Happy Canada Day 2011, etc.

It's only coincidence that the last two books I read were by Mennonite writers, both from Winnipeg. This Hidden Thing by Dora Dueck received McNally Robinson's Book of the Year Award and Miriam Toews, well, I always read what she writes.

A friend asked me why the Mennonites are such good writers. Well, I'm no Mennonite, but I was raised as a German Baptist, and the two cultures have a lot in common. My theory is this: both cultures immerse their people in word-study from a very young age. (Of course, the word-study revolves around the Christian bible - but there's an easy transition from the biblical to all literature.) The other thing about being immersed in a religious culture like the Baptists is that you spend an awful lot of time reflecting and introspecting. Maybe there's other reasons, but that's my 2 cents on the matter.

HAPPY CANADA DAY! Let's enjoy our freedom. What a wonderful country. Let's work on keeping it that way.

By the way, Dora Dueck's book was a compelling read and her use of metaphor was simply exquisite! It very much deserved the 2011 Book of the Year Award.

comparing two exiles

Finished reading between shades of grey by Ruta Sepetys (Philomel Books). It's a story about the exile of Lithuanians during WWII. Siberia. Long trips in freight trains. Stalin. Sound familiar? I was totally surprised by the number of parallels to The Kulak's Daughter.

Let me list some of these similarities. (SPOILER ALERT!)

1. This story, like mine, is based on family history.

2. Narration is in first person. Sepetys uses a 15/16 year old girl named Lina. I use an 11/12 year old girl named Olga.

3. The pre-existing conditions. Suspicion. Who betrayed them? Why were they chosen for exile?

4. The conditions during the horrible freight train trip. Death of an infant.

5. A rock. Both characters carry around a special rock.

6. Both Lina and Olga are separated from their fathers. Both hope for reunification.

7. Both girls have a younger brother who is important to the story.

8. Both girls witness the death of their mothers under exile conditions.

9. Both girls have the saddest birthdays ever in their remote exile camps.

10. In both books there is a guard who shows limited kindness. (Sepp and Kretzky).

11. Both girls meet a boy at camp who teaches them survivor skills. (Sasha and Andrius)

There's a decade between these two novels. The Kulak's Daughter happens when Stalin's first Five Year Plan is executed - for collectivization. Sepetys' novel, between shades of gray, is set during WWII when Stalin focused on removing the intellectual class from the Baltic countries. So Olga's exile was to destroy an economic class, and Lina's exile had to do with the destruction of a country. However, to have a 1941 character call it genocide (page 182) is incorrect. The word was not coined until 1943.

The guards in my book are called the OGPU, while in Sepetys they have morphed into the NKVD. This changeover would have occurred in 1934. (I did an earlier blog post about the name changes.)

I am thrilled to see a growing body of literature that focuses on Stalin's atrocities. I hope that students will continue to have opportunities to study and discuss world issues. It's only through enlightenment that the darkness goes away. I urge everyone to read this book.

write on!

It's not that I don't want to post more often - because I do. It's just that I spend very little time online right now. When I do get a chance to use the laptop I realize how disconnected I've become to the online world of children's writers.

All's not lost, though. I'm working on a new project, I have a great new critique group, and I'm reading some very good books. Just finished Miriam Toews' new release, Irma Voth, and loved it. I like the way her story developed, closer and closer to the SECRET and then it's out and everything else falls into place. Miriam Toews was writer-in-residence at our local library a few years past - just before her breakthrough novel, A Complicated Kindness, was released and she was most encouraging and supportive with my then unpublished manuscript of my first book.

(I say first - fingers crossed and working hard - so that it will not, hopefully, be my only published book.) Toews' writing is funny, smart and oh so sensitive. I keep hoping that if I read enough great books, I'll eventually write one. On the other hand, reading a great book is a reward in itself.

Besides the reading, writing, and critiquing, there's also a garden to be edited (or weeded, watered, and talked to). There are various young people drifting through my house - usually in a hurry - looking for food, socks, head phones, rides, car keys - or even - a bit of encouragement.

