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Queen of Hearts

3.61 of 5 stars 3.61 · rating details · 352 ratings · 99 reviews

Coming of age in a hospital bed—a deeply affecting portrait of a teen's journey through a TB sanatorium in the 1940s.

On the prairies of Canada during World War II, a girl and her two young siblings begin a war of their own. Stricken with tuberculosis, they are admitted to a nearby sanatorium. Teenager Marie Claire is headstrong, angry, and full of stubborn pride. In a new...more

Hardcover, 224 pages

Published August 2nd 2011 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) (first published July 19th 2010)

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Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

Kirkus Best Teen Books of 2011

15th out of 42 books — 24 voters

2012 YALSA Nominees - List 1

29th out of 100 books — 44 voters

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Nov 14, 2011 Hilary added it

Shelves: historical-fiction, tri-review, young-adult

Marie-Claire Cote, 15, grows up on a property not far from the Pembina Hills Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Manitoba, Canada, in the 1940s. Being in close proximity to the TB facility makes everyone in the community very aware of this highly contagious disease. When Oncle Gerard returns to the Cote farm and is diagnosed with TB, the family is able to recognize the first symptoms of tuberculosis as they begin to present in the Cote children.

Eleven-year-old Luc is the first to become ill, then Marie-...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Shonna Froebel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: canadian

This teen novel is set in rural Manitoba in 1941-42. Marie Claire Côté is fifteen and living with her parents and younger sister and brother near St. Felix. Her wandering uncle Gérard comes to visit as he has often in the past, but this time he stays longer. He isn't well, and finally is diagnosed with tuberculosis. There is a sanatorium on the other side of the valley from the Côté farm, and Gérard goes there. His pet name for Marie Claire is Queen of Hearts and the two have a special closeness...more

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Aug 31, 2012 Joan rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: history lovers and medical interests

Shelves: female-characters, historical-fiction, ya-books, fiction

I got this as an ARC at the last ALA convention, midsummer 2012. There was some excellent writing in this but also many poor points too. The ending isn't so clear. Is she still resentful of her father's fear and anger towards her as she sees it? Or is she going back to spend the day with her former lonely roommate whose parents rarely bother to come see her, even though they have the means to do so? This is set during the early days of WWII and the Depression is still in full force in Canada. Ma...more

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Aug 12, 2012 Carol Owen rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read this book because it has been chosen as a Vermont Dorothy Canfield Fisher finalist for 2012-2013. It is an historical fiction piece about a young teen-aged girl who is placed in a tuberculosis sanitorium along with her younger brother and sister. I was fascinated by the treatments that occurred, even stopping to look up facts on the Internet, especially that they would have the patients sleep outside, even in the cold. In fact, while reading the book I talked to an old friend who had an u...more

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May 01, 2012 Sharri rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: juvenile, fiction

I picked up this Young Adult novel because right now I'm interested in tuberculosis sanatoriums. These buildings -- often huge, creepy, isolated structures with large wrought iron balconies -- still dot the landscape. Less than one hundred years ago, many people spent months to years of their lives in these isolated communities, "chasing the cure" since no medicine had yet been discovered (until end of WWII). Tuberculosis patients were separated from their families and forced to rest until (hope...more

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Feb 11, 2012 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: death-and-dying, coming-of-age, historical-fiction, sibling-relationships, young-adult-literature

"In my heart of hearts, I've always wanted a sixteenth birthday party. Yet even though it falls on an apparently special day, winter solstice, I'm not holding my breath - no pun intended.

Sunday again. Six days after me pneumothorax, the great day has at last arrived, finding Signy, the rick city girl, and me, the poor country girl, sitting, as usual, on bedpans.

TB, I'm beginning to discover, is a democratic kind of disease. The only requirement seems to be that you have lungs."

Marie-Claire Cote...more "In my heart of hearts, I've always wanted a sixteenth birthday party. Yet even though it falls on an apparently special day, winter solstice, I'm not holding my breath - no pun intended.

Sunday again. Six days after me pneumothorax, the great day has at last arrived, finding Signy, the rick city girl, and me, the poor country girl, sitting, as usual, on bedpans.

