WAR AT THE SNOW WHITE MOTEL AND OTHER STORIES

Nine short realistic stories make up this collection set (mostly) in various Canadian locales.

Though all but the first seem to be contemporary, many of the issues their protagonists struggle with are timeless. The titular, Vermont-set “War at the Snow White Motel” features Rex from Wynne-Jones’ Rex Zero trilogy in a nuanced tale filled with dry humor that paints a smaller portrait of the very real everyday fears experienced by a brainy, anxious kid against a backdrop of the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident. Others reference specific modern experiences, like the thought-provoking “Ant and the Praying Mantis,” which involves characters interested in Greta Thunberg’s #FridaysForFuture movement or in “Jack,” in which a boy who is tormented at school describes anti-bullying campaigns like those common in many schools today. Collectively, these stories poignantly explore the navigation of the complicated territory of peer dynamics and changing families through the lens of main characters who are smart misfits, almost all of whom are younger teen boys who seem to default to white. Clever dialogue and genuine, messy relationships among kids and their parents and friends as well as with older relatives who are dealing with dementia will ring true for readers who share these experiences. Author’s notes on each story are included in the afterword.

(This book releases first as a digital edition, with print release currently scheduled for Aug. 4, 2020.)

An intelligent, emotionally resonant collection.