The Hemingway Tradition

By Kristin Butcher

Shaw Sebring is sixteen and trying desperately to understand and accept his father's recent suicide. Moving with his mother halfway across the county in an effort to distance themselves from the awful truth, Shaw lands in a new school and finds that the ghost of his father, a best-selling author, has followed him. Determined that he will not follow in his father's footsteps Shaw tries to chart his own course, until circumstances force him to accept that where--and who--we come from have an impact on what we become.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
• Release date: Oct 1, 2005
• ISBN: 9781554697380

Kristin Butcher

Kristin Butcher is the author of twenty books for children. She has been shortlisted for the Silver Birch Award, the CLA Children's Book of the Year, the Red Cedar Award, the IODE Violet Downey Book Award, and the Manitoba Young Reader's Choice Award, among others. Kristin lives in Campbell River, British Columbia.

Book preview

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Reviews for The Hemingway Tradition

[thelonearranger_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Butcher, Kristin. The Hemmingway Tradition. 96p. Orca Soundings, 2002. Tr.$9.95. ISBN 978-1551432427; LC 1551432420.“Shaw is trying to outrun his father’s ghost.” Without hemming or hawing, Kristin Butcher cuts through to the tough issue of prejudice and its many forms. Shaw’s father was a well-known Canadian writer but harbored a painful secret. After his father's surprising suicide, Shaw and his mother move to Saskatchewan. In an unrealistic amount of time, the main character comes to terms with his father’s death and closet homosexuality, embraces his own talent for writing, and becomes an activist for tolerance. Action-packed, this high impact and low reading level (hi/lo) book for reluctant readers from Orca Soundings is short and to the point. The Hemmingway Tradition, albeit distastefully titled, will capture the attention of reluctant readers, pique curiosity in issues of tolerance, and perhaps even spark interest in the lives of writers. (Grades 8-10)

[queenoftheshelf · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Following his father's suicide, Shaw and his mother move from Vancouver to Winnipeg. Shaw hopes to make a fresh start at school, joining the Volleyball team, making new friends (including a possible romantic interest) and wrestling with the idea of following in his fathers footsteps as a writer.The story of The Hemingway Tradtion, a high impact and low reading level (hi-lo) book, is not enough to keep interest for very long; thankfully, it's only 92 pages. The characters are not very well developed, we never really learn who Shaw is, sometimes he's the cranky teenager, other times he comes off as introspective and quiet. The story also tries to cover quite a bit of ground, including self-image, suicide, and prejudice, none of them quite getting the time and respect they deserve. The saving grace is Butcher's writing, she provides vivid imagery in her descriptions and has good basics, if only they had been fleshed out.