From School Library Journal
Grade 8 Up–Cultures and nationalities clash in this complicated novel set in the 1750s. The Acadians hate the English who occupy their land; people in the Massachusetts colony hate the Acadians; and just about everyone hates the Native American tribes. Claire is trying to hold tight to her family, her land, and her life. A prologue recounts a shipwreck and foreshadows the tragedies awaiting the 15-year-old and her Acadian family. In part one, despite mounting tensions, Claire builds a secret relationship with Sam, one of the British soldiers, but their loyalties are put to the test when the soldiers imprison all of the men in her village. Claire and the rest of the women are deported when the English complete their takeover of Acadia. Part two, after the shipwreck, describes the hardships Claire faces as an indentured servant in the Massachusetts colony. She decides to try to make her way back to Canada with the help of a Mohawk Indian. They fight a battalion of English soldiers along the way, a group that coincidentally includes Sam. An epilogue ties everything together. The novel covers a lot of complex history and is a commentary on the atrocities that happen when one nation or group of people declares superiority over another. The characters experience one bad thing after another, but the story ends on a hopeful note. Readers with a little knowledge of colonial history may have an easier time understanding the events, but others may be educated by these slices of history that are not often covered in traditional social-studies classes.
–Cheri Dobbs, Detroit Country Day Middle School, Beverly Hills, MI Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Gr. 7-10. "I came to the horrible realization that I really was in a strange, strange land on the other side of the sea. I knew for the first time that I should never see my homeland again." Claire Richard has already survived the death of her parents, deportation from her beloved Acadian village, and a violent storm at sea. British and French forces are at large in 1755, but she is determined to return to Acadia with her remaining sister and brother. She also seeks her true love, Sam, a reluctant British soldier. Using traditional elements of the historical novel, Kositsky puts a human face on the expulsion of the Acadians from what is now Nova Scotia. Plenty of action and the determination of the strong female heroine move the story swiftly along, but the subject matter and style are best suited to curricular use or to recreational readers with a special interest in Canadian history. A very short historical note concludes.
Cindy WelchCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved