- Table View
- List View
A Hole in My Heart
by Rie CharlesStarting a new life after the death of her mother, Nora learns how to be strong. Are there wounds too deep to heal, pains too sharp to share? And if a family survives by cutting the ties that bind them, can they ever be whole again? After losing her mother to illness and her father to his work, Nora Mackenzie must leave her home in the interior of B.C. for a North Vancouver school. Estranged from her classmates, her family, and the life she’s lost, Nora walls herself off from the people around her. At the same time, her young cousin Lizzie is facing an uncertain future as one of the first children to undergo open-heart surgery. As the operation approaches, Nora discovers that she is not the only person in her family isolated by fear and grief.
Queen and Consort: 60 Years of Marriage
by Arthur Bousfield Garry Toffoli Lynne Bell"Princely marriage is the brilliant edition of a universal fact" – so said the nineteenth-century writer Walter Bagehot. In 2007, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, celebrate their sixtieth wedding anniversary. This love story of the world’s most famous couple presents a thematic look at the most outstandingly successful marriage of recent times. This illustrated study explores the pressures and stresses of living life in the glare of public scrutiny. It is an early case of a married couple leading independent lives of extraordinary public service and indicating a path for others to follow. The historical experience of queens and their consorts and Elizabeth and Philip’s Canadian and Commonwealth roles add scope to this biography.
Dragon in the Clouds
by Rosemary NelsonThe Okanagan summer stretches out in front of twelve-year-old Nikki like a sparkling rainbow, with lots of time to spend at the beach and with her horse, Ginger. When her cousin Trevor arrives in his wheelchair, spoiling all her plans, they take an instant dislike to one another. But a vision in the clouds will change both her and Trevor’s feelings about a lot of things and, in fact, will help make a dream come true as Trevor competes in the B.C. Games for the Physically Disabled.
Stolen Away
by Christopher DinsdaleShort-listed for the 2008 Red Maple Award Keira, kidnapped from Ireland by Vikings, is a slave living in legendary Vinland. Two native bands, the Beothuck and the Thule, are also fighting over the land, thrusting the Norsemen into war. While the Vikings search for a new home, an accident at sea leaves Keira miraculously saved by a Beothuck warrior. Keira settles into the Beothuck way of life, learning their customs and coming to care for them. But she dreams of risking everything in order to find a way home. Ultimately, she is torn between the cultures in which she has livedher homeland, the Viking world in which she was welcomed, and her new Beothuck family. This is a thrilling adventure and an exciting introduction to the history of Canada.
Trouble on the Voyage
by Bob BartonA tiny speck imprisoned in a world of white… This is an exciting adventure novel told through the eyes of eleven-year-old ships boy Jeremy. It is both history and fiction. The merchant ship Henrietta Maria has been trapped in the ice of Hudson Strait for two months. It is August 6, 1631, when she finally breaks free to search for a northwest passage. The crew knows that it must leave Hudson Bay by early October to avoid being caught in the ice for the winter. The ship is leaking badly and the crew is ravaged by scurvy. Finally, Captain James announces that they cannot make it back to Hudson Strait before freeze-up. With half the crew suffering from scurvy and even lacking boots, will anyone survive in this cold and desolate place?
The Minstrel Boy
by Sharon StewartWinner of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre Choice: Best Books for Kids & Teens David Baird, a talented young rock musician, accompanies his estranged father to Wales. Fleeing after a quarrel, David has a bizarre motorcycle accident which hurls him back in time to medieval Prydein. A variation on the Arthurian legend, The Minstrel Boy introduces us to Merlin as a stern music teacher who takes David under his wing and a young King Arthur who becomes his friend. David eventually wins the respect of the town with his strange but beautiful songs, becoming a popular minstrel boy and quickly settling into the rhythm of this ancient society. Amidst a whirlwind of conflict and romance, David discovers a new path for his music, the source of his troubled dreams, and the heart he never knew he had.
Broken Circle
by Christopher DinsdaleAngry at missing a week of summer video game entertainment, Jesse, a twelve-year-old boy of European/Native American descent, grudgingly follows through with his deceased father’s request that he join his Uncle Matthew and cousin Jason at Six Islands, on Georgian Bay, for a special camping trip. Uncle Matthew explains that Jesse’s father wanted Jason’s vision quest to be his introduction to their native culture. During their first night around the camp-fire, it is Jesse who has a vision, and the adventure begins. Not only is he swept back in time four hundred years, but he is transformed into a majestic, white-tailed deer. He must now survive the expert hunting skills of his ancestors while somehow rescuing his people before they are destroyed by warfare.
The Path Through the Trees
by Peggy Dymond LeaveyThirteen-year-old Norah Bingham and her mother plan to spend Christmas in the country with Caroline Stoppard, Norah’s great-aunt. When her mother is called away on business, Norah goes on her own to stay with the aunt, someone she has never even met. From the start, the woman makes it plain that she does not welcome Norahs company, nor that of Norah’s cousins, Andrew and Becca, who arrive two days later. The isolated Stoppard mansion is as dismal as the Ontario winter. But the cousins soon discover there are puzzles to solve. Great-aunt Caroline has many secrets. Among them is the identity of the boy Norah sees in the backyard. Who is he? And why is he watching the house?