Then there's the day job. Big changes in the last month. It's a good thing I like walking because with my new route I'm walking two hours more a day. You know what they say, what doesn't break you, only makes you stronger. I feel strong. But all I really want to do is get my next book published. So, write on, I shall.

Happy writing, reading, editing, and gardening to everyone.

Wretched Land Review

This decade-spanning saga of a family in eastern Ukraine begins in 1907 and ends with Ukraine's independence in 1991. The story follows the lives of Dmytro and Khrystina Verbitsky and is based on the lives of the author's grandparents. They lived through several famines (including the Holodomor), the Bolshevik Revolution, WWII, the death of Stalin, and finally the slow disintegration of the USSR.

The book was a page-turner. The story is very well-written and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in this era of history. There's a lot of the historical framework added so that the reader understands the bigger context and not just this particular family's experiences. My only quibble would be that I'd have liked a family tree added. The Verbitsky couple had such a large family and I had trouble keeping track of them. I had to keep turning back and forth to remind myself.

But quibble aside, the book is full of positive vibes, in spite of much sadness. It's obvious that a lot of soul went into the creation of this work. On more than one occasion I was brought to tears. One example is during the German retreat when the collective's barn is set ablaze and Khrystina almost dies.

Another profound moment is right near the end of the book after the war. It's peacetime now, yet the family is still having difficulties. Khrystina says, "What's wrong with out children, Dymtro? Why are they so cruel to other people?" And Dymytro replies, "Nothing is wrong with our children. It's the war. It has made them cruel."

The book is brimming with wisdom and love in spite of personal tragedy. It's powerful stuff and I wish the author, Mila Komarnisky, much success with it.

Visit her website for more info. www.komarnisky.com

A Quote

Escape from Warsaw

Historical fiction - or rather, 20th century war stories - are my special interest. Because of my family's personal history, perhaps I'm genetically-programmed to being obsessed with this dark past. There's no shortage of books on the subject, so I know I'm not alone with this interest. A family member said to me recently, why don't you just forget about the past. It's not healthy. Perhaps, it's not. But when I go visit my mom in the nursing home, and I see all these old people, I can't help but imagine what they've seen, who they once were, and where they come from. Life is about so much more than the present - unless you're a dog, of course.

That preamble was to justify my reading of yet another war novel. Escape from Warsaw - a mid grade novel by Ian Serraillier - was first published in the UK in 1956 with the title, The Silver Sword. In 1957 it was turned into an eight-part children's TV series by the BBC.

I've been doing background reading for an adult novel I'm working on and know so little about Poland. While I prefer reading non-fiction as research, I also enjoy learning about narrator techniques in novel-writing. It is, after-all, point-of-view that determines the story.

Escape from Warsaw (or The Silver Sword) is primarily an adventure story. Four children leave Warsaw in the search for their parents in Switzerland. The war has just ended and Europe is in shambles. While not rich in character, the novel does reveal an important aspect of war - families were torn apart and homes did no longer exist. Children were often without adults, and had to survive on their on. I imagine when this aired on TV - a mere ten years after the war had ended - that there would have been an intense interest.

I was delighted to do a return visit to Mrs. Hand's grade six class out in Carman, Manitoba last week. When I got to the school several students were watching and waiting for me - The Kulak's Daughter in hand. So first off I had to sign their books. Next, they took me on a tour of the school and introduced me to the principal, the librarian, the gym teacher, etc. They also showed me their favorite place - which was the kindergarten room. Then we headed off to their Grade six area.

I had a powerpoint to go along with my presentation and the students took care of all the technical details - which was great, because I'm still a bit of a luddite when it comes to technology. (I learn something more, and then something new comes along.)

Mrs. Hand's students had extremely interesting and well thought-out questions. They asked about Stalin, about my life as an author, and about the characters in the book. I was delighted to receive a copy of this question and answer exchange in the mail a few days later.

Thank you Mrs. Hand's grade six class! You made me feel very special, and Carman, Manitoba

will always make me think of bright, enthusiastic students and every author's dream of a teacher.