Story of homeless boy hits close to home
Vancouver author Nielsen’s latest book No Fixed Address relevant as region struggles with housing crisis
Susin Nielsen did not set out to make her new novel a commentary on the Vancouver housing crisis but it worked out that way.
Available now, the young adult novel No Fixed Address tells the story of bright, likable 12-year-old Felix Knuttson. His mother Astrid is raising Felix, a trivia whiz. Astrid loves her son but her unpredictable and hair trigger personality causes her to lose jobs, friends and homes.
After losing their Vancouver apartment, Astrid and Felix find themselves forced to live in an old Volkswagen Westfalia van. Astrid says it is just for the month of August while she finds work.
The month comes and goes, and the school year is upon them and Felix wants to attend a specific school. The problem is they don’t have an address in the catchment area; they don’t have an address at all.
Astrid gets into gear and takes Felix to the school and lies (she has varying degrees of dishonesty, as Felix points out) about an application and an address. Felix gets in, but every day becomes a strategic struggle for him as he tries to keep his situation secret from school staff and his close friends.
“When I was writing it we weren’t in as profound a housing crisis as we are now. I honestly had no idea how relevant it would be,” said Nielsen, who lives in Kitsilano with her family.
Felix is a good kid, a kid you cheer for. Even his mother, who at times is frustrating and selfish, nudges empathy out of the reader. You really do want this pair to catch a break and notch up some big life-changing successes.
“I loved Felix from the beginning when I decided to write this. I wanted to make him so relatable because, at their core, kids who are going through issues like he is are no different from the kids who aren’t,” said Nielsen.
“It is a big issue. I would hope that they (kids reading the book) would walk away with some empathy and compassion.”
Nielsen is an award-winning author and a sought-after speaker who is going to be at the Vancouver Writers Festival for two panel events (Oct. 17 at 10:15 a.m. at Performance Works and Oct. 18, 10:15 a.m. on Granville Island Stage). Both youth program events are designed for kids between grades four and seven.
“I just to try to talk to them on their level, which I think is my level,” said Nielsen.
A big part of the kids programming is to book authors who know how to engage with an audience full of kids, some of whom want to be there and others who had to be there because it is part of their school day.
“We are only bringing in authors who know how to stand on the stage and entertain the kids with their storytelling,” said VWF artistic director Leslie Hurtig, adding there will be lots of multimedia this year.
“The high school events are meant to be more engaging, talking with kids not just about the writing process but about the path toward being a writer.”
For Nielsen, the challenge she welcomes is reaching the kids who, left to their own devices, would not be in the audience.
“It’s great when you can open their eyes to the fact that reading can be a fun, pleasurable experience,” said Nielsen.
“I think there is something really special about actually seeing an author ... and hearing them talk about the process and about why they might have written a particular book. If you have authors that are good at reading their material I think that also really helps to bring a book alive as well.”
Before she started writing novels — she has six to her credit — Nielsen wrote for TV shows, notably Degrassi Junior High. It’s that TV credit that often sees her get some misplaced cred from young audiences.
“When I am in schools one of the No. 1 questions I get is ‘Have you met Drake?’ I have to say ‘no,’” said Nielsen adding she then has to explain she wrote for the really old Degrassi show, not the Next Generation version with the hip-hop superstar.
No Fixed Address, like other well written YA fare, is good enough to also interest adult readers. Some industry stats report that 30 per cent of YA fiction readers are adults.
“I think the novels which are categorized as young adult are just as entertaining a read as anything else, if they are well written,” said Nielsen.
“I read an article where one guy said he wished they would call it YAH: young at heart.”