Nobody’s Child. Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch. Toronto, ON: Dundurn Press, 2003. 248 pp., pbk., $12.99. ISBN 1-55002-442-6. Subject Headings: Armenian massacres, 1915-1923-Juvenile fiction. Death marches-Juvenile fiction. Orphans-Juvenile fiction. Grades 6-9 / Ages 11-14. Review by Joan Marshall. ***1/2 /4

excerpt:

As the weeks wore on, the survivors fell into a comforting routine. Anna, the only adult, was the nominal head of the household, but her ability to help the children was limited. While the Turks left her unmolested, they also left her unhired. There was no opportunity for her to earn money and look after the children she had become responsible for. All they had to live on was Mariam’s purse of coins. With each succeeding week, the purse got lighter, and there was no means of refilling it.

Most of the surviving Armenians gradually moved out of the village and Turkish families took over the Armenian section. There were no children for Onnig, Marta, and Kevork to play with. So their house became a refuge and a prison. Each night, Mariam counted her piasters and liras, and each night she tried to estimate how much longer their money would last.

Genocide is an ugly word. Like blame, anger and bitterness, it swells up when people feel they need a scapegoat for situations racked with pain. In the late 1800's, the Turkish population began to persecute the large group of Armenians who lived and worked in eastern Turkey. More than a million Armenians, of all ages, were slaughtered without compunction. Nobody's Child is the story of a 10 year old Armenian girl, Mariam, and how she survives this tragic time in Turkish history.

     In April of 1909, Mariam's parents are cut down in the fields as they work for local Turks. Her friend Kevork and his Aunt Anna are the only survivors in their family. The children work with Anna to survive, scrabbling for food and money. With the help of a compassionate Turk, Mariam's group returns to her grandmother in Maresh but eventually the children end up in a German run orphanage in order to survive. There, they spend six quiet years learning to read and write and becoming leaders for the younger children.

     The second part of the book begins in April of 1915 when Kevork is a senior shoemaking apprentice and Mariam helps in the kitchen where she is courted by a wealthy young Turk, Rustem Bey, who is determined to help the Armenians. Kevork is courting Marta, Mariam's younger sister. Suddenly, their world is shattered again when the Turks round up the Armenians, including those from the orphanage, and lead them out to the Syrian desert where they march them in circles until they die. Mariam is taken by the vicious Captain Sayyid, to be sold as a slave to the highest bidder. Rustem Bey saves her life by bidding for and winning her, taking her to his opulent home where she remains safe and teaches the children there to read. Kevork and Marta (disguised as a boy) are deported on the death march. When Marta is revealed as a girl, Aunt Anna stabs the Captain and is killed in return, allowing Marta to escape. Chechen bandits execute Kevork's group, but he manages to survive when some Arabs rescue him. Mariam returns to the orphanage where she finds her pregnant sister, Marta. Kevork works in the Arab city of Aleppo, biding his time, hoping to return to Marash and find Mariam and Marta.

     Mariam and Kevork are both strong characters, both suffering the worst of childhood horrors the murder of parents and siblings yet able to bury their pain in order to survive. They both learn to help others and remain true to their culture. Even the secondary characters are well drawn: the ugly Captain Sayyid, the idealistic orphanage director, Miss Younger, the determined Aunt Anna, and the powerful Rustem Bey. Skrypuch has avoided the trap of stereotyping as she presents some sympathetic Turks who are as bewildered as the Armenians about the motives of the Young Turk triumvirate. The setting is vivid: the heat, the dust, the wealthy haremlik, the communal baths, all bring Turkish and Armenian culture to life. What is not clear is why the Turks were rounding up the Armenians. Peasants like Mariam and Kevork would probably not have understood the political aspirations of some Armenians that lead to the massacres, nor the desperation of the Ottoman Empire as it saw yet another area crumble away from its control. It is very sad that war erupts with the worst of results for the ordinary person who has no vested interest in the politics that begin struggles. Children, especially, as is clearly shown in this novel, have no understanding of politics. A map would have clarified the geography of this part of the world in the 1909-1915 era.

     Although it is obviously Skrypuch's aim to tell a particular, compelling story, the powerful themes of peace, love and family also come shining through. Mariam could have easily joined the Turkish culture, but she remains true to her Armenian community, keeping Rustem as a friend. Kevork is taken in first by Mariam's grandmother, then by the orphanage and finally by an Arab family where he is dearly loved. Mariam and Rustem save two young girls. All the main characters hope for peace.

     The novel ends somewhat abruptly (a sequel seems probable), with the reader wondering where Marta has been and why she is pregnant. Will Kevork make it back to the orphanage, and will he still love Marta? Where is Miss Younger, and why are the Americans in charge there? The history of the alliances of the first World War is not detailed here (as Mariam and Kevork would not have understood it perhaps?), but if they had been woven in to the story, it might have clarified the presence of the Americans.

     Students will be drawn to this book by the stunning desert scene on its cover. The font is clear and large, and the book ends with a good resource list including websites, books and a film. This is historical fiction at its gritty best, with compelling characters, heart wrenching choices and unspeakable horror.

Highly Recommended.

Joan Marshall is the teacher librarian at Fort Richmond Collegiate in Winnipeg, MB.

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

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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