Why I love My Country - #1 : CBC

Here we have CBC. A national broadcaster that really feels like the heart of Canada to me. Maybe not the whole heart, but certainly a chamber.

One of the programs run on CBC Radio One on Saturday mornings is North by Northwest which has resurected a segment called Lost Childhood Books. It’s hosted by Sheryl Mackay. They have a team of librarians who will, with an adequate description, track down a lost literary friend.

For years I have been trying to discover the book that was read to by the teacher to our fourth grade class.  I’m almost 40 now and the book has always stayed with me. Guess what? They found it.

It was a weekly ritual, the reading of this novel, and one that we as a class, collectively had to earn through our behaviour and academic performance. A tally was visible throughout the week and specific students identified. We helped each other with homework and in class assignments as a result as well as monitoring each other’s behaviour – bad was a mark against, truth telling about it a mark for. 

 That grade four year, summer vacation came and even though he read for most of that last afternoon, the book wasn’t finished. I actually seem to remember that the teachers went on strike. Maybe not. Since then I’ve chosen to put down many a book without regret and sometimes with relief or disgust.  But I’d love to know how that story ends. It’s one regret I’d rather not have.

So I sent them information about the book:

The book takes place in the future. Humanoids compete in sporting events and are honoured with being taken to the planet of advanced alien beings via spaceship. It’s a generational tradition that is highly competitive. What the folks back home don’t know is that upon arrival, the winners become slaves on a planet that has thin air and extreme gravity.

What’s it called? Who wrote it? I promise to give only books for Christmas if you’ll solve the mystery.

I waited. Weeks went by and I forgot about it. Then one day an email came to me from the host:

Hi, the answer to your query is on the website at cbc.ca/nxnw  Go to the Lost Books icon.

 

thanks

Sheryl

HOLY! Off I went. And there was the answer:

Title: City of Gold and Lead
Author: John Christopher
Publisher: H. Hamilton, 1967
Other: This is the second volume in the Tripods trilogy (between The White  Mountains and The Pool of Fire). A prequel to the series, When the Tripods Came, was written twenty years later. In the books, an alien race has taken over the world and controls humans by “capping” them and controlling their minds. The two characters are taken to an alien city which is actually still on earth. You should be able to find copies in the library or online.

I just burst into tears. It means so much to me to have this resolved. I wrote and told them that I couldn’t thank them enough and that I didn’t know what to type. It’s silly but… it means a lot to me.

I’ve always been proud and defensive of the CBC. And now I have one more reason. it really does represent the spirit in the heart of Canada. I’m going to google and buy those books now.