FernFolio » alcoholism

The Moon Children by Beverley Brenna

fernfolio — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 19:09:27 +0000

Conditioned by his experiences, both at school and at home, eleven-year old Billy Ray has learned not to expect much from life. His inability to read more than a handful of simple words or to recall numbers, and his hyperactivity in class have made him the butt of his classmates’ taunts and putdowns. At home, his parents’ hard drinking has caused a roller coaster of good moments and bad.
When his mother’s pregnancy results in her seeking help for her alcoholism and then issuing an ultimatum to Billy’s father to either stop drinking or move out, Billy watches as his dad packs up his things and goes. His assurances to Billy that he’ll be in touch are empty promises. So, with his mother off working long days cleaning rooms at a local motel, Billy finds himself practising tricks with his yo-yo, the birthday present he received when he wanted a water pistol and a skateboard. When he learns that a nearby public park is going to hold a talent contest, to raise money for a local kids’ charity, and that the prize will be twenty-five dollars, Billy decides to enter. Mastering the twenty-one tricks shown in the book he got with the yo-yo prove easy for Billy, but finding someone to sponsor him by donating money to the children’s charity proves more difficult.
Across the street from Billy’s rundown apartment stands a big, well-kept house, and often, in those hot July days leading up to the talent contests, a girl sits on the front steps of that house drawing and writing in a yellow notebook she has on her lap. Curious about the girl and what she is doing, Billy approaches her and discovers that, though Natasha Arnold is friendly and welcoming to him, she does not speak. Through her drawings and gestures, as well as what he overhears from neighbours, Billy learns that Natasha has been adopted from a Romanian orphanage by Mr. and Mrs. Arnold, a wealthy couple who want desperately to help Natasha to overcome the traumas of her early childhood. But she has a secret that is weighing her down, one that she is going to need Billy’s help to confront. In reaching out to support Natasha, Billy will also find the courage to face his own sense of helplessness and inadequacy.
The Moon Children is a story about a young boy’s struggle to live with dignity while coping with the lifelong effects of foetal alcohol syndrome, about a young girl’s attempts to reconcile her past with her present and future, and about how, together, they are able to see and understand what is truly important. Well worth a read!
FernFolio Editor

Lush by Natasha Friend

fernfolio — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:34:16 +0000

Thirteen year-old Samantha Gwynn has a secret that she needs to share, and no one whom she can share it with. Sure, she has some good friends, Angie, Tracey and Vanessa, the type that you can hang around with at school and spend every single Saturday night with having sleep overs, but she can’t tell them about what’s making her scared and angry, and threatening to tear her family apart.
Her father, a successful and well-respected architect, a man about whom she has good memories from her early childhood, is an alcoholic, a drunk. He drinks steadily from the time he gets home from work, each night, and spends most of his Saturdays and Sundays recovering from hangovers. When he sobers up, he rarely remembers what he has done when drunk, often uncertain how he can come to be bruised and battered after falling down stairs or tripping over furniture. Patrick Gwynne knows he’s messed up from time to time, and admits that he often drinks too much, but claims he’s in control and that he can stop drinking anytime he wants to.
Each time his wife has to drive around until she finds him lying drunk under a bridge or fill an ice pack to tend his latest injury, Patrick promises that he’s going to change, and his wife, Ellen, believes his every promise. But for Samantha, Sam, who’s heard all of her father’s promises, these are nothing more than empty lies, and she hates him for making them, just as much as she despises her mother for believing them. Instead, Sam worries about her five year-old brother, Luke, and tries to protect him from the effects of their father’s drinking. She compulsively checks the bottles of alcohol her father has stashed all around the house, furious about his promises to cut back yet longing for her cynicism to prove unfounded.
Unable to talk to her mother or grandmother, or to her good friends, because, as Nana says, “one doesn’t air one’s dirty laundry in public,” Samantha decides to write an anonymous letter to a high school girl she’s seen at the local public library. In her letter, Sam pours out all of her anger and fear, and asks the girl to respond by slipping her advice into the library’s copy of A History of Modern Whaling. So begins Sam’s written correspondence with A.J.K., whose calm and practical responses help to remind the girl that she is not the only teenager with personal troubles.
When her father’s drinking leads to a tragic act of violence, Sam’s life spins out of control and she finds herself having to face up to the consequences of her own drunken behaviour. With her mysterious correspondent’s help, Sam discovers that she has the courage to confront and learn from her mistakes, and that, just maybe, she can forgive her parents for theirs.
Lush is an honest and heartfelt story about the effects of alcoholism on families. Worth the read.
FernFolio Editor

