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Dear Canada
Prisonniers de la grande forêt: Anya Soloniuk, fille d'immigrants ukrainiens
La famille d'Anya immigre de l'Ukraine pour prendre un nouveau départ au Canada. Mais juste après avoir aménagé dans un appartement minuscule à Montréal, la Première Guerre mondiale éclate. L'Ukraine étant annexée à l'Autriche, qui est maintenant en guerre contre le Commonwealth, plusieurs Ukrainiens sont déclarés « sujets de pays ennemis » et sont envoyés dans des camps d'internement. C'est ainsi qu'Anya et sa famille se retrouvent dans le camp de Spirit Lake, un endroit éloigné dans le nord du Québec. Les conditions sont dures, mais au moins, la famille d'Anya n'est pas séparée et malgré les clôtures barbelées qui l'entourent, la jeune fille arrive à se faire des amis et à semer la joie autour d'elle. L'auteure Marsha Skrypuch, dont le grand-père a vécu l'internement des Ukrainiens en Alberta, s'est rendue à Spirit Lake, au Québec, afin d'effectuer ses recherches pour écrire ce roman. Elle s'est inspirée de l'histoire de Mary Manko, une petite fille de six ans, qui a dû quitter Montréal avec sa famille pour être internées à Spirit Lake. Mary Manko est décédée en juillet 2007 à l'âge de 98 ans. Elle était la dernière survivante connue des camps d'internement ukrainiens au Canada.
248 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2007
15 people are currently reading
1329 people want to read
About the author
Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
33 books888 followersMarsha Skrypuch is an internationally bestselling children’s author whose books span a century of wars from a kid’s view, concentrating on those stories that have been erased by oppressive regimes. Her best-known book is Making Bombs for Hitler. Her most recent is the Kidnapped from Ukraine trilogy. She has received death threats and honors for her writing. Marsha lives in Brantford, Ontario, Canada and you can visit her online at calla.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
March 28, 2025
Why I chose to read this book:
1. I have read a handful of other books from this series, all of which I have learned something new about Canada's history. Since this particular book focuses on Ukrainian immigrants (like my grandparents), it has been high on my WTR list; and,
2. I have designated February 2023 as my "Books for Young and Old Alike" Month!
Praises:
1. once again, this series did not disappoint! Even though I was aware that many male Ukrainian immigrants were imprisoned and treated as slave labor in internment camps across Canada, which were created by the Canadian government during WWI under the War Measures Act, I was dumbfounded to learn that a couple of these camps (one at Spirit Lake, Quebec which is featured in this book) also housed women and children;
2. MC Anya Soloniuk's diary covers just over two years of her young life, from their immigration to Canada to their eventual release date from the internment camp. Since this book was written with youngsters in mind, the "diary" gently shares the discrimination Ukrainians faced in their daily lives as well as the harsh-working conditions, cruel guards, and even deaths in the internment camps;
3. this book shares various Ukrainian traditions and also contains a Glossary of accurate pronunciations of some Ukrainian vocabulary. Her mention of eating blueberry pyrohy (perogies) brought back many fond memories!
4. through a friend who Anya meets on the ship, we learn of immigrant life on a homestead in rural Alberta. Author Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch even has her actual grandfather make an appearance in this story. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he had a homestead about an hour west of where I live! He was interned at Jasper, Alberta, but escaped; and,
5. Anya mentions a Pikogan settlement near her camp, and how the Indigenous people shared their customs and knowledge of edible foods found in the Canadian woods.
Overall Thoughts:
My youngest daughter owns the DEAR CANADA series and had read them voraciously as a teenager. Written by various authors in diary form with a fictional girl as the main character, the reader gets a sense of what life may have been like during the specific event in Canadian history that is portrayed in each book. The non-fiction portion (maps, text, photos, newspaper articles, etc.) following the fictional "diary" section is quite insightful. A matching ribbon bookmark adds to the feeling of the text's significance.
I look forward to reading more books in this series!
Recommendation:
This series is a must-read for ALL Canadians (and even non-Canadians) - young and old alike!
