Winter Shadows

October 1, 2010
Two Manitoba girls meet across a 150-year divide. Each is grieving her mother's untimely death and struggling to adjust to new and difficult family dynamics. Contemporary Cass must share a room with her whiny stepsister while her new stepmother remodels their home to eliminate all traces of Cass's mother. Back in 1856, residing in the same house, Beatrice, who is English Métis (with Scottish and First Nations ancestry), strives to make a life for herself while shielding her Swampy Cree grandmother from her harsh Scottish stepmother's neglect. When Cass discovers a brooch that belonged to Beatrice, each becomes increasingly aware of the other, offering support and understanding missing at home. Should Beatrice choose her refined missionary suitor over her stepmother's effervescent, unpredictable son? Can Cass find a way to heal her fractured home life? Buffie's characters and the conflicts they face are deeply engaging, more than compensating for the well-worn time-travel plot device. Of special interest is the rare portrait of a multiracial community when informal marriages among British and First Nations people were common. (glossaries, author's note) (Historical fantasy. 11 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

December 1, 2010

Gr 7-10-Two young women living in the same house but separated by time are struggling with similar difficulties when they begin seeing one another in visions. Cass is a modern-day teen grieving over her mother's death and clashing with her new stepmother. In 1856, Beatrice is struggling with her own nasty stepmother, who is not only jealous of her father's affection, but also holds Beatrice's Cree ancestry against her. Both girls are grappling with depression and have fathers who are ineffectually dealing with the conflict in their households. At first, the teens fear they are losing their minds when they see the other but they form a bond based on Beatrice's diary entries that Cass is able to read. Learning about each other's lives helps these girls cope with their own situations and begin to understand if not like, their stepmothers. Told in alternating chapters, the story is slow to start, but the well-drawn characters will eventually capture readers' attention. The details of daily life and racial politics in 1856 Manitoba, Canada, add weight to the story and the chaste romance between Beatrice and her two suitors will further draw in fans of historical fiction.-Caroline Tesauro, Radford Public Library, VA

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2010
Grades 7-10 Hatred for their wicked stepmothers bonds two girls living in a stone house in Manitoba, Canada, more than 150 years apart. Grieving for her dead mother, high-school senior Cass is furious that she has to share a room with the daughter of her dads new, harsh-tempered wife. Then she finds the 1836 diary of Beatrice, who is part Cree and faces vicious racism as a half-breed in her mostly white community. In her journal entries, Beatrice weighs her feelings toward the town minister, who she thinks about marrying, and the free-thinking Duncan, who may just be a troublemaker. As Cass bonds with her classmate Martin, she begins to see Beatrice in her dreams and even writes advice to Beatrice in her diary. The alternating narratives are gripping, and the characters are drawn with rich complexity; even the stepmothers are finally humanized. Readers will be pulled in by the searing history of bigotry as well as the universals of family conflict, love, and friendship.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)