Josh is a pretty amazing kid who draws fantastic worlds in his sketch book. One day, he meets the local witch of his Vancouver neighbourhood, Lil, who guesses that he just might be the heir to Vortigen, the ruler of the realm of Syde. That's the premise of the 396 page suspenseful novel for nine to 12 year olds, Josh and the Magic Vial, written by former Coast resident Craig Spence.
Recently, Spence was nominated for a B.C. Book Prize in the category of children's literature for this book, his first published novel, though he's written four others including adult fiction and another kids' book, Einstein Dog. He remembers that he first began writing the adventures of Josh and his friends while he was living in Sechelt. He now lives in Langley and works in communications for the local school district. Spence was editor of The Press in Sechelt for six years, between 1989 and 1996, and while on the Coast, he and his wife Diana Durrand conceived the book as a magazine style short story with 10 illustrations that Durrand had drawn. In fact, Sechelt is mentioned in the book, but in an unusual context: as the historical home of a magic cult. The book evolved, he says, into a full-length novel and now has one of Durrand's original illustrations on the cover.
Josh's adventure could not happen without his friends, sensible 12-year-old Millie, his neighbour on Tenth Avenue, and the kid from the wrong side of town, Ian. This unlikely trio are distinctly reminiscent of the famous Harry Potter and his two sidekicks, Hermione and Ron.
"I think the book is somewhere between Harry Potter and C.S. Lewis," Spence says. He loves the work of Potter's author J.K. Rowling, but thinks that she uses magic too often to get the heroes out of scrapes.
"In this case magic helps," he says, "but it's not the solution to problems. They rely on courage, camaraderie and trust." Without ruining the many good surprises in the book, let me say that Josh also gets help from the magic vial that Lil wears around her neck. And what good story would be complete without a little help from a Scotland Yard detective, in the shape of one of the book's more delightful characters, Inspector Puddifant?
Josh and The Magic Vial (Thistledown Press) is aimed at pre-teens, but appeals to a broad range of ages. It would have been impossible to write, Spence says, without the experience of raising two kids of his own who read it at a young age and are now 15 and 19 years old.This year, Spence is the only nominee in the annual book awards that has any association with the Sunshine Coast. Typically, Harbour Publishing is always a strong contender for more than one nomination of the B.C. Book Prizes.
"It's not the first year we've been shut out," says publisher Howard White. He's taking the news philosophically. "When I look at the judges, they are really qualified. It's a matter of taste," he said.
He points out that it was unusual that Nightwood Editions book of poetry by Elizabeth Bachinsky, Home of Sudden Service, had been nominated for a Governor General's award, yet was not nominated in this competition in the poetry category.
Spence will learn on April 28 in a gala ceremony in Victoria whether he has won the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize. It will be a tough competition. Spence is up against such veteran children's authors as Sarah Ellis. Regardless, he will be going on a B.C. Book Prize-sponsored reading tour of northern B.C. with the other nominees to bring his story to libraries and classrooms.