1. I have read a handful of other books from this series, all of which I have learned something new about Canada's history. Since this particular book focuses on Ukrainian immigrants (like my grandparents), it has been high on my WTR list; and,
2. I have designated February 2023 as my "Books for Young and Old Alike" Month!
Praises:
1. once again, this series did not disappoint! Even though I was aware that many male Ukrainian immigrants were imprisoned and treated as slave labor in internment camps across Canada, which were created by the Canadian government during WWI under the War Measures Act, I was dumbfounded to learn that a couple of these camps (one at Spirit Lake, Quebec which is featured in this book) also housed women and children;
2. MC Anya Soloniuk's diary covers just over two years of her young life, from their immigration to Canada to their eventual release date from the internment camp. Since this book was written with youngsters in mind, the "diary" gently shares the discrimination Ukrainians faced in their daily lives as well as the harsh-working conditions, cruel guards, and even deaths in the internment camps;
3. this book shares various Ukrainian traditions and also contains a Glossary of accurate pronunciations of some Ukrainian vocabulary. Her mention of eating blueberry pyrohy (perogies) brought back many fond memories!
4. through a friend who Anya meets on the ship, we learn of immigrant life on a homestead in rural Alberta. Author Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch even has her actual grandfather make an appearance in this story. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he had a homestead about an hour west of where I live! He was interned at Jasper, Alberta, but escaped; and,
5. Anya mentions a Pikogan settlement near her camp, and how the Indigenous people shared their customs and knowledge of edible foods found in the Canadian woods.
Overall Thoughts:
My youngest daughter owns the DEAR CANADA series and had read them voraciously as a teenager. Written by various authors in diary form with a fictional girl as the main character, the reader gets a sense of what life may have been like during the specific event in Canadian history that is portrayed in each book. The non-fiction portion (maps, text, photos, newspaper articles, etc.) following the fictional "diary" section is quite insightful. A matching ribbon bookmark adds to the feeling of the text's significance.
I look forward to reading more books in this series!
Recommendation:
This series is a must-read for ALL Canadians (and even non-Canadians) - young and old alike!
July 6, 2025
As part of the Dear Canada series, aside from the fictional (but absolutely historically realistic and totally accurate feeling) diary by Anya Soloniuk, whose relatable and delightful first person narrative voice I really adore and who really and truly speaks to me delightfully and emotionally, to both my inner child and equally so to adult me (stretching from Monday, April 13, 1914 until Friday, July 21, 1916 and like with all of the Dear Canada books based on specific and also often very much intensely problematically uncomfortable pieces and aspects of Canadian history), Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk (2007) also includes an educational historical note, archival photographs, a glossary, maps (one of Europe before WWI and one of Canada showing the locations of the twenty-four internment camps for Ukrainian Canadians, and yes indeed, that many), as well as secondary sources and a brief biographical sketch for the author of Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk, for Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch (and which also points out that Forchuk Skrypuch's own grandfather was interned as an "enemy alien" by the Canadian government during WWI).
Now when Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk begins, Anya has just received an empty notebook (to use as a diary) as a Name-Day gift from Tato, from her father, who has already emigrated from Galicia (part of what is now the Ukraine and in 1914 belongs to the Austro-Hungarian Empire) and settled in Canada, and that with regard to how Forchuk Skrypuch renders the diary, it feels very true-to-life and nicely age appropriate how Anya Soloniuk's first journal entries (when she is twelve) are short and clipped but become increasingly longer, more descriptive, more complex as Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk has Anya becoming more and more emotionally and philosophically mature as she ages and with her experiences (with Anya being sixteen years old by the end of her journal, when she runs out of pages and stops writing). Furthermore, her opening words in Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk also and very very clearly demonstrate that Anya Soloniuk really does not want to leave her friends, that she would rather stay in Horoshova, Galicia than immigrate to Canada (which feels hugely relatable for me personally, since when my family moved from Germany to Canada in 1976 when I was ten years old, I also and absolutely did not at all want this and even kind of silently resented my parents for years because when the decision to emigrate was made, I had absolutely no say, I was not even allowed to object), with Anya, her little brother Mykola, their mother and grandmother (their Baba) being shown as first travelling by train to Hamburg, Germany and then via ship to Montreal, Canada (reuniting with Tato on May 5, 1914).
And at first Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk mostly depicts and focuses on Anya writing in her journal about her family adjusting to life in Canada, with her learning English at school, Tato working at a factory, Mama becoming a domestic and Baba minding little Mykola in the family's apartment, but with the diary, but with Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk at the same time portraying and describing the Soloniuks facing quite a bit of stress, some of which is of course similar to what many if not most new immigrants face and experience (and everywhere) trying to adjust to a new life, to different traditions etc., attempting to fit in, but some of which is quite obviously due to prejudice very specifically targeting Anya and her family's Ukrainian background (Anya sadly and disgustingly being taunted for having different smelling and tasting school lunches and much worse being called a Bohunk and which for me is kind of the same as a German immigrant like myself being called a Kraut or a Nazi or an Italian immigrant being labeled as somehow automatically being part of the Mafia, and I also recall deciding not to bring German food to school anymore due to harassment and ridicule from many of my classmates and even some of my teachers).
