The third of the Our Canadian Girl series to be set in the Maritimes, Anne Laurel Carter's Elizabeth: Bless This House tells the story of the 18th-century expulsion of the Acadians from the perspective of the daughter of one of the New England "Planters" invited to settle the Acadians' land. As this tightly written novella begins, Elizabeth is upset about her parents' decision to sell their farm and move to Nova Scotia. Not only is she sad to leave her home, but she keeps dreaming of a fire in a tiny log cabin with a thatched roof. When she realizes that the burning house of her dreams is the original Acadian homestead on her family's new property, and then later, when she meets an Acadian girl, Elizabeth's misgivings about being a Planter deepen.

Elizabeth: Bless This House explores the history of Acadia while offering some of the rewards of a longer novel, including a rivalry with a cloyingly perfect daughter from another Planter family. Although the condensed scope of the Our Canadian Girl series prevents Carter from developing her characters as fully as she might, Elizabeth's evolving sense of social justice is nicely rendered. Like Marie-Claire of Kathy Stinson's Dark Spring and Julie Lawson's Emily in Across the James Bay Bridge, Elizabeth is a "strong, smart and courageous girl" who may not become famous but who still makes a valuable contribution to her times. --Lisa Alward