Orphan at My Door: The Home Child Diary of Victoria Cope

Through the diary of 10-year-old Victoria Cope, we learn about the arrival of ragged Mary Anna, one of the thousands of impoverished British children who were sent to Canada at the beginning of the century. Mary Anna joins the Cope family as a servant and is treated well, but she has to cope with the initial apprehension of the family members and the loss of her brother, Jasper, who was placed with another family. Victoria vows to help Mary Anna find her brother, so they can be a family once again.

This book is one of the Dear Canada series, which are historical novels, written in diary format, about fictional girls during different periods of Canadian history.

Victoria Cope, who lives in the town of Guelph, Ontario, begins her diary on her eleventh birthday. Because her mother is unwell, her father decides the family will take in a Home Child, an orphan from England, to help with the housework. The girl who joins their household is a small, quiet twelve-year-old named Mary Anna Wilson. Through Victoria's diary, we learn of Mary Anna's plight -- her mother died, and she has been separated from her younger brother and sister. Victoria also tells of the daily life for a young girl in Canada in 1897 and her decision to try and help show more Mary Anna find her family.

This was the first book I read in the Dear Canada series and I loved it. It was very well written and keep me interested the entire time. The characters of Victoria and Mary Anna were very realistic and likable, and their stories showed how very different life was for rich children and poor children in the late 1800s. This book is still one of my favorites from the series and I'd highly recommend it to young readers who enjoy historical fiction in diary format. show less

This 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.

istg the pure amount of whiplash every single one of these journal epilogues gives me is insane

For North American Immigration, July 2020, and because Gundula says 'if you read only one Dear Canada, make it this one."

Reading it in french