But when WWI starts on June 28th, 1914, everything for the Soloniuks and for basically many if not for all Ukrainian immigrants to Canada hailing from areas that are part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (like Galicia and Bukovyna) and even if they have been naturalised, this is shown by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch's text through Anya's journal words as becoming much worse, much more traumatic and problematic in Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk. And indeed, this also totally and truthfully mirrors the historical note on pages 212 to 220, that Anya and her family in Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk (and of course also many other Ukrainian immigrants) are pretty much immediately and ridiculously officially singled out, are labelled as being so-called enemy aliens (simply because from where they emigrated, just because Galicia is part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and that Canada is at war not just with Germany but also with the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire). Thus first Anya’s parents both lose their jobs in Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk (although it looks like it is mainly the authorities enforcing this for "patriotic reasons" and that especially Mrs. Soloniuk's employer Mrs. Haggarty really does not want to let Mama, does not want to let Mrs. Soloniuk go), Anya must quit school to become the family’s main breadwinner, that Tato, that Mr. Soloniuk is then arrested and sent to an internment camp at Spirit Lake in northern Quebec, and on April 19, 1915, by government order, the remaining family members join Tato for more than fourteen months of incarceration, of pretty horrid living conditions, of deprivation, illness, death and of unfairly being abused, of being unfairly approached as criminals and as traitors simply because of their ethnicity (and with even the letters Mrs. Soloniuk and Anya receive from friends and acquaintances being strictly monitored and relentlessly, mercilessly censored).
Finally and in my humble opinion, what Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch textually presents via Anya Soloniuk's journal (which of course due to Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk being in a diary format is also limited to Anya's perspective, but that for one this should not matter at all and for two is of course equally to be expected), this is most definitely not only an often emotionally wrenching reading experience, no, Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk also reminds readers that although Anya Soloniuk and her family are of course fictional, the major events of Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk are very solidly anchored in actual, in historical happenings (and that the internment of Ukrainian immigrants to Canada in WWI on the order of the federal government is also a totally shameful event in Canadian history that must both never be forgotten and must also never be repeated no matter what). Five stars for Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk, highly recommended and probably one of the best Dear Canada books I have read to date (and added to my favourites shelf as well)!!
Now when Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk begins, Anya has just received an empty notebook (to use as a diary) as a Name-Day gift from Tato, from her father, who has already emigrated from Galicia (part of what is now the Ukraine and in 1914 belongs to the Austro-Hungarian Empire) and settled in Canada, and that with regard to how Forchuk Skrypuch renders the diary, it feels very true-to-life and nicely age appropriate how Anya Soloniuk's first journal entries (when she is twelve) are short and clipped but become increasingly longer, more descriptive, more complex as Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk has Anya becoming more and more emotionally and philosophically mature as she ages and with her experiences (with Anya being sixteen years old by the end of her journal, when she runs out of pages and stops writing). Furthermore, her opening words in Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk also and very very clearly demonstrate that Anya Soloniuk really does not want to leave her friends, that she would rather stay in Horoshova, Galicia than immigrate to Canada (which feels hugely relatable for me personally, since when my family moved from Germany to Canada in 1976 when I was ten years old, I also and absolutely did not at all want this and even kind of silently resented my parents for years because when the decision to emigrate was made, I had absolutely no say, I was not even allowed to object), with Anya, her little brother Mykola, their mother and grandmother (their Baba) being shown as first travelling by train to Hamburg, Germany and then via ship to Montreal, Canada (reuniting with Tato on May 5, 1914).
And at first Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk mostly depicts and focuses on Anya writing in her journal about her family adjusting to life in Canada, with her learning English at school, Tato working at a factory, Mama becoming a domestic and Baba minding little Mykola in the family's apartment, but with the diary, but with Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk at the same time portraying and describing the Soloniuks facing quite a bit of stress, some of which is of course similar to what many if not most new immigrants face and experience (and everywhere) trying to adjust to a new life, to different traditions etc., attempting to fit in, but some of which is quite obviously due to prejudice very specifically targeting Anya and her family's Ukrainian background (Anya sadly and disgustingly being taunted for having different smelling and tasting school lunches and much worse being called a Bohunk and which for me is kind of the same as a German immigrant like myself being called a Kraut or a Nazi or an Italian immigrant being labeled as somehow automatically being part of the Mafia, and I also recall deciding not to bring German food to school anymore due to harassment and ridicule from many of my classmates and even some of my teachers).
