Trottier, Maxine 1950-

Personal

Born May 3, 1950, in Grosse Pointe Farms, MI; immigrated to Canada, 1960; became Canadian citizen, 1970; married; husband's name William. Education: University of Western Ontario, graduate.

Addresses

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

Career

Writer. Former public-school teacher in Lambeth, Ontario, Canada.

Member

Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators, and Performers, Writers Union of Canada, Canadian Authors Association, Writers Federation of Nova Scotia, Writers Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Awards, Honors

Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) Our Choice Awards selection, 1993-94, for Alison's House; CCBC Our Choice Awards selection, 1995-96, and Federation of Women Teachers' Associations of Ontario Writers' Award, 1996, both for The Voyage of Wood Duck; FWTAO Writers' Award, 1995, CBCC Our Choice Award selection, 1995-96, and Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children, 1996, all for The Tiny Kite of Eddie Wing; CCBC Our Choice Awards selection, 1996-97, for Loon Rock; Chicago Women in Publishing first-place designation, 1997, for A Safe Place; Marianna Dempster Memorial Award, 1998, and CCBC Our Choice Awards selection, 1997-98, both for Heartsong; Ruth Schwartz Award shortlist, 1999, for Prairie Willow; Ruth Schwartz Award shortlist, CLA Book of the Year Award for Children shortlist, Amelia Francis Howard Gibbon Award shortlist, and Mr. Christie's Award, all 2000, all for Claire's Gift; CLA Book of the Year Award shortlist, 2000, and CCBC Our Choice designation, both for A Circle of Silver; White Raven Award, International Youth Library, Storytelling World Honor designation, Children's Book Council Notable Book in the Social Studies designation, and CCBC Our Choice designation, all 2000, all for Flags; Red Maple Award shortlist, 2002, for By the Standing Stone; Geoffrey Billson Award Honor Book designation, 2002, and CCBC Our Choice designation, both for Under a Shooting Star; Silver Birch Award shortlist, 2003-04, Hackmatack Award shortlist, and Red Maple Award shortlist, both 2004-05, and Red Cedar Book Award shortlist, 2005, all for Alone in an Untamed Land; Blue Spruce Award shortlist, 2004-05, for Our Canadian Flag; CCBC Our Choice Award shortlist, 2005, for The Paint Box; Society of School Librarians International Honor Book Award for Language Arts, 2005, and Stellar Award nomination, 2006, both for Sister to the Wolf; Information Book Award shortlist, 2006, for Canadian Pioneers and Canadian Explorers; Information Book Award shortlist, 2006, and Hackmatack Children's Choice Award shortlist, 2006-07, both for Canadian Artists; Information Book Award Honor Book designation, 2006, for Terry Fox; White Pine Award shortlist, 2007, for Three Songs for Courage.

Writings

FICTION FOR CHILDREN

Alison's House, illustrated by Michael Martchenko, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1993.

The Voyage of Wood Duck, Mi'kmaq translation by Helen Sylliboy, illustrations by Patsy MacAulay-MacKinnon, UCCB Press, 1995.

Loon Rock, illustrated by Dozay Christmas, Mi'kmaq translation by Helen Sylliboy, UCCB Press, 1996.

The Tiny Kite of Eddie Wing, illustrated by Art Van Mil, Kane/Miller Book Publishers (Brooklyn, NY), 1996.

Pavlova's Gift, illustrated by Victoria Berdichevsky, Stoddart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1996.

A Safe Place, illustrated by Judith Friedman, Albert Whitman (Morton Grove, IL), 1997.

Heartsong, illustrated by Patsy MacAulay-MacKinnon, Gaelic translation by Rosemary McCormack, UCCB Press, 1997.

Prairie Willow, illustrated by Laura Fernandez and Rick Jacobson, Stoddart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1998.

One Is Canada, illustrated by Bill Slavin, HarperCollins Canada (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1999.

Claire's Gift, illustrated by Rajke Kupesic, North Winds Press (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 1999.

