Orphan at My Door (Dear Canada) by Jean Little Date of Publication: 2001 ISBN: 0-439-98834-9 Number of Pages: 201

REQUIRED READING ABILITY: Junior: High Intermediate:Average
GENRES: Historical Fiction
THEMES : Good versus Evil - Coming of Age – Survival - Family

SUMMARY:
Victoria is the daughter of a doctor in Guelph, Ontario in 1897. Her family has taken in a young, sad girl named Mary Anna, an orphaned “Home Child” from England who has come to Canada in hopes of a better life. While Mary Anna is working in Victoria’s home, the two come to be friends, and Victoria learns that Mary Anna is sad because she is separated from her young brother. Victoria promises to help find Jasper, Mary Anna’s eight-year-old brother, and recounts the whole adventure in her diary.

Eventually it is discovered that Jasper has been placed in a home with a man who is beating him. The first night of his stay, the man hit him with a hoe and broke his arm and then refused to have it looked at by a doctor. When he realizes that his sister is nearby, Jasper runs away to find her. He is unwell, malnourished and filthy, and his “owner” wants him back, but the girls know they won’t return him to be beaten. Can Victoria and Mary Anna hide Jasper and keep him safe…and what will happen when Victoria’s family finds out?

WHO WOULD LOVE THIS BOOK? A kid who...
- loves to write
- loves a mysterious adventure
- likes stories with male and female characters
- enjoys diaries and stories that feel “real”
- is into lesser-known aspects of Canadian history

WHAT ELSE?
This is one of many flawlessly-researched Dear Canada diaries, and one of many Jean Little novels as well. The scenes of physical abuse undergone by Jasper might be upsetting to some readers, though they are not gratuitous.

RELATED LINKS:
For more information, consider Jean Little’s website, http://www.jeanlittle.com/
or the Dear Canada website, http://www.scholastic.ca/dearcanada/index2.htm .
For information about the Home Children, consider http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_children .