The Hemingway Tradition

The Hemingway Traditon
by Kristin Butcher
Orca Book Publishers
2002
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Plot Summary

The Hemingway Tradition is the story of high school student Shaw and his mother. Shaw's father, a relatively famous writer, commits suicide in their family home. Mother and son decide to move from Vancouver to Winnipeg to try to escape the negative stigma that has been attached to them. The book follows Shaw and his mother; whom have a lovely and warm relationship, through their collaboration to come to terms with the death of their loved one in a way that still honours his memory.

The book deals with three relevant and important issues
homosexualityprejudicesuicideThe story is believable, the characters are well developed and the situation is thought provoking.

Comments

I had never read a Hi-Lo book before, therefore I did not really know what to expect. I really enjoyed it. In a sense, Butcher has written a detailed, well organized outline; she could expand on all of her ideas to increase the descriptive detailing throughout the book, however that would defeat its purpose as a Hi-Lo book. The book is complete in its entirety; it has a well established introduction, with a well developed body and a subtle, yet well thought out conclusion.
The mature-themed issues that the book deals with are suitable for an older teen audience, and I think that its appeal would be for a teen who likes to think about the 'bigger picture', to recognize the injustices of our North American society.
I would definitely recommend this to any reluctant teen reader. The book is written in short sentences,with the use of common language, however, it in no way belittles the reader with its simplistic approach to language. The Hemingway Tradition comes across as an authentic account of a teenager and his emotional turmoil surrounding his fathers death and the secrets that are uncovered about his suicide.

Age Range- 13-18

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