Shannon Cowan

This collection groups personal essays from 24 Canadian writers about their experience as writers and mothers. It is a very emotional and sincere look at the dichotomies between mothering and writing both demanding so much attention, both at such different emotional levels. Despite the age differences, number of children, economic realities and family situations, these women have many commonalities: finding time, fighting sleep, balancing demands and debunking myths. Some mothers had their own racial or sexual stigmas to overcome, others handicapped or struggling children. All are deserving of attention although I must admit some had much greater barriers to overcome than others.
Many of the stories are repetitive (quoting the few well-known women who have dared speak on the topic), which makes this collection a bit difficult to read in one sitting. Others are very linear and didn't much appeal to me. However, there are a selected few that are absolute gems and make this entire book worthwhile.
Finally, it was for me a discovery into new authors and poets and gave me an appreciation for the stubbornness and passion that motivate these women.… (més)

Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.com

Ronalda Page, aka Ronnie, has had the perfect childhood. She lives at a mountain resort on the west coast of Canada. She has a loving mom, a beautiful older sister, and a doting father. She loves her life.

Then, after her thirteenth summer, tragedy strikes and her father is taken from them. In order to survive, they must sell the resort to Louis Moss, an old family friend who Ronnie doesn't trust. They then move to a small town near them and try to adjust to the loss of their father and husband.

Ronnie's mother becomes an alcoholic, and her sister takes up with Louis. Ronnie feels alone and not wanted. She is malnourished and ignored. Then, on a fateful night, Louis Moss is killed and Ronnie is framed by the local police for the murder and is tried as an adult.

The treatment of Ronnie by the police is brutal and is the most interesting part of the story. I felt that Ronnie simply reacted to the events of her life and never fought. Even when she goes on trial, she just lets things happen to her. She never lets authorities know what a hell she is living in and never trusts anyone to help her. During part of the story she is set up by a girl that she doesn't really like to let a boy make out with her and thinks that this is wrong but doesn't stop him. I mean, she is told to go behind the gym after school and she does, even though she knows what will happen. She doesn't like that her mother is not there, but she doesn't even try to make life livable. I had a hard time thinking that she didn't know how to cook when she was adept at living on her own in the mountains.

Even with these problems, though, it is a story which will make you think and be thankful for the wonderful legal system we have now.… (més)

The main character, Roonie, is fourteen and being arrested for the murder of a man, presumably at his funeral. Ronnie has lived all of her life at beautiful Raven’s Mountain Lodge, where the family is seemingly cut off from the outside world, except for their guests of course. Ronnie and her sister are homeschooled and their parents only make the trek to town once in a great while for necessary supplies. Ronnie loves this life and wouldn’t change it for anything. When Louis Moss comes to stay as a guest and Ronnie learns he wants to buy the lodge from her family, she is at first frightened, but knows her father would never allow that to happen. Unfortunately, when Ronnie’s father passes away months later, all of Ronnie’s knowledge of her life is taken away.
Ronnie, her mother, and sister must move to town, to the complete unfamiliar, supposedly still under the wing of Louis Moss. Ronnie begins getting into trouble at school, mainly at the fault of ignorance at how to act, her mother falls into a deep depression, and Louis Moss slowly begins to ruin their lives. When an unexpected meeting at Ronnie’s old home ends in Moss being dead, Ronnie is accused of murdering him. Ronnie isn’t even sure if she killed him or not, leading the reader to believe that every single character in the novel has something to hide. (Review from A Patchwork of Books)… (més)