Because of the Moon. C. J. Cutayne. Port Coquitlam, BC: Blue Moose Publishing, 2011. 331 pp., trade pbk., $12.99. ISBN 978-0-9876893-0-6. Grades 6-9 / Ages 11-14. Review by Kim Aippersbach. *** /4

excerpt:

As they rounded the corner of the house the three adults stopped in their tracks.

The entire front of the garage was sprayed black and red.

A two story tall painted raven stared down at them. Its beak, outlined in thick black, curved downward into a sneaky smile. The intense eyes, black rimmed with red pupils, warned trespassers to enter at the risk of their very souls. The double doors were dark, folded wings to block passage of uninvited guests.

“Wait here,” said Jay as he ran through the side door of the garage leaving Grampa and Tatla to decide if they were ever going to close their mouths. Having never seen the garage Mrs. Thornton wondered what the fuss was about. Dillon and Jody sat. Their tails swept leaves and dirt side to side like a pair of windshield wipers.

The double doors creaked open showing the newly painted inside of the doors. At each step the wings of the raven spread wide and majestic, as if taking flight.

Jay stood under the raven mural. No one said a word.

Jay is a First Nations boy who has grown up in the city with little knowledge of his heritage. His night-time graffiti activity gets him into a situation where he faces juvenile detention, but his grandfather comes into town to suggest he be sentenced to time on his remote reservation instead. Uprooted from his friends and his life, Jay is resentful, and he views the poverty of his grandfather’s village with contempt. He is slowly won over by the sense of community and the First Nations culture that the village elders are trying to preserve. His grandfather teaches him to carve a totem pole. Ultimately, Jay chooses to stay on the reservation and comes up with a plan to improve his tribe’s situation. The moon never turns her back on the earth, so Jay learns to contribute to his community “because of the moon.”

     Cutayne vividly describes the Coast First Nations village and its inhabitants with realism, humour and sensitivity. Jay judges the place and the people harshly when he first arrives, but as he gets to know the various quirky characters and their stories, he—and thus the reader—is able to feel a connection and care about their fate.

     Cutayne’s strength is also the weakness of Because of the Moon. She is very complete in her depiction of the village, so there are a lot of interesting characters and great description that don’t need to be there. The pacing suffers from too many subplots not adequately tied together. There is a bullying subplot and a teen pregnancy story that could have been eliminated. Because of the Moon contains a great story about the power of art and the artistic spirit to transform individuals and communities. It would be a stronger book if it focussed on this story and eliminated many of the side plots and characters.

     Cutayne presents a great deal of information about the Coast First Nations people. Sometimes the information is conveyed naturally through the story, but sometimes it comes via stilted and didactic-sounding dialog. Because of the Moon could be an excellent book to immerse students in a culture they may know little about, but the intended audience will have little patience with didacticism and may lose interest in the episodic plot. The humour will grab their attention, however, and Jay is an engaging hero.

Recommended.

Kim Aippersbach is a freelance editor and writer with three children in Vancouver, BC.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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