Summer of Changes

Sheila Martindale is poetry editor of Canadian Author and Bookman and
the author of No Greater Love.

This story is about 11-year-old Anneke, whose mother is schizophrenic.
Mother has good days and bad days, and the bad ones are getting worse.
Anneke tries hard to look after her mother and to ensure that her mother
takes her medicine, but it’s a losing battle. Then her mother
disappears. Rather than be taken into foster care, Anneke and her
faithful dog hide out in an old root cellar near her home in the
Kootenay Mountains, where she fends for herself. She has to contend with
a cougar, a bear, and a terrifying thunderstorm, to say nothing of
evading an army of searchers. When Anneke finally decides to return to
civilization, she finds a new world of relationships.

Summer of Changes is both an exciting and a heartwarming story, with
its well-drawn characters and honest portrayal of mental illness. The
author has also done a fine job of documenting Anneke’s emotional
struggles, particularly in showing how Anneke’s longing to be with her
mother becomes an impediment to her getting on with her new life.
Although the text is occasionally repetitive and there are places where
the narrative could be tightened up, overall the novel is well written
and engaging. Recommended.