Dear Canada Whispers Of War

In the summer of 1812, as rumours of a looming war become a reality, Susanna, her mother and sister are surviving as best they can while the men are fighting. As news of various battles reaches them, Susanna becomes even more concerned for the safety and well-being of her beloved brother and father. She is also torn between the loyalties of her best friend and her mother -- both Americans living in Upper Canada -- and her father's and brother's allegiance to General Brock and the King. But the night of the Battle of Queenston Heights, Susanna's main concern is for survival.

In the summer of 1812, as rumours of a looming war become a reality, Susanna, her mother and sister are surviving as best they can while the men are fighting. As news of various battles reaches them, Susanna becomes even more concerned for the safety and well-being of her beloved brother and father. She is also torn between the loyalties of her best friend and her mother — both Americans living in Upper Canada — and her father's and brother's allegiance to General Brock and the King. But the night of the Battle of Queenston Heights, Susanna's main concern is for survival.

When a frightened girl and boy arrive on the Twiss family's doorstep to escape the Blitz, Charlotte wonders how she will keep her war guests from missing their parents back home, or from cowering every time a plane flies overhead. Though the war is being waged across the Atlantic, Charlotte begins to feel its danger, as her brother George defies their parents and enlists in the Navy. After months of receiving letters from overseas, suddenly there is no word from him — has the unthinkable happened and George's ship been sunk by a German submarine? Charlotte Twiss's diary shows her innermost feelings about her life on the Canadian homefront, as she helps her war guests "settle in" and wonders whether her brother is safe from harm.

Each Teaching with Dear Canada includes an overview of teaching social studies through historical fiction, then provides a summary for each book, themes for classroom discussion, cross-curricular activities, ready-to-use reproducibles and more. This perfect classroom tool uses four titles in the Dear Canada series -- Alone in an Untamed Land, A Ribbon of Shining Steel, Brothers Far from Home, and Whispers of War -- to develop children's understanding of historical concepts and build useful Social Studies and Language Arts skills.

A young Jewish girl recounts her experiences during a horrifying time in recent history. As Rose begins her diary, she is in her third home since coming to Winnipeg. Traumatized by her experiences in the Holocaust, she struggles to connect with others, and above all, to trust again. When her new guardian, Saul, tries to get Rose to deal with what happened to her during the war, she begins writing in her diary about how she survived the murder of the Jews in Poland by going into hiding. Memories of herself and her mother being taken in by those willing to risk sheltering Jews, moving from place to place, being constantly on the run to escape capture, begin to flood her diary pages. Recalling those harrowing days, includingwhen they stumbled on a resistance cell deep in the forest and lived underground in filthy conditions, begins to take its toll on Rose. As she delves deeper into her past, she is haunted by the most terrifying memory of all. Will she find the courage to bear witness to her mother's ultimate sacrifice?

From the best-selling and award winning Dear Canada series comes the second Dear Canada Collector's Set, featuring CLA award nominee Brothers Far From Home by Jean Little and Whispers of War by Kit Pearson, in a handsome slipcase. In Whispers of War, young Susanna Merritt and her mother struggle to keep the family farm going while her brother and father fight in the War of 1812. And in Brothers Far From Home, Eliza Bates hopes and prays that her beloved older brother, reported as missing after the WWII battle of Vimy Ridge, will return home safely.

A holiday treat for fans of the Dear Canada series, and all lovers of historical fiction! Rekindling a treasured friendship helps a young girl understand the meaning of Christmas. Charlotte and her brother Luke, a soldier serving overseas during World War I, frequently exchange letters. Charlotte fears for his safety, for the worst she can imagine is that Luke will not come home from the war. She's still a year away from knowing how her own life will be changed when a munitions ship in Halifax Harbour catches fire, causing the largest man-made explosion in history and flattening the city of Halifax. This short story was originally published in Dear Canada: A Christmas to Remember, a collection featuring many of Canada's top writers for children, including Jean Little, Sarah Ellis, Maxine Trottier, Carol Matas, and more. New readers will adore this stand-alone holiday tale, while fans of the series will recognize the voice of Charlotte, whom they first met in the award-winning Dear Canada book No Safe Harbour. Collect all 12 Dear Canada Christmas stories this season and enjoy a very happy holiday!

After Arabella's father is jailed for his part in the short-lived 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion in Toronto, her mother just cannot cope. The family is ostracized, they lose their home and they have no income — yet Arabella's mother still doesn't take action. So it is up to twelve-year-old Arabella to find new lodgings and to get employment so they have money to live on. And as if that weren't enough to worry about, her older brother Charlie has vanished. Readers will cheer for the heroine in this "riches to rags" story as Arabella struggles to keep her family afloat while awaiting her father's release from prison. A Rebel's Daughter includes an Historical Note giving readers the cultural context of the Upper Canada Rebellion, a map showing 1837 Toronto, as well as fascinating documents and photographs from this pivotal time period.