Julie Lawson’s Dear Canada Books
I am going to tell you about one of the best books I’ve ever read. It is amazing! The author is Julie Lawson, and she creates the voice of a twelve-year-old in this fantastic diary themed version of the Halifax Explosion. Charlotte Blackburn’s story, from September 26 1917 to March 24 1918, tells of her brother at war in France, her twin brother, her two older sisters, her mom and dad. Like my classmate Sam, I will show you what it looks like (You’ll notice the photo in the background from my post about the Explosion):
I think it is one of the best books I’ve ever read; it just creates a picture in you mind, the way she describes everything, and how it seems like your reading about Charlotte. Like Charlotte actually wrote this book as her diary. Julie Lawson has also written two other books in the series. I have not read any of the other ones, but they look just as good! Here are the other two:
A Ribbon of Shinning Steel. This one is about Kate Cameron. Her father is a builder for the Canadian Pacific Railway. She goes to a small town, called Yale, in Canada and worries about her father as he is in danger at every moment. He works on a railway; one of the most dangerous working places in Canada. She lives close to an ‘Accident Hospital’ and that shows her that her father could have that happen to him. Here is the book cover:
Finally, there is Where The River Takes Me. Jenna Sinclair is the author of this diary. She is an orphan and lives with her Aunt Grace near Fort Edmonton. She moves and asks her Aunt Grace to let her go to a school in Fort Victoria on Vancouver’s Island. I don’t know much about this one because it’s a new release, but I hear it’s a really good book:
November 25th, 2008 at 6:35 am
Haley, I really like the Dear Canada books I’ve read, too. Julie Lawson is a terrific writer–did you know she lives in Victoria? You could link to her site, and even send a fan note to her with a link back to this review and your previous post on the subject. She has written back to former student of mine. I suspect she would be thrilled to see the kind of writing her book has inspired!