<\/a>by James M. Fisher, The Miramichi Reader<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

I<\/span> must admit to a certain guilty pleasure\u00a0that comes\u00a0from reading and reviewing Young Adult (YA) novels. First of all, they are an \u201ceasy\u201d read; the stories are often straightforward, devoid of gratuitous sex, profanity and violence (in most cases) and the author\u2019s message is clear. Secondly, it makes me see things through the eyes of a young person, often taking me back in time to my own adolescent years. This was the case with New Brunswick author Susan White\u2019s The Memory Chair<\/em>\u00a0(2015, Acorn Press),\u00a0<\/em>which was recently chosen by the Canadian Children\u2019s Book Centre as one of their Best Books for Kids and Teens.<\/p>\n

It is the story of Betony, a thirteen-year-old girl who is often dragged along by her father when he visits Gram, Betony\u2019s great-grandmother. The house is old and stuffy and is way too warm for her, as a wood fire is always burning in the stove. This was the familiar part for me: I usually went along with my father on Saturday mornings when he would visit my maternal grandmother and help her out with odd jobs she needed doing. Her house was old and old-smelling. She was old too (1892-1969, so I was only 8 years old when she passed away at age 77) and kinda scary to a young fellow like me. However, she always had some kind of baked goods available and she always gave me \u201ccoppers\u201d as the penny was commonly known as then. I usually looked through the local Saturday paper as Dad puttered around. I don\u2019t recall conversing much with her, but then I was always an introvert and it was still in the day when children were seen and not heard, so I can well identify with Betony\u2019s situation.<\/p>\n

However, it is her Gram\u2019s old chair that changes everything for Betony. Rather, it is what happens when Betony curls up in the chair and drifts off to sleep: she dreams through the young eyes of her Gram, getting glimpses of her thoughts at critical\u00a0moments in\u00a0her life. It\u2019s not like the chair has any \u201cmagical\u201d qualities; it appears to be more of a catalyst for sleep and meditation, etc. What Betony sees<\/em> is quite vivid and it causes her to become more interested in her Gram\u2019s life since the visions raise questions in her mind. One in particular brings a family skeleton out of the closet, causing Betony to set out on quest to right a past wrong that has haunted her mother\u2019s family for years.<\/p>\n

The primary message of The Memory Chair<\/em> is getting to know and understand the elderly better. Once Betony gets to know her Gram better, she becomes her friend and learns many skills: quilting, cooking, gardening and so on which she finds more interesting and enjoyable than other typical diversions such as TV and electronic devices. It is this closeness that eventually causes Gram to open up to her about the dark, shameful secret in her past.<\/p>\n

A great read for a young person, male or female.\u00a0Those who are a wee bit older\u00a0will enjoy it too!<\/p>\n

Susan White<\/strong> was born in New Brunswick and moved from one New Brunswick city to another. As a teenager her family moved to the Kingston Peninsula and she only left long enough to earn her BA and BEd at St. Thomas University in Fredericton. Settling on the peninsula, she and her husband raised four children and ran a small farm while she taught elementary school. Since retiring she is grateful to now have the time to work on her writing and the freedom to regularly visit her new granddaughter in Alberta.<\/p>\n

<\/a>James M. Fisher<\/strong>\u00a0lives in Miramichi.\u00a0James is an ardent reader whose aim is to highlight New Brunswick authors and publishers, as well as cover subjects of interest to New Brunswickers in particular and Maritimers in general. For more\u00a0visit his website<\/a>\u00a0or like his page on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Brunswick author Susan White’s “The Memory Chair” (2015, Acorn Press) was recently chosen by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre as one of their Best Books for Kids and Teens. It is the story of Betony, a thirteen-year-old girl who is often dragged along by her father when he visits Gram, Betony’s great-grandmother. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":6437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,3,11],"tags":[190],"class_list":["post-6414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-culture-community","category-featured-article","tag-book-review"],"yoast_head":"\n