Monique Polak,
The Middle of Everywhere
Orca Book Publishers, 2009

Rating: E*

Noah is pleased to leave his bullied school life in Toronto to live for a year with his father, but moving to George River, in far northern Québec, seems to be going a bit far. It really is the middle of nowhere. Circumstances force him to engage with his father’s northern community, and he ultimately learns what it is his father loves and respects in this land and these people. For them, George River is the middle of everywhere.

Monique Polak has written a powerful novel that blends the emotional insecurities of young teenage boys with their need to be strong: socially, physically, emotionally. Noah’s internal monologues ring true; what he learns is a lesson young readers- male and female-can follow and believe in. The story itself interweaves social and familial drama with more exciting events, culminating in Noah meeting a polar bear in a blizzard while winter camping. To urban readers, this may seem overly clichéd, but Polak delivers her tale with a simplicity and realism that helps bring readers into the northern world. Polak incorporates the customs and language of the Inuit seamlessly into her narrative, facilitating readers’ comfort with and acceptance of her story, and helping them feel that the world she depicts not only could be, but is, essentially true.

Thematic Links : Polar Bears; Dog-Sled Races; Inuit (Culture); Inuktitut (Language)

Karyn Huenemann
Vol. 15, number 1
October 2009

*Rating System:
E - Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!
G - Good, even great at times, generally useful!
A - Average, all right, has its applications.
P - Problematic, puzzling, poorly presented.