‘Snake’s breath!’
Bernard and the Blackguard
by Maureen Young (illustrated by Stephanie Stasiuk Monk)
Alton: Friesen Press, 2025
$15.99 / 9781038324955
Reviewed by Brett Josef Grubisic
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Like “Zounds!” in Othello or “Gallopin’ Gorgons!” in the Harry Potter books, mild oaths abound in Bernard and the Blackguard, the second book in Creston author Maureen Young’s Eastside Series written for kids at the chapter books age.
The oaths are a nice touch, dramatic as well as fun—“Great eagle wings!,” “Snake’s breath!,” “Goose gizzards!”
Lester, a chatty comical narcissist who is by his own account “a seasoned traveler and explorer,” “quite famous” and, “a hero,” exclaims, “Ravens’ eggs!” When elderly Chester find himself lost and then in “a world of trouble,” he responds with “Bats’ breath!”
I should clarify that Lester is a hare and Chester is a gopher. One is snared in a trap, the other imprisoned in a muddy hole.
In this landscape of “beasts,” “big ones” (humans) and their “low-fliers” (cars) are a malevolent presence just off-stage. Everyone, whether rabbit or gopher or raven, fears them. After all, big ones build and build and build without any thought of whose habitats they’ve annexed or destroyed.
Within a realm of beasts (drawn by Stephanie Stasis Monk) at the edge of a human city, beast diplomacy keeps a peace that is anything but stable. War is in the air, and Lebensraum might be the crucial rallying cry. Plus, ordinary dangers, including but not limited to patchy weasels with rabies, a voracious snake, or crows (beasts rumoured to be “food stealers and villains”) keep eyes watchful and ears on high alert.
Young’s plot is exciting and surprisingly dark. While on a personal errand, Chester gets turned around in a tunnel. He’s captured by Colonel Claw, an ambitious—and vicious—owl with self-esteem issues; accused of spying, Chester is locked in a dank underground cell
In alternating chapters, Young (Sunny and the Border Patrol) captures the episodes in the quest of Bernard Tagfoot, Chester’s “grandpup.” The orphaned juvenile gopher wants to solve the mystery of the missing elder, and undertakes a mission, friends in tow, to track him down. Ordinarily fun- and food-loving (hobbit-like, in other words, though hairier), gophers can also get serious and sombre when need be.
The owls are an interesting lot. Rather than proverbial wise owls, they’re militant. Adult readers might associate them with Klingons or the gorillas in The Planet of the Apes, perhaps even Stalinist USSR. They’re a tough, scheming crew, and both hotheaded and war-like. That’s the blackguard, though, an elite martial force. In contrast to them there’s Madam Lowbrow, a level-headed aristocrat who’s grown tired of the wannabe tyrants and all the talk of dissent and treason, espionage, detainees, and retaliation. “Collateral damage” and “mutually assured destruction” don’t put in an appearance, but Bernard and the Blackguard contains them in spirit.
A parent who prefers a kids book that’s sweet and peaceful (and totally free of genocidal warmongering and messages like “being a grown-up wasn’t all good times and picnics”) might steer clear of a story with so much sabre-ratting and so many threats of raids and incarceration.
Others, though, will find a fast-paced tale with action and friendships and strategic alliances. Plus, a sarcastic hare, a literally wise old owl, a poignant reunion, and a quest adventure with twists and turns and pint-sized feats of daring.
The tale ends with talk of “the north country,” a legendary place where humans are few and far between. And where their depredations aren’t such a fact of life. With luck, assuming there’s a forced migration, we’ll see more of Lester. Though a rabbit, he’s a hoot.
*
My Two-Faced Luck, the fifth novel by Salt Spring Islander Brett Josef Grubisic, published in 2021 with Now or Never Publishing, is reviewed here by Geoffrey Morrison. A previous novel, Oldness; or, the Last-Ditch Efforts of Marcus O (2018), was reviewed by Dustin Cole. [Editorial note: A BCR editor, Brett has reviewed books by Daniel Anctil, Adam Welch, Andrea Bennett, Patrick Grace, Cole Nowicki, Tania De Rozario, John Metcalf (ed.), Brandon Reid, Beatrice Mosionier, Hazel Jane Plante, Sam Wiebe, Joseph Kakwinokanasum, Chelene Knight, Lyndsie Bourgon, Gurjinder Basran, and Don LePan for BCR.]
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The British Columbia Review
Interim Editors, 2023-26: Trevor Marc Hughes (non-fiction), Brett Josef Grubisic (fiction and poetry)
Publisher: Richard Mackie
Formerly The Ormsby Review, The British Columbia Review is an online book review and journal service for BC writers and readers. The Advisory Board now consists of Jean Barman, Wade Davis, Robin Fisher, Barry Gough, Hugh Johnston, Kathy Mezei, Patricia Roy, and Graeme Wynn. Provincial Government Patron (since September 2018): Creative BC. Honorary Patron: Yosef Wosk. Scholarly Patron: SFU Graduate Liberal Studies. The British Columbia Review was founded in 2016 by Richard Mackie and Alan Twigg.
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