Dear Canada

[rockygirl]

I'm interested in acquiring some of the Dear Canada series for use in my classroom.

I know that the writing styles and quality of historical detail are inconsistant in the Dear America series.

Is the same thing true of the Dear Canada series? If so, which ones would people recommend?

Also, in the US, we have a companion series for boys, My Name is America. Is there a companion series for Dear Canada?

Thanks!!!!

[annis]

I haven't read any of these, but I do see that Scholastic has a companion series featuring boys under way:

Scholastic recently launched in September 2010 a similar series for boys titled I Am Canada. The books in that series are:

Blood and Iron: Building the Railway, Lee Heen-gwong, British Columbia, 1882 by Paul Yee (2010)

Prisoner of Dieppe: World War II, Alistair Morrison, Occupied France, 1942 by Hugh Brewster (2010)

Shot at Dawn: World War I, Allan McBride, France, 1917 by John Wilson (February 2011)

Deadly Voyage: RMS Titanic by Hugh Brewster (Fall 2011)

[rockygirl]

Thanks for the info, Annis!!

[rebecca191]

I am a big fan of the Dear America and Dear Canada series (discovered Dear America as a preteen, and still enjoy the books 15 years later!). I own all the Dear Canada books, but there are a few I haven't gotten around to reading yet. They seem to be of similar quality to the Dear America books but as you said a few of those were less accurate. I don't know as much about Canadian history, so it's possible there are some errors I didn't notice as an American, but I didn't notice anything glaringly inaccurate. It looks like the authors did a lot of research, I just can't guarantee anything because I am not an expert on Canadian history!

My personal favorites were:
With Nothing But Our Courage by Karleen Bradford (about a Loyalist family moving to Canada after the Revolutionary War)
Banished from Our Home by Sharon Stewart (about an Acadian girl when they are forced by the British to leave their homes)
A Trail of Broken Dreams by Barbara Haworth-Attard (about a gold rush in the Canadian old west)
No Safe Harbour by Julie Lawson (about the Halifax Explosion disaster during WW1)
Days of Toil and Tears by Sarah Ellis (about a child laborer in a factory during the late 19th century)
The Death of My Country by Maxine Trottier (set during the French and Indian War in Quebec)

[rockygirl]

Thanks for your opinions. It gives me a starting place!