Some things can be a little too Canadian, eh?

My latest literary conquest is the novel Powers by Deborah Lynn Jacobs. It is a new book that we just received at the library, and I really don't know what I was thinking when I ordered it for our juvenile collection, because it is clearly a YA novel. Before I change the classification and banish it to the other side of the library, I thought I'd take it home and check it out.

Adrian has just moved from Wisconsin to a small city in Northern Ontario. There he meets Gwen. Normally he would probably never notice Gwen; Adrian is handsome, muscular and cool. Gwen is smart, nerdy and (she thinks) fat. But something draws them together. And then they find out that they do have one thing in common: The power of ESP. Adrian can read minds and Gwen sees visions of the future. And when they're together, The Power gets stronger. The Power is something they both crave and they use and manipulate each other to get it. They don't like each other and they sure as heck don't trust each other. But can they work it out in the end to use The Power for good?

So, the book sounds really good. And there was a lot going for it. It was interesting to look at two essentially good people who were willing to trade their integrity for power. But, the plot was a bit sketchy in some places. Like at one point, they both, out of the blue, just started talking about "The Power" even though neither one had mentioned or thought of this phrase before, and at the time Gwen wasn't even sure that Adrian could read minds. And the end was a little too neat, a little too, "I'm sorry I was such a bad person. Let's be best friends and fall in love and use our powers to save the world." Yuck. And someone obviously wasn't doing their proof-reading job very well. At one point Gwen talks about hearing her "parents" asleep in their bedroom, but it was established at the beginning of the story that her dad had died some months previously. Oh and there was also that awkward, useless scene where Gwen's Mom, completely out of the blue and without provocation, confesses to Gwen that when she was young, she too had the gift of seeing the future and that nothing good ever came of it. It was completely non-essential to the story, and as I said, it came out of nowhere.

Hmmm. The more I think about, the book had quite a few flaws. But perhaps the worst flaw was the author trying to make it too Canadian.

You see, the author lived in Canada most of her life, but now lives in Wisconsin. So she saw this book as an opportunity to educate her fellow Americans about Canadian culture. There's nothing really wrong with that, except that it was so obvious and heavy-handed. Here's a few examples:

"So, this new guy. Adrian Black. Is he the one?" Joanne asked, plunking down her plate of poutine. The combination of French fries layered with gravy and cheese curds looked like a dog's dinner, but smelled fantastic.

*******

"Wow," Joanna continued, "we're almost neighbors. Go another two klicks and you get to my place."
"Klicks?"
"Kilometers."

*******

"How much?" I ask.
"A toonie," the woman responds.
"A what?"
"Two dollar coin. You new around here?"
"Yes."
"Thought so. Your accent, eh?"

Oh yes. And trust me there are more where those came from; block heaters and the difference between farenheit and centigrade are explained and there are many more gratuitous and inappropriate uses of the word "eh".

I think it's great that she chose to set the book in Canada. And it's cool that she decided to incorporate some of the local flavour into the novel, but the way she does is so awkward and obvious, it's painful to read. There are better ways to do it.

For example, when I read a Harry Potter book, there is a definite British flavour to it. It's a girl's toilet not a girls bathroom and they eat treacle tarts and crisps. But J.K. Rowling doesn't draw attention to these things and say, "Look, look, do you see? I've written a British book!" She doesn't try and explain all her British colloquialisms for the benefit of her sizeable American audience. They are just naturally occuring parts of the Harry Potter universe, and Rowling trusts that her readers, even those ethnocentric Americans, will understand enough about British culture to know what she's talking about. And if they don't, they'll either look it up, or else they will ignore it as something non-essential to the plot.

One only wishes that Jacobs could have had the same faith in her readers.

Better luck next time, eh?

Tiffany Aching Returns...

I've been slowly getting back into reading fiction again. As my house has been requiring so many little touch ups, I've mostly been reading non-fiction of the home repair and home decor variety. Plumbing and painting are rapidly becoming musts rather than wants.

So, it's been nice to spend some spare time visiting Terry Pratchett. I received his latest book, Wintersmith as a holiday present and have been slowly devouring it ever since.

Wintersmith is one of Pratchett's YA books: the continuing story of Tiffany Aching, who is learning the art of "hagging" or becoming a witch, and the Feegles, a group of little blue "pictsies" who spend most of their time drinking, fighting, and stealing sheep. In this third book about Tiffany and the Feegles, Tiffany is unable to control her feet and ends up joining in the dance between summer and winter. By putting herself into the eternal dance of the seasons, Tiffany accidentally ends up taking over for summer and stealing the affections of the wintersmith, the spirit of winter itself. Naturally, chaos ensues, and the Feegles, a young would-be hero named Roland, and Granny Weatherwax (the "hag o' hags"), have to help Tiffany put things right.

I wasn't that enchanted with Pratchett's last adult book, Going Postal, but Wintersmith was very good. Pratchett's fantasy is always wonderful with layers of subtext that enhance the story without forcing the reader to acknowledge the reference. Wintersmith is a great example of his finer work. It's not my favorite in the Tiffany Aching series (the first was pretty hard to beat), but it's still a great book and well worth the read.

If anyone else has read it, I'm happy to debate!