Just as Dear America and American Girl exposed me to US history, Dear Canada gave me an entryway to

1. If I Die Before I Wake: While the U.S. celebrates their role in “rescuing the Allies” during the Great War, Canada sacrificed a lot more men in the war effort. They also lost a lot of people in the aftermath. The whole world did in the influenza epidemic that tends to be glossed over in history. This diary delves into the fear and celebration that comes with the ending of war. And the subsequent terror of this unknown virus as Fiona sees sibling after sibling succumb to it. It’s very relevant and ironic that we have a pandemic in the 20s, only this case was in 1919-1920 but the grief and fear is still the same.
2. No Safe Harbour: I didn’t know about the Halifax Explosion when I read this book but the basics is that it is the largest man-made explosion in history (before the Atomic bomb, but this is 1917 so we’re a few years away from that). It flattened the Halifax harbor and killed millions. So it’s a pretty bad birthday for Charlotte as she’s suddenly orphaned and homeless. Her only family is her older brother who is to return from war, that is until the ensuing chaos reveals a family secret. It’s a great exploration of grief, family and PTSD in her brother’s case as Charlotte struggles to move forward in such senseless loss.
3. Prisoners in the Promised Land: Know what happened in Canada during WW1, Ukrainian immigrants and citizens were rounded up into concentration camps out of fear of enemy aliens. I know, very shocking and little known even in Canada. The author utilizes fiction as well as her family’s personal history with this shameful past to create a moving diary about Anya and her family keeping faith in their new country and suriving together in their ramshackle barracks in the Canadian wilderness.
4. An Ocean Apart: While reading this series, I was surprised by how many laws in U.S. history also occured in Canada like Japanese concetration and apparently the Chinese Exclusion Act. Mei-ling’s family is one of those who are diligently saving to bring over her mother and brother from China when the Act goes into affect, leaving their family status in limbo. It makes Mei-ling feel even more isolated as she’s bullied in schools by other gangs as her older employers. Chan does a great job in delving into early Chinatown, Canada from her father’s struggling resturaunt and his mistrust of Mei-ling’s white teachers to Mei-ling’s own wish to continue her education and not go into early marriage like her fellow co-workers.
5. Orphan at My Door: If you’ve read Anne of Green Gables, you might recognize the term of Bernardo’s Home Children aka orphans from Britain and other areas who are sent to work and find families abroad. Victoria is a pretty wealthy young girl but her worldview turns upside down when Mary Anna comes to serve her family. At first, Victoria romanticizes Mary Anna’s life like it’s Oliver Twist before Mary Anna sets her straight and they come to form a real friendship. But it’s not all broadening horizons and interclass friendship. Not all home children are treated decently or evem like humans as the girls set out to find Mary Anna’s other siblings and save them from abusive homes.