Allison's Book Bag

Set in the near future in an unnamed location in Africa, Parched deals with the challenging conditions that drought can bring to children and their families. It also explores the brutality of the warfare which can result from lack of natural resources such as water. As such, Parched is not typical juvenile reading fare.

Its strength lies in its descriptions. In writing Parched, Melanie Crowder researched animals, plants, and geology, and it shows. From her references to aloe, baobab, and thorn trees, I instinctively felt this story happened in Africa. Moreover, from what I can find in dog guides, her depiction of the Ridgeback dogs (which are native to South Africa), are also accurate.

In addition, Crowder researched severe drought, trauma, and child psychology. This too becomes apparent in highly visceral descriptions of the land such as “ripples in the earth and the half-buried shells of long-dead water creatures were the only signs that creeks and marches had once streamed between the dry riverbeds.” As for the trauma, both of the main characters lose their parents to either disease or guerilla warfare. As a result, both become wary of others, which also puts them at odds with each other. Yet ultimately they’ll need to depend on one other to survive.

A weakness of Parched lies in the usage of dowsing by Musa, one of the main characters. Perhaps dowsing is practiced in Africa, but if so I was unable to find any confirmation of this. As such, I’m not sure why Crowder bestowed Musa with an ability borne from superstition and treats it as credible. This seems like an odd choice for an otherwise highly realistic novel.

Indeed, Parched is unusually brutal, given its target age of juveniles. Because of his dowsing skills, Musa is captured by thugs who chain him, drag him around by a leash, and even beat him. At one point, Crowder provides this dark scene: “A boy huddled in the corner, his face buried in the crook of an arm. Flies landed on seeping scabs at his wrists and ankles.” Incidentally, these thugs have no problem firing off guns at adults, animals, and children. While fantasies and dystopian novels often do contain these graphic levels of brutality, the targeted age is more often youth.

Because I’m reviewing Parched as part of a multicultural committee, I need to evaluate it on two levels. From the perspective of diversity, it only partly succeeds. Africa Access Review admits that it seems to build logically on a South African framework, but also notes that it feels somewhat disjointed perhaps due to the lack of a close connection to the region by the author. From the perspective of entertainment, again it only partly succeeds. The use of dowsing took me back to days of watching Walt Disney movies and reading Nancy Drew mysteries or to light-hearted stories which required me to suspend my disbelief. However, Parched is an intense survival story.

Criticisms aside, I haven’t seen too many stories explore drought. For that reason, Parched is still an interesting enough of an adventure to add to your reading list.

My rating? Read it: Borrow from your library or a friend. It’s worth your time.

How would you rate this book?

Related Posts

• Interview with Melanie Crowder
• Teaser for Parched

Tomorrow I’ll review Parched by Melanie Crowder. Although a location is never given, the general consensus from readers seems to be that it’s set in South Africa. All the characters struggle from drought. One of the main characters, Musa, has a gift which might help them, in that he is a dowser. To enrich my understanding of this novel, I researched some of its cultural background.

AFRICA

Africa Access Review describes Parched as a realistic story set loosely in Africa. Crowder shares in her interview with me that she researched animals (especially ridgeback puppies), plants, and geology as part of writing Parched. This is evident in her descriptions. Dog Breed Info describes the Ridgeback, which is breed of the dog featured in Parched, as a dog bred in South Africa. It is a large, muscular hound with coat color of light wheaten to shades of red. Moreover, while ferocious as a hunter, at home it’s a gentle, calm, and obedient dog. The Ridgeback is also considered brave, intelligent, and loyal to family. This matches the depiction that Crowder makes of pack leader, Nandie, and her pups. As for plants, aloe is native to Africa, while baobab and the thorn tree can also be found in Africa.

DROUGHT

According to Climate Education for K-12, drought can have many devastating effects on communities. The amount of devastation depends on the strength of the drought and the length of time the drought has lasted. It also tends to have greater effect on poorer communities, who may not have the ability to being in resources from other areas. Perhaps, the notable impact of drought is on water supply. Many communities have faced water restrictions, where restrictions were imposed on how often residents could water their lawns or wash their cars. In extreme drought conditions, the option for watering of even farm crops may cease to exist. At this point, there are often other negative spiraling effects such as a shortage of food, pollution of water, and shutdown of power plants. All this can lead to poor health and a strained economy. In Crowder’s novel, Parched, it also led to warfare.

DOWSING

Then there is dowsing, a technique wherein one attempts to locate ground water by the use of a Y or L shaped rod, which is used by Musa. The Skeptic’s Dictionary notes various theories which have been given as to why the rod might move: geologic forces such as electromagnetism, suggestions from others or from geophysical observations, or paranormal explanations. Most skeptics accept the explanation of William Carpenter (1852) that the rod moves due to involuntary motor behavior. Although there is an American Society of Dowsers, there also seems to be a consensus that there is no scientific evidence to indicate dowsing is effective. As for the use of dowsing in Africa, I couldn’t find information to substantiate the practice one way or the other. Crowder also doesn’t provide any information in her book or on her website regarding this belief in Africa.

OTHER

Finally, educators may want to check out the Teacher Resource Guide. It is free to download and use.

Related Posts

• Teaser for Parched
• Review of Parched

Although Melanie Crowder may not have been one of those who grew up knowing she wanted to write, she was one of those who wrote her first novel while she was supposed to working on her university studies. Parched is told in three voices and set in a near future scarred by drought and devastation. Tomorrow I’ll provide some background to her debut novel and on Saturday I’ll review it. Save the dates: April 11-12!

