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CM . . . .
Volume V Number 3 . . . . October 2, 1998
It has been a long wait for adolescent fans of Tim Wynne-Jones
since the publication of his remarkable young adult novel, The
Maestro, winner of the 1995 Governor General's Literary Award
for children's literature. In Stephen Fair, the author has
created another memorable 15-year-old male protagonist. Stephen
Fair has nightmares. Over and over again, he dreams of climbing
a ladder to a treehouse, a fire, and a crying baby. He can't
tell his mother about his dreams because he fears that she will
discover that he has inherited his brother Marcus' nightmare.
Four years before, tortured by the same nightmare that is now
waking Stephen up every night, his brother ran away from home.
Before that, the family had gone through a crisis precipitated by
the flight of Stephen's father. Stephen's mother's concern for
her son seems almost too intense. Brenda calls in Hesketh
Martin, who practises applied kinesiology and prescribes flower
remedies to cure Stephen's sleep disorder, but the "witch lady,"
as Stephen calls her, thinks the source of the problem may lie
with Brenda rather than her son. Stephen agonizes over his
suspicion that Brenda is hiding something from him.
Fortunately for Stephen, however, he has his loyal, if somewhat
outlandish friend, Dom, and a new classmate, Virginia Elizabeth
Dulcima Skye, a wannabe movie-maker who is gifted with warmth,
intelligence and a wicked sense of humour. Missing his own
father, Stephen is drawn to Virginia's eccentric, charming
father. A brilliant manoeuvre on Stephen's part to mend a
rupture in Virginia's family and a visit to his grandmother lead
Stephen to the realization that he must uncover the secret that
has been poisoning his life.
There are some wonderful scenes as the pieces of this complex
novel come together in the last few chapters of the book, all of
them carefully and subtly foreshadowed in the preceding chapters.
Tim Wynne-Jones has a sharp ear for dialogue and an uncanny
ability to delineate character with a minimum amount of speech.
Even less important characters, such as Stephen's five-year old
sister, Toni, and his run-away father, Doug, are vividly drawn
and entirely believable. As in The Maestro, the novel demands
a good deal of the reader. There is much to ferret out between
the lines, and much satisfaction in going back and re-reading the
text to test predictions and hunches the reader is certain to
have. The ending, tidy enough to satisfy adolescent readers,
will likely still leave a question or two in their minds.
Stephen Fair is a perfect pick for a literature circle with
readers from 12 to 15 years of age. Discussion should certainly
be lively and, in some cases, heated as young readers wrangle
over the characters, plot and issues in this moving novel.
Highly recommended.
Valerie Nielsen is a recently retired teacher-librarian who lives
in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
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.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - OCTOBER 2, 1998.
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