Dreamstones, illustrated by Stella East, Stoddart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1999.

A Circle of Silver, Stoddart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1999.

The Walking Stick, illustrated by Annouchka Gravel Galouchko, Stoddart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1999.

By the Standing Stone (sequel to A Circle of Silver), Stoddart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

Laura: A Childhood Tale of Laura Secord, illustrated by Karen Reczuch, North Winds Press (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

Little Dog Moon, illustrated by Laura Fernandez and Rick Jacobson, Stoddart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

Storm at Batoche, illustrated by John Mantha, Stoddart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

There Have Always Been Foxes, illustrated by Regolo Ricci, Stoddart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

Under a Shooting Star (sequel to By the Standing Stone), Stoddart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

The Paint Box, illustrated by Stella East, Fitzhenry & Whiteside (Allston, MA), 2003.

Alone in an Untamed Land: The "Filles du Roi" Diary of Héllène St. Onge ("Dear Canada" series), Scholastic Canada (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2004.

The Death of My Country: The Plains of Abraham Diary of Geneviéve Aubuchon ("Dear Canada" series), Scholastic Canada (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2005.

Three Songs for Courage, Tundra Books (Plattsburgh, NY), 2006.

The Long White Scarf, illustrated by David Craig, Fitzhenry & Whiteside (Allston, MA), 2006.

Contributor to Sherwood: Original Stories from the World of Robin Hood, edited by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Dennis Nolan, Philomel (New York, NY), 2000.

Author's works have been translated into French.

JUVENILE NONFICTION

Flags, illustrated by Paul Morin, Stoddart (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1999.

One Is Canada, illustrated by Bill Slavin, HarperCollins (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1999.

Native Crafts: Inspired by North America's First Peoples, illustrated by Esperanca Melo, Kids Can Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2000.

Canadian Pioneers, ("Scholastic Canada Biographies" series), illustrated by Alan and Lea Daniel, Scholastic Canada (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2003.

Canadian Greats ("Scholastic Canada Biographies" series), illustrated by Marc Thurman, Scholastic Canada (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2003.

Canadian Inventors ("Scholastic Canada Biographies" series), Scholastic Canada (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2004.

Canadian Stars ("Scholastic Canada Biographies" series), Scholastic Canada (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2004.

Our Canadian Flag, illustrated by Brian Deines, Scholastic Canada (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2004.

Terry Fox: A Story of Hope, Scholastic Canada (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2005.

Canadian Artists ("Scholastic Canada Biographies" series), Scholastic Canada (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2006.

Canadian Explorers ("Scholastic Canada Biographies" series), Scholastic Canada (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2006.

Canadian Leaders ("Scholastic Canada Biographies" series), Scholastic Canada (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2006.

Canadian Heroes ("Scholastic Canada Biographies" series), Scholastic Canada (Markham, Ontario, Canada), 2007.

Sidelights

While most of her books are grounded in the history of the author's adopted country of Canada, award-winning author Maxine Trottier also draws on her own mixed racial heritage as a descendent of Métis ancestors; in fact, several of her picture books feature bilingual English/Mi'kmaq texts. Among her works of fiction are the picture books A Safe Place, Claire's Gift, Dreamstones, and The Paint Box, while elementary-and middle-grade novels include Sister to the Wolf, Three Songs for Courage, and Under a Shooting Star. Often turning to nonfiction, Trottier has also authored profiles of notable Canadians, among them Terry Fox: A Story of Hope, an award-winning biography that introduces readers to the young Canadian who in 1980 began an heroic run across Canada as a way to promote cancer research. Fox, who had already lost his right leg to bone cancer, was inspired to make the run after witnessing the suffering of other cancer patients; tragically, after running 26 miles per day for over 143 days, he was forced to end his attempt when cancer invaded his lungs and died months later at age twenty-two. Trottier's "credentials in the area of historical writing are certainly well established," wrote Dave Jenkinson in a review of her historical picture book There Have Always Been Foxes for Canadian Review of Materials, the critic recommending the work as "a worthy addition to libraries' picture book collections."

