CM Magazine: Saying Goodbye

________________ CM . . . . Volume I Number II . . . . June 23, 1995

Saying Goodbye
Holeman, Linda
Toronto: Lester Publishing, 1995
169pp, cloth, $16.95
ISBN 1-895555-47-7
Grades 8-12/ Ages 14-18
Review by Helen Norrie

excerpt:

      I was in a particularly bad mood. Just before I left the house my mother had declared, brightly, that we could spend Saturday together reorganizing my closet and dresser drawers. Even new shelf paper. She said it the way I would imagine other mothers announcing a trip to an L.A. film studio to watch the taping of a movie staring Keanu Reeves.
      I looked at Lauren, sitting there so smug and proud just because of her cousin. I wanted to make her feel as bad as I did. "Well, that can't be true," I said, "because Jessica Jann is my father's daughter from his first marriage and I happen to know that she's going to be in New York taping a special."
      All three girls leaned forward and stared at me.
      "Would you repeat that please?" Mara said, her eyes bulging out in an unattractive way.
      I licked my lips. I couldn't believe I'd said that about Jessica Jann. I couldn't believe I'd said anything...

-from "Something Fishy"

Saying Goodbye is an arresting collection of short stories for young adults by an emerging Winnipeg author, Linda Holeman.

Each of the ten stories focuses on a critical time in the life a young woman -- or man, in one case. What makes the collection striking is the variety of experiences explored and the depth of understanding the author brings to the feeling of those involved.

Don't look for happy endings in these stories; these are realistic glimpses into contemporary adolescent life. The stories deal with separation, death, sexual abuse, loneliness, and rejection. But they also display qualities of survival, self-realisation, and maturing understanding.

For example, in "Baba Lu," Natalie is forced to leave behind a beloved grandmother when her family moves to a more upscale neighbourhood to give their daughter "more advantages." But Natalie chooses to spend every Saturday with her "Baba" and learn the secrets of her delicious Ukrainian cooking.

In "Sweet Bird of Youth," Blake has rejected the unwanted advances of an older male relative. When he realises that his young cousin is threatened with sexual abuse, he rescues both him and his pet canary by suggesting they stay at his home while his aunt is hospitalised. In the title story, "Saying Goodbye," Liza, the daughter of a mixed marriage between an aboriginal man from rural Manitoba and an urban white woman, comes to a remote island to fulfil her father's last wish and scatter his ashes. She realises that she then faces the reality of a life without him, and in her mother's world.

" This book of stories should ring true for the upper junior-high to high school age group. It would be useful for class discussion on boy-girl relationships, personal integrity, and sexual abuse.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@mts.net.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - JUNE 23, 1995.