Pier 21

(ages 8 - 12) Award-winning children's author, Anne Renaud, delivers another important chapter of Canada's history to young readers. From 1928 to 1971, a cavernous shed-like building stood in Halifax harbour, welcoming more than one million newcomers to Canada. It also was the last view of home seen by close to 500,000 Canadian service personnel, as they sailed off to battle during World War II. Across its threshold came the ebb and flow of home children and guest children, soldiers and war brides, refugees and displaced persons, carried to and from its doors by ocean liners, military ships and small sailing vessels. For many, seeing the cluster of buildings known as Pier 21 meant that their new lives were beginning. This is a chronicle of Pier 21 and of those who passed through, some on their way to foreign lands to fight for freedom, and others on their way to becoming part of the growing nation of Canada.