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From the author of "The Crazy Man"
In a small prairie town like Argue, Saskatchewan, everyone knows everybody else's business. It's common knowledge that the Loney family has been barely hanging on, but when the Loney children's father George dies in a drunken stupor and their stepmother takes off with a traveling Bible salesman, it looks as though the children are done for. Who's to save them when everyone is coping with their own problems -- the lingering Depression and the loss of the town's young men to the Second World War? Under the watchful eye of their ghostly parents and through the small kindnesses of a few neighbors, but mostly by dint of their own determination and ingenuity, the Loney children survive. I'll Be Watching is an extremely powerful story of children at risk because of adult hypocrisy, indifference, self-interest, and outright immorality, all cloaked in a self-righteous exterior.
About the author
Pamela Porter is the author of three collections of poetry as well as a number of children’s books, including Sky and Yellow Moon, Apple Moon. Pamela's first novel in verse, The Crazy Man, received the TD Children’s Literature Award, the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year Award for Children, the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People, and the Governor General’s Award. She lives near Sidney, BC, with her husband, children and a menagerie of rescued horses, dogs and cats.
Summary
From the author of The Crazy Man
In a small prairie town like Argue, Saskatchewan, everyone knows everybody else’s business. It’s common knowledge that the Loney family has been barely hanging on, but when the Loney children’s father George dies in a drunken stupor and their stepmother takes off with a traveling Bible salesman, it looks as though the children are done for. Who’s to save them when everyone is coping with their own problems the lingering Depression and the loss of the town’s young men to the Second World War? Under the watchful eye of their ghostly parents and through the small kindnesses of a few neighbors, but mostly by dint of their own determination and ingenuity, the Loney children survive. I'll Be Watching is an extremely powerful story of children at risk because of adult hypocrisy, indifference, self-interest, and outright immorality, all cloaked in a self-righteous exterior.
Additional text
"Full of rich, believable characters, the emotionally taut story offers no simple solutions, only a window of hope."
Booklist
"Complex, nuanced, and as substantial as any adult novel. . . . Highly recommended." The Toronto Star
