Review
Tyranny turns up in Ann Alma's Skateway to Freedom . The menace is the East German secret police, who threaten the futures of 11-year-old Josie Grun and her parents in East Berlin. Fearing arrest for his liberal opinions, Josie's father plans the family's escape through Czechoslovakia into Hungary and Austria and thence to Canada, where his brother is established in Calgary. This gives Alma the opportunity to describe things Canadians have learned to take for granted, wasting plastic and paper, for example, or accepting the view that, in economic terms, some are more equal than others—through the eyes of a newcomer. After a thrilling and dangerous adventure, Josie's most pressing problems soon become learning English and fitting in to a Canadian school. But Josie Grun is no ordinary girl. She has courage, and she loves to skate. Alma, who came to Canada as an immigrant herself and went on to teach school for 18 years in Armstrong, B.C., can empathize with the plight of young new Canadians. Josie and her parents are nicely rounded and sensitively imagined characters. It's a pleasure to make their acquaintance.
Pat Barclay (Books in Canada) --
Books in Canada
Book Description
Eleven-year-old Josie Grun escapes from Communist East Germany with her mother and father one dark night in 1989 just months before the Berlin Wall comes tumbling down. Braving border guards, barbed wire, and rifle shots, Josie reluctantly turns her back on her best friend, Greta, and all that was once familiar. She crosses the ocean to join her uncle in Calgary, attempts to learn a foreign language, and overcomes the prejudices of her schoolmates in order to forge a new life. Clinging to the passion that has always been a comfort, her figure skating, she enters a local competition to prove that she is free on the ice and off.
About the Author
Ann Alma is the author of Under Emily's Sky (available from Dundurn), Summer of Adventures (Sono Nis), Summer of Changes (Sono Nis), and Something to Tell (Riverwood). she lives in South Slocan, British Columbia.
