From There to Here

K-Gr 3—This continuation of the author's I Know Here (Groundwood, 2010) contrasts the experiences of a girl who had been living in the wilds of Saskatchewan with those of her new life in Toronto. Her father's work in construction has brought about the move, and the stark differences in lifestyle drive the narrative: "There. We lived on a road…A road without a name. Here. We live on a street…Birch Street. I don't see any birch trees." There is a nostalgic tone to the spare text, as the girl recalls living in a trailer surrounded by nature's majesty and playing with the other workers' children who "traveled in a pack—all the kids, so long as we could keep up." Living in the city means asphalt and locked doors and streetlights dimming the stars, all factors that make the move more unsettling. The book can be read one its own but clearly works best as a companion title, for without its predecessor the girl's former life loses some of its emotional heft. For example, one needs to know that she was the only third grader in her one-room school in order to fully appreciate the neighbor Anne, who meets the moving truck the afternoon, they arrive and announces that she, too, is "Eight, almost nine." As in the first book, expressionistic acrylic and ink illustrations add depth to the story, as do the marvelous endpapers depicting a map of central Canada. A satisfying sequel to I Know Here.—Teri Markson, Los Angeles Public Library