Trusting True North (2022)

By Gina Linko

Illustrations by Kevin Keele and Rachel Murff

4Rbooks                                           5/6                   grades 4-7

Amazon                                             4.6/5              grade level preschool – 3 ???

Goodreads                                      3.85/5

Common Sense Media               Not yet reviewed

 161 pages

Synopsis

            It’s been a tough fifth grade year for True North.  Everyone is worried about the virus.  Her mother is trapped in Canada, unable to come home until the border opens. Her father works in a hospital and is worried about bringing the virus home to his family.  He sleeps in the basement and doesn’t come upstairs without a mask.  Her grandmother is recovering from surgery on her throat and can only communicate with a whiteboard or medical microphone she holds to her throat. School is Zoom lessons on the computer.

             It would be easier to cope if she had partner to do things with but her sister is a teenager and doesn’t seem to want True around, and her best friend isn’t allowed to come over because her father his too worried.  That leaves True’s little brother Georgie.  They work on classwork together and explore the nature area outside their back door.

             One day, True and Georgie take a walk to the old barn on the other side of the field and forest. There True find two surprises.  A mother cat and her litter of 4 kittens, including a sickly runt that True names Tea Cup, and a boy from school, Kyler. Everyone is afraid of him.  He’s huge, and he once punched out another boy in school, but True learns he is much more than that.  

            True and Kyler become unlikely friends, learning to trust each other and uniting to help the kittens. That is until True learns she and her sister have been exposed to the virus and Kyler becomes very sick.  True must figure out a way to help everyone she can, including herself.

Parental Guidelines:     low-medium

It’s the middle of the pandemic and children are on zoom lessons, wearing masks, and staying six feet away from everyone.

True’s grandmother has had her voice box removed because of cancer and talks with a medical microphone which acts as her new voice box.

A kitten dies.

True often disobeys the rules, does things she knows are wrong, and explores areas where she is not supposed to be.

Kyler’s mom is sick with the virus and is in the hospital.  Kyler is living alone, looked after by neighbors until he gets sick and True has to call 911 for him.

Other friends and neighbors get the virus.

Recommendation

            This is the first book I’ve read that is set during the pandemic.  As such, the pandemic is involved with every aspect of the story and becomes a major character of the story over the final 1/3.  I think the author did an excellent job highlighting how the pandemic affected the lives of children, mentally, emotionally, and physically.

            I enjoyed this story and it moved me emotionally, especially remembering how difficult the pandemic was for all us.  The fear and confusion are woven throughout the story without being too heavy on the plot. True has many admirable qualities but is also very prone to making big mistakes which seemed heightened during this challenging period of time.

            I think this would be a great classroom read for an upper elementary teacher who wants to work through the pandemic years with her students. It’s an easy read for an independent reader, but parent guidance on understanding why people did what they did during COVID might be useful.

            One of the subthemes of the book is maps and map making. A teacher could use this as a jumping off point for further studies on maps, and many children might be encouraged to learn how to draw their own maps.