Trottier was born in Michigan in 1950, but grew up, for the most part, across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. After attending the University of Western Ontario, she earned a degree in education and began a long career as a public-school teacher in Ontario. As a teacher, Trottier confronted, first hand, the lack of books geared for Canadian students, and after leaving teaching she set about writing as a way to fill this need. Her first published book, Alison's House, appeared in 1993 and was one of the first of Trottier's many books to be honored at the annual Canadian Children's Book Centre's Our Choice awards.

Named the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children in 1996, The Tiny Kite of Eddie Wing features illustrations by Art Van Mil. Trottier's story centers around Eddie, a boy from a poor family. Old Chan, a wealthy man in Eddie's Asian neighborhood, hosts an annual kite-flying contest, and Eddie dreams of entering. Unfortunately, his family is so poor that the boy cannot afford even a simple paper kite. When he learns that the contest's prize this year will be given to the smallest kite, Eddie enters the contest with an imaginary kite. Although he does not win, Old Chan is so taken with Eddie's wit that he gives the boy the materials to make a real kite. Reviewing The Tiny Kite of Eddie Wing, Booklist critic Ilene Cooper praised Trottier's tale as "sweet and moving."

In The Walking Stick, Trottier borrows from both Asian culture and spirituality. The story, set in Vietnam, begins when a young boy named Van finds a branch from a famed teak tree laying on the ground near a Buddhist monastery and temple. He takes the branch to his uncle, a monk, who uses the branch to fashion a walking stick for Van. The uncle tells Van that the stick will always help him because it was found near the statue of Buddha, and so possesses the deity's guidance. In her story Trottier follows Van's eventful life, as he grows to manhood and must ultimately flee his homeland after war breaks out. As an older man, Van tells his granddaughter the story of the walking stick, and on a trip back to visit her Vietnamese family, she returns the stick to the land where it once grew, placing the stick at the statue of Buddha near the long-deserted monastery. Magpies reviewer Margaret Phillips commended "the simplicity of the telling and the absence of any bitterness," deeming The Walking Stick "a fitting tribute" to the Vietnamese people and spirit.

Another Asian monastery serves as the setting for Little Dog Moon, a book featuring illustrations by Laura Fernandez and Rick Jacobson. A monastery in Tibet houses Moon, a Tibetan terrier, who keeps company with Tenzin, the monastery's youngest monk. One day two starving refugee children appear at the monastery's door. After feeding the youngsters, Tenzin sends his beloved little dog with them to guide the children through the mountains to a place of safety. Trottier's "quietly provocative story of courage, faith, and kindness is sure to raise awareness regarding the reality of life in a restricted society," remarked School Library Journal critic Wendy Lukehart, while a Resource Links contributor described the tale as "told with compassion and warmth."

Trottier moves from Asian to Eastern-European culture for Pavlova's Gift, which presents a fictionalized event in the life of noted Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. Prior to her death in 1931, Pavlova was considered the greatest ballerina of her age, and Trottier's story imagines the aging dancer balking when Imperial Russia's ruler, Czar Nicholas II, asks her to come out of retirement to give a special performance. As Trottier tells the tale, on her journey to the Czar's court in St. Petersburg, Pavlova meets a gypsy woman who tells the dancer's fortune and remarks that Pavlova has the gift of dance. The woman then gives the ballerina a wooden heart necklace. Further along in her journey, Pavlova meets up with a younger gypsy woman. The older woman gives the gypsy her own cloak as well as the necklace, then asks that the young gypsy to go to St. Petersburg in her place, impersonating the famous dancer. Weeks later, Pavlova receives a letter from the Czar, thanking her for her performance and reinforcing the power of the old gypsy's gift. "Trottier … has given a satisfying folktale shape to the story," noted a reviewer for Quill & Quire, the critic terming Pavlova's Gift "a quiet book that carries a sense of mystery muffled by the falling snow."

