Peter, Santiago and Ahab are fishermen through and through. The sea is the place where they spend their lives. Still, they have dreams of other places and when the sea is gentle the fishermen talk of those fantasies — of sand dunes and camels, of hot-air balloons high up in the clouds, of fields full of rainbow-coloured tulips.
On one of those d …

Sheldon Bates wants to share his story — the story of what it was like when he was seventeen. Sheldon was an ordinary high school student until he started noticing something changing about himself. It was then that Sheldon started feeling the same way about boys that he did about girls. It was at seventeen that Sheldon desperately tried to figure …

Dixon Carter wants to share his life manifesto. Don't worry — there won't be any violence. Dixon doesn't believe in violence. But Dixon is seeing things differently. He has gone off his meds — the drugs deaden him to the world. He is writing a daily journal from the point he stopped the meds. There are times he is angry with the world and every …

Award-winning author Caroline Pignat's new historical novel recreates the world of a Virginia tobacco plantation in 1858. Through the different points of view of slaves, their masters and a visiting bird-watcher the world of the plantation comes to live in this verse novel.
Phoebe belongs to Master Duncan and works in the plantation kitchen.
She …

Eric Alford, one of the brave but shell-shocked soldiers of WWI, sets out during Canada's Great Depression to find his British sweetheart. He ends up in Australia, where he finally wins ordination as a clergyman. After an emotionally fraught round the world trip, he arrives home in Quebec only to find his traumas growing worse. He continues to batt …

It is the summer before senior year and friends Carly and Ashley have the perfect plan. There is a student trip planned for London, England that Ashley is supposed to be on while her parents head off to Hong Kong for a week. But that will ruin her plans to ride her horse in the upcoming equestrian trials. The friends have it figured out though. Car …

17-year-old Hunter Ryan is making a long-dreaded return trip home. He takes a Greyhound bus bound for Victoria, British Columbia with his ex-girlfriend Lee and a 12-year-old named Poppy. There's a reason that Hunter left his parents, his friends, and his sister Bridget behind when he left for Alberta to live with his Aunt Lynne. Now Lee has come to …

"In the future everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes." - Andy Warhol Fifteen Minutes of Fame. Over 150 regular folks getting their time in the spotlight. Some are heroes, others buffoons. But they all share one thing in common. They weren't planning to become famous - it just happened that way.

How about innocent-looking page, Brigette …

M is for Mary whose real name is Mariposa. She is a troubled girl who is haunted by mysterious dark shadows. She knows little about her father, and her mother can't accept her for who she is. Mary's attempts to dare to make connections with other people are doomed to fail as long as the shadows loom within her — until she figures out how she can …

Wisp has a learning problem: he can't read stars.

For a juvenile nighthawk bursting with wanderlust this means trouble, with his peers, his parents, and the starving colony that tries to fence him in. So he ditches everyone, striking off on a forbidden migratory journey from the Amazon to the Arctic, alone — or so he thinks. Crossing two continent …

If only Bob could go back to being the Mr. Invisible of his superhero days. Back when he wasn’t always being compared to his super-talented hardcore basketball god brother and perfect little sister. Back when Roy and Kyle didn’t know he existed. To make matters even worse, his dad is really sick and getting sicker. When Bob begins planning a fu …

Got to Go has made his home at the Sylvia Hotel for seven years now. And it is the best home a cat could wish for! There was always a comfy lobby chair or a warm windowsill to sleep on and a nice bit of fish from the kitchen. Mister Fisher, the manager, still talks about how the hotel is no place for a cat but Got to Go doesn't worry. Then he sees …

Eric Alford's safe and romantic life on the peaceful Gaspe Coast is shattered by his decision to follow his elder brother John (the Pilgrim and The Chaplain) into the 1914-18 cataclysm of death and destruction known as the "Great War for Civilisation". By his thundering Howitzer, Gunner Alford assaults the Hun through every major Canadian battle of …

Meredith is determined to make her mark as she starts Grade 10—and claiming the "cool" seat in home room is her first step. But that decision brings her unwanted attention from the school's "kingpin of the underworld" and her new enemy is smart, determined and capable of holding a long-term grudge. Should she just back away? But how will she look …

Millions for a Song is the story of Alex, a Quebec teenager and his rock band, The Nexxtep, made up of Alex and his friends: creative genius and lead guitarist Bruno, hot, feisty singer Melanie, and quiet-except-when drumming Jean-Francois. Alex and Melanie are close, very close, but friend-close not boyfriend/girlfriend close, despite the love/hat …

