Early Matas novels remain current

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/04/2012 (5097 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s Carol Matas has successfully written for the juvenile market (ages 9-12) for more than 30 years. The award-winning author reminds us of that history with the release of The Edge of When (Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 276 pages, $13 paperback), an updated compilation of her three early novels, The Fusion Factor, Zanu and Me, Myself and I, published in 1986 and ’87.

As Matas remarks in her introduction to this combined volume, the striking fact is that the dangers discussed in these stories — the threat of nuclear war, climate change, and rampant consumerism — seem even more urgent today than when she first wrote about them.

But besides illuminating the threats, Matas makes a challenge to her readers to change the future by tackling the source of those problems today.

With her heroine, Rebecca, a 12-year-old from River Heights who is accidentally drawn into the future, readers will find plenty of local references in these adventures. As Rebecca confronts a future where it is too dangerous to live on the surface of the planet, or where every citizen is required to make a quota of purchases every day, she becomes determined to organize her generation to make changes that will alter those possibilities.

Juvenile readers will find Rebecca’s futuristic worlds fascinating and may well resolve to take up her challenge.

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Confirming her reputation as a prolific writer, Matas has also published a new novel in Scholastic’s I Am Canada series, Behind Enemy Lines (200 pages, $15 hardcover). It is the story of an Allied airman, Sam Fredriksen, who is shot down over occupied France during the Second World War.

Matas uses a number of historical sources, including interviewing surviving war veterans, to make her story factual. Sam is at first sheltered by the French Resistance but is later betrayed and transferred to a concentration camp in Buchenwald.

What makes his experience different is that the airmen in the camp maintain military discipline despite horrific conditions. This is an interesting addition to this series of books featuring important portions of Canada’s history.

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Eva Wiseman is another Winnipeg young-adult writer who can boast of receiving a number of awards. Her latest novel, The Last Song (Tundra Books, 232 pages, $20, hardcover), is set in Spain at the time of the dreaded Inquisition.

Isabel is a 14-year-old Catholic girl whose father is physician to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. She believes that the persecution of Jews can have nothing to do with her until she discovers a hidden family secret. When her father is arrested and tortured, Isabel must risk her life to try to save him.

Wiseman does an excellent job of making 15th-century Spain come alive. Isabel is well drawn as an impulsive, independent girl who resists attempts at an arranged marriage with a man she despises.

While the other characters are somewhat less fully realized, the story remains a compelling account of this horrific period in the history of Spain and of Judaism.

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Who can resist the whimsical artistry of Toronto illustrator Barbara Reid? In Zoe’s Year (Scholastic Canada, $10), she presents us with a delightful board book for young children.

This book was originally published as four volumes — Zoe’s Rainy Day, Zoe’s Sunny Day, Zoe’s Windy Day and Zoe’s Snowy Day.

It’s amazing to think that Reid’s pictures are all constructed of plasticine. Her figures almost leap off the pages, and all preschoolers will love this charming reminder of their favourite activities.

Winnipegger Helen Norrie is a former teacher-librarian who has taught children’s literature at the University of Manitoba. Her column appears on the third weekend of the month.