Flood

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.

In this wonderful blend of fantasy and realistic fiction, Andy Flynn, an
orphaned 11-year-old boy, is being watched over by the Sheehogue, the
faeries who left Ireland during the Great Famine and are now scattered
worldwide. When heavy rains wash Andy’s Vancouver home into a flooded
creek, his mother and stepfather drown, but Andy survives. Unbeknownst
to him, he has been saved by the faeries. Mona, Andy’s maternal aunt,
brings him back to her home in Halifax, but when Andy learns that his
birth father, Vincent, was not killed in the war as his mother had said
and that he’s living in Halifax, Andy runs away to find him. Andy has
romantic notions of a wonderful life with his father, but after some
five weeks with Vinny, as Vincent is known on the street, Andy
recognizes that his glib father is just a petty thief who spouts empty
promises.

When Vinny is injured fleeing local hoods, he arranges for Andy to live
with Mona “til I find a job and the right place for us.” Months pass
before Andy realizes that his father will never change and that he, the
child, must establish the boundaries of their relationship. By rescuing
Andy, the Sheehogue had assumed a responsibility for him, and so five of
them have secretly accompanied Andy to Halifax. Only when the faeries
know that Andy has found a secure home with Mona do they return to
Vancouver. Because the book’s readers are aware of the faeries’
presence, they will get the numerous in-jokes created by the
Sheehogue’s engaging in pishogues or mischievous tricks.

Heneghan divides the story into three parts—“the boy,” “the
father,” and “the aunt”— and the Sheehogue’s conversations,
which usually occur at the end of chapters, are in italics. As Andy’s
need of the faeries’ support declines, so does their italicized
presence. Highly recommended.