• Age: 10 to 13
• Grade: 6

When sixteen-year-old Sarah from Toronto learns that she is to spend the summer with her grandparents in Nova Scotia, she is convinced that it will be the most tedious summer ever. She gets off to a rough start when she meets Luke, the nephew of her grandmother's friend, and one unfortunate event leads to another. Just when she thinks her summer cannot get much worse, she finds herself transported to Acadia in 1755.

Here she meets Anne and learns much about the Acadian culture and history and the Acadians' relations with the Mi'kmac people. She also experiences the warmth she has always wanted of a closely knit family. When Sarah realizes that the peace-loving Acadians are about to be torn from their homes and banished to distant shores, she is desperate to find a way to help them. Forced to abandon her pampered, stylish lifestyle, Sarah uncovers a strength and determination she did not know she possessed.

Although Sarah has to come to terms with the fact that "you can't change history," she is willing to risk her life to do everything in her power to help her Acadian family, and finds a surprising ally in Luke. Winds of L'Acadie, a historical novel for readers ten and up, reveals a painful part of Canadian history through the relationship of two young women from different centuries.

Lois was born in Montreal, Quebec, grew up mostly in Riverview, New Brunswick and spent her summers visiting Ontario. She graduated from Acadia University in Nova Scotia, and University of Alberta in Edmonton, before moving to Calgary, Alberta, where she enjoyed a long and rewarding teaching career. These richly Canadian experiences sparked her passion for bringing Canada’s stories alive for readers. Her first historical fiction, Winds of L'Acadie, takes readers on a journey to Nova Scotia just as the deportation of the Acadians is about to take place. It was shortlisted for the Hackmatack Award in Atlantic Canada and the Golden Eagle Award in Alberta.In addition to reading, writing, blogging, and drinking lattés, Lois loves visiting schools, conducting workshops and presenting at conferences. She currently lives the writerly life in Calgary where she enjoys time with her son and daughter-in-law, daughter, husband, and two fur-kids. Stop by her website for a visit www.loisdonovan.com or e-mail iwrite@loisdonovan.com

Lois Donovan's profile page

Winds of L’Acadie

In this time-slip novel, sixteen-year-old Torontonian Sarah is sent by her work-obsessed mother to spend the summer with her estranged grandparents in small-town Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Sarah expects to have a dull summer but encounters just the opposite. After an awkward first meeting and together surviving a sea-faring disaster, Sarah and Luke, a family friend, form a reluctant friendship. Luke takes her to see the area’s Acadian historical sites, spawning Sarah’s interest in the 1755 Acadian deportation. Lured by an apparition of a young Acadian girl, Sarah finds herself living with an Acadian family in the year 1755. Returning to the present, Sarah’s interest in the Acadians becomes an obsession. She returns to the past, taking skeptical Luke with her, and together they try to save her new Acadian friends from their horrible fate.

Lois Donovan was raised in Eastern Canada and currently resides in Calgary. This is her first novel.

Winds of L’Acadie

Sarah is transported to the terrifying time of the Acadians’ deportation. This novel reveals a painful part of Canadian history through the relationships of two young women from different centuries. A Teachers’ Guide is available.