Matas, Carol 1949-

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Matas, Carol 1949-

Personal

Born November 14, 1949, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; daughter of Roy Joseph (a judge) and Ruth Gloria Matas; married Per K. Brask (a professor of theater), February 19, 1977; children: Rebecca Ellen, Aaron Samuel. Education: University of Western Ontario, B.A. (English), 1969; graduate, Actor's Lab (London, England), 1972. Religion: Jewish.

Addresses

Home—Canada. Agent—Transatlantic Literary Agency, Inc., 72 Glengowan Rd, Toronto, Ontario M4N 1G4, Canada. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Writer and actor. University of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, instructor of creative writing in Continuing Education Division. Bemidji State University, Bemidji, MN, visiting professor; Manitoba Arts Council, artist-in-the-schools; Centennial Library, Winnipeg, writer-in-residence.

Member

International PEN, Writers' Union of Canada, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators, and Performers, Children's Book Centre, Manitoba Writers Guild.

Awards, Honors

Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young Readers, 1988, Sydney Taylor Awards Honor Book designation, Association of Jewish Libraries, and New York Times Book Review Notable Book designation, both 1989, Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)/Children's Book Council (CBC), 1990, Young Adults' Choice, International Reading Association, 1991, and Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) Our Choice designation, all for Lisa's War; Mr. Christie's Honour Book designation, 1989, CCBC Our Choice designation, and Young Adult Canadian Book Award runner up, both 1990, Woodward Park Award, and Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, NCSS/CBC, both 1991, all for Code Name Kris; Notable Book designation, Canadian Library Association (CLA), 1992, for The Race; Governor General's Literary Award nomination, Silver Birch Award, Ruth Schwartz Award nomination, and Mr. Christie's Honor Book designation, all 1993, Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies designation, NCSS/CBC, Books for the Teen Age selection, New York Public Library, both 1994, and Manitoba Young Reader's Choice Award, 1996, all for Daniel's Story; Sydney Taylor Award, and CLA Notable Book designation, both 1993, and Notable Children's Trade Book in

the Field of Social Studies designation, NCSS/CBC, and Books for the Teen Age designation, New York Public Library, both 1994, all for Sworn Enemies; CCBC Our Choice designation, 1993, and Governor General's Literary Award nomination, and Books for the Teen Age designation, New York Public Library, both 1994, all for The Burning Time; Manitoba Book of the Year nomination, and CCBC Outstanding Book of the Year designation, both 1995, and Manitoba Young Readers Choice Award nomination, 1997, all for The Primrose Path; Best Books for Young Adults and Quick Picks for Young Adults designations, American Library Association (ALA), Best Book of the Year nomination, and Best Book of the Year for Children nomination, both McNally Robinson Book Award, Ruth Schwartz Award nomination, Jewish Book Award, and Mr. Christie Honour Book designation, all 1996, Books for the Teen Age designation, New York Public Library, Notable Children's Trade Book designation, NCSS/CBC, South Carolina Junior Book Award nomination, 1997, and Utah Young-Adult Book Award nomination, 1998, all for After the War; Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies designation, NCSS/CBC, Books for the Teen Age designation, New York Public Library, and Rachel Bessin/Isaac Frichwasser Memorial Award for Y.A. Fiction, all 1998, all for The Garden; Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies designation, NCSS/CBC, and Geoffrey Bilson Award nomination, both 1999, both for Greater than Angels; McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award for Young People nomination, Book for the Teen Age designation, New York Public Library, CCBC Our Choice designation, and Geoffrey Bilson Award nomination, all 2000, all for In My Enemy's House; Manitoba Book for Young Readers Award nomination, 2001, Margaret McWilliams Award, Manitoba Historical Society, and Hackmatack Children's Choice Award nomination, all for Rebecca; Hackmatack Award finalist, 2006, for Rosie in Los Angeles; McNally Robinson Book for Young Readers Award finalist, Margaret McWilliams Award, Manitoba Historical Society, Geoffrey Bilson Award finalist, and CBC Our Choice Merit honor, all 2006, and Frances and Samuel Stein Memorial Prize in Youth Literature, 2007, all for Turned Away; CBC Our Choice selection, for Past Crimes; Sydney Taylor Notable Book for Older Readers designation, 2007, for The Whirlwind.

