SaskBooks Reviews

Terror on Turtle Creek by Jean Freeman illustrated by RoseMarie Condon Published by Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing Review by Keith Foster $14.95 ISBN 978-1-894431-77-4 As a longtime admirer of Jean Freeman’s work, I knew I was in for a good read when I saw she was the author of Terror on Turtle Creek. The story follows the exploits of Barry Richards, a youngster prone to anger and negative thoughts, who works hard to avoid work. He volunteers to help fill sandbags when Turtle Creek floods over, but slinks away to relax in an unmoored boat. When it slips into the raging river and starts to sink, Barry struggles to steer himself to a flooded house. There he meets the stranded occupants, Sara McKeever and her three younger siblings, ranging in age from eight to three – Sam, Josh, and Emily—and Emily’s doll, Angelina Poot. Each chapter title is actually a time stamp that allows the reader to follow the story in real time. Teeming with challenges, each chapter ends in suspense. Just as the children are coping with one crisis, another comes crashing down on them. I immediately felt compelled to read the next chapter to see how, or if,…

The Weeping Chair by Donald Ward Published by Thistledown Press Review by Hannah Muhajarine ISBN 978-1-927068-00-7 The sixteen stories found in The Weeping Chair by Donald Ward cover a wide range of highly imaginative situations, ranging from humorous to heartbreaking, from cognizant chickens to the criminally insane, from Saskatoon to outer space. Many of the stories present a deceptively normal situation, such as traveling on a train, preparing dinner, or ordering coffee, which quickly evolves into something fantastic and profound. Ward turns the mundane ever so slightly, giving the reader a new and illuminating perspective. The stories are full of interesting characters, some more eccentric than others. Ward is able to quickly sketch out these people and bring them to life using just a few words: “She was wearing a black, floor-length cape today,” he writes, “high-collared, like some anthropomorphic creature from a children’s tale.” His dialogue is both witty and truthful, and he skillfully captures the brief relations formed between strangers in day to day life. Some stories are hilariously quirky, others are deeply moving, and some are both. The humour is often dark, as with the observation “Death is the ultimate treatment for a sleep disorder.” There are…

The Sailor and the Christmas Trees: A True Story by Deana Driver Illustrated by Catherine Folnovic Published by DriverWorks Ink Review by Keith Foster $14.95 ISBN 978-192757002-9 Although a prolific writer with five books and more than 2,000 articles in Canadian newspapers and magazines to her credit, this is Deana Driver’s first children’s book. It is a true story, told in simple language a child can easily understand. The story revolves around John Hanlon, a wireless operator in the Royal Canadian Navy in World War II. His ship, HMCS (His Majesty’s Canadian Ship) Royalmount, was protecting convoys bringing supplies to Britain. Knowing that on the return trip he would be at sea on Christmas Day, Hanlon and three other sailors cut down a few evergreen trees to decorate their frigate. When they found out that another ship was carrying children to safety in Canada, they got close enough to shoot a line across it. One of the trees was then pulled over. “Those children’s eyes were so big as they watched that tree bobbing along the line from our ship to theirs,” Hanlon recalled. “Those children started cheering.” Fifty years later, at a reunion in Calgary, Hanlon met a woman…

Redcoats and Renegades By Barry McDivitt Published by Thistledown Press Review by Hannah Muhajarine ISBN 978-1-897235-97-3 Barry McDivitt’s young adult novel Redcoats and Renegades is a tale of thrilling adventure, made all the more interesting because it is based on true events. It follows the story of Hamlet Hamlin, who claims to be the first person the Mounties ever arrested. As a young pickpocket, Hamlet falls under the ‘renegades’ side of the title, but ends up joining the Mounties, semi-voluntarily, on their march West. At the time of this story-the early 1870s-the North West Mounted Police was still young. It was created after the purchase of the Northwest Territories from the Hudson’s Bay Company. The Mounties were charged with protecting the First Nations people from American whiskey and fur traders, and at the same time establishing a stronger Canadian presence in the newly-acquired land. The Mounties faced opposition not just from the Americans, but from Sioux and Blackfoot as well. Many characters, Hamlet included, express their doubt in the ability of the Mounties to bring order to the lawless West, expecting them to be massacred instead. Hamlet’s perspective is fresh and entertaining. He sees the ridiculousness of some of the…

The Anatomy of Edouard Beaupré: A Story by Sarah Kathryn York Published by Coteau Books Review by Keith Foster $16.95 ISBN 13:978155050774 Reading The Anatomy of Edouard Beaupré is like venturing into The Twilight Zone. The novel is so well researched and written that it’s hard to tell where facts leave off and fiction begins. Beaupré, the eldest of 20 children, was indeed real. Author Sarah Kathryn York adds further realism to her novel by introducing actual historical characters such as Canadian strongman Louis Cyr. It was impossible for Beaupré to remain inconspicuous. Known as the Willow Bunch Giant, standing at eight feet, three inches, he stood out like a redwood tree in a wheat field. He was still growing when he died at age 23. His size made him an object of ridicule and exploitation throughout his short life. Even in death, he was not free from abuse. His corpse went on public display in a store window in St. Louis, Missouri, and again as an exhibit at the University of Montreal. York revels in imagery, saying that “rags of clouds scrubbed the sky.” A master of metaphor and simile, she peppers her story with literary devices. She describes…

A Fraidy Pants Lair By The Turk & Toph Published by Your Nickel’s Worth Reviewed by Jessica Eissfeldt Price $24.95 ISBN: 978-1-894431-47-7 Colorful illustrations help underscore the rambunctious monsters that populate the page in this lively and vivid children’s book about the monstrous consequences of lying. The main character, Freddie, fears her older brother will kill her when she breaks a string on his shiny new guitar. She lies about it to her mother. And that’s when the monsters start appearing. The more lies she tells, the more monsters appear. Cleverly weaving together an entertaining tale with multiple, vivid drawings on each page, A Fraidy Pants Liar serves as a great, yet gentle, guide to help youngsters realize “it’s important to be honest with ourselves to create a world where love is power,” as the reader’s note states. With this ingenious twist on a morality tale, the authors The Turk and Toph use ugly, persistent monsters to illustrate the point that lying is not the path to follow. Being afraid of the consequences of lying is far scarier than being able to speak up and tell the truth. Children will love the cartoon-filled book – the illustrations seem to jump…