In a stellar follow-up to the quiet picture book I Know Here (Groundwood, 2010), the same young narrator describes the many ways the “there” of her former home in rural Saskatchewan is different from the “here” of her new life in Toronto. At first she is wistful, and it’s clear which place she prefers. “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 in a straight row — standing at attention — glaring down the dark.” When she finally describes a knock at the door “here” her tone begins to change. It’s “Anne, who lives kitty-corner to me.” Both girls are eight, almost nine. There it was “Only me, my age, on my road.” “Here” is now two girls, friends, riding their bikes in the city. “The Toronto air rushes to greet me, tugging up the corners of my mouth. Anne is smiling, too.” (Ages 5–9)

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.