________________ CM . . . . Volume XVII Number 8. . . .October 22, 2010.

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Too Late. (Single Voice).

Clem Martini.
Toronto, ON: Annick Press, 2010.
60 pp., pbk. & hc., $9.95 (pbk.), $19.95 (hc.).
ISBN 978-1-55451-258-4 (pbk.), ISBN 978-1-55451-259-1 (hc.).

Grades 10 and up / Ages 15 and up.

Review by Vikki VanSickle.

***/4

   
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Train Wreck. (Single Voice).

Malin Lindroth.
Toronto, ON: Annick Press, 2010.
3 pp., pbk. & hc., $9.95 (pbk.), $19.95 (hc.).
ISBN 978-1-55451-258-4 (pbk.), ISBN 978-1-55451-259-1 (hc.).

Grades 10 and up / Ages 15 and up.

Review by Vikki VanSickle.

***/4

   

 



excerpt:

I tell them I'm sorry, that I won't do it again. They say no one trusts me anymore. So I'm fucking bawling now, and I can't stop. "I'll be good," I tell them. "I'll be good." Step Dick walks outta the meeting again, and this time the door clicks shut like that's his final statement. My mom keeps crying, saying, "It's too late to be good."

Too late to be good. (From Too Late.)


I could say it was a long time ago. I was young...stupid...just fifteen. I didn't know any better. That's what I've been saying to myself every day since it happened. "I was young." That's the kind of thing people say. To make themselves feel better, I suppose.

I know I have to forget it. But how can I? (From Train Wreck.)



Too Late is the story of boy living in a detention centre. He had attacked his stepsister and has been sent out to a rehabilitation facility in the middle of nowhere. After a particularly hopeless group meeting, one in which it becomes clear that his mother has forsaken him and is not going to bring him home to live with his aptly-nicknamed Step-Dud and stepsister, he runs away. But freedom is short-lived, and results in a brutal attack. Despite dire circumstances, there is the faintest glimmer of hope at the end of Too Late that the narrator will be able to recover.

     Train Wreck is the confession of a grown woman who was involved in a cruel trick played against a classmate years earlier. Susie P, when she isn't being ignored, is the butt of everyone's joke. She has no friends, wears strange clothes and tries too hard. This makes her a perfect target for a cruel game in which an older, cooler boy, Johnny, pretends to have feelings for her. Susie falls for Johnny, a situation that makes Johnny's girlfriend, the narrator, angry. The dares escalate until (somewhat inexplicably) Susie is gang raped by Johnny and his friends while the narrator watches. When the case comes to trial, the narrator lies and says she wasn't present during the crime. The boys get off, and the narrator eventually marries Johnny. Susie is not heard from again.


     Needless to say, both of these stories feature heavy subject matter (rape, drug abuse, sexual assault, suicide) that is not suitable for sensitive or young readers. Authors Clem Martini and Malin Lindroth have created engaging, suspenseful narratives that will grab the right reader from the very first page. The two stories are tautly written and move very quickly. There is little time for character development or motivation, which probably doesn't matter. These stories are written to be devoured in one sitting. Too Late/Train Wreck is a great choice for mature readers who are looking for something different to sink their teeth into. The circumstances and actions of the protagonists leave lots of room for thought and discussion.


     Billed as appealing to both "avid and less experienced readers," this flip-book book adheres to the same principal as many hi/lo YA novels: the assumption that reluctant readers need to be hooked by violent, shocking, or hopeless stories. Somewhere along the line, honest, real and edgy became synonyms for violent, graphic, and disturbing, at least when applied to YA fiction. While I understand that these are issues that many teens deal with on a regular basis, I think it's important to acknowledge that teen readers also crave stories of friendship, romance, and hope that don't end in tragic or hopeless endings.


     Since many publishers have found success with these grittier novels, there is clearly some truth in this assumption. But it's starting to feel old. In the hands of lesser authors, Train Wreck and Too Late would come across as gratuitous and cliched. However Lindroth and Martini manage to escape most of these pitfalls with their gripping narratives.

Recommended.

Toronto, ON's Vikki VanSickle has an MA in children's literature from UBC. She is a bookseller, educator, and the author of Words That Start With B.

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
Hosted by the University of Manitoba.
 

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