Dodger Boy

September 1, 2018

Gr 6-9-Charlotte and her best friend Dawn are newly minted 13-year-olds coping with teen angst in 1970 Vancouver. They form a pact to be as "unteen" as possible-no giggling, no whining, and, most importantly, no being silly about boys. This is easier for bookish Charlotte, who draws daily inspiration from Jane Austen, than for Dawn, who comes home from music camp with a new hairdo and new attitude. Things are complicated by the arrival of Tom Ed, a draft-dodging 18-year-old with a winsome Texas drawl. Tom takes up residence with Charlotte's Quaker family, and, as Dawn descends further into "un-unteen" behavior over the charming new boy, her friendship with Charlotte becomes increasingly strained. As Charlotte navigates a fluctuant world full of obstacles, including censorship challenges at school, discussions of pacifism and women's liberation with Tom that rock her worldview, and discoveries about the nature of Tom's relationship with her older brother James, she proves to be a deeply introspective and likable protagonist, offering up insights that cut right to the heart of the coming-of-age experience. Charlotte's deteriorating relationship with Dawn is a realistic depiction of a struggling friendship. Some of the attitudes and language employed when discussing the LGBTQ+ community are presented as insensitive and problematic. VERDICT A unique piece of historical fiction that packs a punch. Purchase where historical fiction circulates well, as well as where there is an interest in Canada.-Darla Salva Cruz, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2018
Draft dodging and literary censorship come to a head in this Canadian bildungsroman set in the 1970s.While the Vietnam War rages, 13-year-old Charlotte and her best friend, Dawn, are doing their best to grow up without becoming awful teenagers in the process. While attending a supremely muddy be-in in full hippie regalia, the two befriend clean-cut Tom Ed, a well-mannered Texan draft dodger in need of a place to crash. Charlotte's Quaker family takes him in, and Charlotte finds a true friend in the American guest. Meanwhile, the girls' favorite English teacher is facing a censorship battle over Catcher in the Rye, and Charlotte feels a calling to help. Scintillating prose, rich dialogue, and charming characterizations mark a novel that straddles the boundary between middle-grade and YA. Charlotte, despite her determination to be an Unteen, has an age-appropriate fascination with menstruation and the concept of sex, and Tom Ed occasionally forgets his boundaries to drop the occasional swearword ("faggot," "asshole"), adding to the book's liminal feel. Charlotte, part of an all-white cast of characters, is a curious, confused, and delightful companion, wrestling with questions about her best friend's flakiness and her brother's emerging same-sex attraction. Ellis extends her insightful characterizations to the secondary cast, such as a censor's daughter who is "snobby and scary, like she was just getting ready to be mean."A whip-smart historical that highlights that transitionary period to which few would ever desire to return. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

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October 15, 2018
Grades 5-8 As far as 13-year-old Charlotte is concerned, one of the best things about her longtime friendship with Dawn is their Unteen Pact, an agreement to skip the bizarre behavior of boy-crazy girls acting fake-stupid. But when 19-year-old Tom Ed, a draft dodger from Texas, comes to stay for a while with Charlotte's Quaker family in Vancouver, B.C., Dawn develops a crush on him. And after he abruptly leaves the city, she rashly follows him without telling anyone. In a subplot, Charlotte gathers her courage to challenge a book-banning attempt at school without Dawn's support. Meanwhile, she struggles with the knowledge that someone close to her is gay. Well-drawn individual characters and their relationships are at the heart of the story. Writing in third person from Charlotte's point of view, Ellis realistically depicts the stresses on the girls' increasingly ragged friendship, from disappointments, petty annoyances, and painful barbs to larger issues of trust and loyalty. An appended note fills in basic information about draft-eligible immigrants from the U.S. to Canada during the Vietnam War. An involving Canadian novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)