The Auction

Patricia Morley is a professor of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University, an associate fellow of the Simone de Beauvoir
Institute, and author of Margaret Laurence: The Long Journey Home.

After The Very Last First Time, set in the Arctic reaches of northern
Quebec, Ottawa writer Andrews has turned her attention to the human pain
involved when farms fail. This book deals with that very real loss, and
turns it to gain through the riches of things remembered, lessons
learned, and relationships forged. The Auction is Andrews’s sixth book
for older children.

Young Todd arrives from town on the eve of the auction sale at his
grandfather’s farm. He had hoped to farm this land one day, and is
upset to find the livestock already sold, the farmhouse empty. As he
talks with his grandfather, he hears once again the well-loved tales of
pioneering clearances, and of his mother’s birth in a snowstorm, with
grandfather acting as midwife. Together they recall the fun they had
with “Gran.”

Memories of her remind them of the wonderful scarecrows she always made
for the vegetable garden. Inspired, they set about making scarecrows for
the auction—one at the combine, the other at the sewing machine.
Scarecrows everywhere. It’s a grotesque party, but healing has begun.

Reczuch’s pictures, both realistic and imaginative, are perfect for
the text. They will intrigue every child who has ever visited a farm, or
wanted to. The Auction weaves several storylines together with
sensitivity and humor. It celebrates love within families, and looks
toward an unknown future with confidence.