But when WWI starts on June 28th, 1914, everything for the Soloniuks and for basically many if not for all Ukrainian immigrants to Canada hailing from areas that are part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (like Galicia and Bukovyna) and even if they have been naturalised, this is shown by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch's text through Anya's journal words as becoming much worse, much more traumatic and problematic in Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk. And indeed, this also totally and truthfully mirrors the historical note on pages 212 to 220, that Anya and her family in Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk (and of course also many other Ukrainian immigrants) are pretty much immediately and ridiculously officially singled out, are labelled as being so-called enemy aliens (simply because from where they emigrated, just because Galicia is part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and that Canada is at war not just with Germany but also with the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire). Thus first Anya’s parents both lose their jobs in Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk (although it looks like it is mainly the authorities enforcing this for "patriotic reasons" and that especially Mrs. Soloniuk's employer Mrs. Haggarty really does not want to let Mama, does not want to let Mrs. Soloniuk go), Anya must quit school to become the family’s main breadwinner, that Tato, that Mr. Soloniuk is then arrested and sent to an internment camp at Spirit Lake in northern Quebec, and on April 19, 1915, by government order, the remaining family members join Tato for more than fourteen months of incarceration, of pretty horrid living conditions, of deprivation, illness, death and of unfairly being abused, of being unfairly approached as criminals and as traitors simply because of their ethnicity (and with even the letters Mrs. Soloniuk and Anya receive from friends and acquaintances being strictly monitored and relentlessly, mercilessly censored).
Finally and in my humble opinion, what Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch textually presents via Anya Soloniuk's journal (which of course due to Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk being in a diary format is also limited to Anya's perspective, but that for one this should not matter at all and for two is of course equally to be expected), this is most definitely not only an often emotionally wrenching reading experience, no, Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk also reminds readers that although Anya Soloniuk and her family are of course fictional, the major events of Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk are very solidly anchored in actual, in historical happenings (and that the internment of Ukrainian immigrants to Canada in WWI on the order of the federal government is also a totally shameful event in Canadian history that must both never be forgotten and must also never be repeated no matter what). Five stars for Prisoners in the Promised Land: The Ukrainian Internment Diary of Anya Soloniuk, highly recommended and probably one of the best Dear Canada books I have read to date (and added to my favourites shelf as well)!!
March 2, 2012
Reason for Reading: I am reading this whole series. I picked this particular volume because I am participating in a WWI reading challenge.
I've only read a couple of Skrypuch's books so far, but she has become one of my favourite Canadian juvenile authors. Mostly, her historical fiction revolves in some way around Ukrainians as that is where her heritage comes from and her own family genealogy is always a great starting point. Skrypuch does write about other topics but this recurring theme is interesting as it is unique. Once again, I have learned something new from one of Marsha's books. I had no knowledge whatsoever of the Ukrainian internment camps in Canada during WWI; of course everybody knows of the Japanese ones during WWII but why not the earlier Ukrainian ones? Perhaps because they make very little sense at all from a political point of view.
This book is a fantastic read. While it takes place primarily in Canada, it does start with the boat trip to the new land, the WWI story is told through the newspapers and discussions of the Ukrainian people as they sit caught in the middle of this war. Their homeland is the battlefield in Eastern Europe for a long period of time and yet the Ukrainians are neither friends with the Austrians/Germans who own their land or the Russians who invade it. All news they hear is bad, because whether it is the Allies or the "enemy" winning on their homeland it means their people, friends, relatives are in danger and dying. Through the news the family receives and letters from home and friends across Canada, until letters are halted due to the War Measures Act, we get to see a side of WWI which I've never experienced before. All my WWI reading has been about the trench warfare in France/Germany. It was very different in Eastern Europe, especially there in Galicia, a Ukrainian area owned by Austria-Hungary, which became part of the USSR later on, and finally was reunited as part of present day Ukraine.
