Tilly and the Crazy Eights By Monique Gray Smith

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

To begin, I liked it so much that I plan to pick up and read Monique Gray Smith's prequel to this, Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resiliance. I don't think it's necessary to read them in order. It will just be delightful to spend time with this character again and get to know her better.  
  
In this novel, Tilly and a group of indigenous elders head out on a road trip to Albuquerque for the world's biggest Powwow.

The trip originated in the women's stitch and bitch group with Sarah, one of the ailing members, talking about her dream of dancing at the Powwow. Then two older men join them. They managed to raise enough money for the trip by having film nights and baked goods sales. Each one of them has a specific bucket list item they want to cross off while on their journey. Tilly, the youngest, left her husband and children to look after them and be their driver. 

Shortly after they are on the road they name themselves Tilly and the crazy Eights. We get to know a lot about each of the characters as they travel from Vancouver, Canada, to New Mexico. I ended up caring for all of them although I wish Mable had had more of a presence.

It's a coming of age novel for the older crowd. Sure it's loaded with laughter and tenderness, but there is also loss, heartache and romance. A lot of learning and growing takes place. Each of them has issues to grapple with. Not the least are their histories of residential schools. I ended up weepy at numerous points in this book.

Ultimately it's a heartwarming feel good read about a group of people who are survivors. What more can you want?

No Fixed Address by Susan Nielsen

Susan Nielsen creates beautiful characters: individuals you believe in and care about. Felix and his mother, Astrid, are homeless. We learn this from the get go. The rest is the revealing of what happened to get them to this place and what might happen next.

I got my digital copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Here's the synopses from GoodReads:

Felix Knuttson, twelve, is an endearing kid with an incredible brain for trivia. His mom Astrid is loving but unreliable; she can't hold onto a job, or a home. When they lose their apartment in Vancouver, they move into a camper van, just for August, till Astrid finds a job. September comes, they're still in the van; Felix must keep "home" a secret and give a fake address in order to enroll in school. Luckily, he finds true friends. As the weeks pass and life becomes grim, he struggles not to let anyone know how precarious his situation is. When he gets to compete on a national quiz show, Felix is determined to win -- the cash prize will bring them a home. Their luck is about to change! But what happens is not at all what Felix expected.

I've never been homeless, but I have met people who, through no fault of their own, have ended up there. Here in Vancouver, B.C., where the story is situated, there is a dearth of low income housing. It's becoming a profound problem.

Who's fault is it here that Felix and his mom are homeless? His biological father has no money and was never expected to contribute financially anyway. Some might blame Astrid who seems to have serious interpersonal problems that get in the way of her holding down a job. We readers soon learn that she has slumps and anger issues, and as funds get tighter, stops taking her medication because she can't afford it. She sounds a lot like my bipolar sister without the manic bits. What's for certain is that she loves Felix and he loves her. 

There is a lot going on in this book.

Poverty, homelessness, single parent family, absent father, and mental health are explored. There is a bit of bullying going on as well. 

On the other hand, we see so much of the best in people. Felix's two best friends, Winnie and Dylan, oddballs themselves, are as stalwart as they come. At one point Felix tries to shoplift and gets caught. The immigrant owners of the shop discover that he is hungry and end up feeding him. His teachers are kind and authentic. Even the police officer who Felix is telling his story to does her best to reassure him and ensure that everything works out for the best for him and his mom. 

I have so many favourite parts in this book, but one of them is near the end of the book when the three friends are arguing over who's belief is most credible. Felix concludes to himself, “I get why Winnie believes in God. I get why Dylan believes in Bernard. I get why I wanted to believe in Mel. It can give a person comfort, feeling that something mysterious and otherworldly is looking out for you. 

But now I’m learning to have faith in something new. Something my mom stopped having faith in a long time ago.

Other people.”

Part of what makes this book so pleasurable to read is that it's set in my home town. When Felix talks about the places where he and his mother park their van, Spanish Banks in particular, I know them well and even imagine exactly where they might be. 

I enjoyed every bit of this satisfying story. I'm not particularly fond of reading on my device, yet had a hard time putting the book down and was compelled to keep coming back to finish it. I was so deeply engaged that my eyes leaked copiously for the last twenty five pages or so. Go buy this book, yours might too. 

