Tin Angel- Shannon Cowan

Tin Angel had crossed my desk last year and for some reason, I never read it. It is one of the most unusual topics I’ve come across- that of looking at the court system for juveniles prior to the Young Offenders Act. Not that it is done in any kind of a preachy way; the facts are stated and only in the prologue does the author reveal the premise for her writing.

Ronnie lives with her parents and sister in a wonderful mountain lodge. To her, her life is perfect but financially, the lodge is in trouble. On the scene comes Louis, mom’s old friend who is willing to buy the lodge. Her dad is dead against it, but on his last trip out, he is killed and the family is left helpless. They sell the lodge and move into town where Ronnie is a total misfit, and an incredibly naive misfit at that. I really wondered at times at how she allowed life to just pull her along without any thought as to what the consequences might be. Would she really be as sheltered as this story makes her out to be? Maybe!

Anyway, as time goes on, home life becomes more and more difficult as her mother has turned to alcohol for solace and sister Marcia is spending more and more time with Louis. Ronnie meets and becomes friends with Lee, an escapee from the law. She suggests Raven’s Lodge as a hide-out for him and then discovers he is being hunted. Determined, she hikes to the lodge to warn him and encounters Louis. What happens there seems fairly straight-forward but the facts become confused in Ronnie’s mind. The only thing she knows is that she cannot admit to having been there. When she is subsequently arrested and charged for the murder of Louis, it becomes apparent that she has been interrogated without parental consent and the evidence itself is flimsy at best. I actually found this rather fascinating but it remains to be seen if our readers will feel the same. I would suggest this for at least grade 6 and up. It would be an incredible fit for teachers of social studies in regards to Canadian law.