Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril and Romance. Marthe Jocelyn. Toronto, ON: Tundra Books, 2004. 279 pp., cloth, $22.99. ISBN 0-88776-663-3. Subject Heading: Women-Suffrage-Ontario-History-Juvenile fiction. Grades 4-8 / Ages 9-13. Review by Kristin Butcher. **** /4

excerpt:

"Dear Mable Riley," said Mrs. Rattle, grasping my shoulders, "when I was your age, I knew nothing beyond lessons in French and drawing with my governess. I was filled to the brim with other people's knowledge. I would have made a good parrot, but my head was as empty as this room.

"This is why I find you so admirable, Mable. You are already asking questions and seeking answers. I wish you had been my friend when I was fourteen so that I had not wasted years having a lazy mind."

She stepped forward and hugged me tight, a quick and impetuous embrace that knocked the breath right out of me. "

Whatever brave face I held while in her presence, it vanished upon departure. I cried without stopping all the way to my bed.

Give up the cell phones and SUV's. Throw away the computers and the DVD's. Then roll back the calendar and join Mable Riley in 1901 Ontario, where family and community mean everything and life is an endless parade of chores, church, and charitable deeds. Respectability and responsibility are the watchwords of the day, and there is little time or tolerance for frivolity and free spirit. Yet, despite the tedium, hard work, and societal rigidity, this is a wonderful time to be alive at least, according to Mable Riley's Reliable Record of Humdrum Peril and Romance, it is.

     Times change, but fourteen will always be fourteen, and young Mable is determined to make her life as exciting as possible. With empty diary firmly in hand to record the adventures she hopes to have Mable accompanies her older sister, Viola, to her first teaching post in Sellerton. This is a one room school, so in addition to being a student herself, Mable has the additional responsibility of assisting Viola with the younger scholars. The Riley sisters board with a local farming family, and though the scenery is changed, life continues much the same as it always has. Not one to be easily discouraged, however, Mable is soon making her own adventures. Armed with an insatiable curiosity, she questions all that happens around her, allowing her vivid imagination to fill any gaps. All this she records in her diary, along with poems, letters sent and received, and a serialized novel that turns the humdrum into a delightfully risqu‚ account of peril and romance that even shocks Mable's friend, Hattie.

     During the course of her imagined adventures, Mable eventually encounters the real thing. This comes as a result of her friendship with Mrs. Rattle, an eccentric woman who lives alone, wears bloomers, rides a bicycle, and refuses to pin up her hair or wear a hat. Though not completely in agreement with Mrs. Rattle's ways, Mable does admire her independence and cannot keep away from her, despite Viola's orders to do exactly that. As a result, Mable finds herself involved with a suffragist group. Determined to improve the lot of working women, the group stages a strike at the local cheese factory, and the whole lot of them including Mable get hauled into the police station. Of course, things sort themselves out with Mable's help, and the peril is resolved, making room at last for the much longed for romance.

     This novel is an absolute delight! A hardcover book complete with dust jacket and feather-edged pages brings to mind the "Dear Canada" series from Scholastic. At the same time, Mable Riley's unbridled enthusiasm for life stirs up images of Anne of Green Gables. Marthe Jocelyn has crafted a superb read. Inspired by her grandmother's hundred year old diaries, she has taken days that may have been 'as dull as dirty windows' and breathed life into them. Though the central character is fourteen years old, the nature of the era in which she lives renders her more na‹ve than today's teens, making this a wonderful book even for younger readers.

Highly Recommended.

Kristin Butcher lives in Victoria, BC, and writes for children.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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