Pandas on the Eastside by Gabrielle S. Prendergast

Pandas on the Eastside is an uplifting story from a time long-gone but a place ever-present in heart and geography. Yet it’s Gabrielle Prendergast's rich setting that truly drives the story, providing the impetus for action and consequently acceptance. Gabrielle Prendergast, who made her literary mark with young adult novels in verse Audacious (Orca, 2013) and Capricious (Orca, 2014), demonstrates a formidable skill for writing an intricately-plotted, character-filled middle-grade novel that confronts prejudice without preachiness. For Journey, her now involves helping the pandas and hopefully spreading some happiness in a world filled with war and sadness and conflict. But, just like everyone else on the Eastside, it doesn’t matter where you come from but who you are now. Everyone adds to Journey’s story, not the least of which is her father whom she meets for the first time, finally answering some of her questions about her heritage. Though Pandas on the Eastside is narrated by the youthfully buoyant voice of Journey, each chapter brings another Eastside community member to the forefront, from homeless Kentucky Jack and mentally ill Contrary Gary, to teacher Miss Bickerstaff and her black boyfriend Ben Wallace, and Officer Pete Baker, and grocer Mr. 1)Īnd she’s going to need all of them in her mission to help the pandas housed in limbo at a local warehouse while the governments of China and the United States engage in a bureaucratic kerfuffle regarding action during the Vietnam War. To me, the people around here are friends. To them, people on the Eastside probably look poor, sad, uneducated, sick and worthless. That’s because they are describing buildings and roads instead of people. She sees beyond the slummy side of the 1970s Eastside of Vancouver and sees a community of friends, that includes classmates, school staff, street people and local merchants. Never underestimate the power of goodness to overcome that which others consider weaknesses: youth, poverty, lack of education, dysfunctional families.

Pandas on the Eastside by Gabrielle S. Prendergast