| ________________ CM . . . .
Volume VIII Number 3 . . . . October 5, 2001
excerpt: We reached the end of O'Conner's land where we left the track, hopped the fallen fenceposts and followed the trampled path as it curved down a slope and around the side of a hill. I stood next to Anna, peering into the mouth of the cave. It was dim at first after the white light we'd been walking in, and musty smelling. I blinked several times before the shapes inside began to make any sense. There were two people in the cave.  It's a hot summer afternoon in Agatha, a small Alberta town which can be
toured in exactly thirty minutes. Sixteen year-old Rachel Bennett is
spending her vacation there, staying with her aunt and uncle,
veterinarians for the local area. The prospect of two months of paralyzing
boredom turns around when she meets Michael Bell, tall, dark-haired, a
year older, a collector of horror movies. Within five minutes, Rachel is
smitten. Their attraction to each other is strong and powerful - something
about Michael is undeniably charismatic - but even from the start, Rachel
senses something disturbing in him. Michael's favourite retreat is a cave
outside of town, but, even there, he can't escape the pain and loss of his
brother's death, two years earlier. Throughout Rachel's summer in Agatha,
Michael's anguish escalates and his behaviour becomes increasingly
erratic, dangerous, and hurtful, even to those who care for him. The
pranks that Cory and his friend, Taylor, play on Michael and his friend,
Scott, become increasingly malevolent and violent; insults become genuine
injuries, and, like a stone thrown into a pond, their acts of retaliation
affect others in this small community. For Rachel, loving Michael is
confusing: he is vulnerable and hurt, but his emotional needs are greater
than her experience and well-intentioned attempts to help. Even at the end
of the story, she wonders "how we had all missed the signs." The summer,
and their relationship, ends after a truly terrifying incident at the cave
to which Michael so often fled.
Last Summer in Agatha is strong and powerful-written. Holubitsky makes you taste the dust of southern Alberta, feel the heat of prairie sun, and live the lazy rhythm of small-town life. Within two chapters, the sixteen and seventeen year-olds of this novel are all sharply drawn characters, unique and yet like teens anywhere. Although the book is supposed to be for an intended audience of age 12 and up, I really think that it's a book for older adolescents: there's a bit of profanity and some exploratory sexual activity, although certainly less than you'd see on prime time television aimed at teen audiences. Unfortunately, the cover art for the novel depicts two couples who look as if they are age 12, and this is off-putting to older readers who would enjoy this book. Cover art aside, it's definitely worth adding to your high school library fiction collection. Highly Recommended. Joanne Peters is a teacher-librarian at Kelvin High School in Winnipeg, MB.
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 NEXT REVIEW | TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - October 5, 2001. AUTHORS | TITLES | MEDIA REVIEWS | PROFILES | BACK ISSUES | SEARCH | CMARCHIVE | HOME |