TB, I'm beginning to discover, is a democratic kind of disease. The only requirement seems to be that you have lungs."

Marie-Claire Cote, 15, lives with her family in Manitoba, Canada - not far from the Pembina Hills Tuberculosis Sanatorium. World War II is beginning to intensify, and while Marie-Claie's family is not in any danger from soldiers, TB is a real and present danger. At the beginning of the novel, an uncle arrives at the family's door, gaunt and tired from years on the road. It turns out he is in the final stages of TB, and after his death, Marie-Claire and her two younger siblings also contract the disease. All are admitted to Pembina, and Marie-Claire narrates her story as she worries over her brother and sister, and tries to come to terms with her new life inside the sanatorium's walls. She, her fellow patients and their doctors "chase the cure," and readers learn about a host of treatments that were attempted on TB patients. Marie-Claire is an entirely unsentimental patient, and feels bitter resentment at having her youth cut short by this sick twist of fate. Her story is presented with emotional honesty, and Marie-Claire finds her own definitions of family and friendship.

This novel was reminiscent, for me, of the author's TRUE CONFESSIONS OF A HEARTLESS GIRL, in the way Brooks presents a female character who is not afraid to speak her mind, and clash with those in authority. But in this case, there's very little Marie-Claire can do to change her situation. She's sick, and needs to go through the treatments if she has any hope of leaving the sanatorium. The way Brooks presents her anger and eventual acceptance of her family's reaction to the disease is moving, as is the way Marie-Claire finds her way to friendship, even when that's the last thing she's looking for. A very strong, moving and emotional novel. (less)

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Jan 28, 2012 Joan rated it 5 of 5 stars

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Jan 06, 2012 Stefanie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya, 2011, historical, washyarg-reviews

This is excellent historical fiction that will appeal to fans of the genre. Since the language is straightforward and it's fairly short, it's also a great choice for readers looking for more accessible historical fiction.

Marie Clare is a headstrong fifteen-year-old living in Canada during World War II. Although it's wartime, she lives a pretty typical teenage life with a loving family, until her beloved uncle comes to stay. Soon they find out that he has tuberculosis, and Marie Clare, her brothe...more

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Dec 20, 2011 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: death, ncbla

Fifteen-year-old Marie-Claire Cote and her two siblings watch in horror as their beloved vagabond uncle contracts and then dies from tuberculosis. Then all three children in the Manitoba farm also are diagnosed with TB and moved to a nearby sanitorium where they are expected to rest and recover. The author describes vividly the uncertainty associated with the disease and its sufferers as well as the various treatments used to help the patients regain their health. The passages detailing how they...more

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Dec 14, 2011 Corinne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

Marie-Claire, living on the prarie in Canada at the beginning of World War II, doesn't expect live to be easy. She works hard at her chores around the farm, she knows boys are going off to war. Even at 15, she is aware that life will exact a price from you. She never could've imagined, though, how high that price would be. When she contracts tuberculosis, Marie-Claire has move into a sanatorium for TB patients. Her life shudders to a crawl as she painfully works through the disease as well as he...more

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Nov 05, 2011 Richie Partington rated it 5 of 5 stars

30 October 2011 QUEEN OF HEARTS by Martha Brooks, Farrar Straus and Giroux, August 2011, 214p., ISBN: 978-0-374-34985-1

"Sister Therese, walking by my desk with her yardstick, pokes me awake on several occasions throughout the fall and early winter. One December day she keeps me after school. She stretches her long legs in front of her, her cracked black shoes showing below her long black skirts. Sister Therese and I love and hate each other in equal measures.
"Today I love her. I wasn't looking...more

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Oct 18, 2011 Alex Baugh rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: world-war-2

Queen of Hearts is an engaging YA novel set, for the most part, inside a tuberculosis sanatorium in Manitoba, Canada during the years 1940-1941.

Marie-Claire Côté, 15, lives on a small farm across a valley from the Pembina Hills Tuberculosis Sanatorium. The close proximity of the San makes everyone in the community very aware of this highly contagious disease. But so far, the Côté family have all been lucky enough not to have had TB touch their world.

