can get out for good, not wanting one detail outside to change, so we won’t have missed anything.” – Gwen from The View From a Kite by Maureen Hull, page 19
“Sooner or later, no matter what happens to you, if you don’t kill yourself, you’re going to lift your head, look around, and realize you’re hungry.” – Gwen from The View From a Kite by Maureen Hull, page 30
“”The institution must send back its patients into the world without having unsettled their minds and made them discontented with the life to which they belong. If we place patients from poor homes among surroundings which, to them, are luxurious we are bound to unfit them for the life to which they must return. Simplicity and economy in sanatorium construction and furnishing will avoid ruining the citizen while curing the individual.’ Well,’ I say, ‘that explains a lot.'” – Gwen from The View From a Kite by Maureen Hull, page 222
“In case her suspicions are true we drink copiously and I, for one, feel giddy enough. Maybe it’s just the occasion. It reminds us that there is a world and a life beyond the sanatorium grounds, that someday in the not-too-distant future it will be ours again. Most people don’t think much about their health until it starts to go. They don’t realize how good life is, and what freedom they have, as long as their body is kicking along.” – Gwen from The View From a Kite by Maureen Hull, page 323
The View From a Kite by Maureen Hull is published by Vagrant Press (2006).
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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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