Quicksilver Summer

Darleen R. Golke is a high-school teacher-librarian in Winnipeg,
Manitoba.

“Failing,” insists 16-year-old Jason Abbott, “doesn’t hurt so
much when you’re with friends.” Yet for the first time, thanks to a
student intern’s helping him with his dyslexia, Jason legitimately
passes all his courses to graduate from Grade 9. His buddies, the
“stun” gang, don’t fare as well. The gang begins the summer
hanging out at the beach every night, drinking beer and doing drugs. The
arrival of Ted Dawson sparks a leadership struggle and results in their
vandalizing a grocery store. Inevitably, they get caught, arrested,
charged, tried, and convicted; most are sentenced to eight months’
suspended time with community service and a year’s probation.

The imposed sentence triggers major changes in Jason’s life. His
friendship with the gang members alters as circumstances take them in
different directions. He learns that the application of the law is not
necessarily just or consistent, especially since Ted, the instigator,
ultimately beats the charges. Jason’s community service, volunteering
for the Autumn Leaves Festival, provides him with an outlet for his
artistic abilities, as well as the opportunity to meet and romance two
girls. He enters high school determined to conquer his learning
disabilities and prepare for university. At the festival, he has a final
confrontation with his nemesis, Ted.

Young allows Jason to narrate his “quicksilver summer” experiences
as she explores relationships, friendship, parent–child bonds,
romance, peer pressure, and personal responsibility. An underlying theme
is that, like quicksilver, random, thoughtless actions produce startling
changes in the lives of the young people. Small-town Newfoundland where
everybody knows “something about just about everybody” provides the
setting, but Young is careful not to impede the storytelling with
“Newfieisms.” Her easy-to-read tale adds to the body of Canadian
literature available for reluctant readers. Recommended.