With Wolfe in Canada
by G.A. Henty

4 out of 5 stars

James becomes involved with the squire’s estate when he saves a little girl, Aggie, from drowning in the ocean. The child is placed with his mother’s school for girls, and they become childhood playmates. James comes to Aggie’s defense when the squire’s nephew, Richard Horton, breaks her toy boat and pushes her down, and the squire hears about the fight between the two boys. Years later, James and Richard meet again when James is pressed on board a ship going to America. James joins the militia as a volunteer until his commission in the royal army can come through from England, and he fights in the French and Indian War, joining officers like Colonel Washington, Colonel Monro at Fort William Henry, and the famous General Wolfe who led the American troops into Canada.

I liked that we learn a lot of history in this book, and we get to see the historical battles from the eyes of a fictional character. However, I would have liked it better if James had been really involved in each scene. But there is a lot of expository explanation of the movements of troops and dispatches and supplies that went on and on for almost an entire chapter, and then we would finally get back to what James was doing. I think the history could have been integrated into the story more naturally, instead of having sections that were just a lengthy history lesson.

I especially liked the beginning when the focus is entirely on James and the other characters. The ending was very rushed, but that is sort of typical for adventure classics of this type. The writing is excellent and even the long historical parts are very interesting. I just felt like it didn’t fit in with the rest of the story structure as seamlessly as it could have.

James is a great character, resourceful and brave and clever! I loved following all of his adventures! I liked how he approaches each military situation like a puzzle to be solved, and he gathers the information he needs to get his troops where they need to be. He commands a troop of scouts and trains them to skulk through the woods undetected and navigate the difficult terrain.

This book has been screened for violence on the Screen It First website. https://screenitfirst.com/book/with-wolfe-in-canada-or-the-winning-of-a-continent-903004