When Kino finds the pearl, him and Juana think that it is the solution to all their problems. Kino and Juana suffer thorough the paradox that evil comes out of good through the story. Based on a rereading of pages 120 - 122, what can the reader infer from the description of the couple upon their return: have they learned to live with the paradox, and what have they learned.įinally, discuss the connection between The Pearl and the novel study topic: When a character acts selflessly against the prevailing vice(s) of the dominant social order, true virtue exhibits itself' In a well-developed blog post, discuss how Kino and Juana suffer through the paradox outlined above. It's all rich grist for a keen-eyed young writer's mill, as Charlie learns that the best material comes not from exciting travels and circumstances, but from journeys to new places inside herself.'On page 129 of the notes, the editor writes that 'the artist probes the central mystery of life as he sees it, the paradox of how evil comes out of good, the tear at the heart of laughter, the dream doomed to disappointment in the moment of dreaming, the despair conjoined with hope, with which humanity, if it is wise, must learn to live.'

And then there's the mystery of the Chocolate Moose Man, an almost mythical figure who turned up at her mother's funeral thirteen years before. As revelation upon revelation builds, she discovers the unthinkable: Kerry is her half-brother and the man she's always taken to be her father isn't after all.

Then she falls for Kerry, a handsome local hunk, and wants to tell him how she feels. For one thing, she agrees to compete in the gruelling Four Islands Race. Instead, she steps into a series of unexpected adventures that will alter her view of what seemed a dull and tedious existence. She decides to spend the summer with her grandmother on remote Lake Ringrose in northern Ontario, where she thinks she can laze on a hammock all summer and get in touch with her mother's roots.

That she doesn't want to spend her summer with her father's girlfriend and her triplets,.

That her blow-up at her tactless creative writing teacher must have contributed to his heart attack,.

Sixteen-year-old Charlie, an ambitious and dedicated writer who thinks her small-town life doesn't offer any material for her work, is sure of three things: Not her father, the boy she likes, or even the mysterious man from her mother's funeral. No one is who they seem to be in Charlie's world. Canadian Children's Book Centre Our Choice, 2007

Grist by Heather Waldorf