Hop to it and read hip book

BY RAFFY BOUDJIKANIAN

raffy.boudjikanian@transcontinental.ca "The subway doesn't go there. The LRT doesn't go there. The bus after the LRT after the subway doesn't go there."

Does that sound like a West Islander's rant about how long it takes to get from Fairview Pointe Claire shopping centre to downtown Montreal? You're only about a six hour drive off the mark. Break on Through, Beaconsfield-native author Jill Murray's first novel about 16-year old Nadine Durant's difficult teenage life, is actually set mostly in the Rivercrest suburb of Toronto.

Though she knows both Montreal and Toronto fairly well, Murray, 30, said "the particular geographic and economic situation of Toronto" happens to fit the book better. Also, with every single city clearly having its own different style of breakdancing, or b-girling/boying, Murray thought Hogtown would be the best bet for Durant's tale.

Tough, aggressive, and athletic, Nadine Durant has dreams of making it big on the b-girling scene. She relies on advice from her boyfriend, Sean, to perfect her moves as she prepares for the town's biggest showdown. Her anticipation is expertly conveyed through the book's opening chapter in a daydreaming sequence that sees her "crew," which includes Sean and two of his friends, competing against Infinity, Toronto's top b-boy group. The sequence ends abruptly when Nadine tells the readers none of it will actually happen, since she is about to move to the faraway suburb of Rivercrest with her parents as they prepare to have a second child.

From there, the novel's relentless rhythm doesn't let down.

In Rivercrest, Durant finds her new life to be a series of uncomfortable challenges. She has to deal with a school and classmates who seem to share no interests with her, explain steadily declining grades to frustrated parents, try to save a relationship with an increasingly disinterested Sean, and find a proper spot to b-girl in the middle of a cut-and-paste suburban environment with no room for her hobby. "It's not an autobiographical work," insisted Murray, explaining that, though she likes to breakdance, she didn't really get into it until her 20s, and did not have the kind of difficult relationship that Durant has with her parents.

The book is written entirely in first-person from Nadine's point of view. "I wasn't really interested in switching up perspectives," explained Murray. She trusts her teenage readers to understand that Nadine's opinion on her parents and other characters is limited, and to guess what isn't being said about them.

Written in a fast, easy to understand language that evokes both Nadine's strong personality and the powerful beats of the music she enjoys, Break on Through is a light and fun read that should appeal both to the young adults it's targeted at and anyone older looking for a subtly humorous trip down memory lane.

The author will be signing books at Babar Books in Pointe Claire on May 10 at 3 p.m. She will also give away copies of "Nadine's Mixed Tape," a CD compilation of songs "from and inspired by" the novel to anybody who picks up Break on Through that day.