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“[…] Writers from tourism-oriented Caribbean states mainly target free-spending first-worlders seeking sea, sand and stress-free living in preferably sunny climes.
“[…] Dr Clarena Spencer has spent much of her adult life as a secondary school teacher and it’s easy to tell from the text. Best Vacation Ever is an educational book that targets essentially pre-teens—but with a twist!
“It explores the two-island republic’s landmarks, geography, history and culture while simultaneously seeking to engage the young and the adult reader in understanding, respecting and practising the values not taught but caught in civilised societies…”
The following guest submission from Ashford Jackman is a book review of Dr Clarena Spencer’s Best Vacation Ever:
Another publication promoting tropical vacations? Oh, please!
Sorry to disappoint. It’s easy to get the wrong impression from the title of Dr Clarena Spencer’s new book, Best Vacation Ever: Touring Trinidad and Tobago. Happily, however, the cover illustration is a dead giveaway.
Writers from tourism-oriented Caribbean states mainly target free-spending first-worlders seeking sea, sand and stress-free living in preferably sunny climes. A black adult male and two little black boys on a beach don’t quite fit that enticing bill.
Dr Spencer has spent much of her adult life as a secondary school teacher and it’s easy to tell from the text. BVE is an educational book that targets essentially pre-teens—but with a twist!
It explores the two-island republic’s landmarks, geography, history and culture while simultaneously seeking to engage the young and the adult reader in understanding, respecting and practising the values not taught but caught in civilised societies.
At a book launch at SAPA earlier this year, feature speaker Deborah Jean-Baptiste-Samuel shared her view that the work was the result of God summoning his faithful servant to bear witness.
But the explanation provided by Dr Spencer, a devout Christian, was much more prosaic. She revealed that the idea for the book came to her during a visit to the Tunapuna Library with her young cousin, Kevanni.
Perturbed by the then-nine-year-old’s choice of reading material, a book on aliens, she began to actively worry that, for lack of proper nurturing, many of today’s children may not realise their true potential. She resolved to do her part to address her long-held concerns about young minds and their development.
Photo: Getty Images.
BVE may, therefore, be seen as her concrete contribution to moulding, as she puts it, the minds of our future leaders.
The book’s action is set in Trinidad and Tobago, more specifically, T&T’s natural and architectural wonders. It is a space that identical twin brothers, Speedy and Snaily, inhabit.
Alas, they have no real awareness of its essential beauty, history and distinctiveness.
When Uncle Sam arrives on vacation from the United States, determined to re-discover the wonderland that is the land of his birth, he takes the twins along with him. Together, the three enjoy a series of adventures in unique, remarkable locations and he contrives to open both their eyes and their minds along the way.
Despite early hiccups, the plan succeeds; for the boys, the two-island republic tour turns out to be the Best Vacation Ever, spawning new appreciation for their homeland.
(via Destination TnT.)
Consciously, deliberately, their uncle engenders in them a level of social awareness which Dr Spencer clearly would like to see in much of the country’s younger generations.
From descriptions of imposing structures to amazing nature spots and tasty local cuisine, the young reader is both entertained and informed.
First up on the list of lessons to be learned is Respect and Obedience. Uncle Sam, on his first visit to the National Academy for the Performing Arts, has to counter Speedy’s exuberance and Snaily’s laid-back demeanour.
Impatience overcomes Speedy. Ignoring his uncle’s warning, he runs off towards the striking building complex and the others lose sight of him completely. When he is eventually found, his scolding is mercifully brief owing to the time lost in the search for him.
Photo: Ghansham Mohammed/ GhanShyam Photography/ Wired868.
More effective is Uncle Sam’s story, told on the way home, about the time he disobeyed his parents and almost drowned at the beach. The lesson is ultimately learned.
When their uncle falls asleep on the beach during a subsequent visit to Maracas, the twins don’t venture into the water unaccompanied. Instead, they occupy themselves gainfully by building an eye-catching sand castle.
At NAPA, Snaily was less concerned about his sibling’s safety than by the thought that they might have missed out on the tour of the premises. And so, a series of adventures becomes a friendly workbook as Uncle Sam, part schoolteacher, part parent, intervenes.
Portrayed as a caring, patient and, above all, understanding adult, he carefully selects stories from his own boy days growing up in the country to provide effective instruction for the readers, young and old, whom Dr Spencer is targeting.
At the Pitch Lake, the youngsters hear the tale of two Boy Scouts who fell off a cliff because of a prank. Focusing on the harm that could have resulted, Uncle Sam stresses the virtues of forgiveness.
“When you hold onto anger and refuse to forgive,” he warns his nephews, “it can fill you with bitterness and hatred.”
Uncle Sam’s personality readily induces the boys to lend their ears to his philosophy. Having himself grown up in humble surroundings, he has cultivated all the patience and communication skills desirable in a classroom teacher.
And so, at the beach, the twins voluntarily share their sandwiches with another boy who had none and then, without being prompted, show their appreciation for their uncle’s kindness by washing and vacuuming the car which they had used.
Photo: Ministry of Education.
Chock-full of important lessons on life, the book also touches on the practice of thinking ahead, specifically, self-assessment for possible careers.
At SAPA, Speedy, ever the extrovert, displays a talent for the entertainment field and earns kudos. Far more reserved, Snaily is calmer, more analytical, consonant with his dream of one day becoming an engineer.
Uncle Sam’s efforts bear fruit in other ways. Discovery becomes such a thrill for the twins that they readily seek knowledge. When in-person visits to San Fernando Hill and the Botanical Gardens have to be scrapped, they research both sites on the Internet, where they also unearth interesting information about the national flower, the Chaconia.
Dr Spencer’s passion for learning and her concern for developing young minds result in a text well suited for the primary school curriculum.
Photo: GWW.
The language is simple and easily accessible so that both primary school pupils and secondary students can read and understand without adult assistance. And adults who have not made the time to discover their country may learn a thing or two about Trinidad and Tobago.
And about how to successfully interact with their children!
It would be too much to suggest a serious parallel between BVE, with its twins running around NAPA and Maracas Beach, and Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, with its cast of unforgettable characters, including twins Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Humpty-Dumpty and the Queen of Hearts.
But it bears mentioning that the famed British author of the mid-1800s, a mathematics professor, dedicated his unique book to a 10-year-old girl, Alice Liddell. Dr Spencer, whose first text targeted secondary school mathematics students, unsurprisingly dedicated BVE to Kevanni, now also 10.
Best Vacation Ever frontally faces up to two critical challenges to the country’s education system: how to foster organic interest in learning, taking youngsters from needing to wanting, and how to bring pupils and students to embrace positive social norms and values.
But those education challenges are certainly not limited to Trinidad and Tobago. Might there be, like Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, a BVE sequel?
It would certainly come as no surprise.
Editor’s Note: The book is available on Amazon and can be sourced locally at (868) 334-3495. Orders can also be placed via email to Dr Spencer’s address, clarenaspencer@gmail.com.
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