• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 7

As the rest of the country gears up for Confederation, Rosie's life is about to be pulled apart.

It's 1866. The year before Confederation. And the year Rosie's life turns upside-down.

She has just gone into service with Mr. Bradley, a civil servant working in Quebec City, the bustling capital of the Province of Canada. When the capital is moved to the rough sawmill town of Ottawa, the Bradleys have to move there too. Rosie will desperately miss her own parents and siblings, and wonders if she will ever have a place in her own family again.

Karleen Bradford draws on her own experience as the wife of a diplomat in Ottawa and embassies around the world to craft this authentic portrait of a young girl displaced in the whirlwind of government.

Karleen Bradford is the award-winning author of twenty-two works of fiction and non-fiction for children and young adults. Her books include historical novels, fantasy and contemporary stories, as well as picture books and chapter books.

She was born in Toronto, Ontario, but spent most of her childhood years in Argentina. She returned to Canada to take a B.A. at the University of Toronto in 1959, and married James Bradford, a Foreign Service Officer with the Canadian Government. Until 1992, Karleen and her family travelled and lived in Colombia, the United States, England, the Philippines, Brazil, Germany and Puerto Rico, with two home postings in Canada. Settings for many of her books have come from these countries. She now lives back in Canada in Owen Sound, Ontario. Three children, four grandchildren, and assorted granddogs live nearby.

Karleen has taught Creative Writing and Writing for Children at Algonquin College, the Adult High School, and various community centres in Ottawa. During a posting in Germany she also taught creative writing classes and did writing workshops with children in U.S.A. Department of Defense Schools throughout the country. In 1999 she worked with students in the Taipei American School in Taiwan.

She has worked in schools across Canada through The Writers' Union of Canada and the Ontario Arts Council programs for writers in the schools and has, as well, participated in numerous Canada Council Readings programs. She toured Nova Scotia in 1984, New Brunswick in 1989, Quèbec in 1998, and Manitoba in 2005 for the TD Children's Book Week, and has worked as a Writer in Residence for the WIER (Writers in Electronic Residence) program in schools across Canada.

You can find out more about Karleen and her work at www.karleenbradford.com.

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Karleen Bradford's profile page

• Commended, Best Books for Kids and Teens, Canadian Children's Book Centre

Praise for the Dear Canada series:

"Bring[s] Canada's past alive for girls . . . The diaries are by well-established authors writing powerful stories with strong personal resonance." —Maclean's

"In the hands of great writers, Canadian history is riveting and lively . . . This is the way history should be told." —Vancouver International Writers Festival

"These stories will pull you in emotionally and provide you with some authentic and riveting details that transport you into that time period . . . and hopefully propel readers to read and learn more about these Canadian experiences." —Resource Links