| CM . . . . Volume III Number 2 . . . . September 20, 1996 Part I Dear Readers: This issue of CM is an exceptionally large one, with twelve book reviews, a video review, three web site reviews, a feature and two book reviews from the CM archive, a feature story, and a letter from our mailbox. Because of the size of this issue, we are mailing CM to you as three separate email messages. We have added a new feature this week - On the Bookshelf. On the Bookshelf will feature information about recent titles - some so recent we haven't had a chance to review them yet in CM. This week we feature three Kids Can Press titles: The Dark Garden by Margaret Buffie; How Can A Frozen Detective Stay Hot on the Trail? by Linda Bailey; and Glory Days by Gillian Chan. Remember to visit us on the web to read CM with images, hotlinks, search and ordering capability. To go directly to this week's issue on the web, the address is: http://www.mbnet.mb.ca/cm/vol3/no2/no2.html Table of Contents Volume III Number 2 September 20, 1996 Book Reviews My Arctic 1,2,3 Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak. Illustrated by Vladyana Krykorka. Review by Naomi Gerrard. Grades preschool - 2 / Ages 3 - 7. Wild Cats - Cougars, Bobcats and Lynx. Deborah Hodge. Edited by Valerie Wyatt. Illustrated by Nancy Grey Ogle. Review by Joan Payzant. Grades preschool - 4 / Ages 4 - 10. Have You Seen Bugs? Joanne Oppenheim. Illustrated by Ron Broda. Review by Naomi Gerrard. Grades K - 2 / Ages 3 - 7. The Velveteen Rabbit or How Toys Become Real. Margery Williams. Illustrated by Grahame Baker-Smith. Review by Harriet Zaidman. Grades K - 4 / Ages 4 - 10. Melody Mooner Takes Lessons. Frank B. Edwards. Illustrated by John Bianchi. Review by Brian Rountree. Grades K - 4 / Ages 5 - 9. I Can Make Costumes. Mary Wallace. Review by Lorraine Douglas. Grades 3 - 6 / Ages 8 - 12. The Secret Wish of Nannerl Mozart. Barbara Kathleen Nickel. Edited by Rhea Tregebov. Review by Joan Payzant. Grades 4 - 7 / Ages 10 - 13. How Can a Frozen Detective Stay Hot on the Trail? Linda Bailey. Review by Irene Gordon. Grades 4 - 8 / Ages 9 - 12. Northwest Territories Richard W. Daitch. Review by Brian Rountree. Grades 4 - 8 / Ages 10 - 14. Sing Like A Hermit Thrush. Richard G. Green. Review by Joan Payzant. Grades 4 - 9 / Ages 10 - 14. After the War. Carol Matas. Review by Ian Stewart. Grades 7 - 9 / Ages 12 - 15. Thru the Smoky End Boards, Canadian Poetry about Sports and Games. Edited by Kevin Brooks and Sean Brooks. Review by Rory Runnells. Grades 10 and up / Ages 16 and up. On the Bookshelf The Dark Garden. Margaret Buffie. Kids Can Press. How Can A Frozen Detective Stay Hot on the Trail? Linda Bailey Kids Can Press. Glory Days Gillian Chan. Kids Can Press. CD-ROM Review Beyond the Sambatyon: The Myth of the Ten Lost Tribes. Creative Multimedia. Review by Harriet Zaidman. Grades 5 - 10 / Ages 11 - 15. From the Archive 1986 Notable Canadian Children's Fiction Feature story by Judith Saltman. Originally published 1988. The Blue Jean Collection Edited by Peter Carver Book review by Joyce Brown. Originally published May/June 1994. Wanderer's First Summer Janice Erbach. Book review by Joan Payzant. Originally published October 1992. C-EdRes Web Site Reviews NickNacks: Learning Together Around the World. Review by Nancy Schubert. CMARGIN Notes Review by Will Sanford. Netspedition. Review by Gilles Bourque. Feature Notable Canadian Videos Part II. Reviews by Lorrie Andersen. In the Mailbox Edward Lear's Book of Nonsense Letter from Aron Trauring. Book Review My Arctic 1,2,3. Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak. Illustrated by Vladyana Krykorka. Toronto: Annick Press Ltd., 1996. 24pp. softcover, $6.95. hardcover $16.95. ISBN 1-55037-505-9 (hardcover), 1-55037-504-0 (softcover) Grades preschool - 2 / Ages 3 - 7. Review by Naomi Gerrard. ****/4 excerpt: "esker - a long, narrow ridge of gravel that was formed by a retreating glacier." Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak draws on his Inuit experiences to weave a fascinating tale introducing us to the daily life of Repulse Bay in the Arctic. A counting book, we meet and count some of the animals Kusugak and his family watch in the Arctic. The illustrations add a wealth of information about the habitat, the inhabitants, and the colours of the region. excerpt: "One polar bear walks along the huge floe edge on the Hudson Bay. What do they hunt? Seals... Two ringed seals are sunning themselves on the sea ice during the long spring day. Ten lemmings scurry among the dwarf willows. A pack of twenty wolves catch a scent in the air.......... A herd of one hundred caribou migrates in spring. Millions of berries ripen in the fall...." These pages of counting progress through to number 10 then jump to 20, then 100 then 1,000,000 and back to "One lone polar