Quill and Quire

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Juliana and the Medicine Fish

by Jake MacDonald

The art of fishing, the thrill of suspense, and the sadness of broken families: these are the main ingredients in Canadian writer Jake MacDonald’s latest novel, his first for young adults. Add to the mix, in unequal parts, Ojibway terms and traditions, Second World War lore, Latin words, Middle English epigraphs, and the slightly seared hides of white-collar professionals, and what might have been a fine bouillabaisse becomes more of a mulligan. It isn’t that this novel won’t be popular among young readers – its prolonged tension, evocative description, and meticulous detail are more than enough to sustain their interest. But the educational agenda is too ambitious, and some significant loose ends are left dangling. A plot-driven story like this one should deliver more on its tempting promises of resolution.

The central conflict in the novel arises from the separation of Juliana’s parents. Juliana has had to leave the family’s lodge on Lake of the Woods to go to Winnipeg with her mother, and she isn’t adjusting to the change. She misses her father, and when she manages to return to the lake for a summer visit, there is further turmoil. The fishing lodge, imperilled by debt, is monopolizing her father’s attention. There is also a shadowy presence lurking in the water underneath their boathouse. Initially, the mystery creature seems as ominous as everything else in Juliana’s life and is even likened to the rift in her family and the dark emotions that surround it. Clearly, the creature needs to be confronted and identified, and this is the only major tension in the novel that gets resolved in a satisfying way.

As the central character, Juliana is highly engaging and proves as interesting as her namesake, a 15th-century nun who wrote a treatise on fishing. Part of Juliana’s appeal comes from the emotional quality of her character: the descriptions of her sadness, in particular, are eloquent and compelling. Her parents are also sympathetic figures, although the author strains to make the father too much of a great guy.

 

Reviewer: Bridget Donald

Publisher: Great Plains Fiction

DETAILS

Price: $16.95

Page Count: 150 pp

Format: Paper

ISBN: 0-9697804-4-3

Released: July

Issue Date: 1997-8

Categories:

Age Range: ages 10–16