Caitlin

Darleen R. Golke is a teacher and librarian at Fort Richmond Collegiate
in Winnipeg.

Eighth-grader Caitlin Ryan, editor of the Degrassi Digest, cares
passionately about “issues.” When the school newspaper advisor, Mr.
Raditch, insists on a feature article about the upcoming school dance
rather than “real issues” like recycling or water quality, Caitlin
considers resigning. Mr. Raditch compounds her problem by devising a
study assignment which pairs Caitlin with Joey “Skateboard”
Jeremiah, who is responsible for getting a popular deejay to host the
dance. When a chance encounter at the Big Seen video shop introduces
Caitlin to Helen Caldicott’s film If You Love This Planet, her passion
for issues finds a focus through the clerk, Robert, and his friends. As
her fascination with the attractive Robert grows, Caitlin resorts to
lying to her parents and friends to spend time with him. He appears, in
her naive eyes, sincerely concerned about important world issues.
Learning about the United Kingdom’s Greenham Common antinuclear
protest inspires Caitlin’s crusading spirit. She chooses to join her
new friends in a protest at the Darlington Nuclear Plant over delivering
a Mr. Raditch-requested speech at the school assembly promoting the
dance. Caitlin’s decision results in her arrest and the realization
that Robert and his group have been using her. Overcoming her instinct
to hide, a wiser Caitlin acknowledges the need to face her parents, her
friends, her classmates, and Mr. Raditch, only to discover she has
earned their respect for her commitment to issues.

The sixteenth novel in the series based on tv’s popular (and now
cancelled) “Degrassi Junior High”/“Degrassi High” program,
Caitlin demonstrates a problem/solution model. Using fast-paced dialogue
and brevity of story line, Dunphy keeps readers aware of how
serious-minded Caitlin is manipulated by Robert and his group. Young
adolescents will empathize with Caitlin’s struggles, as neither her
career-absorbed mother nor her fitness-conscious father appear to have
time to see her frustrations. Even with the made-for-television
conclusion, Caitlin’s experiences should appeal to readers 11 years of
age and up.