bear walks along the shore, thinking of seals." These pages of counting are followed with 4 pages of tales about the Arctic world of Michael Kusugak and his family watching the animals we'd just counted. These are illustrated with delightful black and white ink drawings. "Lemmings are little, furry animals with short, skinny, furry tails. Inninajuk caught one and put it in a cage. It had three little ones. The little lemmings had no fur when they were born. We let them go when they could walk. They were smelly." The book is well thought out, colourful and imaginative, giving us a glimpse of life in the vast Arctic. The language is age appropriate with a glossary on the last page. Recommended Naomi Gerrard has a fascination with children's literature, is a reviewer for the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award and a member of CANSCAIP. Book Review Wild Cats - Cougars, Bobcats and Lynx. Deborah Hodge. Edited by Valerie Wyatt. Illustrated by Nancy Grey Ogle. Toronto, Ontario: Kids Can Press Ltd. 1996. 32 pp., hard cover, $14.95. ISBN 1-55074-267-1 CIP. Grades preschool - 4 / Ages 4 - 10. Review by Joan Payzant. ****/4 excerpt: "Wild cats try to live far away from people. But people move into wild areas and disturb the home ranges of wild cats. People clear forests to build new houses and roads, so the wild animals who live there must move. The deer move to find food, so the cougars must follow. The lynx must follow the snowshoe hare. If there is no place to go, the animals die. As wild areas get smaller, there are fewer places for wild cats to live." This is an attractive book on a subject that will fascinate many children. As a teacher/librarian I found that non-fiction picture books were extremely popular with boys in their early school years. Wild Cats falls into this category. Every page is generously illustrated with text in large clear type fitted around the pictures. The table of contents lists a different subject for each two facing pages, i.e. Wild cats, Kinds of wild cats, Where wild cats live, and so on. Most of the two-page spreads have a box in the top right-hand corner which contains a "Wild Cat Fact" such as: "Wild cats don't chew their meat. They slice off pieces with their sharp teeth and swallow them whole." The differences among cougars, bobcats and lynxes are clearly explained by text and illustrations. The book also contains illustrations of wild cats of the world, as opposed to previously discussed North American wild cats. It concludes with a glossary and detailed index. Other books in this Kids Can Press Wildlife Series are: Bears, Whales, and Wild Dogs, with others promised for the future. Highly Recommended Joan Payzant is a retired teacher/librarian living in Dartmouth, N.S. Book Review Have You Seen Bugs? Joanne Oppenheim. Illustrated by Ron Broda. Richmond Hill, Ontario: North Winds Press, 1996. 32pp. paper, $16.99 ISBN 0-590-24322-5. Grades preschool - 2 / Ages 4 - 7. Review by Naomi Gerrard ****/4 excerpt: "Have you seen bugs? Itty-bitty bugs small as specks of sand, wide-winged bugs bigger than your hand. Bugs with stripes or speckles or spots, shiny like metal or covered with dots. Iridescent bugs that shimmer in the light, winking, blinking bugs that twinkle in the night. Dark as bark, green as grass, see-through bugs with wings like glass." Even though the paper sculpted male African moon moth on the front cover looks like a creature from outer space inviting attention, this is a fascinating book for bug lovers; and, perhaps even for those who dislike bugs. It is illustrated with incredible, three-dimensional paper sculptures of bugs; iridescent, winking, blinking, shimmering and twinkling. They are everywhere: playing hide-and-seek, "shaped like thorns or sticks or leaves", long legged or having thousands of legs, fluttering, scurrying, diving, buzzing, swimming under water, skimming over water. The book is full of bug lingo, imagery, colour, names, and the sounds of bugs, including a comparison between bugs and insects. The layout of the book is attractive, full of activities allowing one to take a big breath and touch the bugs on these pages without hesitation or fear. The narrative is well planned, descriptive and rhythmic using age appropriate language. Recommended Naomi Gerrard has been fascinated with children's literature for years, is a reviewer for the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award and a member of CANSCAIP. Book Review The Velveteen Rabbit or How Toys Become Real. Margery Williams. Illustrated by Grahame Baker-Smith. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 1996. 