Book Reviews

Canadian Young Adult Fiction Top Notch

Janet McNaughton (Author)
The Secret Under My Skin. HarperCollins
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Curtis Parkinson (Author)
Storm-Blast. Tundra Books
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John Wilson (Author)
Secret. Beach Holme Publishing
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Reviewed by Lynn (J. R.) Wytenbroek

A realistic adventure about three teenagers lost while boating in the Caribbean, Storm-Blast presents an initially picturesque but ultimately frightening view of the ocean. The fast-paced adventure teaches about boating and seamanship. The primary character, Regan, is a likeable young teen, fighting his sense of worthlessness as he can never please his demanding and dismissive father. The story traces his proof, both to himself and his family, that he has courage. His problem-solving techniques ultimately save him, his sister Carol, and his cousin Matt after a storm carries them far out to sea. His ability arises partially from his willingness to learn from others. But Storm-Blast is not a "problem" book. It is an exciting, entertaining adventure with some true teen angst thrown in for good measure. The message of the book lies in the development of the protagonist.

Although Al Lister, the protagonist of Secret, is the same age as Regan, Wilson's novel is much more sophisticated than Parkinson's exciting but simply narrated story. Al's sections of the novel are narrated in first person, so the reader is brought close to the action and the emotions of the protagonist. But other sections are narrated in the third person, from the perspective of a native warrior circa 1610 AD. Furthermore, Al travels from the present time, where he has been on an archaeological dig with his father in James Bay, to the past, where he meets Henry Hudson at the end of his last, fateful voyage and befriends Jack, Hudson's son. Most of the book is set in the past, as the Hudson explorers meet with Natives and are then destroyed either by disease or, at the end, by an Iroquois attack. Only Jack and Al survive, with Jack taken in by the Natives after the Iroquois are defeated and Al returning to his own time after a blow to the head.

Ghosts presents combines adventure with insight into a mysterious piece of Canadian history. Hudson and his crew never returned from their last voyage to James Bay, so Wilson's story about their ultimate fate is pure speculation, although interesting and plausible. Historical detail about first contact and the clashing cultures is made fascinating by both the adventure and the "solution" to the historical mystery. Ghosts is a particularly historical novel, vibrant with excitement and haunted by a mystery big enough to captivate any reader.

McNaughton's The Secret Under My Skin is science fiction, set in the 2300s when the Earth is beginning to recover from the destruction of the environment caused by uncontrolled materialism. After global warming has helped wipe out civilization, and society has re-established itself within the rigid structures needed to survive massive environmental cataclysms, people are left with an intense fear of technology. This fear is used by dictatorial governing powers to control society, leading to a "technocaust" where thousands of people in the technologies and sciences were sent to concentration camps from which most of them never returned.

The Secret Under My Skin is set at a time when the Weaver's Guild, a politically powerful working association of women, seeks to restore democracy. Also the Masters of the Way, keepers of all scientific and technological knowledge, seek to return that knowledge to society for the healing of the people and the Earth. Sixteen-year-old Blake Raintree is taken from a workhouse for discarded street children into the home of a Master of the Way where she quickly becomes involved in the battle of the Weavers and Masters against the ruling and oppressive Commission.

Secret challenges readers to rethink our consumerist and environmentally destructive way of life. The novel pulls no punches. Entire chunks of the North American continent, where the book is set, are now under because of the melting of the ice-caps. No one dares walk outside without protective gear because of the damage to the ozone layer. The poisons infesting air, soil and water are beginning to dissipate, but all food must be treated to remove toxins before it is eaten. A large segment of the society has been reduced to a slave class to serve the needs of the rest, and survival is the best that can be hoped for by most, while only a privileged few ever attain comfort.

We come to know and like Blake, the Master William and his warm wife Erica and the caring and gifted Lem Howell, who lost both his precious wife and baby son to the technocaust. Lem particularly stands out, a survivor of a terrible tragedy, deeply and permanently scarred and yet caring enough to help the disenfranchised Blake find her identity, a gift she repays by helping him recover his lost son. The novel advocates love, kindness, basic freedoms and the health of the earth. Yet all of these themes are subordinated to McNaughton's powerful characterizations and to the haunting story she has woven around them.

This review originally appeared in Canadian Literature #186 (Autumn 2005), Women & the Politics of Memory. (pg. 168 - 170)

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