Millie, Book 2: The Button Necklace

Emily Walters Gregor is a graduate student in 20th-century American
literature and an ESL writing tutor at the University of Minnesota.

Like many of the novels in the Our Canadian Girl series, The Button
Necklace is engaging, interesting, and historically valuable. Set in
Toronto at the beginning of World War I, it features 10-year-old Millie
MacCallum. Millie misses her father, who has just left for England. Her
life is further disrupted when she learns she will be attending a new
school, one with only girls, uniforms, and strict rules.

Millie is relieved to find that Edwina, a friend from the summer
holidays, is a classmate. Edwina’s mother is a suffragette and social
activist, and Millie finds the idea that women should be able to do all
that men can do exciting. As part of her activism, Edwina’s mother
visits the immigrant neighbourhood in downtown Toronto called The
Ward. There, Millie and Edwina meet Molly and Bertie, two of the many
children in The Ward who live in poverty and hunger. Through the rest
of the novel, Millie and Edwina work to help their new friends while
concealing their efforts from Millie’s mother.

The Button Necklace provides a thoughtful portrayal of the contrast
between rich and poor in early 20th-century Toronto, while also drawing
from themes of the rights of women and the effects of the war. The
depictions of The Ward are detailed and compelling, and a smart parallel
is drawn between Millie’s desire to join the Rosebuds, a group that
organizes camping and other adventurous activities for young girls, and
the fight for women’s suffrage. The novel succeeds in bringing
Canada’s history alive for young readers. Highly recommended.