Another story with roots in Europe, The Paint Box presents "a fanciful and romantic story … providing children an opportunity to think about the making of art, the making of gender roles, and the making of history," according to a Kirkus Reviews writer. In Trottier's fictional tale, illustrated by Stella East, readers enter the studio of Renaissance painter Tintoretto. Enjoying the company of his young daughter, Marietta, the painter dresses her in boy's clothes as girls are not allowed as much freedom in the city of Venice. Given a box of paints by her father, Marietta dabbles as her father works on the portrait of a wealthy ship's captain. When the girl befriends the captain's young cabin boy, Piero, she realizes that he shares her passion for art but, due to his servitude, has little chance to expressing his creativity. Sharing the boy's frustration due to her own lack of freedom, the girl makes Piero a gift of her precious paints, and the work he creates as a result is featured in East's concluding illustrations. Praising Trottier's "stirring, poetic language," Linda Ludke wrote in Resource Links that The Paint Box is a "captivating story" that features "stunning illustrations … painted in the classical style."

Many of Trottier's novels for young readers delve into the Canadian past, some as part of Scholastic Canada's popular "Dear Canada" diary series. Tracing the life of a young protagonist named Emily, Prairie Willow depicts the hardships early pioneers faced in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Emily and her family live on the windswept prairie in a sod house and attempt to farm the barren, treeless landscape. After the first successful harvest, each member of the family is allowed to pick something extra from a seed-and-plant catalog. Emily chooses a weeping willow tree, which she carefully plants and nurtures into a symbol of their new life. Trottier's "rich, poetic language is well suited to the heartfelt emotions of this loving family," remarked Booklist critic Kay Weisman, while Carolyn Stacey wrote in School Library Journal that in Prairie Willow the author "creates some compelling images of a woman … deeply rooted to the prairie."

Trottier draws upon the culture of Canada's first peoples in Dreamstones, a story about a young boy named David, who accompanies his father on an expedition to the Canadian Arctic. David's father is a naturalist, and his job is to sketch the northern region's flora and fauna. When their ship becomes ice-bound, the expedition must remain during the long, cold winter. In this part of the globe, night lasts for months, and David longs for daylight and the freedom to roam. One night he sees foxes nearby and runs out to play with them, only to become lost in the winter night. Fortunately, a mysterious man rescues the boy and, over the flicker of a warming fire, tells him stories about animals' secret dreams. David is found by his worried father the next morning, wrapped in a sealskin and asleep near a dying fire. Near the boy is found an Inukshuk, or "sleeping stone," a carved figure used by the Inuit to guide them across the snowy, markerless landscape of the Canadian Arctic.

School Library Journal critic Tali Balas called Dreamstones a "moving tale" enhanced by illustrations by Stella East that depict "the beauty and silence of an icecovered land without overshadowing the story." Trottier's book won praise from other reviewers as well. "In simple but poetic language she evokes the atmosphere of the Northern night, where the ordinary sense of time is altered," remarked Gwyneth Evans in Quill & Quire, while in Booklist Cooper asserted that "this dreamy, evocative story will resonate most with children old enough to appreciate the mystery."

Among Trottier's fiction works for older readers is her trilogy of novels about the MacNeils, eighteenth-century English immigrants to the Canadian wilderness. The series begins with A Circle of Silver, which finds thirteenyear- old John MacNeil heading to North America with his father, an officer in the British Army. John is artistic, and his father hopes that the challenges of the new land will toughen the boy up. Instead, John's sketches of his experiences and encounters gain him fame and lead to his appointment as the colony's official artist. Letters from John's sister in England are interspersed into the text recounting his adventures. Noting that the author "brings to this novel the depth and storytelling skill … demonstrated in" her earlier works, Quill & Quire writer Laurie McNeill called A Circle of Silver "an excellent companion to any early Canadian history lesson." Carrie Schadle, writing in School Library Journal, found the novel "peppered with many fascinating characters, quite a few of them historical," and praised the book as "a lively novel with elements of romance and adventure."

