Marja's Skis

Marja admires her big, brave older sister and is waiting until she too can ski and go to school. When Marja turns seven she is finally ready. Her father tells her, When you are strong inside, you can do anything. And despite her mother's objections, she skis off to school on her own.It's hard to stay true to her father though when he dies in a logging accident, and the family must struggle to survive. But Marja persists, skiing to school each day, learning her sums and letters and how to speak English, just as her father had always wanted. Then one sunny spring afternoon as she is skiing home alone, Marja's new-found strength is put to the test.Evocative prose and beautiful illustrations bring this moving tale, set in a 19th-century Canadian logging town, to life.