This is a sweeping piece of Canadian literature that one of my older brothers introduced me to not long after it was published. It's been a long time since I read this, but I have book crossed many copies. I remember thinking it was a beautiful piece of literature back when I first read it (when I was a teenager, I think).

This book recounts the story of a Scottish highlander family coming to Canada in the late 1700s and follows generations of that family as it spreads across Canada and even into the USA.

I am currently trying to plan a small "mass release" of immigration themed books to leave around Victoria Park's luggage themed public art installation. I thought that, since the Multicultural Festival normally held at the park in late June won't be possible this year, it would be nice to keep the Multiculturalism theme going this way instead. I was trying to think of an immigration story I've read that has a musical connection to go with one of the art pieces, and I thought about how the musical traditions of the family in this book had been brought from their old country and filtered down through the Canadian branch of the family. I had an old copy of the book around, so I thought I'd register it and let it move on as part of this mass release if I can pull it off!

On July 1st, I plan to do my first mass release (albeit a small one). I plan to leave some immigration stories in Kitchener's Victoria Park, in the area around the bell tower with all the quotes and luggage sculptures, and I am including this book! Where possible, I will leave the books near quotes that relate to the stories.

Since before Canada was Canada, people have been coming here from lots of different places, in lots of different ways, and for lots of different reasons. Our history is not without mistakes or injustices, but I feel there is a lot that's worthy of celebration and pride as well. I have done my best, in these restricted times, to diversify the books I've chosen in terms of style and reading level, as well as in terms of times and cultures represented. Some are geared to kids, some to adults; some are fiction, some are non-fiction; some focus more on what happened in a person/character's life that led to them coming to Canada, some focus on building a life here, and some focus more on the journey itself; many have been written by immigrant authors. Some of these books were written a long time ago and may contain dated language/attitudes, but history was what it was so I've chosen not to automatically rule out books based on those factors. If you've found one of these books, I hope that you will enjoy it!

I left this book with the guitar case. The tag on the case reads "For me this region is a metaphor for new rhythms and beats."

If you've found this book, thanks for picking it up and checking out its journal! If you're new to bookcrossing, welcome. We'd love it if you'd stick around with us a while. I really hope that you enjoy both this book and the whole bookcrossing experience! Happy Canada Day!


This book was released as part of the "Canada Days" Release Challenge!