The MacNeil saga continues in By the Standing Stone and Under a Shooting Star. In By the Standing Stone John had grown up and as Lord John McNeil, now has a family of his own. Living in England, John's fifteenyear- old ward, Charlotte (nicknamed "Mack"), yearns for adventure and hopes to escape the constraints of life as a proper young lady. Sailing to the New World, she finds life to be more dangerous than she expected; hostilities between the colonists and the British are increasing and the French and Indian War is underway. When Mack and her thirteen-year-old cousin, John's son Jamie, are kidnapped by the ruthless Ben Sparks, their rescue is undertaken by a fur trader. The teens eventually encounter Owela, an young Oneida brave who has been entrusted by Lord McNeil with the cousins' safe return to Boston and the custody of John's friend, Paul Revere. After being eye-witnesses to the historic Boston Tea Party, the two teens are rejoined by Lord McNeil, and travel to his home on Peche Island. There Mack rejoins Owela and the two develop a romantic relationship. In Resource Links Tina White described By the Standing Stone as "a story of adventure, intrigue, and suspense" that would provide a good introduction to "the early days of settlement in North America," as well as native culture. Canadian Review of Materials contributor Doreen Golke noted the author's "strongly descriptive language and attention to [historic] details." Citing the novel's coming-of-age elements, Golke added that Mack exhibits "qualities of courage and determination as she matures," making her a "strong-willed" and likeable heroine.

Closing the chronicle of the MacNeil family, Under a Shooting Star takes place during the War of 1812, as Edward O'Neil, the son of mixed British and Oneida parents, reaches age fifteen. An experienced sailor, he has been charged with accompanying two American girls on board a ship from Fort George up the Detroit River to Detroit, where they will travel overland to their home in Sandusky, Ohio. During a violent summer storm, the ship sinks. The three young people find refuge on an island, where they are aided by Paukeesaa, the son of the great chief Tecumseth, in returning to his uncle's home on Peche Island. As the war rages, Edward goes against his family's pacifism and contributes his ship-building skills to the war effort. Edward's maturation, as well as his conflicts over his mixed racial heritage, serves as the core of a novel that School Library Journal contributor Kristen Oravec deemed "an enjoyable read that takes place during an oftenoverlooked period in history." Noting that the book is enhanced by a budding romance between two of its central teen characters, Pennell wrote that with Under a Shooting Star, "Trottier has given us another glimpse into Canadian history through strong characters who are well developed."

In Sister to the Wolf, another novel for older readers, Trottier brings readers back to the first years of the 1700s, as the first French immigrants were attempting to survive in the sometimes harsh Northern Territory. Cecile Chesne becomes aware of the mis-treatment meted out to those natives who had become slaves of the French settler families, and after she sees one young Pawnee branded by a harsh owner, she buys him with the intention of setting him free. Repaying her kindness, the man, Lesharo, watches over the girl while she and her father make the harsh journey west to the French settlement at Detroit. When life among the feuding Detroit community becomes oppressive, both Cecile and Lesharo leave and make their home with a nearby Indian tribe. When Edmond, a French officer with ties to the Mohawk tribe, professes his love for her, Cecile is forced to make a choice that will alter both their fates. Noting that Trottier's inclusion of "real people and events bring a sense of reality to the story," Victoria Pennell added in her Resource Links review that the main characters are "well-developed" and add much to a story that presents readers with an "accurate picture of life in early Canada." In Booklist, Carolyn Phelan praised the novel, writing that Trottier is successful at creating "a memorable story" that avoids "the sentimentality that often results when romance meets historical fiction."

Trottier's focus on Canadian history extends to her books for younger readers. Part of the "Scholastic Canadian Biographies" series, Canadian Pioneers, Canadian Greats, Canadian Inventors, and Canadian Stars present brief profiles of notable men and women who have shaped the history and culture of northern North America, while her contributions to the "Dear Canada" series present compelling stories of young people taking part in the challenges faced by those who transformed the North American wilderness. With the picture book Laura: A Childhood Tale of Laura Secord Trottier brings to life Secord's early years on her family's farm, "foreshadowing," as Canadian Review of Materials contributor Gail de Vos noted, "… the young Laura's later journey through the wilderness" to play a pivotal role in the War of 1812. Trottier's story finds the young girl wandering off in search of the family cow, only to be found by her father, with the help of some native men.

