• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 7
• Reading age: 9 to 12

The Teachers’ Guide to accompany Stolen Away by Christopher Dinsdale.
Short-listed for the 2008 Red Maple Award
Keira, kidnapped from Ireland by Vikings, is a slave living in legendary Vinland. Two native bands, the Beothuck and the Thule, are also fighting over the land, thrusting the Norsemen into war. While the Vikings search for a new home, an accident at sea leaves Keira miraculously saved by a Beothuck warrior. Keira settles into the Beothuck way of life, learning their customs and coming to care for them. But she dreams of risking everything in order to find a way home. Ultimately, she is torn between the cultures in which she has lived, her homeland, the Viking world in which she was welcomed, and her new Beothuck family. This is a thrilling adventure and an exciting introduction to the history of Canada.

Amanda Dinsdale's profile page

Christopher Dinsdale was born in Toronto, Ontario. He grew up in Dundas, Ontario and spent his high school years in Ottawa. Throughout his life, Christopher has enjoyed working with children. He valued his several summers working with disabled children as a councellor at Merrywood Camp near Perth. While attending The University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, he founded a Cystic Fibrosis winter camp for families in the area trying to cope with the childhood disease. After completing an honors degree in Cell Biology and a Masters of Science Degree in Zoology at Western, he then went on to complete a Masters of Arts in Education degree at Johnson State College in Johnson, Vermont. Christopher enjoys many sports, including tennis, skiing and sailing. Currently, he is coaching competitive basketball at the atom level in the Ontario Basketball Association. As a teacher with the York Region District School Board, he enjoys writing novels for both children and adults during his summer breaks. Broken Circle was his first published book for young readers and was chosen as a Great Books For 2006 by the Canadian Toy Testing Council. His second YA novel, Stolen Away, was released in the fall of 2006 and was shortlisted for the Red Maple Award. His third novel with Napoleon, Betrayed: The Legend of Oak Island, was published in the fall of 2009. Christopher lives in Newmarket, Ontario with his wife and his three daughters.

Christopher Dinsdale's profile page