Writings

FICTION

The D.N.A. Dimension, Gage Publishing (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1982.

The Fusion Factor, Fifth House (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada), 1986, published as It's up to Us, Stoddard (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1991.

Zanu, Fifth House (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada), 1986.

Me, Myself, and I, Fifth House (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada), 1987.

Lisa (also see below), Lester & Orpen Dennys (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1987, published as Lisa's War, Scribner (New York, NY), 1989.

Jesper, Lester & Orpen Dennys (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1989, published as Code Name Kris, Scribner (New York, NY), 1990, reprinted under original title, Scholastic Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2005.

Adventure in Legoland, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1991.

The Race, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1991.

(Adaptor, with husband Per Brask), Lisa (play; based on Matas' novel), produced by Prairie Theater Exchange, 1991.

Sworn Enemies, Bantam (New York, NY), 1993.

Safari Adventure in Legoland, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1993.

The Escape, produced in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, 1993.

Daniel's Story, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1993.

The Lost Locket, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1994.

The Burning Time, Bantam (New York, NY), 1994.

(With Perry Nodelman) Of Two Minds, Bain & Cox (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada), 1994, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1995.

The Primrose Path, Bain & Cox (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada), 1995.

After the War, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1996.

(With Perry Nodelman) More Minds, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1996.

The Freak, Key Porter (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1997.

The Garden, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1997.

Greater than Angels, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1998.

(With Perry Nodelman) Out of Their Minds, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1998.

Telling, Key Porter (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1998.

In My Enemy's House, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1999.

(With Perry Nodelman) A Meeting of Minds, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1999.

Cloning Miranda, Scholastic Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1999.

Rebecca, Scholastic Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

The War Within: A Novel of the Civil War, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2001.

Dear Canada, Scholastic Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

Sparks Fly Upward, Clarion (New York, NY), 2002.

Ben, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2002.

The Second Clone, Scholastic Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2002.

Footsteps in the Snow: The Red River Diary of Isobel Scott, Scholastic Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2002.

Turned Away: The World War II Diary of Devorah Bernstein, Scholastic Canada (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2005.

The Dark Clone, Scholastic Canada (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2005.

Past Crimes, Key Porter Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2006.

The Whirlwind, Orca, 2007.

Visions, Key Porter Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2007.

(With Perry Nodleman) The Proof That Ghosts Exist, Key Porter Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2008.

Far, Key Porter Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2008.

Adaptor (with Brask) of stage play Jesper, based on Matas' novel.

Author's work has been translated into Danish, French, Swedish, Spanish, Turkish, Japanese, German, Taiwanese, Russian, Bulgarian, Indonesian, and Dutch.

"ROSIE TRILOGY"; MIDDLE-GRADE NOVELS

Rosie in New York City: Gotcha!, illustrated by Angelo Rinaldi, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2003.

Rosie in Chicago: Play Ball!, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2003.

Rosie in Los Angeles: Action!, Aladdin (New York, NY), 2004.

Adaptations

Sworn Enemies was adapted as a staged reading, New York, NY, 1994; Telling was adapted as a radio play, broadcast by CBC Manitoba, 1994.

