Catching Spring

by Sylvia Olsen

The year is 1957, and Bobby lives on the Tsartlip First Nation reserve on Vancouver Island where his family has lived for generations and generations. Bobby loves his weekend job at the nearby marina. He loves to play marbles with his friends. And he loves being able to give half his weekly earnings to his mother to eke out the grocery money, but he longs to enter the up-coming fishing derby. With the help of his uncle and Dan from the marina his wish just might come true.

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Sylvia Olsen is a writer and public speaker living on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. She is the author of several picture books, a number of first readers and novels for young adults and one non fiction—so far. Most of all she is a mother and grandmother and aunty to dozens of nieces and nephews.

Sylvia has spent most of her life living in Tsartlip First Nation, where her children and grandchildren now live. Because Sylvia is non native and her children are of mixed heritage most of her stories are about the place—the time—the experience of where different sorts of people come together. That’s one of the things that interests her the most. It’s one of the things she knows the most about—and like many authors—Sylvia writes about what she knows.

Her newest books are: a historical fiction set in the Gulf Islands called Counting on Hope (Sono Nis, Fall 2009) and A Different Game (Orca Books, Spring 2010). She is currently working on an adult non fiction and dreaming up a new story for a Young Adult novel (making it up is her favourite part of the writing process).

Writing is Sylvia’s most important hobby. She also loves to draw, sew, knit and design clothing. Her ‘real’ job is in housing. Her career, her dedication and her passion are to make sure everyone has a healthy place to live.

Reviews

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

book for children ages 7-11. I worked with the author whe we lived in Sidney

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Indigenous family, island culture, poverty, absent father, and wholesome values. These are facets of the larger story that I appreciated reading about with sensitivity and inclusion. I enjoyed the story of Bobby, the strong and honest main character.

Really good story with an old timey feel - which is one of my favorite genres: an older style of writing for children's books. Will seek out author Syliva Olsen and continue to read her stories.

There is no racism in this book (as far as I can tell; as a white person, I didn't detect any). The family's Indigenous heritage is also not central to the read, except for the mention that the main character's family has lived on the island "for generations and generations" and identifying where they live as the Tsartlip First Nation Reserve. This is an #OwnVoices story.

Side Note: I need the math of this explained to me from the About the Author section: "[the author's] mother and mother-in-law have more than 200 grandchildren and great-grandchildren between them!"

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a little iffy on the casual sexism thrown in at the end, but otherwise I think this is a good replacement for Stone Fox (offensive) and Indian Shoes (boring).

Kids need background knowledge on fishing and marbles.

The author herself is not Native, but was married to a Coast Salish man for 35 years and lived in a First Nation area in Vancouver. The book isn't overtly Native but does contain some underlying themes (like supporting the family, the meaningful nicknames). Book found here: https://www.strongnations.com/store/i...

[Kate Callen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet story about Bobby, a Tsartlip boy of the 1950s who works at the local marina at the weekend and loves to fish. When his employer sets up a children's fishing derby he really wants to enter but doesn't have the entry fee, as he gives most of his earnings to his single mother.

I enjoyed this. It's a happy story about a Canadian First Nations child enjoying his community and culture and seeing good behaviour rewarded. The ending felt a little rushed but that's my only real criticism.

[Vani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 stars