Summary
Spring
Email from Evalyn Chau
Evalyn introduces herself and says she is sorry about the discrimination Hina faced, and she looks forward to getting to know her. She has read all the letters people in the community sent in support of her, and one from Sylvie’s mother stood out to her. In it, Marie wrote that Hina never judged anyone, that she made them feel seen, and that she was honored to know them even though they are all dirt poor. Evalyn says this is a wonderful letter and Hina is doing a great job.
Bing
Normally, Bing loves when the salon closes and he gets to disinfect all the implements because he pretends he is a surgeon. Today he is still glum, though, and is not excited about it.
Miss Peaches comes in for her regular appointment, and she is a customer Ma never rushes. She is full of good energy. As she sits in the chair and Ma talks about Bing’s giftedness testing, Miss Peaches tells Bing that he is a special boy and he has to work hard so his Ma doesn’t have to work so hard anymore. He can show everyone who he is and how special he is, and will always take care of his Ma. Ma looks at Bing and says, eyes wet, that he has already taken care of her.
When Bing arrives at the Pearson Memorial Junior Public School, he knows it is a fancy establishment. All the kids are in class and there is no queue in front of the principal’s office. As Ms. Hina walks him down the corridors, he sees into classrooms.
Bing asks her if he will get to attend this school if he does well today. She tells him that this is simply assessing and that he should do the best he can. Bing knows that this would be something better for him and even though this is a “special need” it is a celebrated one.
Bing takes his assessments. He will always remember the questions and the thick binders, how his mom held him tight and kissed him that night after they heard he was smarter than ninety-nine percent of kids in his grade. He is going to the gifted program and the new school.
Sylvie
Sylvie remembers how her dad told her when his childhood dog, Hot Dog, a puppy mill survivor, ran away and did not come back. She had suffered trauma and only wanted freedom; she ran out gleefully into the night, only to be hit by a train. He spoke of the look in his father’s eyes that told him the dog was never coming back.
Similarly, Sylvie realizes what the look in Bing’s eyes means when they walk to the rocks and lake. They write their names on wet concrete that filled a hole and add “BFFs.” It is a lovely day and they run and scream in the frigid water and watch the rainbows and laugh and laugh.
Christy is also leaving. In the common area, she is asking if Sylvie wants anything from her meager belongings. Sylvie knows Christy will be back; even at her young age, she has seen it. Sylvie asks if Christy wants to hear the rest of the story. She says okay but to hurry since Roy is coming.
Sylvie begins the story even as Roy arrives and they start to load the van. Roy is scrawny and red-headed, not like Sylvie expected. Sylvie says the orangutans escaped the zoo and went to Rouge Hill Campground.
Roy revs the engine and Christy tells Sylvie she has to go. She looks at a kite she has and tells Sylvie how to do it. Sylvie has flown kites before but they always get caught in trees.
Hina’s Daily Report
Hina writes to thank Evalyn for letting her know about the amalgamation of the literacy centers within the Provincial Play Centres and expresses her interest in staying in this community. She knows the frontline workers and the community members themselves often get lost in these sorts of shuffles and she does not want that to happen. She ends by saying every day she inspired by “these people’s resilience” and every day “I am honored to know them all” (209).
Edna’s days are long. Today starts with a cop, who always seems to relish that he can tell she is afraid of him. Normally, he has a manicure and always makes suggestive comments that she does not respond to. Today he gets a back wax and Edna gets to delight in the pain it causes him.
At eleven is Mrs. Zoe, whom Edna likes because Mrs. Zoe likes quiet and so does she. Then, at two, an older lady comes in for a pedicure and asks for someone who gives good massages. As Edna rubs her feet, she moans obscenely. Mrs. Fitz, who is next, is not a favorite of hers. She always seems to enjoy making Edna feel like she should be grateful that a rich lady has tipped her.
Once work is over, though, Edna is excited. She grabs the new karaoke machine she purchased and the other estheticians follow her. Ms. Hina ushers them in at the doors of the school and Edna takes the machine over to the back of the gym. It is full of costumed children and kids crying with stage fright and parents trying to calm them.
Bing is there, handsomely dressed in a tuxedo. She asks if he is ready. He holds her wrists and notices her bracelets are gone and realizes, as he sees the karaoke machine, what she has done. Edna hurriedly counsels him to relax and have fun, and that the girls are all out there to support him.
