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Product Description
Books in Canada
Isobel Scott, in Footsteps in the Snow, personifies the perseverance of the Selkirk Settlers. Isobel and her family have left Scotland for the promise of their own land in Canada. She imagines them "living in a grand house in the New World, with servants to wait on me and young men coming to call." Yet the book opens dramatically with her mother's death before they even set sail. Only to her diary does Isobel confide the trials that she must now face: being mother to her younger brother, helping her listless father, and facing the hardships the settlers encounter. The harsh winter and threats of violence against the settlers from the North West Company mean that they cannot even begin to build or farm once they reach their promised land. However, with the help of the Cree people, the settlers survive their first winter and, in time, learn to adapt to life in Canada.
Matas' story focuses on Isobel's expectations for herself in the New World and her attempts to live up to her mother's memory. It addresses the cultural differences between the Cree and the Selkirk Settlers when Isobel's father marries a Cree woman. Yet this is also an historical record of the time, specifically, a record of the escalating rivalry between the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company as well as the struggle of the Selkirk Settlers to claim their land. Matas has found a welcome blend of story and history that will captivate young readers.
With the diary format of this book, one gets a delightful feeling of peeking over the Isobel's shoulder as she writes. Readers share her private fears and hopes as Isobel and her family negotiate the difficulties of life in early Canada. However, the format also has its limitations. Inevitably, we are told more than we have the opportunity to observe through dramatic scenes. Yet Matas has worked within the diary form to truly involve us in the Isobel's daily plight and to spur us into rooting for her as she pursue her dreams. Girls aged 9 to 12 will especially enjoy the intimate portrayal of Canadian history this book provides. Karen Krossing (Books in Canada)
Matas' story focuses on Isobel's expectations for herself in the New World and her attempts to live up to her mother's memory. It addresses the cultural differences between the Cree and the Selkirk Settlers when Isobel's father marries a Cree woman. Yet this is also an historical record of the time, specifically, a record of the escalating rivalry between the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company as well as the struggle of the Selkirk Settlers to claim their land. Matas has found a welcome blend of story and history that will captivate young readers.
With the diary format of this book, one gets a delightful feeling of peeking over the Isobel's shoulder as she writes. Readers share her private fears and hopes as Isobel and her family negotiate the difficulties of life in early Canada. However, the format also has its limitations. Inevitably, we are told more than we have the opportunity to observe through dramatic scenes. Yet Matas has worked within the diary form to truly involve us in the Isobel's daily plight and to spur us into rooting for her as she pursue her dreams. Girls aged 9 to 12 will especially enjoy the intimate portrayal of Canadian history this book provides. Karen Krossing (Books in Canada)
Review
"Dear Canada has got off to an auspicious start that bodes well for what comes next; the emphasis here is on the quality of the books. Ellis and Little have created superb historical fiction..." (Books in Canada) " . . . bring[s] Canada's past alive for girls . . . The diaries are by well-established authors writing powerful stories with strong personal resonance." (Maclean's)
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Footsteps in the Snow,
By ravenclaw29 (Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Dear Canada: Footsteps In the Snow: The Red River Diary of Isobel Scott (Hardcover)
Footsteps in the Snow: The Red River Diary of Isobel Scott by Carol Matas is a good effort from the author, though it was lacking a little something that some of the other entries in the Dear Canada book series have.Young Isobel Scott's loving mother has just died. While going through her possessions in a trunk in her mother's cabin on the wobbling boat with her father, Isobel discovers a small, barely-written-in diary in the pocket of her mother's silk dress. And so, Isobel writes in the diary whenever she can, and writes as if she telling her mother up in heaven the story of her life. Isobel, her father, and her two brothers now must continue on the journey to the New World from Scotland with other settles to go to the Red River settlement in Rupert's Land, in 1815. Isobel describes to her diary the immense cold, befriending a Cree Indian girl, acting as a mother figure to her little brother, helping with the buffalo hunts, the fights between the two head Companies, and being tormented by a teasing girl named Kate. This was a good, quite satisfactory Dear Canada book, and though Isobel was a likable protagonist, the setting and plot of the story were not as interesting as they were in some of the other books in this historical fiction series. If you are looking for a good book by this author, Carol Matas, then check out her other, much better Dear Canada book, Turned Away. Recommended.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Footsteps in the Snow,
