Marja's Skis — Jean E. Pendziwol

Marja admires her brave, strong father as he goes off into the woods and brings back a sleigh full of logs. She also looks up her older sister and can't wait to join her in skiing to school. When Marja turns seven, she's finally ready. Her father tells her, �"When you are strong inside, you can do anything,” and despite her mother's fears, she skis off to school on her own. Then a shocking event turns Marja's world upside down. How will she cope? Evocative prose and beautiful illustrations bring this moving tale, set in a 19th-century Canadian logging town, to life.