The Fun Times Brigade by Lindsay Zier-Vogel
Reviewed by Pamela Sinclair
Amy is struggling with the demands of new motherhood. Like many new mothers, she feels ill-prepared to care for an infant and still have a career. As a children’s entertainer, she’s never considered the lives of the parents of her target audience. Amy’s story is interwoven with flashback chapters that give the background of how she entered her career. She meets folk music artists Jim and Fran at a music festival, where she performed for a children’s audience. They ask her to jam with them, and after a couple of sessions, invite her to form a band. That is when the Fun Times Brigade is born.
“The Fun Times Brigade felt fresh and different from many of the books I’ve read recently, and was a more enjoyable read because of that difference.”
However, Amy still dreams of making it big performing for adult audiences, even though the gigs she has had in bars have only ever paid her in beer. With the Brigade, she learns the skills required to become a professional performer, the importance of being early to sound checks, how to ask for sound adjustments, and how not to shout into the microphone. But Amy feels constrained by the family audience image when the band’s manager asks them not to be seen drinking alcohol in public, and to be conscious of their family-friendly image. When she meets the members of a local indie rock band called ‘Bikes’, which she has always admired. She is invited to their rehearsals, and with Bikes, she thinks she’s getting what she always wanted. The pull of both areas of music takes its toll, and Amy finds she is lagging in both, and she makes decisions and choices she would not make without the stress.
When tragedy strikes, Amy feels abandoned by her bandmates and has to figure things out on her own. She needs to find a way to take what she has learned and move forward as both a mother and a performer. Managing the demands of both roles and finding a balance.
This is a beautiful story and a fun read. The depictions of motherhood, and the challenges that artistic mothers face when childcare needs are not as straightforward as a 9-5, weekday job. The Fun Times Brigade felt fresh and different from many of the books I’ve read recently, and was a more enjoyable read because of that difference. The dual timeline chapters told in the same character’s voice dovetail together beautifully and contribute rich layers and tension to the story that would not be there otherwise. The Fun Times Brigade is a story that has stayed with me since finishing reading it. I highly recommend this book. The last 100 or so pages may make you ugly cry, so read them in private and bring tissues.
About the Author
Lindsay Sier-Vogel is a Toronto-based author and the creator of the internationally beloved Love Lettering Project. After studying contemporary dance, Zeir-Vogel received her MA in Creative Writing from the University of Toronto. She is the author of the acclaimed novel Letters to Amelia, and her first picture book, Dear Street, was a Junior Library Guild pick, a Canadian Children’s Book Centre book of the year, and was nominated for a Forest of Reading Blue Spruce Award in 2024. The Fun Times Brigade is her second novel.
About the Reviewer
Pamela Sinclair is a writer and lifelong reader. She enjoys reading multiple genres, both fiction and nonfiction. She lives in Halifax, NS, with her husband, daughter, and a grumpy grey cat named Ben. Pamela is currently working on her first novel.
Book Details
Publisher : Book*hug Press
Publication date : May 1 2025
Language : English
Print length : 362 pages
ISBN-10 : 1771669411
ISBN-13 : 978-1771669412