Touching Snow

M. Sindy Felin’s young adult novel was a finalist for the 2007 National Book Award in the category of Young People’s Literature. It didn’t win, and it really does have some weaknesses, not the least of which are a somewhat unconvincing conclusion and an inconsistent tone. Still, it’s a solid enough work of fiction, and a fairly brave one, tackling as it does the weighty subject of the violent physical discipline of children within the Haitian immigrant community. The novel begins with an arresting opening paragraph:

The best way to avoid being picked on by high school bullies is to kill someone. Anyone will do. Accidental killings have the same effect as on-purpose murder. Of course, this is just my own theory. My sister Delta show more would say that my sample size isn’t big enough to draw such a conclusion. But I bet I’m right.

Touching Snow is narrated in the first person by smart-talking Karina “Katu” Lamond, who lives in a white folks’ neighbourhood in New York with her mother, sisters, very young half-brothers, as well as her aunt, cousins, and her brutal stepfather, Mr. Gaston—referred to throughout as “the Daddy.” Karina and her sisters, Delta and Enid, have been victims of their stepfather’s “beat-ups” for the most minor of offences. Not finishing all their supper, for example, is grounds enough for a beating. The girls have been thrown, slammed against walls and stoves, kicked, punched, and whipped with a belt. It appears that Karina has developed either epilepsy from head trauma or functional seizures (events that look like epilepsy but are not due to an epileptic disorder) from psychological trauma. Karina’s mother is fully capable of similar discipline, but she never goes as far as the Daddy. Excessive corporal punishment is apparently the norm within the Haitian community. (The novel is set in the mid 1980s, but from an online search, I see that the physical abuse of children persists in immigrant communities—not just among Haitians. It appears that social services have put a lot of effort into providing corrective education for immigrant parents who have settled in the US.)

The plot of Felin’s novel revolves around a particular incident in which Enid, Karina’s elder sister, is beaten to the point of unconsciousness. There’s a conspiracy of silence around this violence. If the Daddy’s actions were reported to police and he were charged, the family would be out on the streets and Karina’s aunt, cousins, and a lodger would be deported back to Haiti. The killing that Karina speaks about in the first paragraph is, of course, part of the story, too—though it’s neither as big nor as believable a part as I thought it would be.

I know. I know. This sounds like a very grim read, and, yes, in some ways it is, but Felin leavens the darkness with a lively, blunt, and sometimes funny narrator, who often directly addresses the reader. Karina is also an immensely resilient character.

There’s a secondary, not-entirely-convincing plot strand that concerns Karina’s work as a volunteer at an immigrant centre and her friendship with/crush on Rachael Levinson, the spoiled rich-girl daughter of the community-centre director. In some ways, Rachael is less a credible character than a convenient plot device, one reason things come to a head at Karina’s house.

As far as I know, Felin did not follow her debut with further young adult or other fiction. That’s too bad. I’m not aware of a lot of children’s and young adult literature that provides insight into the culture, customs (including superstitions), and family life of Haitian immigrant families. show less

Reading this book made me feel sick. I mean, the violence and the unfairness, it's almost too much to take. But the narrator, Karina, is funny and real and the book is ultimately so powerful that I just sat silently for a few minutes after I finished reading trying not to cry because I was in public.

As horrifying as Katu's story is, there were moments when her brash voice and humor made me laugh out loud. Katu is a survivor who's learned what it takes to stay sane, even stay alive. SPOILERS: The ending was unsatisfyingly vague...even if the Daddy had burned to death in the fire wouldn't an autopsy indicate he'd been beaten? Lib notes: graphic scenes of physical abuse of children and Katu beating the Daddy to death.

I didn’t necessarily like it, but the descriptions were horrific but so real. I wasn’t disappointed, but I was a little upset by it. This story is just so to the point, no excuses, take it or leave it. It didn’t make me sad, exactly, but it definitely got me thinking. And for the record – I think the mother is a complete idiot for bringing the daddy back. AHS/EK

This is a brave book that I imagine will be banned form many reading lists. It puts a magnifying glass onto domestic violence with a brutal portrayal. Not only are the descriptions of the beatings themselves graphic, but the psychological implementations are unearthed as well, with Karina’s fainting spells and Delta’s bedwetting problems. If that weren’t enough to raise the conservative parent’s eyebrow, the text also deals with a developing lesbian relationship, which has been generally taboo in the realm of kid’s books.However, the text clearly deserves its nomination for the National Book Award, and as grim as the story becomes, the text is powerful. It’s important for children to know that even other children have to show more endure terrible situations and make difficult choices in over to protect themselves and overcome. Felin walks a very fine line between the content and the take-away messages, and had she not done such a masterful job of creating the story, there would be a lot more red flags for this book. I recommend this text to readers 13 .-Lindsey Miller, www.lindseyslibrary.com show less

by M. Sindy Felin

"The best way to avoid being picked on by high school bullies is to kill someone." This is Karina's story of her summer after 7th grade, when she learns the truth of that statement. Her mother immigrated from Haiti hoping for a better life in upstate New York, but Karina doesn't see what could be worse than her and her brothers and sisters enduring "beat ups" from her stepfather (The Daddy) for every minor and imagined infraction of the ever changing rules. Karina wants to protect her siblings, but she also finds refuge volunteering at the community center with her new friend Rachael. How far will she go to protect the people she loves?

This is a stunning book starts with the protagonist's statement that "the best way to avoid being picked on by high school is to kill someone." The story then covers the details that lead up to the day that Karina commits murder. Karina is an outcast in school who is struggling to understand her sexual identity, cope with her stepfather's abuse of her and her siblings, and help her Haitian family fit into American culture. The readers will feel great sympathy for Katrina as the story leads up to the murder.