The gym is hot and parents fan themselves in the heat. The tone-deaf band begins to play and then the curtain closes. A hush descends and the curtain opens again to reveal Bing. He brings out his machine and turns it on. The sound of eighties synth, a Whitney Houston song, fills the room and suddenly Bing begins to sing in an incredible falsetto. Edna is stunned to hear this voice from her boy. People around her are starting to put it together.
Edna screams out when Bing sings a high note and rips off his tuxedo jacket. He motions for people to clap along and the gym is filled with exuberant participants. His gorgeous voice fills the room. He undoes his bowtie. Edna remembers when he asked her earlier if this would be too much; she said he will never be too much and he will never be too little.
The crowd is in hysterics as they “sang along, a song they knew so well sung by a boy they had not understood” (217). Bing undoes his shirt and reveals below a bedazzled halter top. Edna’s tears burst from her in joy as the crowd rises to their feet, screaming and clapping. Bing gets a long standing ovation.
Edna is overcome with joy. This is what all of her hard work is for—this son, the luckiness of being his mother.
Bing
Bing asks Ma if Whitney Houston is too much, remarking that she is a girl so maybe he should not sing her work. Ma tells him that he is so much more than a boy, and his eyes well up. She asks him if he’s ever wanted to dance with somebody like the song says and he shyly says yes, and she tells him it does not matter if he is a boy or a girl because he can sing the song.
She helps him with the tuxedo and the halter top. It makes him think of a ritual, “putting on all the special gear while the family looks on, watching and crying” (220). She wistfully says he reminds her of his Tito Ferdie, who was brave and like Bing. He had a boyfriend and when he died, the boyfriend cried and cried at the funeral. She is crying now, and wipes her tears away.
The two look at Bing in the mirror and he practices with the Velcro. He loves these embellishments to his costume because clothes don’t rip off easily like they do in the movies. He thinks of his father, who almost ripped his shirt and almost choked him. He said there was a spike in his neck and begged Bing to take it out and started wrestling with Bing when Bing said there was nothing there.
Ma breaks through his thoughts and asks what he thinks. He thanks her and kisses her.
The night of the performance Bing is nervous, thinking people will beat him up for being a girl and how his mother sold her bracelets for the karaoke machine. Perhaps he has made a mistake, he thinks. But then the lights are on and the curtains open and there is no turning back. It is a glorious thing for him, and while for a moment he remembers his Daddy yelling at him that he was ugly and putting his hand in the hot frying pan on purpose, he pushes those thoughts away and embraces the happiness of the moment. The crowd is going wild and when he rips off his jacket he tosses it to Hakim, who holds it like a prize. He remembers Aidan calling him a beached whale on the trip to the zoo, but he pushes those thoughts away too. He feels light beaming from his whole body. It is truth—his truth. It feels good to be him.
Marie
Marie is not sure when she realized Johnny was different from the others. He hummed and spread his shit around and became so burdensome. Marie loves him but knows what people think when they see him—that he is a freak. She hates when other parents ask how old he is, fishing for more information. Marie loves Ms. Hina, though, who also tries to drown out the rude mothers at the center and also has a special place in her heart for Johnny.
Johnny loves turning lights on and off. One day, he is doing this during cleanup time and Helen, one of the bitchy moms, picks him up, places him on the ground, and announces it is cleanup time. Marie is mortified and furious and speaks firmly to Helen, telling her to get away from him. Helen is surprised, and Ms. Hina comes over and asks if everything was okay. Marie tells Helen that she is never to touch him: he is different, has different needs, and is not hurting anyone. Johnny comes over and bites her as she is talking, but she does not budge. She waits until the embarrassed women leave.
Later, when Johnny falls asleep in his stroller and it is just Marie and Ms. Hina, Ms. Hina asks her if she can talk to her about Johnny. Marie says yes, and tears begin to fall. Ms. Hina says that she’d been watching Johnny and he clearly has trouble expressing himself; she thinks he could be assessed by an expert, and then they could work together to find the right services for him.
Marie wipes her tears away and says the doctor at the walk-in clinic did not want to assess him, and Ms. Hina sighs that the doctor should have told her to see a family doctor. Ms. Hina says she will do her best to find one, and she does. She drives Marie and the kids to the appointment after center hours. The woman, a friend of Ms. Hina’s, gave her a referral to a behavioral specialist.