In this story, the young girl Ra-Eli watches as her family agonizes over the illness of her baby brother Samson. When they approach a healer, the answer comes:
"Hold a ceremony to honor your ancestors and ask them to help, a joyful ceremony filled with guests."
"Joyful?" my mother said. "How can we be joyful at a time like this?"
"A joyful cere …

At 14 years old, Ryan Waite is not a bad actor -- in fact he's quite a good one. But when he messes up an audition for a part in Les Mis, he comes into contact with a character named Burton who launches the boy into the most challenging role of his life. You see, Burton is a private investigator out to make some big money the shady way. And he want …

It's the start of winter, and Patrick is beginning to feel crowded out of his own family. His father's friend, Linda, and her seven-year-old daughter, Claire, are coming for dinner again. By the time spring arrives, not only is Patrick's father planning to marry Linda, but she and Claire will be coming to live with them at the summer's end. That ju …

Gregory loves numbers — they don't change and he can count on them, literally. Numbers also keep Gregory's mind off his father who died in a car crash. Ever since, Gregory has not been able to return to the accident scene despite the fact that it lies directly on the way to school. It has become an obstacle of the heart and mind, a physical space …

The White Bicycle is the third title in the Wild Orchid trilogy following the adventures of Taylor Jane, a young woman with Asperger's Syndrome. In The White Bicycle, Taylor travels to the south of France with her mother and her friends. She is going to be working for the summer babysitting for the Phoenix family. While on this journey Taylor will …

In 1896, young rector Jack Alford is sent to the implacable, granite shores of Labrador on the vast St. Lawrence River. Hazards imperil his life as he travels this harsh 450-mile coastline by boat and dogsled, to visit his far-flung parishioners. Jack also manages to rescue a cook from the crew of a schooner to keep him company on his travels. In t …

The Prime Minister gives permission for John Alford to board a tramp steamer crammed with a thousand young enlistees bound for adventure in the Boer War. They steam across a stormy Atlantic into a year of dusty, disease-ridden battles in South Africa - the first engagement by Canadian Forces on foreign soil. He and his courageous comrades endure fr …

Jeremy Stone, the new young adult novel from acclaimed author Lesley Choyce, is told in free verse format.

After moving from a residential school to a new school in a new community, Jeremy, a First Nations teenage boy is trying to find out where he fits in the world. He soon meets Caitlan, an intense girl who tells him about another boy — a boyfri …

Jason's mom says he is a problem, and puts him in a group home. Now Jason has to live with boys and grown-ups he doesn't know. Jason thinks, Now I'm in a house that isn't my house. I watch their hands and feet. When hands and feet move fast, you're going to get hit. There's a big bubble of mad inside Jason. It makes him yell and throw things. Jason …

In July 1940, a British government-sponsored program called Children's Overseas Reception Board -- or CORB -- was set up to send children from Britain to Canada and other Commonwealth countries, in order to rescue them from the bombings of British cities.The City of Benares was a luxury liner that was recruited in September 1940 to transport 90 of …

Grace is looking forward to spending her summer weekends at horse shows riding new and spirited horse Sprite to the medal podium. But things don't always go as planned. It seems that her summer is ruined when Sprite is sold by the riding stable to a new owner. But then other opportunities present themselves — Grace is now going to live her dream. …

Jennifer's best friend has moved away and she has become the sole focus for the mean-spirited teasing from the "mean girls" and the "bad boys" at school. But when the new girl, Melody, joins their class the bullies have a new victim. Melody is native and has moved from the recently closed residential school to join the fifth grade class at Summerhi …

Michael Grove was sixteen years old when he was convicted for the murder of Lisa Conroy, the girlfriend he loved very much. The circumstances surrounding her final hours attract considerable media attention, especially because Michael and Lisa had sex just prior to her death. A public outcry against light penalties for young offenders ensures Micha …

Night Madness chronicles the incredible story of Ron Pyves, a teenager who fought as a tail-gunner over the wartorn skies of Europe during those last deadly months to eliminate Hitler's hold over Europe. For 35 harrowing nights, Ron and his crew flew out from the Scottish coast, deep into the Rhineland. Despite skies dark with Messerschmitts and de …

Whether their school is under a banyan tree, in a dusty tent held up with poles or in a sturdy brick structure in the heart of a bustling city, all children need a healthy lunch to be able to learn and grow. Good food nourishes both our bodies and our brains. It's one of the basic building blocks of life.

