SuitabookBella Bella
Jonathan London
- Reading
- If the reader is comfortable with suspense, read alongside them or pause after the ship is introduced. Discuss whose perspectives are heard, how uncertainty affects judgement, and how Aaron’s relationships change.
- Themes
- Wilderness as beauty and danger: Aaron and the group travel by sea kayak along the British Columbia coast, encountering wildlife while facing potential danger in the natural environment. Nature is presented as both extraordinarily beautiful and potentially hazardous, rather than simply an enemy to overcome.
- Migration and moral judgement: The group suspects that a sea captain is transporting immigrants, and the story considers people seeking better lives alongside those involved in the operation. The fictional adventure presents the situation through competing perspectives and moral questions, with compassionate attention to refugees.
- Growing up among peers and parents: Aaron reunites with Lisa, has a crush on her, dislikes Cassidy’s rough behaviour and feels hurt when his father praises Cassidy. The emotional strand appears to treat jealousy, attraction and family approval as ordinary but uncomfortable parts of growing up.
- Worth knowing
- Consider whether the reader would welcome suspense around possible criminal activity, encounters with guns and dangerous wilderness, alongside a crush and emotionally uncomfortable comparisons between teenagers.