Skip to content | Skip to institutional links

Common menu bar links

Archived Content

This archived Web page remains online for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. This page will not be altered or updated. Web pages that are archived on the Internet are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats of this page on the Contact Us page.

Annotated Award-Winning Titles

Cover of Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril and Romance

TD Canadian Children's Literature Award
(TD Bank Financial Group and the Canadian Children's Book Centre)
For the most distinguished book of the year
(All genres)
Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril and Romance
Marthe Jocelyn
Toronto: Tundra Books,
2004, 279 p.
ISBN 0887766633
Ages 10 to 12

Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril and Romance
Source

What a delight it is for Mable to leave her farmhouse, to journey by train to Stratford and on to Sellerton with her sister, Viola, who has accepted a teaching job there. Young Mable is so enthralled with this chapter in her life and with thoughts of new adventures that she fills her diary with musings on daily events, poems, and letters to and from her best friend Hattie, back home. In fact, she draws from her new experiences to create her own story.

There is much to learn in Sellerton. The owner of the cheese factory and his wife not only control the prosperity of this small town but also set the rules for the community. The eccentric and independent Mrs. Rattle invites Mable to the Ladies Reading Circle where new ideas are being discussed.

Mable is a high-spirited girl who is pursuing her dreams in an era where girls and women must conform to established codes of conduct. She discovers her writing talent and finds the courage to assert herself in this conservative environment.

Marthe Jocelyn has written a delightful novel and given voice to a lively and humorous character.

–JP