Sidelights

A Canadian author who pens historical novels and other fiction for young readers, Carol Matas is known for writing hard-hitting stories that thrust adolescent protagonists into life-and-death situations while confronting readers with the vagaries and complexities of life. In such award-winning novels as Lisa's War, Code Name Kris, Daniel's Story, The Whirlwind, and After the War, she casts the events of World War II not simply as an historical backdrop, but as a central agent in stories of heroism and despair. Employing starkly realistic and highly adventurous narratives, Matas not only entertains but hopes to provoke her readers into seeing the world anew. In a review of Turned Away: The World War II Diary of Devorah Bernstein, which Matas contributes to the popular "Dear Canada" series of middle-grade historical novels, Resource Links contributor Suzanne Finkelstein, praised the author's "well-written, extensively researched and detailed" story about the Canadian government's controversial efforts to prevent war- time German-Jewish immigration as "immensely teachable" and useful for sparking discussions. As the author noted in an interview for Canadian Children's Literature the World War II era "offers an incredible wealth of dramatic stories as well as an opportunity to explore issues and to put my characters in life or death situations where moral dilemmas have to be faced."

Interestingly, given her prolific career, Matas had no intention of pursuing a career as a writer; in fact, her early ambitions led her to the theater. As a young woman, she trained at Actor's Lab in London, then returned to her native Winnipeg to pursue a career in drama. Then, during her first pregnancy she left the theater and channeled her creative energy into writing a fantasy novel titled Carstan and Kasper. While caring for her young daughter, Matas continued to write and gradually honed her focus on writing for children. Her second completed manuscript, Fusion Factor, found a publisher after a score of rejections, and by this time Matas had already written and placed another book, The D.N.A. Dimension. By the mid-1980s four of her books were in print, among them the related novels Zanu and Me, Myself and I, both which feature a twelve-year-old protagonist named after Matas's daughter Rebecca.

Matas's early novels, as well as 2005's The Dark Clone, feature science-fiction themes that incorporate nuclear destruction, genetic engineering, and eco-catastrophe. In The Dark Clone high achiever Miranda is shocked when a videotape surfaces showing her identical twin destroying public property, and the teen's search for answers leads her to a cloning program designed to provide humans with spare parts for medical procedures. In The Fusion Factor, a girl named Rebecca travels into the future to an underground city populated by genetically impaired survivors of a nuclear holocaust who are kidnapping healthy children from the past for breeding purposes. In Zanu Rebecca is transported to a seemingly perfect future world, only to discover the rot beneath the surface. Zanu is a corporate world, completely controlled by big business; those who do not conform are banished to a wilderness destroyed by industrial pollution. In both of these books, the future appears bleak and the preteen's only hope is to return to her own time and find a way to change the future she has encountered. Sandra Odegard, reviewing both books in Canadian Children's Literature, commented that "Matas suggests that challenging the established power structure of any society calls upon physical, as well as moral, courage." Mary Ainslie Smith, in Books in Canada, offered a similar estimation of both The Fusion Factor and Zanu, asserting that the author's "spunky and ultimately optimistic" heroine "wants to believe that one person can make … a difference," and "her determination to work for a better world should get some healthy ideas stirring in the minds of the readers of these two books."

First published in Canada under the title Lisa, Lisa's War was inspired by the stories of Matas's husband's father and grandfather, who participated in the Danish underground during World War II. When a friend gave her a book about how the Danish people managed to save most of the Jews of their country, she recognized another angle for her story. "I never sat down and said, ‘I want to write historical fiction,’" she once commented. "Rather I found a story, from the past, which I simply had to tell." Lisa is a Jewish teenager growing up in Copenhagen during the Nazi occupation, and after joining the resistance at age twelve, she becoming involved in exploits ranging from the distribution of leaflets, to blowing up bridges and helping Jews avoid Nazi capture. Despite her fears that the resistance is becoming almost as violent and uncompromising as the Nazi movement it is fighting, Lisa is ultimately forced to kill a German in order to save many others. Although the book describes "many violent acts," Welwyn Wilton Katz added in Books in Canada that Lisa's War "is made less dark by the characters' desire to move beyond them." In a Voice of Youth Advocates review, Marian Rafal concluded that the "great escape to Sweden by over 6,000 Jews is a gripping tale of adventure and courage," and Canadian Literature critic J.R. Wytenbroek commented that the book "combines personal emotion with historical fact in just the right proportions to produce a first hand look into what it must have been like to be a Jew in occupied Europe during those dark years." In Horn Book Mary M. Burns, noted the graphic nature of the novel, concluding that Lisa's War "is not an adventure story with war as a backdrop but an account of events that irrevocably changed the lives of human beings." In Publishers Weekly a commentator deemed the work "an unsettling, important novel."

