• Age: 8 to 12
• Grade: 3 to 7

An original look at a city's development through the eyes and words of real children who have lived there.

Kidmonton: True Stories of River City Kids is a lively illustrated book for young readers that relates the city's history entirely from the point of view of real children over time.

Using the techniques of fiction to bring true stories to life, the book embraces all of Edmonton's children: aboriginal, immigrant, inner-city and suburban, challenged and privileged, born in Edmonton and recently arrived. A timeline, glossary, and suggestions for more reading and city exploring are also included.

This chapter book has been written specifically for eight and nine year-olds who often encounter Alberta's history for the first time in Grade Four. Full of fresh, vivid writing—and humour—it will be a pleasure to read in the classroom or at home. Kidmonton tells the city's story to its youngest citizens in a bold, new way.

Please visit www.courageouskids.ca for more information on the whole Courageous Kids series.

Samantha Warwick was born in Montreal and raised in Sutton, Quebec and Vancouver. She received her MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia in 2003. Her work has been broadcast on CBC Radio and has appeared in various literary magazines including Geist, Event, Room and echolocation. Samantha Warwick spent seven years coaching competitive swimming between 1997 and 2004, and has participated in long distance open-water swim races in British Columbia, California and New York. She now lives and works in Calgary where she is at work on her second novel.

Linda Goyette's profile page

p class=review_text>In Kidmonton, [a] lively and imaginative book, Goyette brings many figures from the city’s long tale to younger readers. Adults many find themselves peeking into it, too, for answers to that childlike query we never outgrow: what is the past? —Canadian Geographic