Orphan at My Door: The Home Child Diary of Victoria Cope; Guelph; Ontario; 1897

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. "Victoria's family needs help because of her mother's illness, so they invite Marianna, an orphan from Britain to live with them. Soon they realize that Marianna needs help too" Cf. Our choice, 2002 In 1897, in Guelph, Ontario, eleven-year-old Victoria chronicles her family's experiences when they take in twelve-year-old Mary Anna, an orphan, who has been separated from her siblings