A sequel to Lisa's War—and published in Canada under the title Jesper—Code Name Kris narrates the adventures of Jesper, an adolescent friend of Lisa and her older brother, as he battles the Nazis after Lisa and her family have escaped to neutral Sweden. Captured as a resister, Jesper chronicles the events leading up to his arrest as he awaits execution. His exploits with the resistance become bolder still as he is forced to grow up and grow old in the ways of the world, and the uncertainty of life is brought home to Jesper when he discovers that a man he once idolized has become a Nazi collaborator. Writing in Quill & Quire, Frieda Wishinsky noted that in Code Name Kris Matas "has seamlessly woven in actual events and places in Copenhagen to describe a time when young people grew up quickly in a world ripped apart by war." A Five Owls reviewer noted that the narrative of this sequel "moves quickly and is full of action," and Graham Caie commented in Canadian Children's Literature that Matas's careful research and thorough detail "give this historical novel greater credibility and depth."

Used in classrooms throughout North America, Daniel's Story was commissioned by the United States' Holocaust Memorial Museum and serves as a complement to an exhibit about children during the Holocaust. Told in

flashbacks from the point of view of a survivor, Daniel's Story details the life of its young narrator from age six to eighteen. Daniel's happy childhood is shattered when he and his family are deported from Frankfurt to the Lodz ghetto and subsequently to the concentration camps Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, and Buchenwald. Finally, in 1945, the boy is liberated, although most of those around him have died. Reflecting the view of some reviewers, Betsy Hearne wrote in the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books that Daniel's Story "never seems to take on a fictional life of its own but remains almost a descriptive explanation of Jewish suffering at the hands of the Nazis." In contrast, however, Kenneth Oppel acknowledged in Quill & Quire that Matas's young hero is "apparently a composite of real children who endured the Holocaust," and although he "does assume allegorical status in the novel,… the human voice of a child is always there." In Canadian Review of Materials Anne Louise Mahoney described Daniel as "a likeable character, strong and committed to seeing truth and justice win out in the end," and Oppel concluded that Daniel's Story "is a book all children should read."

Matas extends the story of war and its dislocation in After the War, a chronicle of the adventures of a fifteen-year-old survivor of the camps. In the novel, Ruth Mendleberg joins a Zionist group and tries to reach a new homeland in Palestine. As Matas once noted, After the War "raises questions about the meaning of life when everything has been lost; and [is] a story that has not yet been told for young people." Interwoven with the action of a perilous journey across the European continent by a group of young death-camp survivors are flashbacks of Ruth's wartime life: the roundups and massacres she wishes to forget. Robyn Nicoline Ryan, in School Library Journal, called After the War "a thought-provoking novel that offers great insight into the current problems in the Middle East." Betsy Hearne commented in the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books that "Matas' recreation of life on the run acquires some authentic urgency," and a Booklist reviewer noted that the novel crafts historical incidents "into a tightly edited drama."

The Garden continues the story of survivors in Palestine as they now fight a new enemy resident in the Arab nations surrounding them. Greater than Angels returns to war-torn Europe with the story of young Anna Hirsch, who is deported with her family from Germany to France. She is eventually sent to the village of Le Chambon, where she joins the townsfolk in resisting the Nazis and planning a daring escape to Switzerland. A Publishers Weekly reviewer praised the novel as a solidly researched and vivid account of the heroism of the Le Chambon villagers, who came to the aid of the approximately 2,500 Jews who sought refuge there. In My Enemy's House recounts the story of Marisa, a Jewish girl whose blonde hair and blue eyes permit her to pass as Polish. When Marisa moves to Germany, she is able to find work and to see Nazi hatred from the inside.

