Awhile ago, I posted in anticipation of Scholastic’s new I Am Canada series. I had a few reservations. My feelings about the name remain (a bit beer commercially), but I’m won over by the prettiness.
The first two books are Hugh Brewster’s Prisoner of Dieppe and Paul Yee’s Blood and Iron. Both these authors are natural choices for these topics as they’ve already done their homework: Brewster’s Dieppe: Canada’s Darkest Days of World War II came out last year and no one should ever forget about Paul Yee’s Tales From Gold Mountain and Ghost Train.
The I Am Canada website, as is the case with the Dear Canada site, is stellar. It is also imbued with a healthy amount of testosterone and perfectly reflects the books in all their navy blue glory. I’m really impressed with the cover design – it has enough in common with Dear Canada with the photo and the weathered paper, but also stands alone, too. These boys and girls sure look smart together, don’t they?
It’s interesting that the I Am Canada books seem available only in paperback (correct me if I’m wrong here). Perhaps because of the maxim that boys prefer paperbacks? If so, very interesting.
While I think boys might be reluctant to read the Dear Canada books (there’s a picture of a chick on the front, plus the hardcovers have a ribbon for a bookmark), I can see gals partaking in I Am Canada.
Next up is to give these new boys on the block a read and see how they measure up. But with authors like Brewster and Yee on board, I suspect the final verdict will be… Shannon: 0 I Am Canada: 1
Shannon Ozirny 
We’ve got the hardback version of Blood and Iron, so they are available in that format. No dust jacket though.
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That makes sense. Do they use something manly in lieu of the Dear Canada ribbon for a bookmark? Perhaps a piece of beef jerky?
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I’m just weighing in here from Scholastic Canada–thanks for the lovely write-up!
I just wanted to clarify that yes, the books are ONLY available in hardcover editions (no dust jacket). The covers are designed to look as though they have lived through these historical events, with a slightly more compact size than our Dear Canada series. So far the feedback has been wonderful, but it will be great to hear your take on the stories as well.
All the best,
Nikole
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