The Ukrainians were interred in camps mostly because Canadian/British citizens confused them with Austrians (the enemy) and were ignorant and intolerable of them living within their society. Anya's mother and father loose their jobs for "patriotic" reasons. She leaves school to work for the family, but eventually after the men are taken away to camps the women share rat-infested flats, have very little to eat, are not safe on the streets on their own, and are exposed to all sorts of vile, racist comments, making life a living hell. When the family is moved to the internment camp in some ways life is better for them: they are together again as a family, it's cleaner, they have nicer living quarters, are fed, don't face as much of the racism, etc. but it is a prison and therefore they have lost their freedom. Another compelling page-turner for me as we get to learn about the war in Eastern Europe, life for the Ukrainian immigrants on the homefront, and finally life inside the internment camps. Very interesting and new-to-me information. As usual the Epilogue in these books describes what happened to the characters afterwards and the Historical Note is a goldmine of true facts. These are always my favourite part of the books in this series along with the contemporary photographs in the back. This is one of my favourites in the Dear Canada series so far. And I would love to read more on this topic.
I've only read a couple of Skrypuch's books so far, but she has become one of my favourite Canadian juvenile authors. Mostly, her historical fiction revolves in some way around Ukrainians as that is where her heritage comes from and her own family genealogy is always a great starting point. Skrypuch does write about other topics but this recurring theme is interesting as it is unique. Once again, I have learned something new from one of Marsha's books. I had no knowledge whatsoever of the Ukrainian internment camps in Canada during WWI; of course everybody knows of the Japanese ones during WWII but why not the earlier Ukrainian ones? Perhaps because they make very little sense at all from a political point of view.
This book is a fantastic read. While it takes place primarily in Canada, it does start with the boat trip to the new land, the WWI story is told through the newspapers and discussions of the Ukrainian people as they sit caught in the middle of this war. Their homeland is the battlefield in Eastern Europe for a long period of time and yet the Ukrainians are neither friends with the Austrians/Germans who own their land or the Russians who invade it. All news they hear is bad, because whether it is the Allies or the "enemy" winning on their homeland it means their people, friends, relatives are in danger and dying. Through the news the family receives and letters from home and friends across Canada, until letters are halted due to the War Measures Act, we get to see a side of WWI which I've never experienced before. All my WWI reading has been about the trench warfare in France/Germany. It was very different in Eastern Europe, especially there in Galicia, a Ukrainian area owned by Austria-Hungary, which became part of the USSR later on, and finally was reunited as part of present day Ukraine.
The Ukrainians were interred in camps mostly because Canadian/British citizens confused them with Austrians (the enemy) and were ignorant and intolerable of them living within their society. Anya's mother and father loose their jobs for "patriotic" reasons. She leaves school to work for the family, but eventually after the men are taken away to camps the women share rat-infested flats, have very little to eat, are not safe on the streets on their own, and are exposed to all sorts of vile, racist comments, making life a living hell. When the family is moved to the internment camp in some ways life is better for them: they are together again as a family, it's cleaner, they have nicer living quarters, are fed, don't face as much of the racism, etc. but it is a prison and therefore they have lost their freedom. Another compelling page-turner for me as we get to learn about the war in Eastern Europe, life for the Ukrainian immigrants on the homefront, and finally life inside the internment camps. Very interesting and new-to-me information. As usual the Epilogue in these books describes what happened to the characters afterwards and the Historical Note is a goldmine of true facts. These are always my favourite part of the books in this series along with the contemporary photographs in the back. This is one of my favourites in the Dear Canada series so far. And I would love to read more on this topic.
July 31, 2017
I knew nothing of this chapter in Canadian history and I studied Canadian history and english in university. It's shameful. When I think of how we have treated so many of our native and immigrant population, I begin to wonder about our belief in how accepting we are. How can we learn from our history if we don't advertise and talk about our mistakes? This book laid bare the many tribulations these people survived.
March 20, 2021
Until I saw this book I was completely unaware that Ukrainians were ever interned in Canada. Did anybody!? I knew about the Japanese Internment Camps of WWII but never about the Ukrainian ones. Apparently we’ve been interning people for longer than many of us thought, and for seemingly no reason. The government knew the difference between the Austrians and the Ukrainians, but they still interned Ukrainians and used them for forced labour.
This starts off in Anya’s beloved village of Horoshova in where Ukraine is today. Her family is getting ready to board the boat to Canada where her tato is already waiting for them. It’s easy to feel Anya’s pain and fear as she leaves the only home she’s ever known. Canada isn’t quite what she expected it to be and people are not as kind and welcoming as she’d hoped. Her family struggles to make ends meet and Anya gets a job to help pay for food and rent. The Ukranian community helped each other out as best they could but so many of them struggled. The Ukranian people were a tight-knit community because the rest of Canadians were wary of them, and mad at them. They saw them as the enemy even though they weren’t. Eventually the Soloniuk’s end up in the Spirit Lake Internment Camp in Northern Quebec. It was interesting to learn about the conditions and daily life of internees. We also get to learn a brief bit about the Pikogan people, a tribe of First Nations people who lived in Spirit Lake before the internment camp was built.
