From There to Here

A little girl and her family have just moved across the country by train. Their new neighborhood in the city of Toronto is very different from their home in the Saskatchewan bush, and at first everything about "there" seems better than "here."

The little girl's dad has just finished building a dam across the Saskatchewan River, and his new project is to build a highway through Toronto. In Saskatchewan, he would come home for lunch every day, but now he doesn't come until supper. The family used to love to look at the stars, and the northern lights dancing in the night sky. But in the city, all they can see is the glare from the streetlights. All the kids used to run and play together, but now older brother Doug has his own friends.

Then one day there is a knock on the door. It is Anne, who lives kitty-corner and is also eight, going on nine, and suddenly living in Toronto takes on a whole new light.

Laurel Croza and Matt James have beautifully captured the voice and intense feelings of a young child who, in the midst of upheaval, finds hope in her new surroundings.

Author Notes

Laurel Croza lived near four dam sites when she was a child, moving nine times and attending six schools before she was fourteen. I Know Here, her first picture book, illustrated by Matt James, is based on her memories of leaving Saskatchewan for Toronto. It won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Ezra Jack Keats and New York Public Library New Writer Award, and the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, among many other accolades. Laurel's second book, From There to Here, picks up where the first left off. She lives with her family in Toronto.

Matt James is a noted painter, illustrator and musician. His first picture book, Yellow Moon, Apple Moon by Pamela Porter, won the New Mexico Book Award and was a finalist for the Governor General's Award. I Know Here by Laurel Croza won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award and the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, and was a finalist for the Governor General's Award, the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award and the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award. Matt's most recent book is Northwest Passage, a gorgeous tribute to the iconic Stan Rogers' song and the history of northern exploration. Matt lives in Toronto.

Reviews (3)

School Library Journal Review

K-Gr 3-This continuation of the author's I Know Here (Groundwood, 2010) contrasts the experiences of a girl who had been living in the wilds of Saskatchewan with those of her new life in Toronto. Her father's work in construction has brought about the move, and the stark differences in lifestyle drive the narrative: "There. We lived on a road...A road without a name. Here. We live on a street...Birch Street. I don't see any birch trees." There is a nostalgic tone to the spare text, as the girl recalls living in a trailer surrounded by nature's majesty and playing with the other workers' children who "traveled in a pack-all the kids, so long as we could keep up." Living in the city means asphalt and locked doors and streetlights dimming the stars, all factors that make the move more unsettling. The book can be read one its own but clearly works best as a companion title, for without its predecessor the girl's former life loses some of its emotional heft. For example, one needs to know that she was the only third grader in her one-room school in order to fully appreciate the neighbor Anne, who meets the moving truck the afternoon, they arrive and announces that she, too, is "Eight, almost nine." As in the first book, expressionistic acrylic and ink illustrations add depth to the story, as do the marvelous endpapers depicting a map of central Canada. A satisfying sequel to I Know Here.-Teri Markson, Los Angeles Public Library (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

In a lovely companion story to 2010's I Know Here, Croza's heroine and her family have settled in Toronto. While the girl's references to "here" meant their rural Saskatchewan dwelling in the previous book, Toronto is "here" for her family now, and their former home has become "there." Both locations bleed together in some of James's thickly painted images, emphasizing the central role they hold in the girl's mind and heart. Croza doesn't avoid the reality that some things were perhaps better in the country ("Here. No stars, no northern lights"), but readers will come to understand that while "here" and "there" are different, different is OK, especially when you have the support of a new friend. Ages 4-7. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

In this sequel to the author's I Know Here (2010), the transplanted girl begins to settle into her new home in urban Toronto, and she notices the differences between her old, rural home and this one: There. We lived on a road. A graveled and oiled road . . . Here. We live on a street. An asphalted and sidewalked street. James' expressive india-ink illustrations reveal what the little girl misses in her new place a small moose looks over her shoulder as she draws, and she clutches tiny conifers as she peers out a window. But for all the changes, there are nice things, too. She's not the only one in her class anymore, and there's a girl just her age who lives on her block. Now the differences don't seem so bad. The splotchy, colorful illustrations have a childlike quality, which is well suited to the young girl's simple words. Little ones struggling to adjust to a new home or missing their old one will find comfort here.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2014 Booklist

Excerpts

"East. That's the direction we went -- from there to here -- all the way by train. Pulling out of Saskatoon, rattling faster and faster on the tracks, swaying everyone to sleep. Except me, my forehead pressed against the window, listening to the train whistle, "Gooooood-bye." * * * "There. A tarp of twinkle-twinkle little stars hung high above our trailers. And on some nights, a special show when aurora borealis shimmered in the sky, swirling and twirling, dancing just for us. Here. No stars, no northern lights. The street lamps all in a row -- standing attention -- glaring down the dark." * * * "Here. Anne and me on our bikes -- down our street, through the church parking lot, past the apartment buildings, towards Yonge Street and lunch at The Red Barn -- pedaling faster and faster, the Toronto air rushes to greet me, tugging up the corners of my mouth. Anne is smiling, too." Excerpted from From There to Here by Laurel Croza All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.