The appointment is a month later, which unfortunately happens at the same time as a transit strike. Ms. Hina gives her a fifty-dollar bill to take a taxi and tells her she has to go to the appointment. She smiles that she needs to reimburse her for cooking the community meal this week. Marie is so grateful for her, knowing that is not true but Hina simply wants to help.
At the appointment, Dr. Berger meets with Johnny alone, and with Marie as well. She tells Marie that Johnny has an autistic disorder, and is operating at a twelve-month-old capacity instead of three years. She says kindly but clearly that this will be hard—there are resources that are far apart, limited times to go to appointments, long waiting lists, and work to do at home.
Marie does everything she can manage to do. She makes as many appointments as she can, is told not to expect much, and is told to start planning his support now. All she cares about, though, is understanding his own special language. A speech therapist uses a binder of laminated pages of cartoon images—some of food, some of emotions, and some of activities. Johnny likes apples so she places apple slices on the table, says “apple,” and points to the book. There are six sessions, and Johnny seems to learn nothing except that pooping himself ends the sessions.
One night, Marie is telling Sylvie a story of her grandma and how she was a teacher and taught reading to miners. Sylvie says at one point that one of the miner’s wives, who always seemed snooty to Marie’s grandmother, was probably just too ashamed to say she also wanted to learn how to read too.
The next day, Marie trudges to the library and looks up things about communication with people who have autism. She watches videos and realizes she needs to make her own book of things Johnny likes. She thinks actual photos might be better, so she gets magazine clippings from Ms. Hina and spends a copious amount of time cutting, pasting, and getting the book ready.
Johnny makes no discernible progress, and three months pass without his responding to “apple.” The snow is melting now as spring arrives, and Marie pushes Johnny in the stroller. He squeals at the pigeons as they make their way to the literacy center.
Marie sits in one of the tiny chairs, disappointed that “apple” once again did not work. The binder falls to the ground and opens to a page of crackers. Johnny starts humming and puts his hand on the page. Ms. Hina and Marie look at each other, and Marie asks if he wants crackers. Edna, who is there as well, runs and grabs them. Marie puts Johnny’s hand on the picture, he looks at the crackers, then puts his hand on the picture and points to it.
The women are aghast. Marie realizes that all this time he had wanted a cracker, not an apple. Elated, Marie dances and Ms. Hina jumps in happiness as well. Marie grabs Johnny and runs out to find Sylvie, who is in French class. Not caring that she is interrupting, she rushes over to Sylvie, kisses her, and tells her about Johnny. Sylvie and Marie dance around Johnny, crying and laughing.
Summer
Ms. Hina’s Daily Report
Today, everyone says goodbye to Bing, their little genius. Tomorrow, Ms. Hina might hold a graduation ceremony for the school-aged children.
She is excited after having talked to Tommy at East Side Early Play because they will start planning activities for September. Having daily access to their gym is exciting because now they can do yoga, dance, and other play. Some parents are thrilled about the changes, some are not. All, though, are happy that there is a bus stop right out of the main entrance.
She ends by thanking Evalyn for keeping her in the community she loves, and she wishes her a good summer.
Sylvie
It is the day of the Scarborough East Pow Wow and it is blisteringly hot. Sylvie and Bing sit under a skinny tree and try to cool themselves with ice cream. All around them are kids and parents in regalia. Elder Fay takes her place at the beginning of the procession and adjusts her feather fan and shawl.
Sylvie jumps up to take her place behind Elder Fay. Mama rushes over to her to clean off her face and tells her very seriously that she is beautiful. Sylvia blushes with happiness.
Mama heads back to Marie, Bing, and Johnny. The procession begins and winds its way back to Mama, who is crying. Sylvie waves for her mother to join her and Edna urges her to. Finally, Marie stands and says she does not think she earned this dance. Sylvie says nothing but takes her hand and both begin dancing.
Bing is watching. A cool breeze kicks up and cools them all down. It is time, Sylvie knows. She waves goodbye and looks forward.
Laura
Laura has come to Mrs. Kamal, who thinks she is the spirit of her dead brother. She does not know it’s Laura, the girl from across the hall. Mrs. Kamal waits until no one is around and speaks to her. She knows Laura is following her around and calls her “Youssef.”
The wind asks Laura why she won’t leave, and Laura does not know what to say. She has not been spoken to since she left, so she stays quiet. Finally, she says she does not want Mrs. Kamal to cry and does not know how she can leave. She does not know where she would go. The wind says Youssef is already there, skipping rocks.