The author has done an incredible job bringing this dark part of Canada’s past to light. The characters in this book are based on real people and their experiences as an internee in World War 1. The author’s grandfather was interned at Jasper Internment Camp, Alberta during World War 1 and she bases a character off of his story. Anya is based on Mary Manko Haskett who was the last living survivor of the Spirit Lake Internment Camp. It was her story and the stories of some other young girls who inspired Marsha to write this book. I love it when characters in historical fiction are based off of real people and their experiences. The author's note and historical note were very informative about what it was like for Ukrainians in Canada and in Ukraine.
I’m so glad that this book has been written, especially in this series for young readers. It’s an important part of our Canadian history that hasn’t been taught, and that most people are completely unaware of. This is something that needs to be taught, shared and talked about more often. What happened to the Ukranian people was unfair and unjustified. Hopefully this book will continue to bring awareness about this dark part of Canada’s past.
This starts off in Anya’s beloved village of Horoshova in where Ukraine is today. Her family is getting ready to board the boat to Canada where her tato is already waiting for them. It’s easy to feel Anya’s pain and fear as she leaves the only home she’s ever known. Canada isn’t quite what she expected it to be and people are not as kind and welcoming as she’d hoped. Her family struggles to make ends meet and Anya gets a job to help pay for food and rent. The Ukranian community helped each other out as best they could but so many of them struggled. The Ukranian people were a tight-knit community because the rest of Canadians were wary of them, and mad at them. They saw them as the enemy even though they weren’t. Eventually the Soloniuk’s end up in the Spirit Lake Internment Camp in Northern Quebec. It was interesting to learn about the conditions and daily life of internees. We also get to learn a brief bit about the Pikogan people, a tribe of First Nations people who lived in Spirit Lake before the internment camp was built.
The author has done an incredible job bringing this dark part of Canada’s past to light. The characters in this book are based on real people and their experiences as an internee in World War 1. The author’s grandfather was interned at Jasper Internment Camp, Alberta during World War 1 and she bases a character off of his story. Anya is based on Mary Manko Haskett who was the last living survivor of the Spirit Lake Internment Camp. It was her story and the stories of some other young girls who inspired Marsha to write this book. I love it when characters in historical fiction are based off of real people and their experiences. The author's note and historical note were very informative about what it was like for Ukrainians in Canada and in Ukraine.
I’m so glad that this book has been written, especially in this series for young readers. It’s an important part of our Canadian history that hasn’t been taught, and that most people are completely unaware of. This is something that needs to be taught, shared and talked about more often. What happened to the Ukranian people was unfair and unjustified. Hopefully this book will continue to bring awareness about this dark part of Canada’s past.
November 28, 2018
This book was so monumental. I have been getting very interested in Canadian history recently and decided that the Dear Canada books would be a good place to start to get a feel for the history and the "true to life" events that happened. I was shocked to see that just like America had the Japanese internment camps, Canada had Ukrainian internment camps. Everyone thinks that Canada is so forward thinking and the best place to be, Canada has never done anything wrong! But it turns out that Canada has a problematic history just like any other country in the world. I am glad that Canada was able to admit that they had this problematic past and that there are books written that show the problems and issues that Canadian citizens have faced.
July 5, 2018
I read this book because spirit lake is close to where I grew up and because of my Ukrainian ancestry. It was a short and easy read that makes me want to learn more.
March 14, 2021
A wonderful book about the difficult and little known history of Ukrainians in Canada.
March 29, 2012
I remember when I learned about America's Japanese internment camps during WWII. I remember being appalled, since I had known so much about the concentration camps and so little about the internment camps.
The story of what happened to the Ukrainians in Canada is so similar, and so heartbreaking. And it's interesting that this is one of the longer time periods covered by one of the diaries. Instead we see more than two years of the girl's life. I enjoyed this one and I'm looking forward to reading more of the series.
The story of what happened to the Ukrainians in Canada is so similar, and so heartbreaking. And it's interesting that this is one of the longer time periods covered by one of the diaries. Instead we see more than two years of the girl's life. I enjoyed this one and I'm looking forward to reading more of the series.
April 10, 2009
In this book so far Anya and her family have been waiting for the boat.
I love this book! This book is about a girl named Anya and her family. They go to Canada. Anya makes a friend on the boat. She goes through trobles, about people not treating her right. She meets a friend that is a boy, she hates him at first. Eventually she goes to this camp, and she gets out.