Another picture book, Storm at Batoche, focuses on Louis Riel, a Canadian politician who, while being credited by many as the founder of Manitoba, was also viewed as a threat by many of his own day due to his bouts of delusion and his strident advocacy of rights for the Métis natives of the Northwestern territories. In Trottier's story, a young boy falls off his family's covered wagon during a snowstorm on the western prairie and is rescued by a stranger who shelters him until the weather clears. When the boy wants the man to meet his parents, the man declines, leaving the boy within earshot of his worried parents and then disappearing from sight. Soon after, the boy hears talk of the capture

of a traitor named Louis Riel, but does not make the connection between that criminal and the gentle man who saved his life. While noting Storm at Batoche is fiction, a Resource Links contributor maintained that the novel will "provide a springboard for children to delve deeper into the history of the Riel Rebellion and the Battle of Batoche" due to Trottier's inclusion of an author's note that explains Reil's struggle on behalf of native Canadians and its escalation into rebellion.

Trottier uses a legend surrounding Fortress Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island as the basis for There Have Always Been Foxes. The national historic site, located off the coast of Nova Scotia, was built in 1713 by the French, then overtaken by the British. In Trottier's book, the fort's long and storied history is recounted, as well as its famous legend: sometimes a fox can be seen dancing with a cat there. In an imaginative twist to her historic fiction, Trottier casts a fox as narrator. "Young children will delight" in this colorful slice of history, predicted Resource Links reviewer Victoria Pennell, the critic adding that "older readers will appreciate the historical aspect of the tale and hopefully be inspired to" read more on the subject.

While most of Trottier's books take readers into the past, several deal with contemporary topics. Her novel Three Songs for Courage, set in the mid-1950s, is a coming-of-age story set in a small Ontario town that finds sixteen-year-old Gordon balancing his passions for his first love, his gang, and his 1950 Pontiac, until the tragic death of his older brother causes him to channel those passions into a desire for vengeance. Focusing on an equally compelling subject, A Safe Place recounts the hardships of a little girl named Emily. Growing up in a home with an abusive father, Emily is used to chaos, but when her mother finally flees from the situation, both mother and daughter find comfort and safety at a domestic-violence shelter. Calling A Safe Place a "useful book," Booklist contributor Julie Corsaro added that the work "ends on a convincingly hopeful note," while in School Library Journal Susan Hepler deemed it a "reassuring" story that assures children "that it is all right to be frightened, and that things work out." Praising Three Songs for Courage as a "moving" drama in her Booklist review, Krista Hutley described Trottier's teen protagonist as "particularly appealing, decent, and vulnerable … as he comes to make the right choice."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 15, 1996, Ilene Cooper, review of The Tiny Kite of Eddie Wing, p. 596; June 1, 1997, Julie Corsaro, review of A Safe Place, p. 1723; September 15, 1998, Kay Weisman, review of Prairie Willow, p. 241; July, 2000, Karen Hutt, review of Native Crafts: Inspired by North America's First Peoples, p. 2028, and Ilene Cooper, review of Dreamstones, p. 2044; May 15, 2003, Francisca Goldsmith, review of The Paint Box, p. 1667; January 1, 2005, Carolyn Phelan, review of Sister to the Wolf, p. 847; May 15, 2006, Krista Huntley, review of Three Songs for Courage, p. 43.

Books in Canada, November, 1993, Janet McNaughton, review of Alison's House, p. 58; March, 1997, Rasa Mazeika, review of Pavlova's Gift, pp. 32-33.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, July-August, 2006, Karen Coats, review of Three Songs for Courage, p. 519.

Instructor, March, 1994, "Coming Full Circle," p. 106.