32pp. hardcover, $18.95. Grades K - 4 / Ages 4 - 10. Review by Harriet Zaidman. ***/4 This is a reissue of the beautiful children's classic by Margery Williams, first published in 1922. This is a distinctly dated, British, upper-class story, but it endures, because it is told from the perspective of the toy rabbit. Children, whose imaginations anthropomorphize their toys, find great joy in stories where the stuffed animals think and display personalities. The modern-day comparison is Corduroy, the teddy bear created by Don Freeman, who lives in a tenement apartment in New York. Grahame Baker-Smith has illlustrated this story in a style that uses the detail of an adult eye and the simplicity of a child's perspective. The setting is a British manor house in the 1920's, complete with the heavily flowered draperies, nurseries, fireplaces and elaborate lawns. The paintings are realistic, but have a shadowy quality to evoke the past. The people are drawn in an angular way, with little detail in their faces. The rabbit's face is always expressionless, but his blank look somehow manages to convey whatever emotion he is described as feeling. The colours are deep and heavy, as were the furnishings in that period. Light radiates from the rabbit at the important moments, such as when the boy makes him Real, and when the nursery magic Fairy turns him into a Real Rabbit. The illustration of the rabbit at the depths of sorrow, with a single tear falling from his eye as he lays abandoned in a sack in the garden in the dead of night, is particularly effective. The illustrations are organized on the page in groups of 3, 4 and 6, comic-book-style on large pages of this hardcover edition, so that the story flows quickly in front of the reader. Recommended Harriet Zaidman is a teacher-librarian in Winnipeg. Book Review Melody Mooner Takes Lessons. Frank B. Edwards. Illustrated by John Bianchi. Kingston: Bungalo Books, 1996. paper, $4.95. ISBN 0-921285-46-9. Grades K - 4 / Ages 5 - 9. Review by Brian Rountree. ***/4 Here is a new story about Melody who decides that she wants to take lessons and "be good at something special." So she begins in January and each month tries new indoor or outdoor activities. October proves to be the month where Melody finds something special which she can do and she practises into December. The illustrations of John Bianchi are large, crisp and focussed upon Melody and her activities. Above the text is a calendar page which includes a picture of Melody being a 'star' for that month's activity, while the facing page shows her true reactions. Young children are always on the go and Melody is no exception. She has the curiosity and enthusiasm which carry children through lots of things in just one day. Melody's search lends itself to discussions about sports (can you name them all?) and calendars (is it possible to figure out what year this story takes place?). Edwards and Bianchi have created another delightful addition to their Bungalo Books world, one which will surely be enjoyed by all who read the stories. Recommended Brian Rountree is the teacher-librarian at Eastwood Elementary School in Thompson, Manitoba. He is the Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian School Library Association. Book Review I Can Make Costumes. Mary Wallace. Toronto: Owl Communications, 1996. 32pp. paper, $6.95. hardcover $17.95. ISBN softcover 1-895688-47-7, hardcover 1-895688-46-9. Grades 3 - 6 / Ages 8 - 12. Review by Lorraine Douglas. ***/4 The author of the very popular How to Make Great Stuff for Your Room (Grey de Pencier, 1992) and other titles in the I Can Make series continues to show kids how to make great gear. From things collected around the house you can learn how to make: + a toga and cardboard sole sandals + weird orange peel teeth + an alien helmet + and a cardboard castle. These nifty ideas are accompanied by clear full colour photographs, a supply list and simple instructions. While the ideas in this book are not as flamboyant as those found in Jane Asher's Costume Book (Open Chain, 1991), it is highly recommended - especially for collections needing more costume materials for Halloween and dramatic arts. Highly Recommended Lorraine Douglas is the Youth Services Coordinator for the Winnipeg Public Library. Book Review The Secret Wish of Nannerl Mozart. Barbara Kathleen Nickel. Edited by Rhea Tregebov. Toronto: Second Story Press, 1996. 