Jordan Bonaparte was walking home from work two weeks ago along Joseph Howe Drive in Halifax when he noticed a bunch of books on the side of the road.

One caught his eye. It was a tattered black notebook with MSS emblazoned in gold letters across the cover. It was open with yellowed pages and cursive writing.

"The initial entry I stumbled upon was referring to Princess Elizabeth. My first thought is, 'I've never heard of Princess Elizabeth,' but then I clued in that this must be quite old referring to Queen Elizabeth," Bonaparte said.

The next entry in the journal made reference to the passing of King George VI.

​"I pulled out my phone and Googled that and found out it occurred in the early 1950s and that's when I realized what I had," he said.

Bonaparte thinks the journal may have been tossed out by accident and is hoping to find Eva Smith or someone from her family. (Anjuli Patil/CBC)

The journal offered more clues: Eva Smith, Grade VIII is written on the back of the cover. There are also references to Milford Station, a village in East Hants. There are also musing of an eighth grader living in rural 1950s Nova Scotia.

"I think it's typical Grade 8, her attitude, just much before my time," said Bonaparte.

He posted his story about finding the journal on Reddit, an online forum, on Monday night. Bonaparte thinks the journal may have been tossed out by accident. He is hoping to find Eva Smith or someone from her family.

Eva Smith - Composition Grade VIII is written on the inside of her journal. (Anjuli Patil/CBC)

"What really motivated me to reach out and try to find her is how much it would mean to me to find something like this written by my grandmother," he said.

An excerpt from Smith's journal about the royals visiting Nova Scotia in 1951:

My Opinions of Elizabeth and Philip's Visit to Canada

When word was received that Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip were coming to Canada, everybody started to fly around and buy flags, paint stations and buildings and get gifts to give their majesties. I don't know why all the cities they visited had to give them such big presents... when they have enough of everything now. In the cities they visited, the children they saw were mostly those from the city, so they didn't get much of a chance to see the county folk or any ordinary people. All they did was talk to people who thought they were as big as they were, so they didn't get much of a chance to meet any ordinary people

- Eva Smith, Grade VIII