Shattered by Eric Walters

fernfolio — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 01:38:50 +0000

Fifteen year-old Ian needs 40 hours of community service if he wants to pass Grade 10 Civics. Since he’s left it so long, he ends up in one of the most demanding volunteer placements available, serving food to homeless men at The Club, a soup kitchen on the wrong side of town. Though Ian makes it clear to him that he’s only there for the hours, Mac, the tough, straight-talking guy who runs The Club, takes a shine to the teen. Mac, a former alcoholic, knows firsthand how hard life is on the streets, and, by watching how he interacts with The Club’s clients, Ian learns a lot about homelessness and the homeless. For this privileged kid from the suburbs, the grim realities of mental illness and alcoholism, and the dangers and isolation and invisibility of life on the street are both a shock and a revelation.
When Ian is rescued from a violent mugging by Sarge, a former soldier, who is now living with other homeless men in a small camp of tents hidden away in the park, he wonders how a man who is so clearly educated, self-disciplined and rational, could end up on the streets. Assigned by his Civics teacher to interview someone from the Armed Forces, Ian seeks out the former soldier and learns about his twenty-four year career in the military, and the many UN peacekeeping missions in which he participated. But, when Sarge mentions Rwanda and Ian admits to knowing nothing about this place, Sarge clams up, obviously distressed.
So begins Ian’s education about the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which over 800,000 Tutsis were killed while UN Peacekeepers stood by, unable to stop the violence. Over the course of several weeks, Ian speaks to Sarge about the terrible things he observed in Rwanda, the killings and the mutilations, about the UN’s failure to react to Peacekeepers’ warnings of approaching slaughter, of the man’s anguish and rage, and of the nightmares that won’t leave him. The teen learns that people from other parts of the world have also been witness to atrocities, including his own housekeeper, who lives with the memories of Guatemala’s Disappeared.
His experiences, both at The Club and with Sarge, change Ian. He finds himself going to the soup kitchen, long after his 40 hours are done, hooked on the need to help, and, after a lot of soul searching, decides to tackle Sarge about his drinking, and to do everything he can to aid the former soldier in facing his nightmares and finding the courage to live again.
Shattered is a fine story about two very difficult topics, homelessness and the Rwanda genocide. It moved me to tears. Well worth the read!
FernFolio Editor

Boy O’Boy by Brian Doyle

fernfolio — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 14:55:49 +0000

It’s the summer of 1945, and all of Ottawa awaits word that the war in Asia is over and that the world can return to happy times. However, young Martin O’Boy’s life is too complicated to be transformed by the end of war. His father is an emotionally abusive drunk and his mother, though well meaning, is drained by the demands of looking after Martin’s mentally handicapped twin brother, Phil, and constant worries about money. With the death of his beloved Granny, Martin feels alone in the world, without love or affection.
Along with his friend, Billy Bateman, Martin is invited by his school music teacher to be a summer choir boy at a local church. There he makes the acquaintance of Mr. George, the organist, who seems to be a kind man, watching out for the boys and playing tag games with them during breaks in choir practice. When Mr. George tells Martin that he’s become very fond of him, and suggests that they spend time together after choir practice, the boy is flattered, but something happens during their outing that Martin could never have anticipated or imagined.
Boy O’Boy is a beautifully told story about some very difficult issues. Doyle’s spare writing style, adept handling of rhythm and cadence, and keen eye for the small, important minutia of life make this a must-read for intermediate students.
FernFolio Editor