202 pp, paper, $6.95. ISBN 0-929005-89-9 CIP. Grades 4 - 7 / Ages 10 - 13. Review by Joan Payzant. ****/4 excerpt: "After everybody had said goodnight and wished each other Merry Christmas, Nannerl crept out from underneath the covers and sat on the floor. She lit her fattest candle and fished under the bed for her symphony and the manuscript paper she had pinched from the stack Papa kept with the music books. Then she dipped her pen in ink and began to copy. . . . After a few hours she looked with satisfaction at five neatly copied parts; the flute, the two violin parts, the viola, the cello and the clavier. She yawned and lit a new candle and began on the organ part." In this book Barbara Kathleen Nickel has accomplished the difficult task of blending her extensive research material into the life of Nannerl Mozart (much of which was in the original German) with fictional touches, producing an appealing biography for young readers. A family celebration for twelve-year old Nannerl begins the story telling of her birthday wish before blowing out her candles. In addition to the usual requests of young girls, Nannerl wants to be "the most famous composer in the whole world!" As the daughter of Leopold Mozart and older sister of Wolfgang, her wish is not as impossible as it might seem. Nannerl works tirelessly to make it come true. There follows an account of part of the Mozart family's grand three-year tour of Europe. Anecdotes of travel difficulties, people encountered on their route, performances given by Nannerl and Wolfgang, letters from friends back home in Salzburg, and excerpts from Nannerl's diary lighten the account of their journey. Throughout all, Nannerl works on her composition, in spite of the demands on her time to help her mother. In the end, despite all odds she triumphs at a grand concert in the Palace of Versailles. Complete with author's note, chronology, glossary and list of sources, this book is highly recommended. It will have special appeal for young musicians. Highly Recommended Joan Payzant is a retired teacher/librarian living in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Book Review How Can a Frozen Detective Stay Hot on the Trail? Linda Bailey. Toronto: Kids Can Press, 1996. 163pp. paper, $4.95. ISBN 1-55074-321-X. Grades 4 - 8 / Ages 9 - 12. Review by Irene Gordon. ****/4 This book is the fourth in the Stevie Diamond Mystery Series of humorous mysteries for upper elementary and middle years students. The heroine Stevie and her friend Jesse go from their homes in Vancouver to spend New Year's with Jesse's grandmother and 16 year old uncle in Winnipeg. Prairie readers (including adults) will enjoy Vancouver-born Stevie's introduction to typical Winnipeg winter weather. Ever since Jesse and I had started planning this trip, my mom had been driving me nuts. You wouldn't believe the stuff she dragged out of the closetmoth-eaten scarves, scratchy wool socks, even red underwear. You'd think I was going to the North Pole......The jacket was this old-lady ski jacket, stuffed full of goose feathers. My mom had insisted on packing it in my suitcase, but I'd managed to dump it in the back of the car on the way to the airport. I'd also unloaded a few other things, including the Frankenstein boots. They were made of heavy rubber lined with thick felt and were so wide they were practically square. When I walked around the kitchen in them, I clunked.....(As they step out of the Winnipeg airport into -30 degree weather) C-C-C-C-COOOOLLLLD!!!!! I gasped. Tried to gasp. Like breathing ice...Freezing blast on face, chest legs...Hair lifted by icy, shrieking wind...Dragged though whirling, biting snow. Icy needles stabbing cheeks. Freezing gusts howling through armpits. Jesse's uncle Misha belongs to a horticultural club for people who raise carnivorous plants. When the club has its best plants stolen, Misha is blamed for stealing them. Because Jesse has been boasting to his grandmother about what a good detective he is (conveniently omitting the role Stevie played), his grandmother is certain he can clear Misha by finding out who really stole the plants. Mystery fans should enjoy the situations Stevie and Jesse get into while solving the mystery, including the obligatory " lost in a blizzard scene". The descriptions of the carnivorous plants and squeamish vegetarian Jesse's reaction to them should appeal to almost all pre-teens . I would highly recommend this book for all elementary and junior high (middle) school libraries and children's collections in public libraries. Highly Recommended Irene Gordon is a teacher-librarian at Westdale Junior High School in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and currently co-editor of the MSLA JOURNAL published by the Manitoba School Library Association. Book Review Northwest Territories. Richard W. Daitch. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company. (Series: Hello Canada.), 1996. 