The wind swirls around Mrs. Kamal and Laura knows she has to go. Mrs. Kamal wipes her tears, blows out a dandelion, and makes a wish. One wish grows and grows; the wind sweeps it up, and Laura grabs hold.
Like a kaleidoscope, Mrs. Kamal fractures. Laura sees her grow old and eventually die and meet Youssef again. She sees a sparkly necklace of Ms. Hina, who looked at photos of all the children they loved and saved the picture Laura drew for her. There is Bing, who grows older and whose mother passes away and who falls in love with a man. Sylvie writes and writes and people love her story.
Laura follows the necklaces up into the trees and sees people she does not know. It is quiet and dark; the air is warm and pink now. She hears her name; it is her Daddy. He looks nervous but is clean and healthy and his clothes are whole. There are no tattoos or scars, just millions of stars beneath his shirt.
She laughs and he does too. He asks if she wants a hug; she is scared but says yes. He holds her. He smells like flowers and he is kind; he says he is sorry and he loves her, and he has learned so much and is different now. Laura has never been hugged like this before and it feels so good. He will never hit her now, and he holds her tight; he smells like home.
Analysis
There are several lessons embedded in the sections of Spring and Summer: first, that even though times are tough, there are still moments of beauty within them; perseverance and patience pay off; growing up is complicated and sometimes painful, but also exciting and liberating; and letting go is sometimes the best thing.
To begin with, times remain tough for most of the characters. Edna has to deal with obnoxious, and in some cases lecherous, clients in order to scrape together enough money to support her son. Marie’s son finally gets an autism diagnosis, but she still struggles to communicate with him. Ms. Hina has a new boss and hopes she will still get to stay on in her role even as changes are afoot for the center. Sylvie mourns the imminent loss of her best friend, while Bing worries about showing his true self to his community. None of these are idle fears or frivolous concerns, and the weight of poverty, race, homophobia, learning differences, etc. is still heavy on the characters. Yet, amid this heaviness is optimism and beauty. Edna is able to give Bing what he needs for his show and watches him on stage, attended by rapturous applause and encomiums. Marie finally cracks the code to connect to her son. Ms. Hina’s new boss appreciates her and she is able to stay on after the merger. Sylvie, dancing among her people in the powwow, is able to let Bing go, knowing she has to look to the future, and Bing is able to sing his heart out and wear his sparkly clothes in front of the whole school without censure or cruelty.
Second, perseverance and patience are often all these characters have, and they do, Hernandez writes, pay off. Marie labors tirelessly in a wearying, frustrating, and saddening parenting situation. She does not let the obstacles of little money, endless appointments and long commutes, ambivalent medical professionals, or snotty fellow parents deter her from doing what is right by her son. When she is able to finally communicate with Johnny, it comes after months of work and much very relatable stress and feelings of helplessness—this is no miracle, no deus ex machina. Marie is simply a mother doing her best, desirous of connecting with her child.
Third, Bing and Sylvie experience some of the pangs of growing up. Bing excels at his giftedness testing and is set to move to a new school away from his best friend Sylvie. While this is hard for him, he knows he will have a more challenging academic experience and better future opportunities. He also comes to understand the nature of sacrifice, as when he sees what his mother gave up to buy him the karaoke machine. He learns to conquer fears and self-doubt and to do what makes him happy and what he’s good at (which, for Bing, are the same things). He defies heteronormative expectations in his song and dance, and he makes peace with his father’s absence. These are a lot of difficult lessons for a kid, but Bing is admirably perspicacious. Sylvie also comes to see that her friend leaving is good for him and that she should not mourn; rather, she throws herself into the powwow, brings her long-suffering mother to dance with her, and looks bravely and excitedly toward the future.
The novel ends with the gut-punch of young Laura lingering in the interstitial place between death and the afterlife. She provides comfort to Mrs. Kamal but is not sure what she should be doing. After seeing lovely vignettes of her friends’ futures, she obeys the wind’s suggestion to move on. She is reunited with Cory in a way that defies reality but is nonetheless beautiful and moving. Cory is healthy, healed, and loving, and will be able to nurture and love Laura the way she deserves. This obviously isn’t happening for real, but Hernandez’s choice to end the novel in this way reinforces just how crucial it is that families get the help they need to be able to survive and thrive.