Their luck changes, however, one cold spring...more Queen of Hearts is an engaging YA novel set, for the most part, inside a tuberculosis sanatorium in Manitoba, Canada during the years 1940-1941.

Marie-Claire Côté, 15, lives on a small farm across a valley from the Pembina Hills Tuberculosis Sanatorium. The close proximity of the San makes everyone in the community very aware of this highly contagious disease. But so far, the Côté family have all been lucky enough not to have had TB touch their world.

Their luck changes, however, one cold spring evening in 1940 when Oncle Gérard returns to the farm. Gérard, only 25, has been riding the railroads for years, a happy go lucky vagabond. Then, in the fall of 1940, Gérard is diagnosed with TB. At first, he remains at home, but when a place opens at the San, he is taken there, where he dies in February, 1941.

But it doesn’t take long for symptoms of TB to start appear in the Côté children. First, in 11 year old Luc, then in Marie-Claire and finally in the youngest, Josée, 5. In December 1941, all three of the children are diagnosed and immediately admitted to the San. Angry and resentful, Marie-Claire doesn’t adjust well to San life – the food, the routines, even the constant cheerful friendliness of her very sick roommate, Signy.

Though not a willing patient, Marie-Claire does begin to adjust to the idea that she must change her attitude in order to help herself. This attitude change is bolster by the loss of her brother and the recovery of little Josée. After a while, she even begins to slowly accept Signy’s offer of friendship and manages finds a boyfriend in the San.

The relationship between Marie-Claire and Signy is always strained and through it Brooks brings out an interesting phenomenon that often occurs when someone is faced with the possibility of a friend’s illness being terminal – avoiding them despite their genuinely good intentions. This happens a couple times in Queen of Hearts. Signy’s former roommate, Louise, is a good example. Louise had been moved to a cottage as she improved, but with promises of coming back to visit. The visit doesn’t happen until the day the now healthy Louise is leaving that San: “I always meant to come back and see you. It’s hard, you know to…see people. I mean, after you’re getting better and they’re…” (pg 104) Who knows why this happens – survivor guilt? Fear of getting sick again? Fear of death? It could be anything. It is just not something that is addressed in YA novels about illness very often, but maybe it should be.

I was very interested in this book, since my dear friend and neighbor, George Cassa, who passed away suddenly this spring, once told me about his own personal experience as a teenage TB patient in an upstate New York sanatorium, also during World War II. His experience mirrors much of was is described in Queen of Hearts, adding to the realistic feeling in the novel.

Brooks, who grew up living in a Canadian sanatorium where her father was the medical superintendent, is very familiar with the confined, often boring, lonely life of a TB patient. Her descriptions of the tedious daily routines that Marie-Claire experiences as she “chases the cure,” a rather ironic image given that TB patients are confined to a bed for a good part of their treatment, imparts a true sense of authenticity in the novel.

Queen of Hearts is a poignant, compelling coming of age story which will captivate the reader from beginning to end as Marie-Claire wages her own personal life and death war against TB in the isolated world of the San, far from the battlefields of WW II.

This book is recommended for readers age 12 and up.
This book was borrowed from the Webster Branch of the NYPL

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Nov 29, 2011 Jenn (Booksessed) added it

I don’t know when the last time I read a book set in Canada. Honestly, the only thing that comes to mind is Anne of Green Gables. So when these book called to me from the shelf I gladly picked it up.

I felt that the book started a little slowly and that there seemed to be some superfluous information, but it really picked up after a few chapters. I’m really glad that I stuck with it. I didn’t really like Marie-Claire as a protagonist intially; her character kind of confused me. But as her illness...more

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Aug 07, 2011 Bdalton rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-fiction

Martha Brooks, the author of Queen of Hearts, grew up on the grounds of a tuberculosis sanatorium in Manitoba, Canada. Her father was a surgeon and her mother a nurse. As a child she would ride her bikes past the patients' balcony and they would call out to her, asking for a chat. She was lonely and they missed their families, so this was the perfect arrangement.