72 pp., cloth. $24.99. ISBN 0-8225-2761-8 Grades 4 - 8 / Ages 10 - 14. Review by Brian Rountree. ***/4 Here is a readable and enjoyable book about that part of Canada which is "North of 60." In just 72 pages Hancock presents important and useful information about the land, the history, the economy and the people of this region. There are several maps which clearly indicate the placement of the Northwest Territories and show the major towns. There are many colour photographs which brilliantly portray life on the land. By the use of drawings and old black and white photographs we catch a glimpse of the history of the area. There is a section on "Famous people from the Northwest Territories" which includes Georges Erasmus and the artists Kenojuak Ashevak and Pitseolak Ashoona. Included in the book is a section of Fast Facts, a Timeline and a small pronunciation guide for words found in the book. The glossary and index provide valuable assistance for the young researcher. Northwest Territories includes all the area currently marked on maps under that name. There is a mention on page 38 of the separation in 1999 of the eastern area which will be called Nunavut, and is the subject of another book in this series. The author's biography tells us that Daitch has lived in Canada since the ealy 1970s and now lives in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories with his wife and two daughters. Recommended Brian Rountree is the teacher-librarian at Eastwood Elementary School in Thompson, Manitoba. He is the Archivist for the Manitoba School Library Association. Book Review Sing Like A Hermit Thrush. Richard G. Green. Ohsweken, Ontario: Ricara Features, 1995. 132 pp., paper, $12.95 ISBN 0-911737-01-4. Grades 4 - 9 / Ages 10 - 14. Review by Joan Payzant. **/4 excerpt: " "Like today. I knew I was going to hit a home run and win the game." "How'd you know that?" Darrin pulled out his rabbit's foot. "Because HE tells me." He handed the rabbit's foot to Totah. "When something's gonna happen he gets kinda warm." Totah felt the rabbit's foot and dangled it. "It don't feel warm to me," he said. "It's not warm now because nothing's gonna happen now." Totah gave Darrin the rabbit's foot. "I used to know a seer once," he said. "Long time ago." He picked up his cup and took a drink. "Maybe you should go down to the river and see Truman Cloud. He's in atohwitshera* and knows about orenda.**" " * atohwitshera = The Society of Faces ** orenda = spiritual power Richard G. Green has previously written for New World Indians publications, and has published a book, "The Last Raven and Other Stories". "Sing, Like a Hermit Thrush" will appeal to boys, especially those who live on Indian Reservations, familiarly referred to as the "Rez" by Darrin, chief character in the story. The cover of the book is attractive with an imaginative painting by artist Raymond Skye of a realistic eagle soaring into the sky with a hermit thrush on its back, and Darrin clinging to its legs. Darrin has visions or dreams that give him the power to see into the future. This puzzles and upsets him until he comes to terms with it through talking to his grandfather (see excerpt) and Truman Cloud. He is helped over another hurdle in his life when Fox teaches him to defend himself against the bully, Arley. Perhaps this reviewer, as an older woman, is too critical. I found some of the language offensive and the story did not flow well. Why is Darrin's last name, Captain, never mentioned until it is called out at a baseball game? Then Darrin, thinking the coach is calling him, mistakenly answers, when in reality the coach is calling for the Captain of the team. The incident falls flat because the reader has not learned up to this point in the story that Darrin's last name is Captain. What happened to Darren's parents? They are mentioned early in the story, but never appear again. Why does he live with his cousin Brenda? On a positive note, Mohawk words are scattered throughout the book which is rather intriguing since a glossary or "ohenton" at the front of the book gives English translations. The celebrations at an Indian wedding, a pow-wow, and costumes for Indian dancers are described adding further insights into life on a Reservation. Because of the language, and the above inconsistencies I would recommend this story with lower case "r" reservations for selected readers only. Recommended with reservations. Joan Payzant is a retired teacher/librarian living in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Book Review After the War. Carol Matas. Toronto: Scholastic Canada Ltd.,1996. 144 pages, hardcover, $16.99 ISBN 0-590-24758-1. Grades 7 - 9 / Ages 12 - 15. Review by Ian Stewart ****/4 excerpt: I creep from behind the couch and move to the window. The crowd is beating some of the occupants of the house, using bricks, sticks, or stabbing them over and over with knives, all the time screaming, "murdering Jews, filthy Communists, child killers...." Finally the mob disperses and the soldiers come in. We move the wounded to mattresses on the floor that aren't ripped or blood soaked.... There is nowhere that is safe. But somehow I've survived again. I don't know how to stop. After the War is Carol Matas's fictional account of Ruth Mendenberg, a fifteen year old Holocaust survivor, who finds personal self-renewal in the