By Carly Smith
Content warning: death, violence
Step is a collection of short stories by Deborah Ellis. In each story, a child’s eleventh birthday is described. Perhaps catching her audience by surprise, Ellis’s stories do not involve grand celebrations, extraordinary gifts, or heaps of cake. Instead, they depict various scenarios of the everyday lives of children across the world. Although each story presents a unique plot, the protagonists share many similar emotions and thoughts—fear and feelings of anxiousness, wishes of greater independence, humility, and wonder. An eye-opening book for readers of all ages, Ellis’s poignant, empathy-invoking stories are reminiscent of her previous works like Sit and the Breadwinner series.
Step has ten short stories in total. Ellis’s third story focuses on Dom, a preteen who has received a crystal from his brother for his birthday. The crystal brings him Gregoire, a young man whose life is very different than Dom’s; Gregoire is the victim of child labour, forced into the dangerous and abusive industry of crystal mining in Madagascar. Dom learns about a dark side to these stones that is largely overlooked by the Western world, which hopes to maintain an uncomplicated relationship to their beauty. The fourth story, “Rubber,” chronicles Oma’s journey by boat to Europe to seek refuge from instability in her home country. She is with her parents and brother as she experiences a tumultuous and nerve-wracking voyage across the sea, encountering smugglers, robbers, and unsympathetic passersby along the way. The fifth story looks at Lazlo, a Hungarian boy turning 11, venturing to town with his father, hoping for a fun birthday experience. He is quickly shocked and disappointed when he learns his father is a Nazi and has taken him to his friends in the hopes of convincing Lazlo to become one himself. Standing in the exact spot where those once killed by Nazis stood moments before their death, Lazlo reflects on his father’s choices, his own imminent choices, and humanity. What decision will Lazlo make?
Each of these ten stories aims to elicit reflection about the readers’ past and future actions in uncertain or defenceless situations. They prompt the book’s audience to consider their empathy towards those with whom they cannot share identical experiences. Thought-provoking and emotion-evoking, Step unveils global issues that many North American youth may not be privy to, and some that they may, in an engaging way. I enjoyed that Ellis wrote from various points of view, sometimes in first person narrative and sometimes in third. I liked being able to make connections between the characters, while also seeing their differences; this set the ground for a smooth transition between stories without causing boredom or predictability. Overall, I recommend this book to a variety of readers, including fans of Ellis’s previous works, middle school students, and adults.
Thank you to Groundwood Books for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.