I love this book! This book is about a girl named Anya and her family. They go to Canada. Anya makes a friend on the boat. She goes through trobles, about people not treating her right. She meets a friend that is a boy, she hates him at first. Eventually she goes to this camp, and she gets out.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2025
Timely read, with the current russian and ukraine conflict. actually written like a child wrote it and to have just day to day life was refreshing to read.
January 5, 2018
I read this once when I was 15 and loved it. Now that I'm in my 20s I've read it again and still enjoyed it. What I love about the Dear Canada series is that they teach younger people about lesser-known Canadian historical events through a young protagonist. You can tell the author does quite a bit of research, and I love the photos and historical notes in the back. Once criticism about the book is that the writing would be a tad sophisticated for a 12-14 year old. Also, in midst of certain situations (i.e. packing up all of your possessions because you are being evicted from your house) no one would be writing in a diary. I could just imagine Anya's mother yelling at her to put her diary away and help with the packing while her younger brother is crying and everyone is just stressed out. But overall this is a great story which shows the difficulties of Ukrainian immigrants during WW1 from a personal perspective.
July 5, 2025
This was one of my favorite books in the Dear Canada series.
It's between this one and Days of Toil and Tears, though I'm not sure which one I like more.
I enjoyed reading this book, and found the historical information very interesting.
I also enjoyed that the characters were Christian and had a positive view of religion, and considered it important.
My favorite part of the book was reading about Anya and the other people she meets, and seeing the character development and relationship arcs with her and her friends. It was well-written and Anya has a good character voice as she narrates the story.
It's been a long time since I read it, but I remember liking it a lot.
It's between this one and Days of Toil and Tears, though I'm not sure which one I like more.
I enjoyed reading this book, and found the historical information very interesting.
I also enjoyed that the characters were Christian and had a positive view of religion, and considered it important.
My favorite part of the book was reading about Anya and the other people she meets, and seeing the character development and relationship arcs with her and her friends. It was well-written and Anya has a good character voice as she narrates the story.
It's been a long time since I read it, but I remember liking it a lot.
September 18, 2012
Another book from the Dear Canada series, Prisoners in the Promised Land is about the immigration of a Ukrainian girl, Anya Soloniuk and her family, during the years 1914-1916. The author creates a captivating story and provides the readers with a lot of history about the Ukrainian immigrants in Canada.
May 3, 2017
Prisoners in the Promised Land is a great read for those looking to learn more about Canada's history. This book is also important for those wanting to learn about Ukrainian history in Canada, something which hits close to home for me, personally.
March 27, 2025
I had high hopes for this book because it was about a topic that most people didn't know about and that made it interesting. Thankfully, I wasn't disappointed with "Prisoners in a Promised Land" to the point that it has become my favourite book in the collection, and even my favourite book that I've read in my life.
I suppose that part of the reason as to why I love this book so much is Anya herself, because of how much I relate to her. Both of us moved away from our home countries, leaving our family and friends behind. We both also arrived to a country where we didn't speak the language and got bullied because of it. Both of us were also stuck in the country for some time, Anya for going to an interment camp and me because of the pandemic. I love Anya because I feel like someone finally understands what I sent through, even if that someone is a fictional character. I also love Anya's personality and seeing her love her family so much. Overall, Anya is the best protagonist this collection has to offer.
The story itself is so interesting as well. We see how the Soloniuks struggle to get used to their life in Canada, and when they're finally getting used to it, they get sent to an interment camp just for being Ukrainian. It's depressing to read about, but also enjoyable because you get to read about a topic that seems to be forgotten in Canadian history. It's a perfect story to keep you entertained, and I don't think I have all the words to describe why the story is amazing, because it's just THAT good.
The romance between Anya and Stefan is absolutely ADORABLE!!! They start on the wrong foot, but slowly start to care for each other and become friends. The confession scene was EVERYTHING!!! It's just so romantic and perfect. This is the BEST romance subplot in the entire collection! I love it soooooo much!
Do I recommend this book? OF COURSE I DO!!! The protagonist, the plot, the romance, EVERYTHING is PERFECT!!! So go ahead and read this masterpiece!
I suppose that part of the reason as to why I love this book so much is Anya herself, because of how much I relate to her. Both of us moved away from our home countries, leaving our family and friends behind. We both also arrived to a country where we didn't speak the language and got bullied because of it. Both of us were also stuck in the country for some time, Anya for going to an interment camp and me because of the pandemic. I love Anya because I feel like someone finally understands what I sent through, even if that someone is a fictional character. I also love Anya's personality and seeing her love her family so much. Overall, Anya is the best protagonist this collection has to offer.
