| ________________ CM . . . .
Volume VIII Number 10 . . . . January 18, 2002
"Welcome
to Girls' Own Girl Zone," writes Sarah Ellis, in her introduction to
Girls' Own: An Anthology of Canadian Fiction for Young Readers.
"The girls between these two covers are of every sort: shy and bold;
obedient and rebellious; clever and slow; subdued and boisterous; fierce
and gentle; funny and serious." In this anthology, Ellis has pulled
together 20 pieces of writing, each of which features a protagonist
who, despite differences in character, time or circumstance "... is
in the process of grasping her future with both hands."
Sarah Ellis, who has won the Vicky Metcalf
Award for her body of work, is a well known and loved author of many
children's and young adult books. As a librarian, book reviewer, lecturer
and gifted story teller, she certainly has all the credentials to compile
a collection of stories for young readers. Of the 20 pieces which make
up Girls' Own, Ellis has selected 13 excerpts from novels, showing
a decided preference for excerpt over short story. Each selection from
a book is carefully and succinctly introduced, giving the reader a sense
of the larger work's characters and settings. Some of the excerpts work
very well as pieces of short fiction, notably: a section from The
Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis (a novel set in Afghanistan under the
Taliban regime), a chapter from Jean Little's tale of life in mid 19th
century Upper Canada, entitled The Belonging Place, and one from
Cora Taylor's Julie, the story of a very different child. Other
well-known young adult authors represented in the collection include
Kit Pearson, Joan Clark, Julie Johnson and Jan Hudson. Ellis obviously
knows her 11 to 14 year old audience. She has wisely kept each excerpt
short enough to be finished in one sitting and has ended most of the
pieces on a note which will provoke the reader to ask "...and then what
happened?"
It is something of a disappointment,
however, to find that there are so few short stories in this collection.
Of the seven, Tim Wynne-Jones' "The Chinese Babies" and Sarah Ellis'
"Sisters" are outstanding pieces of writing, proving that development
and growth of character as well as complexity of theme can be achieved
a few short pages. It seems unfortunately true that while stories with
male protagonists appeal equally to either sex, those whose main characters
are female have scant appeal to boys. Given such gender-specific titles
as Girls' Own: An Anthology of Canadian Fiction for Young Readers
and its companion collection, Boys' Own: An Anthology of Canadian
Fiction for Young Readers edited by Tim Wynne-Jones, it is probably
safe to assume that the latter will be the more popular of the two books,
particularly among teachers hunting for good stories to read aloud which
will appeal to their harder-to-capture male audience. Elementary and
middle-school librarians will find both volumes valuable additions to
their collections of short fiction by and about Canadians.
Recommended.
A retired teacher-librarian, Valerie Nielsen lives in Winnipeg,
MB.
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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