As the world has become more interconnected …

Visiting her dying grandmother in hospital is not what 17 year-old Emily wants to be doing for New Year’s Eve, but it’s not like she has anything else to do. Leaving the hospital, she meets a teen-aged boy named Alex, who is also leaving. When he invites her to go for a burger with him and his sister, she goes along. What Emily doesn’t know i …

Kate Allen, a fifteen-year-old girl, travels back in time to the Tudor court of Henry VII. While there, she is mistaken for an absent Katherine of Aragon, and subsequently takes the place of the young woman positioned to become the first wife of the future king Henry VIII. In her present time, Kate has been dealing with drastic changes in her life; …

Chris Ramsay is living a normal, quiet existence in a quiet suburb in Dallas. He lives alone with his controlling father, in a home with bare walls. There's no family photos. It's all routine. Predictable.

Then one evening Chris turns on the TV. There, suddenly before him, he sees a photo of a little kid on Santa's knee, a kid who's missing and whos …

This is the third book in the story of the Byrne family, Irish farmers whose lives were overturned in Greener Grass, then tested so severely in Wild Geese.

In Timber Wolf, Kit's younger brother, is now the focus. Jack is determined to make his mark in the rough-and-ready lumbering industry up the Ottawa river from late 1840s Bytown. The young boy, …

To say Shir is unpopular is a understatement. In fact she's less than homely, therefore a target of casual cruelty in high school. Even though she wishes to remain invisible, bullies find ways of tormenting her, viciously. Worse still, she's an outcast in her own family. There are two areas where Shir can overcome her negative self image. One is at …

At the heart of Victim Rights is Dooley’s girlfriend Beth, whose loving presence is a constant reminder to keep on the straight and narrow, away from the unsavoury life and shady characters that peopled Dooley’s past. But when rumours start to swirl about Beth’s possible unfaithfulness, Dooley’s world is pushed to the brink – and it’s u …

White Pine nominee, 2009Spinetingler Magazine Award Nominee, 2009 Canadian Children's Book Centre Our Choice, 2009A boy maybe twelve years old, on a bike, stopped next to Dooley, looked at the kid sprawled on the pavement and said, "Is he dead?""Yeah, I think so," Dooley said. In fact, he was sure of it because there was no air going into or coming …

This is an extraordinary story about a 13-year-old boy named Lee who loves setting personal and odd records. He's obsessed by them in fact - from tracing the annual public marathon with his dog Santiago to bouncing a basketball in the school playground for 12 hours straight with no one around - but he's not interested in going public with them.Alon …

Wild Geese, the sequel to the Governor General’s Award-winning novel Greener Grass, follows Kit Byrne and her friend Mick O’Toole after fleeing famine-ravaged Ireland. Across the Atlantic aboard a notorious “coffin ship”, through quarantine, and into the heart of North America, the two displaced teenagers endure storms, epidemics, and discr …

Selected as 2011 White Ravens Title "If you think life makes sense, do not read this book." It's this credo that sixteen-year-old Joe Campbell lives by. You see, his birth parents were killed in a car accident, and four years later he's still trying to work his way past that loss. His new parents are as supportive and loving as he could wish. But J …

In this sequel to Dooley Takes the Fall, Ryan Dooley continues to struggle against circumstances that would defeat most teenagers, let alone kids who have been in serious trouble with the law. Dooley was involved in a break and enter a few years ago, served his time, and is now living with his hard-nosed uncle. But there are threads that still link …

Winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award in the category of Juvenile-Young Adult Fiction!Winner of the Mr. Christie's Book Award!Shortlist for the 2004 Canadian Library Association Young Adult Canadian Book AwardOntario Library Association's Golden Oak Award winner, 2005This riveting story is about a fifteen-yearold boy who, as the story opens, realiz …

In the little village of Duk Padiet in southern Sudan, a boy named Jacob Deng thrives on the love of his mother, the companionship of his sisters, the excitement of learning how to look after his uncle's herds of cattle. The year is 1987, and suddenly in the night soldiers from the north invade the village, looting, burning, and killing. The war ha …

As he approaches his 18th birthday, Brandon DeWolf knows he is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. He failed a grade in an undistinguished school career, and is contemplating spending two more years in school when most of his friends will be graduating at the end of the academic year. He tends to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, has no re …

Ever wanted to write or illustrate a children's book and have no idea where to begin or where to seek publication? This handbook for new and aspiring children's authors and illustrators is the ultimate guide to the whole process of writing your book and getting it to the publisher.

Written in clear and expert prose by Peter Carver, one of North Amer …

Will Reid is a gawky kid who wears fake turtlenecks, is obsessed by his ant farm project, and is lousy at gym. In other words, he's the perfect target for Shane, the Grade 9 bully. Katie has been Will's friend in elementary school, but defending him in the high school environment comes at an unforeseen cost - she dreads the rumours that link them i …