Canada (English)


47
Ellis, Deborah
The breadwinner
Toronto : Douglas & McIntyre, 2000. – 170pp
ISBN 0-88899-419-2. - 0-88899-416-8
Afghanistan - Taliban - Girl - Women's emancipation - Freedom - Loyalty
This compelling and realistic novel is set in Afghanistan, a country devastated by more than 40 years of war and under the yoke of the Taliban, members of an extreme religious group, ever since 1996. When her father is arrested, eleven-year-old Pavana has to become the breadwinner of the family. Since the Taliban has banned women from public life (women cannot go to school, work outside the home or leave their homes without a man), she must transform herself into a boy. The author presents a sensitive portrayal of determined girls and women struggling for survival and fighting for their dignity and freedom. (10+) <>


48
Gregory, Nan (text)
Lightburn, Ron (ill.)
Wild Girl & Gran
Red Deer, Alberta : Red Deer Press, 2000. – [34pp]
(Northern lights books for children)
ISBN 0-88995-221-3
Grandchild - Grandmother - Friendship - Death - Imagination
Perched on her favourite tree, Wild Girl awaits the arrival of her grandmother. For a happy spring and summer, they enjoy a deep friendship. But as the autumn leaves wither, grandmother falls ill. In winter, grandmother has died. Rhythmic, urgent and engaging, the text bears the mark of a true storyteller's craft: little snippets of playful poetry mingle with short sentences of well-paced prose. The illustrator uses layers of pencil drawings, acrylics and oil paints to project the changing moods unto the landscape of the Garry Oak Meadow, a unique ecosystem in British Columbia. Together, words and pictures pay homage to nature and the power of imagination and love which renew Wild Girl's spirits. (6+) ¤


49
Heneghan, James
The grave
Vancouver : Douglas & McIntyre, 2000. – 236pp
ISBN 0-88899-414-1
Time-slip - Ireland <1847> - Famine - Identity - Friendship - Family
Abandoned as a baby, 13-year-old Tom has been shuffled from one foster home to another. When he hears rumours that a mass grave has been unearthed on his school grounds, he finds himself inexplicably drawn to it. The grave pulls Tom down into its terrible darkness and beyond, where he discovers that he is in Ireland in 1847, at the height of the potato famine. The Monaghans take him in, and for the first time Tom experiences what is is like to have parents and siblings who care for one another. Tom's journeys into the past provide him with some clues to his family background, and he returns to his present with a renewed sense of responsibility. A final intriguing author's note to this powerful first-person narrative explains that a mysterious mass grave actually was discovered in Liverpool in 1973. (13+)


50
Lee, Dennis (text)
McPhail, David (illus.)
Bubblegum delicious
[Toronto] : Key Porter Books, 2000. – [32pp]
ISBN 1-55263-159-1
Bug - Nonsense - Poetry
Dennis Lee, praised as the poet laureate of the Canadian children's poetry, returns in this truly delightful book. Using the rhythm of bouncing balls and schoolyard songs, he has created a whimsical world of nursery and counting rhymes, nonsense and two-pence, lyrical lullabies and quirky quatrains literally crawling across the pages. These are accompanied by a parade of psychedelic bugs, a product of the illustrator's overboarding imagination. These bugs counterpoint the verse with their own brand of visual poetry. A friendly boy and his dog take the reciting reader through the well-designed book. But soon, one feels, the children will shout, chant, sing. (5+) ¤


Special Mention

51
McKay, Sharon E.
Charlie Wilcox
Toronto : Stoddart Kids, 2000. – XI, 221pp
ISBN 0-7737-6093-8
World War I - Infirmity - Heroism - Growing-up - Friendship - Newfoundland
Charlie Wilcox is born into a family of captains and sealers in Newfoundland. But weak and with a club foot, he is not to go to the ice. Charlie is determined to prove himself. He tries stowing away on a sealing ship, only to find he is headed for war! Tending to the wounded at the army hospital, Charlie proves his worth in the trenches of World War I. When he returns home, he is no longer a boy, but a young who has found his way. McKay, great-niece of the »real« Charlie Wilcox, masterfully blends fact and fiction, developing an unforgettable cast of characters against a fully realised setting. Every minor character comes alive, and one can share in the lovable protagonist's excitement, fear and nascent love, admire his determination and heroism and smile at his little worries. This touching historical novel is written with a deep awareness of human emotion and a fine sense of humour. (10+) 
(Governor General's Award; 2000)


52
Schwartz, Roslyn (text/illus.)
The Mole Sisters and the busy bees
Toronto : Annick Press, 2000. – [28pp]
ISBN 1-55037-663-2. - 1-55037-662-4
Sisters - Bee - Laziness - Business
When a busy bee buzzes by, the irresistible Mole Sisters stop doing nothing. They begin smelling flowers and get their noses covered in pollen until they look like flowers themselves. An enormous sneeze, splashing all over the page, puts everything right in the end. The short, lively text brims with imagination and resounds with onomatopoeia. The playful pastel-chalk illustrations capture wonderfully amusing situations, such as the Mole Sisters' noses sticking out of the tall grass. This is a charming new series whose humour and refreshing simplicity will not only delight preschoolers. (4+)


53
Waboose, Jan Bourdeau (text)
Deines, Brian (illus.)
Skysisters
Toronto, ON : Kids Can Press, 2000. – [32pp]
ISBN 1-55074-697-9
Sisters - Northern Lights
This is a quiet book, for it cherishes the wisdom of previous Ojibway generations. As the two sisters go out into the night to see the Northern Lights, they remember grandmother's words: »Wisdom comes on silent wings«. Waboose's knowledge of the northern landscape has created a gentle yet powerful story about a journey into a silent night. It is about the bonds between sisters, between generations and between humans and nature. Deines's oil on canvas illustrations capture the chill of a silent northern night, the warmth of the family circle and the radiance of a child's wonder. (6+) <> ¤

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