This description that you will find in the author's note as well as the fact that disease still kills more than two million people ann...more

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Dec 30, 2011 Jamie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I started off quite unimpressed with this book. The beginning feels disjointed and rushed in an effort to show how the protagonist and her family contracted tuberculosis. Some of the writing felt off to me (One sentence that really bugged me was in the first few pages where their mother "plunged" a bouquet of tulips into a vase....Grrr, I wish I had the book with me so I could get the exact quote. The sentence just felt weird and didn't fit).

Later on, however, when our main character was placed...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Stevecrandell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: grades-7-10, historical-fiction, teen-girls

This is a story of tuberculosis in Canada during WW2. It’s also a story of love, friendship, family, and the agonizing progress of TB infection and recovery.

15-year-old Marie-Claire is a great protagonist. She has some understandable grumpy stages, but Brooks has made her easy to root for. There are lots of great scenes: Marie-Claire and her brother jumping the rails into town, the midwinter subfreezing balcony cures, the picnic party. Marie-Claire’s sanatorium romance is either the highlight,...more

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Aug 10, 2012 Pam rated it 4 of 5 stars

Great historical fiction/coming of age entry by Martha Brooks. Marie-Claire and her younger brother contract tuberculosis during World War II in Manitoba, Canada. Sent to a sanitarium to heal, they are separated from their family and even each other. In those days, antibiotics had not been discovered which could cure TB, so treatments like sleeping outdoors in the bitter cold and collapsing a lung to rest it were common. Marie-Claire is sick, angry with her father for his emotional distance, and...more

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May 14, 2012 Bill rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: middle-grades-novel, ya-novel, hist-fiction

Surely movie previews are one of the most heinous inventions ever. Book reviews in a newspaper, magazine, or online are better because they appear in print; and one has control over print. I can read the first bit and the last bit to get a sense of what the reviewer thinks about it. But I like to experience the film or book as it was constructed by the maker, not have bits presented that someone else selects for me.

I mention (p)reviews because I just finished reading Martha Brooks’ Queen of Hear...more Surely movie previews are one of the most heinous inventions ever. Book reviews in a newspaper, magazine, or online are better because they appear in print; and one has control over print. I can read the first bit and the last bit to get a sense of what the reviewer thinks about it. But I like to experience the film or book as it was constructed by the maker, not have bits presented that someone else selects for me.

I mention (p)reviews because I just finished reading Martha Brooks’ Queen of Hearts and had completed reading R. J. Palacio’s Wonder as my immediately previous children’s/YA literature novel. Of course, you have to be brain-dead/reclusive not to know beforehand what topic you’re in for with Wonder, but I had no clue prior to Marie-Claire’s being hospitalized in Queen of Hearts that this would be another kid-with-megaproblem book, so imagine my surprise as I realized I was reading two such books back-to-back. And the more I read of QoH, the more I was struck by the differences in which the two approached their characters’ situations.

When I finished Wonder, I was asked what I thought of it. Okay; pretty good; topic was certainly interesting/can’t find it anywhere else in children’s literature. Now how many Goodreads stars should I give it? Settled on 4. I was informed (since I was unaware) that it was getting rave reviews all over the place. Hmm. Maybe I missed something. Even got a Goodreads comment asking, “You didn’t find it successful? Do tell!”

Now that I have finished QoH—and have talked to the brain trust in the family who really knows children’s literature and just finished Wonder herself—I think I understand more clearly why Wonder didn’t much grab me. Too much messaging that ended up making it come across as too didactic for my taste. I had a very different experience with QoH. A protagonist who is more conflicted—and doesn’t always do the right thing, and isn’t always kind or thinking of others. A not-neatly-tied-up ending (which someone on Goodreads suggested is an excuse for a sequel—but I think not [and hope not!]). That’s not to say that QoH is a great novel. But in the end I found it more satisfying than Wonder and had to ponder why, given the praise for Wonder. Guess I better reconsider the latter as 3 stars.
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Jan 10, 2013 Natalie Cheetham rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: gstba-2013

The battlegrounds of World War II might be far away from Canada, but those left at home are fighting a battle all their own against the deadly Tuberculosis. After watching their beloved uncle die an agonizing death from TB, Marie Claire and her two younger siblings are sent to the same Sanatorium where he died when they are found to be suffering from the disease. It is here that Marie Claire turns 16 years old and must struggle through grief, feelings of abandonment from her parents, and navigat...more