For fourteen-year-old Ben Friedman, the protagonist of The Whirlwind, the search for safety from the Nazis leads him to America. However, when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, fear again invades Ben's life, as his Seattle classmates channel their anger over the loss of American lives to the German Jews of living in their community. In The Whirlwind "Matas places vital, universal truths about life within a historical context, adhering to reality without being overly graphic," according to Kliatt contributor Marissa Elliott, the critic praising the novel as "a poignant look at what it means to come of age in a world of uncertainty."

In addition to her wartime novels, Matas has written of other historical periods, sometimes placing her protagonists in the modern world. The Race uses contemporary Canadian politics as a backdrop to the coming-of-age story of Ali Green, a fourteen-year-old youth delegate at a Liberal leadership convention as well as the daughter of the front-running candidate. "Ali is a truly likable character," noted Quill & Quire contributor Anne Louise Mahoney, adding: "Her first-person narrative is full of humour and teenage angst, and brings a fresh per- spective to politics and life in general." In another favorable review of The Race, Canadian Review of Materials contributor Gordon Heasley described the book as "an engaging young adult narrative that artfully combines the stories of a questioning adolescent and the elaborate political process of a leadership race."

In Past Crimes a young woman and her family are seemingly threatened by something outside reality. Ros works at a family-planning clinic when every aspect of her life is terrorized. Her husband has been shot, and her home has burned down. Now living with her parents, she is haunted by strange dreams that become more fearful when a doctor who performs abortions at the clinic is shot and killed. As her dreams reveal themselves to be inspired by the Spanish Inquisition, Ros takes a course in Jewish studies, hoping to make sense of the tangible fears that by now include the kidnapping of her young son. A multifaceted story, Past Crimes posits jealousy and reincarnation as possible sources, treating readers to what Booklist contributor Hazel Rochman described as a "contemporary mystery-thriller that revolves around love and betrayal."

In The Burning Time Matas focuses on the witch trials that took place in sixteenth-century France. Rose is aged fifteen when her mother, a healer and midwife, is accused of being a witch by jealous neighbors and spurned suitors. Soon Rose is also accused and must flee to save herself. Although Hazel Rochman, writing in Booklist, felt that "the political message overwhelms the novel," she concluded that "it's the history that's compelling here, the facts that are left out of the traditional textbooks, the role played by those strong women outsiders who threatened the male hierarchy." A reviewer for Voice of Youth Advocates commented of The Burning Time that "this gripping story of survival with its aspects of horror and witches will make it much more popular than most other young adult historical fiction."

Another historical novel based in Jewish history, Sworn Enemies deals with the kidnaping and forced conversion of Jewish youths for the Czarist army in nineteenth-century Russia. Here sixteen-year-old Aaron is betrayed by a fellow Jew, Zev, and rousted into the Czar's army. Ironically, Zev is also caught, and the two will again confront one another as they each attempt to escape. A Kirkus Reviews critic called Sworn Enemies a "harrowing, thought-provoking, skillfully written novel about a past whose vile legacy persists." Writing in the New York Times Book Review, Roger Sutton asserted that "Matas is a good storyteller, and her novel will tell young readers about a less than familiar aspect of Jewish history." Also noting the author's facility with the format of historical fiction, Sutton commented that she "makes the time-travel jump easily …, and if the questions she poses sometimes seem equally easy, then she may help her readers to ask the same questions in their own lives."

