James A. Onusko, Boom Kids: Growing Up in the Calgary Suburbs, 1950-1970 (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2021)

In Boom Kids, James Onusko presents a snapshot of postwar Canadian suburbia through the lens of Calgary, Alberta. By using age as a category of analysis, Onusko illustrates the significance of age and age relations in the making of Canada’s suburbs. Onusko tracks the lives of children in suburban Calgary and considers how their experiences fit into broader Canadian childhoods “across time and space.” (7) While presenting a unique case study of children in the Calgary suburb of Banff Trail, Boom Kids compliments and confirms many existing studies of post-war family life, exploring themes such as gender relations, expert advice on child-rearing, children’s health, Cold War anxieties, and juvenile delinquency.

Onusko tracks the development of suburban Calgary and children’s roles and experiences in suburbia thematically. Boom Kids begins by considering space in the suburbs. Childhood was a key consideration in creating post-war landscapes in Canada. Onusko illustrates the impact of childhood on the spaces of suburbia and that of suburbia on children. Strip malls, schools, playgrounds, streets, and parks all made marks on children’s lives and were places where childhood was experienced. Homes were a key place for kids and the centre of their “childhood cultural landscape.” (33) All of these elements of Banff Trail made up children’s sense of community, which was rooted in place and defined by where a family lived, worked, and played.

Chapter 3 considers race and class of children in suburbia, ultimately concluding that Banff Trail was largely homogenous throughout the post-war era. This did not mean, however, that race and class did not make their way into children’s memories of their lives in suburbia. Onusko explains that oral histories of kids from Banff Trail show that they did indeed consider racism and ethnocentrism, but it was removed from their everyday lives (70). Memories of race were not related to children’s lives in Banff Trail necessarily, but rather were distant, passing moments of seeing Indigenous people at the Calgary Stampede, or seeing media reports of the Civil Rights Movement in America. Recollections of “whiteness” were prominent in oral history, and children were not aware of the privilege this gave them. Onusko argues that the trope of the “raceless child” was powerful in post-war Canada and was at play in Banff Trail (75).

Similarly, class was often blurred in children’s experiences in suburbia. Living in the same community, attending the same schools, and playing in the same spaces, kids often did not recognize the influence of class on their lives. Onusko illustrates the difficulty of defining class for kids and ultimately the need to determine children’s class in a familial context. Class does, though, play an important role in children’s lives as it is inextricably linked to health care, leisure activities, and education, and Onusko details the inherent privilege of kids in Banff Trail by examining these themes.

Onusko’s analysis of juvenile crime, rebellion, and resistance through the lens of “the night” is an interesting and innovative element of Boom Kids. In his final chapter, Onusko explores how ‘night’ has often held negative connotations for children and youth and is a time where they should be “silent and unseen.” (149) Night was a time when adolescence could escape the restrictive and constraining expectations placed on them by adults. Youth in Banff Trail mirrored the growing youth culture in North America by experimenting with drugs, alcohol, and sexuality, often under the cover of night. Onusko also recognizes the sexual and physical abuse of young people. This chapter aptly argues that young people in suburbia were not sheltered or oblivious to broader issues and events happening beyond their neighbourhood.

Much of Onusko’s research comes from the oral histories of eighteen people who grew up in suburban Calgary between the 1950s and 1970s. The revelations from these interviews provide rich details of adults’ memories of their childhood and are vital to revealing the experiences of children in post-war suburbs. Onusko recognizes that these interviews consist of positive, nostalgic recollections, but also notes that many interviewees talked openly about painful elements of their childhood, such as violence, sexism, or loss. The interview questions that Onusko used are included in an appendix, which clarifies his practice of oral history and it is interesting to see the ways in which Onusko prompted memories of the interviewee’s childhoods.

It is evident from reading Boom Kids that children can indeed be found in the archives. Onusko draws upon archival material from the perspective of professionals, educators, and government officials, but also uses an array of child-centred documents such as newspapers, yearbooks, novels, and art. For example, a drawing from a 1956 Calgary Central High newsletter depicts a scene of a young boy and girl at prom. This drawing illustrates the artist’s perception or expectation of prom and identifies this as a key event in their youth. Onusko’s exceptional pairing of oral history and archival material makes for a clear picture of the lives of children in postwar Banff Trail.

Boom Kids leaves the question of why Banff Trail and why suburban Calgary? A further consideration of why Onusko chose this suburb would better situate the experiences outlined in the book with those across Canada. Further consideration of why Banff Trail is representative of post-war suburban Canada or why it is worthy of its own study would benefit the overall argument of Boom Kids.

Overall, Boom Kids provides an intriguing insight into the lives of Canadian children. Its contribution to histories of Canadian childhood is important and the ways in which it melds oral history and archival content is impressive. Onusko presents themes of education, gender, labour, crime, family, and place through the lives of Banff Trail’s children. Boom Kids effectively illustrates the historical and continued importance of children in our communities.

Megan Blair

University of Waterloo

DOI: https://doi.org/10.52975/llt.2022v89.0023.