Anna and Ivan escape poverty and hardship in Ukraine to start a new life on the Canadian frontier. As the young couple struggle to build their homestead, World War I breaks out. Ages 8+ years.
"It is 1932. Polly, almost ten, and her older sister, Maud, travel by train and boat from Winnipeg to an island between Vancouver and Victoria. There they will live with their grandmother, who will be their guardian. Maud will go to boarding school in Victoria, while Polly will live with her grandmother and attend the small school on the island. Their grandmother and other family members welcome the girls warmly; new-school jitters give way to new friendships and even a new puppy; and slowly Pol...
Shortlisted for the 2005 Young Adult Canadian Book Award Susanna's Quill is a work of historical fiction based on the life of Susanna Moodie, writer and pioneer, by award-winning author Julie Johnston. The story takes us into Susanna’s genteel English childhood, through her humorous teenage attempts at writing, growing to her burgeoning independence, marriage to Dunbar Moodie, and their decision to emigrate from England. To the Moodies, Canada was the answer to their prayers. They would have th...
With Daddy away fighting in the Second World War, Hattie, Junior and Momma have had to move to the city so Momma can take a factory job. Money is tight, and this year a Christmas tree is a luxury the family cannot afford. But Junior finds an abandoned plant in the hallway, and in his eyes, it holds the promise of Christmas magic. If he can only convince Hattie, maybe they can have a tree after all! Marilyn Helmer's tender story and Dianne Eastman's richly detailed photocollage art bring this Ch...
When the War of 1812 breaks out between the British in Canada and the United States, eighteen-year-old Billy Green is an expert woodsman with romantic ideas of combat. Struggling with his father's ideals and with his attraction to Sarah, the daughterof an American sympathizer, Billy soon finds himself faced with a series of fateful decisions.Then on June 5, 1813, he spots the massive American forces camped in the tiny hamlet of Stoney Creek. Against all odds, the young man rides three hours in t...
CC Year 2 Perilous Year is published by Fitzhenry and Whiteside.
Canada's greatest war hero brought vividly to lifeAs a boy, Billy Bishop was a crack shot - he had a sharp eye and great aim. Nearly flunking out of Royal Military College in Kingston, he eagerly signed up for duty when the First World War broke out. Sent first to England, Bishop discovered his true love: the Royal Flying Corps. Up in the air, the fighting may have been "cleaner" - no trenches, no mud, no mustard gas - but it was extremely dangerous and difficult. In fact, most fighter pilots in...