By
This review is from: Dear Canada: Footsteps In the Snow: The Red River Diary of Isobel Scott (Hardcover)
This is the diary of Isobel Scott. On the way over from Scotland, Isobel's mother dies. The reason her family came over is that they could have a better life. Isobel thinks of Mansions and servants... she was definately wrong! She found a diary in her mother's trunk and decided to write it in her mother's memory and that's how this starts. Isobel has an older brother named James, and younger brother named Robbie. Isobel pretty much takes over the job of being their mother by washing, mending things, etc. and she doesn't play or have fun like a young ought to. Kate, a girl she met on the ship, will not stop bugging and pestering her. Later in the diary Isobel starts to feel sorry for her and finds out why she does that, well, the pestering. On their journey, the company meets a village of Native Americans and befriend eachother. That is when she finally gets to have some fun and compete in a few games, and actually laugh. She also finds that she doesn't care that much for being waited upon, or having grand parties, but is fine the way she is living now. She also befriends a young Indian woman named White Loon... I better not say anything else! I hope this was helpful... it probably wasn't, buy hey, it works!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews) 10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Footsteps in the Snow,
By Lay - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Dear Canada: Footsteps In the Snow: The Red River Diary of Isobel Scott (Hardcover)
This is the diary of Isobel Scott. On the way over from Scotland, Isobel's mother dies. The reason her family came over is that they could have a better life. Isobel thinks of Mansions and servants... she was definately wrong! She found a diary in her mother's trunk and decided to write it in her mother's memory and that's how this starts. Isobel has an older brother named James, and younger brother named Robbie. Isobel pretty much takes over the job of being their mother by washing, mending things, etc. and she doesn't play or have fun like a young ought to. Kate, a girl she met on the ship, will not stop bugging and pestering her. Later in the diary Isobel starts to feel sorry for her and finds out why she does that, well, the pestering. On their journey, the company meets a village of Native Americans and befriend eachother. That is when she finally gets to have some fun and compete in a few games, and actually laugh. She also finds that she doesn't care that much for being waited upon, or having grand parties, but is fine the way she is living now. She also befriends a young Indian woman named White Loon... I better not say anything else! I hope this was helpful... it probably wasn't, buy hey, it works!
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good book from the Dear Canada series.,
By Rebecca Herman - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Dear Canada: Footsteps In the Snow: The Red River Diary of Isobel Scott (Hardcover)
This book is one of the Dear Canada series, which are historical novels, written in diary format, about fictional girls during different periods of Canadian history.Twelve-year-old Isobel Scott begins her diary at sea in July 1815, as her family travels from Scotland to Canada, hoping for a better life. Her mother has just died, and Isobel feels lost without her. When they finally reach Canada, a long journey overland to where they will settle still lies ahead. After two months they finally reach their destination, only to be told they must turn back because there are not enough supplies for them to spend the winter there. Isobel continues to describe in her diary her life over the next year as her family suffers many hardships while trying to build their new life. This was a very good book from the Dear Canada series, although not among my top favorites. I really enjoyed the early 1800s setting, and Isobel's diary narrative was interesting and moved along well. I'd recommend this book to readers who enjoy historical diary fiction. 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Adventure of a Lifetime!,
By Lily Boldin "Canadian Girl" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Dear Canada: Footsteps In the Snow: The Red River Diary of Isobel Scott (Hardcover)
Isobel Scott is a Selkirk settler and she is struggling with her family to finally be able to live at The Forks. With his wife dead, Isobel's widowed father marries an Native, White Loon. This new family tries to survive the feezing winters and boiling summers on a harsh journey to live at The Forks. Find out if the Scotts actually make it to the Red River Settlement by reading this great novel!
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