"SIDNEY!
What's with the sour puss?
C'MERE, you look like you
need to HIT something.
I hear there was some doings
on the BOARDWALK last
night. You weren't THERE
were you?"
August 1933 in Toronto is wrought with many difficulties for its residents. The Depression has led to long breadlines for people needing food to survive, and unable to afford it. Racial tensions are out of control as those who agree with the Nazi regime concerning Jewish people are brazenly sharing their views. In the midst of the chaos, two best friends, Sid Klein and Plug Venditelli, are doing their best to earn enough money to exist and to help their families do the same. Their methods are many; running errands, selling newspapers, picking pockets, busking, even catching cockroaches for money.
Baseball games are perfect for picking pockets. Their gang, poor and desperate Jewish and Italian immigrants, is known to police. When they are caught, the police offer a way out. They need the boys to steal a paper from a man they believe to have communist tendencies. The boys agree, putting their plan in action at the next baseball game. A riot caused by Nazi supporters creates havoc. In the midst of it all, Sid sees what they have stolen. It is a list of people who are doing their best to organize unions meant to improve working conditions. Sid sees his father's name there, as is Plug's mother's. Sid does what he thinks is right.
I knew nothing about the Christie Pits Riot in Toronto, despite being very interested in Canadian history in high school and at university. This is a story needing telling - this graphic novel gives readers a picture of a dark time in our history. It is a very compelling and appropriate read for middle grade students. The illustrations stand out in presenting the fears of the time and the sense of foreboding that permeates. They absolutely place readers in the middle of the action - both time and place.
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