Zack

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

Bell’s seventh young-adult novel combines themes of family conflict
and social issues.

Zack Lane is of mixed racial parentage: his father, a professor, is a
white Jew, while his mother, a professional blues singer, is black.
Zack, who resembles his mother, had encountered racism in his Toronto
high school. Now, the family has moved to rural Ontario.

Unhappy with his new rustic setting, Zack is deliberately
underperforming in his final high-school year. Given an opportunity to
pass history via an independent local history project, Zack decides to
research artifacts he accidentally dug up in the family’s new yard.
Upon learning that they belonged to a black slave who had fought for the
British during the American Revolution and the War of 1812, Zack
“connects” with this black man and decides to reconnect with his own
black roots. (His mother has, for reasons unknown, completely divorced
herself from her American family.) With his parents absent during the
summer holidays, Zack drives to Natchez, Mississippi, to find his
grandfather. While he succeeds in his quest, he also discovers that
racism has many faces.

The author effectively divides the novel, which is filled with
parallels, into four parts. The first sets up the plot, the second
reproduces Zack’s history assignment, the third chronicles Zack’s
southward odyssey, and the fourth furnishes an open-ended closure. Bell
respects his readers; his treatment of racism does not offer easy
solutions to this complex issue. Highly recommended.