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A
Trail of Broken Dreams (Dear Canada)
by Barbara Haworth-Attard 
Date of Publication: 2004
ISBN: 2004 ISBN: 0-439-97405-4
Number of Pages: 168
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REQUIRED READING ABILITY:
Junior: Average/High Intermediate: Low/Average
GENRES: Historical Fiction
THEMES: Life versus Death – Family - Coming of
Age - Survival
SUMMARY:
Harriet Palmer is a twelve-year-old girl in 1862 at Upper Fort Garry Red
River Settlement., through her journal. Harriet's mother and baby brother
have just died, and she has taken on the responsibility to provide for
her younger brother and baby sister. Her father is mining gold in B.C.,
and Harriet is left to manage things on her own.
When Harriet finds out she
and her siblings have no money, and that her family is about to be separated,
she disguises herself as a boy and joins a group leaving for the gold
fields, desperate to find her father and get his help to keep the family
together. The young travelers encounter many hardships along the three
month trek, all of which Harriet records in her diary. Can they make it
to their father, however, before time – and Harriet’s strength
– run out?
WHO
WOULD LOVE THIS BOOK? A kid who...
-
loves adventure
- enjoys historical settings
- has an interest in diary/journal texts
- wants to know more about Canada and its history
- likes stories that feel "real"
- likes stories that are flawlessly researched
- likes feisty female characters
WHAT ELSE?
The Dear Canada series is a group of flawlessly researched novels in diary
form that feature significant moments in Canadian history. The diaries
are always written by girl characters, but there are enough male characters
and action that generally they appeal to boys as well. The last section
of each book holds non-fiction information and photographs about whatever
the topic involves (in this case, the B.C. Gold Rush).
RELATED LINK:
www.scholastic.ca/dearcanada
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