Marsha Skrypuch Forchuk
Aram’s Choice (New Beginnings)
Fitzhenry&Whiteside, 2006.

Rating: E

Arams Choice is a historical chapter book in which it’s main character, Aram, is exiled to Greece as a survivor of the Armenian genocide in Turkey. Living in an orphanage among many other boys, Aram is one of several selected to a new life in a place called Canada. With no war and the promise of plenty to eat, Aram is excited about the opportunity, but anxious about leaving his grandmother behind; his one remaining living relative.

In the first two chapters we meet Aram and the other boys in the orphanage, and we are gently taught of the Armenian genocide, and some of its atrocities. Chapters three through eleven give us a detailed look at the trip to Canada by boat and train, the problems encountered by the boys and their chaperone, and finally their arrival at Georgetown Boys Farm, July 1923.

Based on historical facts, complete with a glossary, index, biographical information, illustrations, and suggested further readings, Aram’s Choice is superbly written to appeal to young audiences while informing them of the history of the world in which we live. Students studying history of the world, or specifically of Canada or Armenia, will enjoy reading of the safe arrival or the Armenian boys in Canada at the Georgetown Boys Farm. he vocabulary is age appropriate, paragraphs and chapters not too long, and the overall content easily understood without the need for too many explanations. There are countless opportunities for discussion and further studies. Arams Choice is an affordable, comprehensive asset to the social studies classroom.

Thematic Links: Communities; Canada - History; Genocide; Immigration; Turkey

Adriane Pettit, Junior High Humanities Teacher
Vol. 12, number 1
October 2006

*Rating System:
E - Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!
G - Good, even great at times, generally useful!
A - Average, all right, has its applications.
P - Problematic, puzzling, poorly presented.