I Am Canada: A Call to Battle

About this book

It's 1812. War has begun, and thirteen-year-old Alexander (Sandy) MacKay is jealous when his older brother Angus goes off with their father to fight the Americans attacking the Niagara region. Too young to know the darker side of battle, he resents being left to shoulder the work on his family's farm.

Itching to get in on the action, he sneaks away from home and heads to Lundy's Lane to join up with the local militia. But battle is imminent, and now there's not much his father can do except try to shield him from the worst of the fighting.

Sandy's idealized notions of what battle will be like are shattered when the man standing before him is killed by a musket ball and Sandy's own brother is severely wounded. At the battle of Lundy's Lane, the united Canadian/British forces turn the tide against the American troops, but Sandy comes to know how chilling war can be.

Just in time for the bicentennial of the War of 1812, A Call to Battle is a sobering look at the realities of war. Author Gillian Chan skillfully depicts the transformation of an impetuous young boy, full of boyish enthusiasm, into a more realistic young man who emerges on the other side of war.

Reviews

"Make[s] history come alive through an expert mix of fact and fiction." —Quill & Quire

"The chief characters are eminently likeable and quietly heroic, and their tales utterly engrossing." —The Globe and Mail

"The writing is immaculate." —The National Post

Awards and nominations for books in this series:

Canadian Children's Book Centre Best Books for Kids and Teens

Hackmatack Children's Choice Book Award

IODE Violet Downey Book Award

OLA Best Bets

Resource Links, Year's Best

Rocky Mountain (Alberta Children's Choice) Book Award

Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award

Extras