courage and love of the Jewish people. After the War is also a fact based account of the great post-World War II Jewish migration to Eretz Israel, the land of Israel. Ruth's days and nights are haunted by the memories of life and death in the camps. At times she wonders if the ashes of her mother and sister drifted down from the chimneys of the Auschwitz crematoria onto her, as she was marched off to the slave labour camps. Although alive, Ruth's soul and spirit are mere ashes: she has been psychologically destroyed in the crucible of Nazism's burnt offerings. She believes that love and happiness can no longer exist for her. After what she has seen and experienced, survival is more of a punishment than a blessing. After her release from the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz, Ruth returns home to the Polish town of Kielce. She hoped to find at least one surviving relative; tragically, she is told that none have survived the Nazi horror. She meets a Zionist organizer from Palestine, who tries to convince her to migrate to Israel and help build a new Jewish state. Before she makes a final decision, however, the Jews of Kielce are caught in a murderous pogrom: a slaughter of Jews. Nazism's defeat, in 1945, and the world wide recognition of the Holocaust's horrors did not ensure that Europe's surviving Jews were safe from anti-Semites. On 4 July 1946, Jews in Kielce were accused of kidnapping Christian children and slitting their throats. Witnesses said that the Christian blood was used in strange barbarous Jewish rituals and that a rampaging mob murdered dozens of innocent Jews in the slaughter that engulfed the town. The Kielce pogrom was not an isolated incident. The Jews had been invited back by the government, but they were being attacked, beaten and murdered throughout Poland. It was the Kielce murders, however, that became the catalyst for the brichah - the flight of Eastern Jews to Palestine. Brichah agents in Europe planned escapes for thousands of fleeing Jews. It was very secret, very dangerous and very illegal. The stateless Jews did not have proper papers to cross the borders of Poland, Czechoslovakia and Italy, and the British had closed the borders of Palestine to further Jewish immigration. Some border guards could be bribed, but others shot to kill, and any Jew caught would end up in a detention camp. In the story, Ruth agrees to join the illegal organization and to shepherd a group of younger children on the journey to Palestine. She has no conviction to the cause; she is just alone and, as the brichah organizer told her, she had nothing else to do with her life and nowhere else to go. Throughout the terrifying adventure she risks her life for these children, just as other young Jews risked their lives for her. During the journey, they encounter drunken murderous border guards, hunger, sickness, and the cold brutality of the British navy. As Ruth goes through these experiences and listens to the children's and other young people's stories, her despair is slowly transformed through a tortuous metamorphosis. These young people's courage in the face of unthinkable atrocity, their deep fears and their hidden hopes open her eyes to new possibilities. Through knowing these children, she begins to face life, find love and comes to terms with her sadness. Ruth's and the children's stories are terrible testimonies to human evil. Matas does not spare a young reader's sensibilities. The horrors the Jewish people faced and suffered under the Nazi autarchy are brutal in their honesty. Matas clearly believes that these stories must be told and re-told. Unfortunately the world does not learn much from history, but at least it must not be allowed to forget the evil that is Nazism. It is also important that Matas has not forgotten the courage of the brave Poles who helped Jews, at the risk of their own lives, during the war. Those heroes who hid, fed and protected Jews are rightfully remembered. If there is a fault in After the War it is a somewhat artificial and cumbersome treatment of opposing Jewish political attitudes to the issues of peace, land, and security. Young readers will not be attuned to these political elements. It is an addition that diminishes the human elements of Ruth's story, which is the focus of the book and unnecessarily removes it from its vital historical context. A sequel would be a better place to explore these important elements. Carol Matas has written a very good and important book. I hope that teachers and librarians recommend After the War to their students. Highly Recommended Ian Stewart works at Lord Nelson School in Winnipeg and at the University of Winnipeg library. Book Review Thru the Smoky End Boards, Canadian Poetry about Sports and Games. Edited by Kevin Brooks and Sean Brooks. Vancouver: Polestar Book Publishers, 1996. 