• Age: 8 to 12
• Grade: 3 to 7

A holiday treat for fans of the Dear Canada Series, and all lovers of historical fiction!

Experience the wonder of Christmas wishes. Julia May and her family thought they had at last found freedom when they made the final stage of their dangerous trek north to Canada, but even here old prejudices die hard, and the family has had to search for a community that will truly welcome them. As another Christmas in their chosen land approaches, they still have no word of Julia May's brother Thomas, who returned to the United States to fight for the North in the Civil War.

This short story was originally published in Dear Canada: A Christmas to Remember, a collection featuring many of Canada's top writers for children, including Jean Little, Sarah Ellis, Carol Matas, and more. New readers will adore this stand-alone holiday tale, while fans of the Series will recognize the voice of Julia May, whom they first met in the popular Dear Canada book A Desperate Road to Freedom.

Collect all 12 Dear Canada Christmas stories this season and enjoy a very happy holiday!

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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