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Overview
Shaw Sebring is sixteen and trying desperately to understand and accept his father's recent suicide. Moving with his mother halfway across the county in an effort to distance themselves from the awful truth, Shaw lands in a new school and finds that the ghost of his father, a best-selling author, has followed him. Determined that he will not follow in his father's footsteps Shaw tries to chart his own course, until circumstances force him to accept that where--and who--we come from have an impact on what we become.After his father commits suicide, Shaw struggles to come to terms with the death and move on.
Synopsis
After his father commits suicide, Shaw struggles to come to terms with the death and move on.
Lucy Schall - VOYA
This is a multi-book review. These three pattern novels, restricted by length, employ interesting but underdeveloped plots and characters. Separated from his father and in new territory with a strong, single mother, a young man in each story meets an attractive girl, receives support from a stable older man, succeeds in an intercultural experience, and makes independent choices with positive results in relation to his father's character. The stories by Butcher and Fitch employ shock openings a gory suicide, purple condoms but authentic teen voices do not have the time to develop the characters' confrontations with complex problems. In The Hemingway Tradition, Butcher's protagonist fears that he is gay, as is his father, a talented writer and athlete. After a racial incident, Shaw writes in an editorial for the school paper, "P is for People-not Prejudice." He wins praise from peers and adults and accepts his father's homosexuality and perhaps his own. The reader, never seeing the article, is unable to judge Shaw's realization. In One More Step, Fitch's character deals with his dysfunctional biological parents and his "steps". Mom marries her third serious boyfriend. Dad has a new family and a drinking problem. With two brief and mild rebellions, the protagonist adjusts even though his grandfather, his stable father figure, dies unexpectedly. In Refuge Cove, Gregg rescues and hides boat refugees. The fearful family, because of an infatuation between Gregg and their daughter, trusts him. Immigration briefly takes Gregg's mother into custody, but both the government and the town support the family. Other novels such as Jean Ferris's Eight Seconds (Harcourt, 2000), Caroline Cooney's TheTerrorist (Scholastic, 1997) and David Klass's Home of the Braves (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2002) present more thought-provoking, realistic, and motivating treatments of similar issues. VOYA CODES: 3Q 2P J S (Readable without serious defects; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2002, Orca Soundings/Orca, 92p,
Editorials
Canadian Book Review Annual
"This novel is an exceptionally good choice for both male and female reluctant readers. Highly recommended."Resource Links
"Pick it up - you'll be glad that you did!"CM Magazine
"The clear theme of the pain of prejudice for the victims, be it on the basis of race or sexual orientation, will appeal to today's activist teens. It's interesting to note that these themes could not have been addressed so directly only a few short years ago. Highly Recommended."VOYA
This is a multi-book review. These three pattern novels, restricted by length, employ interesting but underdeveloped plots and characters. Separated from his father and in new territory with a strong, single mother, a young man in each story meets an attractive girl, receives support from a stable older man, succeeds in an intercultural experience, and makes independent choices with positive results in relation to his father's character. The stories by Butcher and Fitch employ shock openings—a gory suicide, purple condoms—but authentic teen voices do not have the time to develop the characters' confrontations with complex problems. In The Hemingway Tradition, Butcher's protagonist fears that he is gay, as is his father, a talented writer and athlete. After a racial incident, Shaw writes in an editorial for the school paper, "P is for People-not Prejudice." He wins praise from peers and adults and accepts his father's homosexuality and perhaps his own. The reader, never seeing the article, is unable to judge Shaw's realization. In One More Step, Fitch's character deals with his dysfunctional biological parents and his "steps". Mom marries her third serious boyfriend. Dad has a new family and a drinking problem. With two brief and mild rebellions, the protagonist adjusts even though his grandfather, his stable father figure, dies unexpectedly. In Refuge Cove, Gregg rescues and hides boat refugees. The fearful family, because of an infatuation between Gregg and their daughter, trusts him. Immigration briefly takes Gregg's mother into custody, but both the government and the town support the family. Other novels such as Jean Ferris's Eight Seconds (Harcourt, 2000), Caroline Cooney's TheTerrorist (Scholastic, 1997) and David Klass's Home of the Braves (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2002) present more thought-provoking, realistic, and motivating treatments of similar issues. VOYA CODES: 3Q 2P J S (Readable without serious defects; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2002, Orca Soundings/Orca, 92p,— Lucy Schall
Children's Literature
Shaw grew up with the same skill and passion for writing as his famous author father; they had planned to write a book together. His dad's sudden suicide changed everything. Shaw is stunned to read of his father's homosexuality in his suicide note and shocked to read that his father felt that he could no longer live in the closet. Shaw questions how much of his relationship with his father had been "a lie." To soften the vivid memories, Shaw and his mom move from Vancouver to Winnipeg, where he wrestles with the bold descriptions written in his dad's journal. Shaw also tackles adjusting to a new high school, finding new friends, and moving on with his own life dreams. This well written, engaging, high interest book (large print and short length) realistically conveys the emotions of a high school boy. The author uses strong characters to allow Shaw to interact with social issues of high school, while at the same time, deal with the emotions of his dad's suicide. The subject matter and explicit description of suicide are appropriate for mature teenagers. 2002, Orca Soundings/Orca Book Publishers, Ages 16 up.— Fran Kaiser