The story itself is so interesting as well. We see how the Soloniuks struggle to get used to their life in Canada, and when they're finally getting used to it, they get sent to an interment camp just for being Ukrainian. It's depressing to read about, but also enjoyable because you get to read about a topic that seems to be forgotten in Canadian history. It's a perfect story to keep you entertained, and I don't think I have all the words to describe why the story is amazing, because it's just THAT good.
The romance between Anya and Stefan is absolutely ADORABLE!!! They start on the wrong foot, but slowly start to care for each other and become friends. The confession scene was EVERYTHING!!! It's just so romantic and perfect. This is the BEST romance subplot in the entire collection! I love it soooooo much!
Do I recommend this book? OF COURSE I DO!!! The protagonist, the plot, the romance, EVERYTHING is PERFECT!!! So go ahead and read this masterpiece!
February 23, 2008
this historical novel tells us about Anya Soloniuk, an Ukrainian girl who lived at Spirit Lake, Quebec. furthermore, this novel illustrates a war between French and England to get the colonization and permanent settlement of Canada. i've got this book for an assignment at Ms. Dunne's class. the plot is designed like a diary, so you won't feel bored. there are a lot of novel in this Dear Canada series. nice one.
November 7, 2012
As a Canadian whom is part Ukrainian I found this novel to be extremely fascinating. There has yet to be a Dear Canada or America book that I haven't loved and this fell right in with the others. Great series!
March 17, 2014
I really liked this book for a couple of reasons. First, I love historical fiction. Second, this piece of history is a part of my Canadian Ukrainian heritage.
June 9, 2021
Review to come
March 17, 2023
It's a children's book, I can't really give it more than 4 stars. It was decent and interesting in terms of providing context about the Holodomor, but I don't love the fictionalization aspect.
November 28, 2023
Ah, the middle-grade historical fiction trend continues. This is the second Dear Canada book I read this year, and I can't say I liked it as much as the first, but it was both educational and well-written, even if I felt it was a little clunky and juvenile at times compared to what I've come to expect from books in the Dear America / Dear Canada / My Name is America series. Can I be forgiven for thinking a middle-grade book is too juvenile, while reading as an adult? Regardless, I went into this without any prior knowledge of the Ukranian internment during the First World War, and closed it feeling I'd learned a good amount.
July 12, 2016
*4.5 stars I really love this story of a Ukrainian girl and her family immigrating to Canada and the sad turn of World War I and their internment there. She is so close to her family and has a kind heart, yet she isn't a goody goody. The only criticism I would make is the author choosing to cover such a long period of time to the point where toward the end she was only writing every so often and I preferred her writing daily. In defense of that though I understand the author wanting to give a good sense of the life they were living in Montreal before being sent to the internment camps. Overall I think it's a highly underrated diary in the series and should be read more; it's a treasure.
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November 12, 2012This entire series is a wonderful way to learn history or teach it to adolescents. I find today's generations seem to recall more when they learn through other people (pop songs, celebrity gossip, etc.), so what better way to teach history than through someone else's perspective? Yes, "authentic" diaries would be "better", but would the language really hold the modern student's attention? Did the diary writer know what WOULD be important in the context of history? Probably not.
December 2, 2019
It was really interesting to learn that Canada interned Ukrainians during WW1. I felt like there were a lot of entries that just talked about the weather or made general statements about things going badly that could have been omitted. There was also a sentence in the historical note that was repeated and incorrect use of the term “epidemic.”
June 29, 2013
I found this story particularly touching because my ancestors came from Russia and while they weren't interned, they had some negative feelings about the experience. After reading this book I feel much more sympathetic.
February 24, 2014
This is a book about World War 1 and how Ukrainians got arrested during that time. A girl named Anya Soloniuk comes to Canada from Ukraine. This is a historical fiction book and people who like history might read this book.
February 20, 2016
A very good book which tells you about life for a Ukrainian girl living in Canada before and during the War in the form of a dairy. This book gives you an insight into her life and shows you the prejudices she faces in the cites, and the difficulties she struggles with in the internment camp.
February 25, 2019
I loved the Dear America books when I was a child so I was happy to finally read one of the Dear Canada books. Prisoners in the Promised Land was a terrific first read, especially being of Ukrainian heritage myself. What a heartbreaking and truly unknown period in Canadian history.
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June 3, 2010i love this book
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