• Age: 8 to 12
• Grade: 3 to 7

The story takes place in Montreal, during the smallpox epidemic of 1885. Marie-Claire lives in a humble home with her working-class family - her parents, sister Emelie and baby brother Philippe. Through Marie-Claire's life we glimpse the difficulties faced by a family besieged by privation and disease, and we witness one girl's struggle to persevere through the illness of her cousin Lucille and the work-related injury of her father -- even to endure the death of a loved one. All the while, Marie-Claire maintains a remarkable optimism for the future.

Our Canadian Girl is a groundbreaking new series of historical fiction that brings Canada's past to thrilling life by telling the stories of Canadian girls from different eras, regions and backgrounds. The heroines are compelling and the stories, written by some of Canada's best children's writers, are powerful and exciting. Once and for all, Our Canadian Girl proves that history doesn't have to be boring!

Kathy Stinson is a familiar name in children’s literature. She wrote the award-winning Red is Best and Big or Little?—two of the first picture books for preschoolers in Canada. Both were a huge success and have since achieved international acclaim. Red is Best 25th Anniversary Edition was released in 2006 a newly illustrated Big or Little? was published in 2009. Kathy’s latest book, The Man with the Violin (2013), was greeted with rave reviews, including starred reviews in Kirkus and uill & uire. Illustrated by Duan Petricic, this beautifully evocative picture book tells the true story of world-renowned violinist, Joshua Bell, who conducted an experiment by anonymously playing his priceless violin in the Washington D.C. subway station. Kathy grew up in Toronto. “My love affair with books began as a child,” she says. “I remember regular visits to the library, getting stacks of books to read.” She still has a notebook of stories that she wrote when she was in grade four. She believes that reading a lot is the key to becoming a good writer. In the early 1970s Kathy attended university while teaching elementary school. In 1981, she took a course called “How to write and get published.” The titles she has published in the years since range from picture books to young adult novels, from historical fiction chapter books to short stories in the horror genre. 2008 sees the publication of her first brand-new picture book in sixteen years! Kathy enjoys visiting schools across Canada, and especially talking with fellow writers. In 1987 she traveled to England as part of an exchange of Canadian and British children’s authors. She has helped students across Canada pursue their own creative projects through the Writers in Electronic Residence program, and in many communities has conducted writing workshops for children and for adults. When she’s not busy writing or reading, Kathy is a self-proclaimed jigsaw puzzle addict. Her children now grown, she lives with her partner, editor Peter Carver, in a hamlet not far from Guelph, Ontario.

Kathy Stinson's profile page