Living life off the grid
The Prince of Pot
Tanya Lloyd Kyi Groundwood Books Age 13 and older
We’re told never to judge a book by its cover, but any honest reviewer who receives a host of unsolicited books will tell you that the cover is the first thing we judge. If it looks interesting or appealing, we’re more likely to pull the book from the pile, crack it open and start reading.
Prince of Pot has such a cover (illustrated by Guy Parsons). And while I made it through the ’60s (and subsequent decades) without ever rolling a joint or smoking one (with or without inhaling), the idea of a YA novel about a teenager who lives on a growop in British Columbia piqued my interest. I was hooked before the end of Chapter 1, and sorry to reach page 210 where it was time to take my leave of 17-year-old Isaac Mawson, who was finally striking out on his own and heading to San Francisco to pursue art studies with an old friend of his grandfather.
Grandpa Walt, somewhat debilitated by a stroke (he has trouble verbalizing, except for a couple of frequent curse words that fade into background noise once the initial shock of encountering them in print passes), is the one who first started growing pot in the mountains of B.C. Having served half a tour in Vietnam in the 1970s as rear helicopter gunner, he deserted and made his way to Canada — along with many thousands of other Americans who chose not to fight.
He joined a commune of draft dodgers in the Slocan Valley, where he met Isaac’s grandma, and the two of them eventually struck out on their own, for a clearing in the Selkirk Mountains near Creston, where Walt started an illegal grow-op, now being run by Isaac’s dad.
An author’s bio at the end of the book tells us that Tanya Lloyd Kyi knows whereof she writes. Her novel, rich in description, is set in an area where she spent several childhood years and while she herself didn’t live on a grow-op, she’s clearly familiar with those who did — and with the animals who shared space with humans in the woods. (Habituated bears play a huge role in this story and it’s a mark of the writer’s talents that, by the end of the book, I was as taken with them as I was with Isaac and his family.)
Parents and teachers concerned about the novel’s subject matter should know there’s much more to this book than marijuana. For one thing, Isaac’s first love turns out to be the daughter of an RCMP officer.
An out-of-the-ordinary coming-of-age story, The Prince of Pot speaks to a lot of issues facing any teenager about to graduate high school.
True, Isaac’s is an unusual home, and his issues include learning how to get past the need to live invisibly — but even teenagers who don’t have to worry about curious cops and helicopters overhead will relate. Adults would be wise to read the book themselves, and open some lines of communication.