Crowder didn’t grow up keeping journals and writing stories. Instead she held many jobs in her adult life including artist and teacher. One summer, Crowder even worked as a fisheries biologist, snorkeling in streams to count and identify fish! However, in 2005, Crowder hit a rough patch in her professional life and needed something outside of work to put her heart into.

Eight years, several manuscripts, and an MFA in Writing later, Crowder now has a published book. She explained to Writer’s Digest that getting her writing degree was the best thing she ever did. “It was a time for me to forget about the pressures of the industry and just focus on the craft of writing.” For Crowder, those two years were invaluable. And now she’s pursuing the career she was meant to have!

Her novel Parched came about in the third semester of her MFA in Writing program. Between drafts of her critical thesis, the story began to take shape. She shared with Literary Rambles that the idea for Parched came to her from a combination of things: First, an image of her character had appeared in my mind; Second, she was living through a hot and dry summer in the state of Colorado, which is often in state of drought; Third, she started thinking about water politics and scarcity, and the play of power when critical resources become threatened.

A West Coast girl at heart, Melanie now lives and writes in the foothills of the Rockies. In my interview with her, I ask her about her aspirations outside of writing, her studies, and her novel.

ALLISON: You said once in an interview that you were never one of those kids who knew in her bones that she wanted to be a writer. What dreams did you have as a child?

MELANIE: I was certain I would be a marine biologist. Absolutely certain!

ALLISON: Adolescence seems to be either the best or worst of times. How would you describe yours?

MELANIE: I was lucky in a lot of ways. Truly. But dealing with the aftermath of my parents’ divorce as a teenager was really difficult. It took me a long time to grow into the person I wanted to be.

ALLISON: You have had many jobs as an adult. Which did you least like? Most like?

MELANIE: For a summer after college, I waited tables at a resort perched at the edge of a narrow spit, surrounded by ocean, a stone’s throw away from the Canadian border. It was so beautiful—that’s pretty much the only reason I applied for the job. But I was probably the worst waiter in the world, and it’s not fun doing something you know you’re not doing well.

It sounds cheesy, but seriously, being a writer is my favorite job. It fulfills both my cognitive and creative needs, and it is incredibly satisfying to hold the tangible result of all my hard work in my hands.

ALLISON: You said once in an interview that it was a good decision to get your MFA. How did pursuing it benefit your writing career?

MELANIE: VCFA helped my career by giving me a massive network of writing professionals to turn to for mentorship, support and camaraderie. This is a tough business, and I would never want to go it alone!

More importantly though, my MFA helped my writing by encouraging me to experiment, to step outside my comfort zone, and to see that I could write in ways I had never imagined before. It gave me a glimpse of all that is possible in this medium, and it gave me the skills and training to begin the lifelong pursuit of realizing those possibilities in my own work.

ALLISON: What has been your most fun creative project outside of writing?

MELANIE: I love ceramics. There is something almost meditative about throwing on a wheel. I’ve always wanted to take an encaustic class. Oh, and glassblowing. There is so much still out there to explore…

ALLISON: Are you a summer or winter person?

MELANIE: Summer! A fresh snowfall is beautiful of course, but summer is just so…alive. (And I love to swim!)

ALLISON: Why did you write Parched from three perspectives?

MELANIE: That’s a really good question.

I suppose the simplest answer would be that each character had such a distinct experience of the events, that to take the narrative away from any of them would have limited the reader’s experience of that character, and, as a result, of the story.

ALLISON: You said once in an interview that your editor for Parched helped you realize that you needed to show emotion more clearly on the page. How did you accomplish that?

MELANIE: Oh, it’s so hard! Especially within a spare prose style like I used in Parched.

I couldn’t use dialogue, which is a great way to show emotion, because my characters spent a lot of time alone, and if they were with another person, they usually didn’t trust that person at all!

So instead, I used the weather and the natural environment around my characters to reflect their emotions. I wrote short, crisp sentences, or long flowing sentences to show the character’s state of mind. I chose harsh or soft or sweet sounding words to show anger or sadness or joy. And I used the other characters, like how Sarel subconsciously reaches out to Nandi when she is afraid, or the push/pull that gets Musa when it comes to Dingane.

ALLISON: You live in Colorado, where there is often drought. Thinking about water politics and scarcity and about the play of power when critical resources become threatened was part of the inspiration * behind Parched for you. Have you ever encountered situations where a region erupts into conflict?

MELANIE: I have not, and I hope I never have to. But we have all seen it, both through the lens of history, and in current events. Right now, children are caught, just like Musa and Sarel, in the middle of violence. It may not be water that is the cause; it may be oil, or diamonds, or a dispute over borders between countries.

The question remains, are we going to let all that suffering continue, or are we going to do something about it?

ALLISON: What other kind of research was involved in writing in Parched?

MELANIE: Oh, I researched all kinds of things—geology, plants and severe drought, animals (especially ridgebacks), trauma and child psychology—you can lose yourself in the research. It’s fascinating.

ALLISON: Which natural disaster most scares you? Most awes you?

MELANIE: I don’t live in a tornado territory, and I’m so glad! Those things are terrifying!

I grew up on the coast, so I’m most in awe of tsunamis. The ocean is astonishingly powerful!

ALLISON: What’s next?

MELANIE: My next book is a poetic novel for teens about labor activist Clara Lemlich. She was an amazing young woman living at a critical time in this country’s history. It comes out from Penguin/Philomel books in 2015. I can’t wait!

Related Posts

• Interview with Melanie Crowder
• Review of Parched