The Emerald Key
Christopher Dinsdale
Dundurn

Christopher weaves an interesting tale of Canadian history through the eyes of the Irish immigrants and tells the immigrants' story in the late 1800's.  The characters were engaging and I learned quite a bit about the canals, the burning of the Parliament buildings and the struggles of the Irish immigrants from reading this book.  This would make a great read aloud in Grade 8 as it would help set the stage for many history lessons.