Jeff Lemeire’s graphic novel trilogy, Essex County, is true down home reading. Lemeire’s hometown of Woodslee ON, located in the heart of Essex County, is the backdrop for this tale of rural family life.
In Tales from the Farm, young Lester lives with his uncle Ken on a farm in Essex County, ON. His mother has recently died and he does not know who is father is. Lester spends his days feeding the chickens, reading comic books and playing down at the creek. He is befriended by Jimmy LeBeuf, a one-time NHL hockey player who took a hit in his first major league game and is now “a little slow” as a result. Jimmy runs the local Esso and is kind to Lester when he badly needs a friend.
Ghost Stories is the tale of two brothers who share a dream to move to the big city (Toronto) and play major league hockey. Vince has all the talent, but yearns for quite days on the farm with his best girl Beth. Lou busts out his knee in the minor leagues, falls for his brothers girlfriend, and lives out a lonely existence as a TTC driver in Toronto.
Rounding out the trilogy is The Country Nurse, a woman who makes house calls to the neighbouring farmers, repairs family rifts and has her own unique ancestry.
Lemeire’s Essex County trilogy is a beautifully written and illustrated graphic novel filled with community, family, grief and reconciliation. Jeff Lemeire writes for every kid who grew up in rural Ontario. Essex County is truly a delight.
Till next time, happy reading!
L J
Update on the WPL vs TBR challenge
Well gentle readers, it appears I have a conundrum to solve. The Essex County trilogy was published in three separate volumes, and I had to sign each of them out from the library individually. So, would you count this as one (1) WPL book or three (3)? The librarian in me says three, since they were individually catalogued and barcoded. But man, that really skews my stats!! I’m now four TBRs behind. Boo. L
| TBR = 4 | WPL = 8 |
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