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English Titles

		A FOREIGN FIELD GILLIAN CHAN TORONTO: KIDS CAN PRESS, 2002. 184 P. ISBN 1553373499 (BOUND) ISBN 1553373502 (PAPERBACK) AGES 12 AND UP
A Foreign Field Source

The title of this book comes from Rupert Brooke's 1914 poem "The Soldier":

"If I should die, think only this of me: / That there's some corner of a foreign field / That is forever England."

Set during the Second World War, this story is told mainly from the point of view of 14-year-old Ellen Logan. With two older brothers in the service and her mother involved in the war effort, Ellen is forced to look after her younger brother, Colin, and run the house. Her father praises the sacrifices being made by the young soldiers, who are putting their dreams on hold, while turning a blind eye to the sacrifice of Ellen's own dreams.

Ellen meets Stephen Dearborn, a young pilot at the Service Flight Training School in Hagersville, Ontario. Stephen comes from England and lied about his age to enter the Air Force, desperate to do his bit for his country. His point of view is shared in his letters home and in his nightmares.

Growing up during the war years, these children had no childhood. Most were expected to shoulder adult responsibilities from an early age. This bittersweet story deals with death as well as love, dreams and shattered reality.

-LS