Duncan's Way by Ian Wallace

Duncan's Way, written and illustrated by Ian Wallace, is set in outport Newfoundland and tells the story of how 11 year old Duncan comes up with an idea to help his family.  Duncan's dad struggles with the loss of his way of life and livelihood since the fishery closed.  His mother thinks the family should move from Newfoundland to start a new life, but Duncan comes up with a plan to help his father make a living and stay in Newfoundland.

Anna was not terribly interested in the story but she did like the pictures.  I have mixed feelings about the book.  It portrays real life struggles that some Newfoundlanders faced with the closing of the fishery and I can see some people really being able to relate to the story while I see others being offended by some aspects of the story.

On Ian Wallace's website you can find a sample spread from Duncan's Way and learn about the family that Wallace used as models and inspiration for the illustrations in the book.

The dot com Leprechaun by Caroline Stellings

The dot com Leprechaun, written and illustrated by Caroline Stellings, is set in a community on the Bonavista Peninsula of Newfoundland.  Lucy is sad that her family has to leave their home in Newfoundland and when she turns to her computer for a distraction a Leprechaun pops up on the screen and asks her to help him or he's going to be driven from his home.  Lucy is afraid to do what he asks, go down into a root cellar to get something for him, but she overcomes her fear and helps the Leprechaun keep his home. In return the Leprechaun helps Lucy find an artifact, a ring that belonged to John Cabot, that will make it possible for her family to stay in Newfoundland.

Anna enjoyed the story and I liked the fact that it gave me the chance to talk to her about some things that she didn't know anything about, like root cellars and John Cabot and the imaginary world of leprechauns and fairies.

This book is one of the books that was donated by Breakwater Books for our April reading challenge.