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Mar 12, 2012 Brooke rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, middle-school-audience, young-adult-fiction, ww11, physical-mental-disabilities-illne, death, includes-a-love-story, don-t-like-the-ending

There is a difference, I believe, in leaving possibilities at the end of the book and just not finishing a book. This falls into the latter.
A young girl named Marie-Claire is living in Manitoba during WWII. Her uncle comes to live with them, contracts TB, dies, and then all three of the Cote children (Marie-Claire and her two siblings) contract TB too. They go to the Pembina Hills Sanatorium to "chase the cure".
This book is all about Marie-Claire's confinement during the disease. It's about the...more

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Jul 30, 2011 Suzanne rated it 3 of 5 stars

I received this book from Good Reads First Reads---- thank you.

Although I believe this coming of age story about a young girl confined to a tb sanitarium is written as a YA novel, it would certainly appeal to adults as well. Marie-Claire and her two siblings all test positive for tb after prolonged exposure to her infected uncle, and in the early World War II years, that meant confinement in an institution. Treatment ranged from keeping the patients outside on the balcony overnite, even in cold...more

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Jun 14, 2012 Zenia rated it 3 of 5 stars

I agree with many who rated this on Goodreads that the characters and storyline were flat. Had the characters had more depth this could have had me in tears, especially when Luc passes, but instead it felt like just another journal entry in this short historical fiction. The love story (which you clearly believe to be an elemental part of the story because it's right on the cover) doesn't get introduced until midway and, though he represents hope when they are surrounded by illness and death, Ja...more

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Oct 02, 2011 Kat Goldin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Queen of Hearts is a coming of age novel about the Canadian involvement and happenings at the time of World War II. Americans typically do not spend a lot of time thinking or discussing the other Allies during the war, in fact, I think that this is the only noel I have read that deals with the factors of illness, war rations and the emotional struggles of families during the late 1930’s and 1940’s. Maria Claire and her family welcome in their uncle who eventually is diagnosed and removed from th...more

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Mar 24, 2012 Meghan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, young-adult, romance, world-war-ii-and-holocaust, borrowed-or-library

I was pleasantly suprised with this book. Marie-Claire is the perfect narrator. She is the perfect combination of frustration, anger, and love to just pull me in. She was someone I could really relate to. The supporting charscters like Marie-Claire's family, Signy, Jack and Julie are also excellent. Even Luc and Oncle Gérard, who are not a part of the book after the first few chapters, seem to linger and give feeling to the entire book. Also, the plot itself is suprising. You would think a coupl...more

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Oct 13, 2011 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: post-uni

In the summer of 1940, Marie-Claire’s life changes forever when her Oncle Gerard comes to live with her family. He entertains his nieces and nephew with stories of the shadow man, despite the fact that he is getting sick. When her uncle is diagnosed with tuberculosis, he is sent to a near by sanatorium where he lives throughout his final days. After his death, Marie-Claire goes on with life as normally as she can, filling her time working on the family farm and even going to a dance with a soldi...more In the summer of 1940, Marie-Claire’s life changes forever when her Oncle Gerard comes to live with her family. He entertains his nieces and nephew with stories of the shadow man, despite the fact that he is getting sick. When her uncle is diagnosed with tuberculosis, he is sent to a near by sanatorium where he lives throughout his final days. After his death, Marie-Claire goes on with life as normally as she can, filling her time working on the family farm and even going to a dance with a soldier. When Marie-Claire and her younger brother and sister are diagnosed with TB, they are all sent to the sanatorium where their uncle died a year earlier. Marie-Claire is angry with her parents, with God and even with her cheerful roommate, Signy. As Marie-Claire “chases the cure,” she wonders if she will ever be able to live a normal life again. As she grows up while fighting TB in a sanatorium, Marie-Claire learns about love, loss and friendship.

