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2005
finalists.

2005 Hackmatack

Children's Choice Book Award/Prix littéraire - le choix de jeunes

Hing's family finally arrives and Emily at last meets Mei Yuk, Hing's daughter. After a rocky start, the two girls become fast friends. But as Emily begins to include Mei Yuk in her social life, she finds things changing between her and Alice, her best friend. Inspired by her art teacher, a young Emily Carr, Emily learns the importance of staying true to oneself. She also learns the meaning of tolerance and friendship.

Julie Lawson is the award-winning author of books for children of all ages, including White Jade Tiger, Goldstone, Emily: Disaster at the Bridge and The Klondike Cat. Her book A Ribbon of Shining Steel was nominated for a 2004 Hackmatack. She lives in Victoria, British Columbia.

Thematic Links

• Friendship, Self-knowledge, personal strength
• Bullying
• Courage
• Canadian history, immigration
• Life in Victoria, BC in 1897
• Emily Carr, Canadian artist and writer

Suggested Activities

• Imagine taking art lessons with Emily Carr and try some of her class activities. Use chunks of bread as erasers!
• Go on a sketching trip to a corner of the school ground, a nearby park.
• Visit an art gallery or artist's studio.
• Find out about Emily Carr. Read The Book of Small.
• Imagine you are Mei Yuk two years from now. Write to a relative in China, describing your new life.
• Find out what your town was like in 1897. How did it celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee?
• Discuss Emily's dilemma. What would you do? Have attitudes changed?