Matas presents an uncommon perspective on the war between the states in The War Within: A Novel of the Civil War. Here readers are introduced to the U.S. Civil War years through the consciousness of thirteen-year-old Hannah Green, the daughter of a Jewish merchant living in Mississippi. After Union General Ulysses S. Grant occupies the area and orders all Jews to leave, Hannah and her family move north to Illinois, where the girl faces deep questions about bigotry, racism, and her own values as she experiences both the sting of anti-Semitism and the shame of her own racist attitudes. In Booklist Carolyn Phelan appreciated the novel for addressing complex issues but suggested that there are "perhaps too many" themes for a novel of its scope. Still, Phelan added, readers of The War Within will appreciate the book's "riptide of action" and its "appealing cast of strong, vivid characters," as well as its "decidedly different slant" on the Civil War experience. In Kliatt Deborah Kaplan cited Matas's use of period documents, writing that in its focus on "a little-known part

of American history," the novel's "focus on the development of personal conscience is inspiring."

Geared for younger readers, Matas's chapter book The Lost Locket finds eight-year-old Roz searching for a stolen family heirloom in a "delightful and suspenseful book," according to Canadian Literature critic Wytenbroek. Her "Rosie" series, which include Rosie in New York City: Gotcha!, Rosie in Chicago: Play Ball!, and Rosie in Los Angeles: Action!, a young Russian-Jewish immigrant travels to several U.S. cities as her father pursues his career during the early 1900s. Describing Rosie in Chicago, which finds the twelve year old disguising herself as a young man to help out her uncle Abe's shorthanded baseball team, Susan Shaver wrote in School Library Journal that Matas treats younger readers to "a fun book full of drama, excitement, suspense, and life lessons." Collaborating with Perry Nodelman, Matas has also written the fantasy novels Of Two Minds and More Minds, which focus on the kingdom of Gepeth and the extraordinary mental powers of Princess Lenora. In a review for Books in Canada, Pat Barclay described Of Two Minds as "an allegory about democracy vs. dictatorship and what happens when a people gives too much power to its leader."

Based on Matas's family history, Sparks Fly Upward introduces twelve-year-old Rebecca Bernstein, who lives with her extended family in rural Saskatchewan until a fire forces a move to Winnipeg. When her father has trouble finding work in the new city and sends Rebecca to live with a Christian foster family, the girl confronts anti-Semitism but also finds a best friend in the family's daughter, Sophie. A scuffle within the foster family eventually prompts Mr. Bernstein to forbid the friendship, forcing Rebecca to discover for herself the value of friendship and loyalty. In School Library Journal Kathleen Isaacs enjoyed the story's unusual setting, writing that Sparks Fly Upward "should appeal to middle-grade readers, especially girls."

"For me," Matas related in an interview with coauthor Nodelman in Canadian Children's Literature, "the greatest pleasure is to read a book that is compelling and substantive…. But I'm not trying to preach a message—quite the opposite. I'm trying to open a question, a dialogue, give my reader food for thought." "My first goal in writing is to tell a good story," she once observed. "I had such pleasure from the experience of reading when I was a child that if I could give that experience to the young people reading my books that would be enough. (In Hebrew there is a word, Dayenu, which means ‘it would have been enough.’) But I'm afraid my ambitions don't stop there. I also want to challenge my readers and make them think. I suppose that is why I love to write for young people, whose minds are still open, who have not yet decided everything yet. And finally, I like to write about topics that have not been written about before because I think that makes the reading experience even more exciting for the reader." Indeed, posing difficult questions is at the heart of Matas's fiction. As she concluded in her interview for Canadian Children's Literature, "the world is a complex place and … what I'm trying to do is present this world, in all its complexities, to my readers. And hope they are both challenged and entertained."

Biographical and Critical Sources

BOOKS

Children's Literature Review, Volume 52, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1999.

St. James Guide to Young Adults Writers, 2nd edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1999.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 1994, Hazel Rochman, review of The Burning Time, p. 35; April 1, 1996, review of After the War, p. 1361; April 1, 2001, Carolyn Phelan, review of The War Within: A Novel of the Civil War, p. 1484; April 1, 2002, Hazel Rochman, review of Sparks Fly Upward, p. 1328; May 15, 2003, John Peters, review of Rosie in New York City: Gotcha!, p. 1666; March 1, 2007, Hazel Rochman, review of The Whirlwind, p. 74; August, 2007, Hazel Rochman, review of Past Crimes, p. 64.