Magpies, March, 1999, Margaret Phillips, review of The Walking Stick, p. 31.

Quill & Quire, August, 1996, review of Pavlova's Gift, pp. 43-44; January, 1999, Arlene Perly Rae, review of One Is Canada, p. 43; June, 1999, Bridget Donald, review of Flags, p. 64; September, 1999, Gwyneth Evans, review of Dreamstones, p. 68; November, 1999, Gwyneth Evans, review of Claire's Gift, p. 44- 45; December, 1999, Laurie McNeill, review of A Circle of Silver, p. 37.

Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2003, review of The Paint Box, p. 758; November 15, 2005, review of The Long White Scarf, p. 1236.

Kliatt, November, 2004, Claire Rosser, review of Sister to the Wolf, p. 12.

Resource Links, October, 2000, review of Little Dog Moon, p. 6; June, 2001, Victoria Pennell, review of There Have Always Been Foxes, p. 6, and Tina White, review of By the Standing Stone, p. 42; February, 2002, Victoria Pennell, review of Under a Shooting Star, p. 35; June, 2003, Linda Ludke, review of The Paint Box, p. 8; February, 2004, Rosemary Anderson, review of Canadian Greats, and Victoria Pennell, review of Canadian Pioneers, both p. 28; April, 2004, Victoria Pennell, review of Our Canadian Flag, p. 37; June, 2004, John Dryden, review of Canadian Inventors, and Carolyn Cutt, review of Canadian Stars, both p. 22; December, 2004, Victoria Pennell, review of Sister to the Wolf, p. 40; December, 2005, Victoria Pennell, review of Terry Fox: A Story of Hope, p. 26; February, 2006, Zoe Johnstone, review of The Long White Scarf, p. 14, and Victoria Pennell, review of The Death of My Country: The Plains of Abraham Diary of Geneviéve Aubuchon, p. 30; June, 2006, Heather Empey, review of Three Songs for Courage, p. 28.

School Library Journal, December, 1996, Christine A. Moesch, review of The Tiny Kite of Eddie Wing, p. 107; May, 1997, Susan Hepler, review of A Safe Place, p. 116; February, 1999, Carolyn Stacey, review of Prairie Willow, pp. 89-90; September, 1999, Diane S. Marton, review of The Walking Stick, p. 208; March, 2000, Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, review of Flags, p. 218; June, 2000, Marion F. Gallivan, review of Native Crafts, p. 171; August, 2000, Tali Balas, review of Dreamstones, p. 166; September, 2000, Carrie Schadle, review of A Circle of Silver, p. 238; March, 2001, Wendy Lukehart, review of Little Dog Moon, p. 222; May, 2001, Susan Hepler, review of Storm at Batoche, p. 136; February, 2002, Cathie E. Bashaw, review of There Have Always Been Foxes, p. 128; May, 2002, Kristen Oravec, review of Under a Shooting Star, p. 162; May, 2003, Heather E. Miller, review of The Paint Box, p. 131; December, 2004, Elizabeth Fernandez, review of Sister to the Wolf, p. 154; April, 2006, Linda M. Kenton, review of The Long White Scarf, p. 119; September, 2006, Carol A. Edwards, review of Three Songs for Courage, p. 220.

ONLINE

Canadian Review of Materials Online, http://www.umanitoba.cm/ca/ (December 10, 1999), Liz Greenaway, review of Claire's Gift; (January 5, 2001) Val Nielsen, review of Flags; (April 27, 2001) Darleen Golke, review of By the Standing Stone; (May 25, 2001) Dave Jenkinson, review of There Have Always Been Foxes; (October 5, 2001) Gail de Vos, review of Storm at Batoche; (March 1, 2002) Gail de Vos, review of Laura: A Childhood Tale of Laura Secord; (April 11, 2003) review of The Paint Box; (September 19, 2004) review of Alone in an Untamed Land.

Maxine Trottier Home Page,http://www.maxinetrottier.com (December 23, 2006).