I was interested in this book because my Great-Grandfather died of TB in a sanatorium in Ontario, Canada in the early 1920s. In Queen of Hearts, Marie-Claire and her family are sent to a sanatorium in Manitoba, Canada. Since I knew fairly little about the treatment of TB, I thought I’d give this book a try. At first, I thought the writing was a bit coarse and hard to get used to. There was little build up to Oncle Gerard, and then Marie-Claire, contracting TB, and I wish we had seen more of Marie-Claire’s life before she was sent to the sanatorium. Things picked up when we are introduced to Signy, Marie-Claire’s roommate in the hospital. In many ways, the two girls are opposites. Marie-Claire is a hardworking farm girl, and Signy is an upper class city girl. While Marie-Claire is openly angry about her situation, Signy does her best to put on a cheerful face. Signy was a great character and my heart really went out to her. While sometimes I was frustrated with Marie-Claire, but I liked how she was headstrong and how she dealt with her losses much better than I ever would have. I think this book’s strongest asset was its emotional effect. Although it was sad, I was still able to enjoy it and feel like there was hope in the end. As a piece of historical fiction, I think Brooks did a very good job of showing life in the sanatoriums and how not only the poor were touched by TB. Set during World War II, I liked how the novel showed a girl going through a different kind of war at home. It was a short and fairly simple novel, but it managed to portray a realistic and poignant story about a part of history that is some times overlooked.

Overall, Queen of Hearts provided an in-depth look into a part of Canadian history that I knew fairly little about. It was definitely worth reading, and although there were some flaws, it was a memorable coming of age story set in a tuberculosis sanatorium.

3.5/5(less)

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Nov 17, 2011 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, teen-ya-books, romance, ya-fiction, adult-fiction

A very, very interesting book. Just before her sixteenth birthday in the 1940s, Marie-Claire of Manitoba, Canada, and her younger sister and brother are all diagnosed with TB (contracted from a sick uncle who lived with them) and put in a sanitorium. For the next year, with WWII raging in the outside world, Marie-Claire comes of age from her hospital bed as she "chases the cure" while struggling with questions of life, faith, romance, and her fear that it's her fault that her little brother and...more

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Oct 15, 2011 Kirstin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Kirstin by: Teacher

I very much loved Queen of Hearts. It was interesting, heart-breaking, funny and romantic all in one! I love the setting of the 1940's and the characters. Now I was actually very skeptical -at first- on reading a book about tuberculosis because I was worried it would be TOO sad and just join the long, long list of books I gave up on while having only read through a quarter of it but after I started reading Queen of Hearts I couldn't put it down. It is both fascinating and heart-wrenching to see...more

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Nov 12, 2012 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Martha Brooks' has a writing style that in my opinion appeals to both adults and children. Her latest novel Queen of Hearts explores the world of a TB sanatorium through the eyes of fifteen year old Marie-Claire during WWII. Brooks' was able to bring this world to life in such vivid detail that I felt that I had been there and could see it perfectly when I closed my eyes.

This novel was an interesting mix both providing a background on TB treatments and its affect on individuals and human intera...more

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Apr 17, 2012 Joy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Very interesting book about Marie-Claire, a teenage girl, who along with other family members contacts TB...her struggles and fears. The story takes place in Canada from 1940 - 1942.

I would have ranked this book higher but I didn't care for the swearing. This is a youth fiction and seriously the author should have found other language to convey the fustration of Marie-Claire in dealing with her illness.

I learned alot about tuberculosis, what it does to the body, how doctors dealt with the disea...more

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Feb 07, 2012 Amanda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, romance

How this novel made YALSA's Best Fiction for Young Adults 2012 list makes no sense to me. I wanted to read this novel when I saw this book on the list and read its' summary. After all, tuberculosis and romance in Canada during WWII seemed liked a good choice, especially for me. However, after reading the novel I was a bit disappointed. The book was quite simple, a quick read, little romance, Marie Claire was a bit selfish, and the ending was not satisfying at all. However, I will give the author...more

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About Martha Brooks

Critically acclaimed playwright, novelist and short fiction writer Martha Brooks was born and raised in a medical family on the grounds of the now defunct Manitoba Sanatorium at Ninette, Manitoba and resides with her husband, Brian, in Winnipeg.

She has penned award-winning short stories and several powerful novels for young readers, as well as several plays, all of which deal with the universal th...more

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