What if your country is involved in an unjust war, and you’ve lost trust in your own government?
It's 1968, and the Vietnam War has brought new urgency to the life of Billie Taylor, a seventeen-year-old aspiring photojournalist. Billie is no stranger to risky situations, but when she attends a student protest at Columbia University with her college boyfriend, and the US is caught up in violent political upheaval, her mother decides to move the two of them to Canada. Furious at being dragged away from her beloved New York City to live in a backwater called Toronto, Billie doesn’t take her exile lightly. As her mother opens their home to draft evaders and deserters, Billie’s activism grows in new ways. She discovers an underground network of political protesters and like minds in a radical group based in Rochdale College, the world’s first “free” university. And the stakes rise when she is exposed to horrific images from Vietnam of the victims of Agent Orange – a chemical being secretly manufactured in a small town just north of Toronto.
Suddenly she has to ask herself some hard questions. How far will she go to be part of a revolution? Is violence ever justified? Or does standing back just make you part of the problem?
Key Text Features
author’s note
chapters
dialogue
epigraph
facts
historical context
literary references
song lyrics
What if your country is involved in an unjust war, and you’ve lost trust in your own government?
It's 1968, and the Vietnam War has brought new urgency to the life of Billie Taylor, a seventeen-year-old aspiring photojournalist. Billie is no stranger to risky situations, but when she attends a student protest at Columbia University with her college boyfriend, and the US is caught up in violent political upheaval, her mother decides to move the two of them to Canada. Furious at being dragged away from her beloved New York City to live in a backwater called Toronto, Billie doesn’t take her exile lightly. As her mother opens their home to draft evaders and deserters, Billie’s activism grows in new ways. She discovers an underground network of political protesters and like minds in a radical group based in Rochdale College, the world’s first “free” university. And the stakes rise when she is exposed to horrific images from Vietnam of the victims of Agent Orange – a chemical being secretly manufactured in a small town just north of Toronto.
Suddenly she has to ask herself some hard questions. How far will she go to be part of a revolution? Is violence ever justified? Or does standing back just make you part of the problem?
Key Text Features
author’s note
chapters
dialogue
epigraph
facts
historical context
literary references
song lyrics
| Published By | Groundwood Books Ltd — Aug 1, 2023 |
| Specifications | 224 pages | 5.5 in x 8.5 in |
| Keywords | student politics; taking responsibility; terrorism; war and conflict; New York City; Toronto; Elmira; draft dodgers; Rochdale College; photography and photojournalism; Greta Thunberg; Severn Cullis-Suzuki; Autumn Peltier; |
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Supporting Resources
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Excerpt Guide |
| Written By |
AMANDA WEST LEWIS is the author of nine books for young readers, including two about Miranda Billie Taylor, These Are Not the Words and Focus. Click. Wind. Her books have been nominated for the Silver Birch Award, the Red Cedar Award, the Violet Downey IODE Award, the Snow Willow Award and others. She is a writer, theater creator, calligrapher, teaching artist and founder of the Ottawa Children’s Theatre. Amanda has an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Born in New York City, Amanda now lives in Brooke Valley, Ontario, with her husband, writer Tim Wynne-Jones. |
| Written By |
|
AMANDA WEST LEWIS is the author of nine books for young readers, including two about Miranda Billie Taylor, These Are Not the Words and Focus. Click. Wind. Her books have been nominated for the Silver Birch Award, the Red Cedar Award, the Violet Downey IODE Award, the Snow Willow Award and others. She is a writer, theater creator, calligrapher, teaching artist and founder of the Ottawa Children’s Theatre. Amanda has an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Born in New York City, Amanda now lives in Brooke Valley, Ontario, with her husband, writer Tim Wynne-Jones. |
| Audience | ages 13 to 18 / grades 8 to 12 |
| Key Text Features | author’s note; chapters; dialogue; epigraph; facts; historical context; literary references; song lyrics |
Commended, Globe 100 Best Books, 2023
Short-listed, Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People, 2024
Readers may benefit from Lewis' … explorations of the importance of protest and considerations of violence perpetrated in the name of a greater good.
” —Kirkus ReviewsFocus. Click. Wind. by Amanda West Lewis leans into the sex, drugs, and rock and roll of the late 1960s, but these details are merely a portal into something more significant: a depiction of the social consciousness of youth who were simultaneously navigating personal tragedy and government-sponsored violence.
” —Historical Novel SocietyFocus. Click. Wind. has more grit than many coming-of-age novels.
” —Quill & QuireReaders find they must respect [Billie's] diligence, her heartfelt devotion to an important cause and her desire to question the roles set out for her by her mom, her friends and, indeed, her government.
” —CM: Canadian Review of MaterialsThis book will engage readers while leaving them with lots to think about including how can one person make a difference during times of social unrest.
” —Canadian Children's Book NewsA fascinating young adult book that raises important questions about how young people should react when they disagree with their country's actions. Is rebellion a legitimate option?
” —Winnipeg Free PressThis book will engage readers while leaving them with lots to think about including how can one person make a difference during times of social unrest.
” —Canadian Children’s Book NewsWith dramatic scenes, fully-realized characters, and plenty of tension, Amanda West Lewis brings readers a story from that most consequential year, 1968. This novel recaptures the turbulence, confusion, horror, and tragedies so many of us experienced. Memorable and absorbing!
” —Leda Schubert, award-winning author of 'Monsieur Marceau: Actor Without Words'; 'Firsts and Lasts: The Changing Seasons'; and 'Listen: How Pete Seeger Got America Singing'Vivid language immerses us in the world of 1968 New York City and Toronto through the eyes of Billie, a gifted photographer whose commitment to social justice and ending the Vietnam War leads her to physical and moral danger as she rebels against a mother who will do anything to keep her safe. This tight, gripping story perfectly captures a time, place, and young woman who will go to any lengths to right wrongs.
” —Lyn Miller-Lachmann, author of Los Angeles Times Book Prize-winning YA novel 'Torch'I can’t get this book out of my head!
” —Ann Angel, author of YALSA Award-winning 'Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing'With a perfect touch and a seasoned hand, Amanda Lewis has crafted an artful coming-of-age story that pulses with youthful rage. Against a backdrop of bombs too far to hear yet so close to home, Lewis gives Billie Taylor a passionate voice, and a camera lens through which an aching, timeless truth is revealed: the casualties of war don't end on a battlefield.
” —Emil Sher, award-winning author of 'Young Man with Camera' and other works for the stage, screen, and page