Zane's Trace

When Allan Wolf was thirteen, he lost a penny behind the baseboard in his bedroom. He grabbed a pencil and wrote, "Penny lost down here on the night of April 12, 1976 at 2 til 9 PM and 5 seconds by Allan Dean Wolf."

In some ways, that was the genesis of Zane's Trace, a poetic coming of age novel that combines elements of historical fiction, free verse, and fantasy. 

Using a combination of powerful images, prose, real places, events and people, this book documents Zane Guesswind's journey as he wrestles with his painful past which includes his mother's suicide, an abusive grandfather, and his father's desertion. If that wasn't enough baggage for any teenager to carry around, Zane also has epilepsy. 

Up until the story's opening Zane has dealt with his pain by writing on any non-conventional surface imaginable including his bedroom walls and ceiling. Translating his thoughts and feelings this way sometimes has a therapeutic effect on Zane:

Whatever it was, the simple act of writing
on my wall had strengthened me somehow. (p.9)
.............
A red Sharpie made the men bleed. 
And I wrote and I wrote and I wrote.
The worse Mom got, the more I wrote.
The more the old man nagged her,
the more I wrote.
And the more empty spaces I filled,
the better I felt. (p. 12)

But, as a not untypical adolescent, it also gives him more power than he truly has. So, when his grandfather dies in his sleep, Zane thinks,

I did not kill him directly, yet I
was certainly the cause.
                       Last night--
the Zane-atopia scene on my ceiling,
the flash of light at the top of Mount Guesswind
the heaven holding Mom, Stanley, Zach, me
and Grandpa?
                     I smudged the old man out
with a fat, black marker--king size.
Last night I erased the old man from the light. (p. 30)


This book is a quick read, but not a simple one. It is full of powerful metaphors and layers of images--even as the writing on Zane's walls and his thoughts are layered with meaning. The line, "One straight shot" is repeated over and over again with various meanings and nuances. 

Zane's physical journey back to his mother's grave is also his emotional journey as he deals with his own deep grief. In the end, Wolff brings together the disparate elements of this poignant story as Zane reconciles the branches of his family tree. After his grandfather's funeral Zane says:

And all of us there--living or dead, crazy or sane, 
friend or foe, black or white, family or stranger--
we all crowd around and add our own names
to the twisted, crazy-beautiful family branches. (p.177)

******************

I would recommend this book for teens, particularly those who are wrestling with suicidal thoughts or have experienced mental illness and suicide in their families. Wolf includes a number of good resources at the end of the book, as well as information on what is historically and geographically accurate. 

Children's Literature Symposium in Chapel Hill

Recently, a group of writers, teachers, librarians and storytellers gathered to listen to ten children’s literature experts and writers. Here are some highlights:

Storyteller Brian Sturm opened the afternoon with a story demonstrating how our “brains are hardwired to understand stories—the best vehicle to communicate truth.” He then advised writers to:

Brian Sturm

• Give readers and/or listeners enough description so they can see events.
•  Remember that jeopardy works because readers want to fight alongside the protagonist.
• Create idiosyncratic characters that are both familiar and novel.
• Capture the heart with the familiar; hook the mind with what is new.

Susie Wilde, a professional book reviewer, shared her evaluation of eleven picture books. Her “bad book pile,” (mostly written by celebrities or authors of adult books) included:

• Don’t Call Me Little Bunny by Gregoire Solotareff. The bunny-protagnoist, has a gun and escapes from jail. Susie’s challenge was, “What is the underbelly of your story?
• Goldilocks by Dom De Luise.
• The Adventures of Ralphie the Roach by Paulina Porizkova. Susie found both the story and illustrations repulsive.
• The Christmas Sweater by Glen Beck. “There was no transition between reality and fantasy.”
• A Walk in the Rain with a Brain by Edward Hallowell. “If you’re going to write poetry, you need to do it perfectly.”

Her “good book pile” included:

• Mirror Mirror by Marilyn Singer. “Unlike DeLuise's self-serving Goldilocks, this has a fresh approach when re-imagining familiar characters.”
• Betty Bunny Loves Chocolate Cake by Michael Kaplan. “Features a wholly original, memorable character bound to be loved by child readers because it is spot on in a child’s perspective.
• Heart and Soul by Kadir Nelson. Good African American history stories.
• Tia Isa wants a Car by Meg Medina.  “There is satisfaction when the resolution rewards the reader.”
• Good night, Good Night Construction Site by Sherry Rinker. Very good rhythm and rhyme.
• Milo and the Magic Stones by Marcus Pfister.  “This book offers two endings so a child can choose between greed and selfishness to solve a problem.”

Karin Michel, head of youth services at the Chapel Hill library, stated that series are huge and that classics are still being read. She includes out-of-print books in her collection. “Libraries help extend the life of books that are worth reading.”

Sarah Carr, the children’s books manager at Flyleaf Books hand sells many books to her customers and their parents.  She noted the popularity of books in Spanish and picture books with lots of description. “Bookstores, as well as libraries, are also places to build a community of readers.”

Susie Wilde, Karin Michel, Sarah Carr

Novelist Stephen Messer admitted, “When I was young, I thought the coolest thing would be to be the author of one of the books I was reading.” He wrote his debut novel, Windblowne in longhand, which was helpful because every day he added a little more and couldn’t delete anything. When he is writing, he surrounds himself with things that remind him of the book. Oak trees outside his window, a dragon kite, and a poster of a powerful wind--all brought him into Windblowne’s fantasy setting.

Allan Wolf, Jackie Ogburn, Jane Baskerville Muphy, Stephen Messer, Barbara Younger

Jacqueline Ogburn, an award-winning picture book author advised, “Write to evoke pictures, not to describe them. Concentrate on dialogue, action, and character. Writing a picture book has much in common with writing a screenplay,” she said. “Turning a page in a picture book is the equivalent of a new scene.” Click here to listen to her book, The Bake Shop Ghost, read by Daniel Pinkwater.  

Performance poet Allan Wolf treated the group to two poetry performances, which is the art form that brought him into writing for children. “We write because we have something to say,” he said. “Part of exploration of what you don’t know leads to finding it out- don’t worry about that. Your questions will take you down an avenue that no one else has gone on.“