Books in Canada, March, 1987, Mary Ainslie Smith, "Back to the Future," p. 37; April, 1988, Welwyn Wilton Katz, review of Lisa, p. 36; December, 1994, Pat Barclay, review of Of Two Minds, p. 57; May, 2002, Footsteps in the Snow: The Red River Diary of Isobel Scott, p. 43.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, May, 1993, Betsy Hearne, review of Daniel's Story, p. 289; April, 1996, Betsy Hearne, review of After the War, pp. 271-272; July, 2002, review of Sparks Fly Upward, p. 409; July-August, 2007, Hope Morrison, review of The Whirlwind, p. 477.

Canadian Literature, spring, 1996, J.R. Wytenbroek, reviews of Lisa, The Lost Locket, and Sworn Enemies, p. 108.

Canadian Review of Materials, May, 1992, Gordon Heasley, review of The Race, p. 168; September, 1993, Anne Louise Mahoney, review of Daniel's Story, p. 153.

Five Owls, January-February, 1991, review of Code Name Kris, p. 61; September 6, 2002, review of Footsteps in the Snow; September 19, 2003, review of Rosie in New York City.

Horn Book, May-June, 1989, Mary M. Burns, review of Lisa's War, pp. 377-378.

Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 1993, review of Sworn Enemies, p. 66.

Kliatt, November, 2002, Deborah Kaplan, review of The War Within, p. 20; July, 2007, Marissa Elliott, review of The Whirlwind, p. 26; September, 2007, Amanda MacGregor, review of Past Crimes, p. 24.

New York Times Book Review, April 11, 1993, Roger Sutton, review of Sworn Enemies, p. 30.

Publishers Weekly, February 10, 1989, review of Lisa's War, p. 73; April 27, 1998, review of Greater than Angels, p. 68; June 23, 2003, review of Rosie in New York City, p. 67.

Quill & Quire, October, 1989, Frieda Wishinsky, review of Jesper, p. 14; October, 1991, Anne Louise Mahoney, review of The Race, p. 35; February, 1993, Kenneth Oppel, review of Daniel's Story, p. 35.

Resource Links, February, 2004, Jill McClay, review of Rosie in New York City, p. 19; June, 2005, Anne Hatcher, review of Rosie in Los Angeles: Action!, p. 34; February, 2003, Jill McClay, review of Footsteps in the Snow, p. 13; April, 2004, Mavis Holder, review of Rosie in Chicago: Play Ball!, p. 23; October, 2005, Gail Lennon, review of The Dark Clone, p. 35; February, 2006, Suzanne Finkelstein, review of Turned Away: The World War II Diary of Devorah Bernstein, p. 26, and Joanne de Groot, review of Jesper, p. 49; February, 2007, Margaret Mackey, review of Past Crimes, p. 39; April, 2007, Margaret Mackey, review of The Whirlwind, p. 45; December, 2007, Frances Stanford, review of The Burning Time, p. 40.

School Library Journal, May, 1996, Robyn Nicoline Ryan, review of After the War, p. 135; March, 1999, Cyrisse Jaffee, review of In My Enemy's House, p. 212; June, 2001, Crystal Faris, review of The War Within, p. 152; March, 2002, Kathleen Isaacs, review of Sparks Fly Upward, p. 234; August, 2003, Sharon R. Pearce, review of Rosie in New York City, p. 163; February, 2004, Susan Shaver, review of Rosie in Chicago, p. 149; March, 2004, Terrie Dorio, review of Rosie in Los Angeles, p. 218; May, 2007, Donna Rosenblum, review of The Whirlwind, p. 138.

Voice of Youth Advocates, June, 1989, Marian Rafal, review of Lisa's War, p. 104; October, 1994, review of The Burning Time, p. 210.