A Blue True Dream of Sky

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

Nickie Angel, 14, feels angry and frustrated. Her family has
self-destructed since the accident that left her older brother, Calvin,
in a coma. Her mother has withdrawn into depression, her father has
become increasingly irascible, and Nickie has abandoned her beloved
music. Living in a West Coast community that depends on logging, Nickie
has not formulated a position on its environmental consequences. Then
she unexpectedly encounters Jeff, the son of a protester who is trying
to stop McDougal Brown from logging on Macquet Island.

Although Nickie isn’t a committed environmentalist and sees “both
sides of the story,” she objects to logging on an island that has
special meaning to her because of Calvin and because of her father’s
teaching her to climb there. When she discovers that McDougal Brown has
plans to advance the cutting date, she stages her own protest,
exercising the skills her father had taught her and placing herself in
danger in the process. As Nickie struggles with her emotions and
loyalties, Calvin struggles to escape his comatose state.

The author handles the sensitive topic of logging skilfully as she
develops Nickie’s story. Nickie is presented as an appealing character
who stages a passionate defence of her island. In a thoughtful
postscript to this coming-of-age tale, Maynard urges her readers to be
informed and to get involved in current social issues. Recommended.