Pandas on the Eastside by Gabrielle Prendergast

5 stars

Apparently, you are not supposed to start a book review claiming that you love the book. I don't care. I've fallen hard for this story of Journey Wind Song and her community. 

Pandas on the Eastside is undoubtedly one of the grooviest books I've read in ages.

It's set in the early 1970's in the downtown eastside of Vancouver in an inner city area known to locals as The Projects. While this is quality historical fiction and the gift of pandas from China to the United States is real, this book becomes alternative reality with the imaginary stopover of the pandas here in Vancouver, BC.

In the middle of coming to terms with the return of a father she has never met, Journey Wind Song, a ten year old precocious preteen, gets it into her head to make sure that these two pandas, who are being held in warehouse somewhere in East Vancouver, are being taken care of, and end up safely at their destination in a Washington Zoo. 

Prendergast captures the reality of the neighbourhood in the small details. On her way to her multicultural school, Journey sometimes has to "step over puddles of pee or worse things, but mostly the streets are quiet." At school, "Some kids at school don't even speak English. Some kids never bring lunch. Some kids only come to class once or twice a week, or they come late every day." Her remarkable teacher, Miss Bickerstaff, probably agrees with Journey that, "it must be hard to be a teacher on the Eastside."

Gabrielle Prendergast has created a multicultural community of complex, authentic characters, just like the real people who lived and continue to live in the neighbourhood. Each chapter introduces us to meaningful people in Journey's life through her point of view. All of them are survivors. Her unconditional acceptance of them enables the rest of us to see them as human. We are reminded that the world is composed of complicated individuals with different strengths and challenges who are all, in their own way, groovy. Nancy, Journey's best friend, can't read English, but can decipher Chinese characters. Contrary Gary, who Journey tricks into doing things by telling him to do the opposite, has mental health issues. Mr Huang, the owner of the corner store can be grumpy, but has a heart so soft he gives neighbourhood kids donuts for free. Kentucky Jack is a local alcoholic who the girls protect. Kelly Rae is a fifteen year old 'working girl' who Journey's mother describes as, "a good girl in a bad situation."

Sweetness and humour infuse this book.

David Shuman and his family, owners of the fanciest house in the neighbourhood, are communists. Journey claims, "I didn't have a crush on David or anything. I mean, he is nice and smart, but he really likes radios and spy books, and I really like bugs and pirate books, so it would never work. But I sure did have a crush on David's house."

At one point Journey gets into an altercation with a classmate, Michael Booker, who, Journey explains, "comes from a bad family, so it's only partly his fault. And I don't mean a poor family. All the kids at Eastside Elementary come from poor families, and that's no excuse to be mean. But Michael's family is bad. His father went to jail for punching a policeman, and his older brother is one of those people who sell things I'm not supposed to know about. His mother is a drinker, like mine, only she never goes to meetings and hardly ever leave the house. She throws things too, I've heard, although I'm not supposed to gossip, so that's all I'll say about that." Eventually Journey apologizes to her substitute teacher and class with this speech, "I'm sorry for using such a bad word and making a disturbance in class. There is no excuse for something like that. In a way, I was objectifying Michael with my oppressive judgemental gaze instead of valuing him as a human being."

When Journey's father ogles a waitress, she tells him, "I don't like men who look at ladies like they are pictures on the wall, designed to be pretty and impress people." When her father asks where that came from, she replies, "Mom's consciousness-raising group."

As a consequence of her advocacy for the pandas, Journey ends up in trouble with the Chinese consulate. While Journey's mother and father may be flawed characters, they have their daughter's best interests at heart, and do everything they can to support and protect her.

You have to love a character like Journey, who after getting into trouble and ending up in the principal's office, reflects, "Mr. Hartnell looked at me in that grown-up way that makes me so mad sometimes. The look says, I understand you kids better than you know. But I was thinking that neither dad nor Mr. Hartnell could possibly understand me. I didn't even understand myself, and I lived inside me."

Gabrielle Prendergast's book celebrates the emergence of a young activist, and the power in a group of people coming together to make a difference. I hope we get to read more about Journey in the future. In the meantime, I'm going to track down Prendergast's earlier works, Audacious and Capricious, and her new title, Zero Repeat Forever.