The
Maestro was recommended to me as an exemplary example of Canadian YA
literature. It was awarded the Governor
General’s Literary Award and is not disappointing. Interesting plot, memorable characters, and a
unique viewpoint leave me yearning to work with middle school students again in
the pre-Common Core days.
A third person narrator tells the
story of Burl Crowe, a 14-year old abused boy living in an extremely rural area
of Ontario, Canada, but the world is seen clearly through Burl’s eyes. Living in fear of his father, Cal, with a
mother who escapes to her prescription drugged world, Burl explores his world with
distrust and hesitancy. It is when he
runs away and meets the Maestro that the world becomes more accepting of Burl
while offering him more challenges.
The novel begins with Burl following
Cal to his secret fishing hole; unfortunately, it will not be a safe place for
Burl. After being discovered, Burl runs off and never turns back. Music draws
him to the unusual pyramid cabin in the woods, and the Maestro, Nathaniel
Orlando Gow, begins an uneasy alliance with the young stranger. For the first time Burl has a male role model
who may not be ordinary but is not abusive, and the wisdom he shares is
invaluable: “Perfection is really nothing more nor less than getting the
results you desire. That is never a
simple business” (51).
No spoilers here, although it is
killing me not to give more of the plot, to say more would be to say too
much. There are several adults who care
about Burl and try to help him. One
section that I do need to mention, without revealing plot, is his first trip to
Toronto. Living in a rural area, I found
the descriptions of his experiences to be eye-openers and true to life:
Burl saw in an hour more people than he had seen in
his whole life. His eyes smarted with
the strain of seeing and the stinging stench of the yellow air. His head ached with the blare and discord. His feet ached with the unrelenting hardness
of concrete…He had never seen a pigeon before.
He had never seen a bird with so little self-respect. (138)
A
few pages later this line actually caused me to stop reading, “There were black
people there. He’d never seen one in the
flesh” (141). If you have lived in a
rural area in New York State, there are still children able to have this
experience. With my understanding of
northern Ontario, Wynne-Jones helped me experience Toronto in a new way outside
of my experiences without being offended or feeling the story was dated. It could still happen.
The world of Burl Crow changes
greatly in this novel. At the end, a
young man is emerging with a better understanding of his past, and a clearer
vision of his future. And I am already
reading another YA novel by Tim Wynne-Jones.
Wynne-Jones,
Tim. The Maestro. Toronto: Douglas
& McIntyre, 2000. Print.
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