248pp. paper, $16.95. ISBN 1-896095-1 Grades 10 and up / Ages 16 and up. Review by Rory Runnells. ***1/2 /4 Thru the Smoky End Boards, Canadian Poetry About Sports and Games, is a wide-ranging, invigorating, deep, if sometimes discursive, collection of poems about (mainly) hockey and baseball, but other games as well, both team and individual. Edited by the brothers Brooks, Kevin and Sean, with care and insight into their subject, the book offers poems from the late Victorian John Frederic Herbin's 'The Diver" to the Tragically Hip's lyric "Fifty Mission Cap", and (much better) material in between. The subject is sport as metaphor for how and why we live, though, of course, this is sometimes hard to define. Perhaps this is best seen in George Bowering's "Baseball, a poem in the magic number 9' when he writes of the great Boston Red Sox player, Ted Williams. I was in love with Ted Williams. His long legs, that grace, his narrow baseball bat level-swung, his knowledge of art, it has to be perfect, as near as possible, dont swing at a pitch seven centimeters wide of the plate. I root for the Boston Red Sox Who are in ninth place Who haven't won since 1946 It has to be perfect. We wish we lived our livesgrace, level-swung, every day a seeking for perfectionas Williams lived his game; if only our lives could be the knowledge of the art of that game. That is worth rooting for, even if we remain in ninth place. The book's subject is also the metaphysic of sport, as in Lionel Kearns, 'Hockey is Zen" Frank handles his hockey stick like a delicate instrument, a perfect extension of physical self and I, sitting high above the ice think of a Samurai swordsman: elegance and exact precision the gestures executed in a flash of instant decision. Sport is about the lone figure, as the Brooks' explain in their generally fine introduction, which "expresses a strong element of the Canadian psyche". Many of the poems centre on the great sport figures as these lone players, usually hockey, carry the unresolved tensions and dreams of a community. Al Purdy's 'Homage to Ree-shard' encapsulates this brilliantly. The Brooks' are right when they state in the introduction that the "strong sense of being first and foremost an individual, yet always a part of a community, may be the uniquely Canadian theme of Thru the Smoky End Boards." Other themes are dealt with in this collection, for example, our sense of being 'not Americans', as particularly noted in the hockey poems, but also in Raymond Souster's edgy, funny baseball poem "Jays Win American League East, 1985" in which he equates that victory as symbolic revenge for the American invasion of Toronto in 1813. This time, after nine explosive innings, the damn Yankees are beaten at last by the pitcher's arm, the bat, not by any force of arms, bloody loss of dead and dying. Another theme is the passing of time, the short career and sometimes tragic end of sports figures makes all of us reflect on our mortality. If we see the best of what we would be in the one great sport figure, we see our end as well in his end. Speaking of 'his', many of the best poems in the collection deal with men and women if not at odds about sports, then at least always in a perplexing discussion. The Brooks' put it this way (though the poems are more complex than what their explanation implies) "The issue is not simply that men inexplicably like sports and women do not, but that sports are so thoroughly gendered as masculine that some atheletes and fans are uncomfortable with the roles they assume when they take up sports and games." These poems will provide fodder for lively debate, especially, I think, "Sport" by Leona Gom. My one major criticism is that the collection becomes discursive, and near the end, unfocussed. The poems on individual athletes are mainly dull; some of the poems have little to do with the themes incorporated in the rest of the book, their link to sport tentative. Ambition may be the problem for the editors. Trying to include everything is often a problem of including too much for what is truly interesting in the original idea. However, the problem is a small one compared to the rest of the book. The arrangements of the poems is excellent, easy to find by subject. The index is good as are the acknowledgements. The book is clearly a collection important to its editors, and their genuine concern in how this material, which they obviously love, is presented deserves special mention. For student, sports fan, casual reader, and those who seek out Canadian poetry, Thru the Smoky End Boards is necessary reading. It is a collection to browse through, argue over, and mainly, admire. Recommended Rory Runnells is coordinator of the Manitoba Association of Playwrights who watches sports. | |
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