Billy and the Bearman
by David A. PoulsenA dramatic turn of events unites twelve-year-old Billy Gavin and seventeen-year-old John "Bearman" Redell, two boys from seemingly different backgrounds who discover that they in fact have a great deal in common - they are both runaways. Together, alone against nature in the rugged Alberta wilderness, they begin to deal with the demons of their pasts. When the news of a downed plane and a missing rodeo cowboy in the woods and mountains nearby reaches them, Bearman, an expert tracker who knows the woods like the back of his hand, becomes obsessed with the thought of finding the lost man. The boys find themselves faced with the greatest challenge of their lives. Do they have the courage to find the missing man? More importantly, will this adventure give them the self-confidence they need both to outrun the past and to embrace the future?
Running Scared: A Jennifer Bannon Mystery
by Brenda ChapmanFeeling somehow to blame for her father’s absence, thirteen-year-old Jennifer Bannon struggles to hang on to her dream that he will return and they can be a family again - a dream that doesnt include her mother’s new boyfriend, nights of looking after her little sister or a ninth grade year that is rapidly going down the toilet. Finally after two years of waiting Jennifer learns that her father is back in town, and suddenly the dream seems within reach. However, hope quickly turns to horror when Jennifer witnesses an event that threatens to tear apart her family and perhaps destroy the life of someone she loves. Will Jennifer be able to unravel the mystery in time, or will keeping a secret turn deadly?
Vivian Untangled
by Sarah Hartt-SnowbellNew Year’s 1955 is coming up fast, and eleven-year-old Vivian is determined to buy a snazzy new diary. The diary is soon put to good use, as Vivian must untangle the web of problems in her life, including a stolen keepsake of her grandfathers and her constantly arguing parents. Does her grandfather suspect her when he realizes one of his greatest treasures is missing? Does her father really mean it when he says hes leaving? Compelled to do everything in her power to keep her family together, Vivian, a natural trouble-magnet and her own worst enemy, must work through these humongous problems.
A Walk in the Park
by Grace CasselmanIn a new town, in a new school, fourteen-year-old Terra is experiencing many of the trials and tribulations that face her peers. She isn’t finding it easy to make new friends, nor leave behind her old ones. And while some of the new Inglewood girls seem kind of exciting, is that the crowd she really wants to hang out with? And what about that cute guy Glenn from the new school? Could he possibly want to be friends with Terra - or more? Terra has many, ultimately crucial, choices to make. All of these are normal stresses for a teenaged girl. But on top of all of these, Terra, who has always known she was adopted, is panicked at the thought of meeting her birthmother for the first time. Why didn’t this woman want to keep her baby fourteen years ago, and why has she decided she wants to meet Terra now? This is the follow-up to A Hole in the Hedge, which was shortlisted for the Canadian Library Association Children’s Book of the Year and brings to the page another moving story about the angst of being a teen.
I Saw Santa
by Thelma Carey-ThompsonLittle Dwayne grew up in rural Jamaica in the loving care of Granny. Like other little girls and boys he loved to play. Santa Claus, he learned, was somehow part of toys and games and very important at Christmas. Dwayne even had a treasured picture of Santa’s face. One day some special visitors from Canada came to his Basic School. Imagine Dwayne’s surprise when a tall white man with a white beard got off the bus. Dwayne just knew this was Santa. This publication is in support of The Adopt-A-Basic-School Project of Women for P.A.C.E. (Canada).
Warbird
by Jennifer MarunoEtienne is called on an adventure in the new world… In 1647, ten-year-old Etienne yearns for a life of adventure far from his family farm in Quebec. He meets an orphan destined to apprentice among the Jesuits at Fort Sainte-Marie. Making the most impulsive decision of his life, Etienne replaces the orphan and paddles off with the voyageurs into the north country. At Sainte-Marie, Etienne must learn to live a life of piety. Meanwhile, he also makes friends with a Huron youth, Tsiko, who teaches him the ways of his people. When the Iroquois attack and destroy the nearby village, Etienne must put his new skills into practice. Will he survive? Will he ever see his family again?
Sky Lake Summer
by Peggy Dymond LeaveyThirteen-year-old Jane Covington doesn’t want to go to Sky Lake to visit her grandmother for the summer holidays - she wants to visit her father in the north. But when she returns to the cottage on the lake with the tall cliff, she is happy to be back in the golden country sunshine. However, Jane soon involves herself in a mystery when she finds a seventy-year-old cry for help in the form of a very old letter. She traces it to the story of a suspicious fire that took place long ago. With the help of her friend Corrie and the troubled, handsome Jess, Jane researches the age-old mystery to an exciting conclusion. This suspenseful tale will appeal to all pre-teens who love the fun of the outdoors and a good mystery.
Under the Moonlit Sky
by Nav K. GillIt’s the spring of 1984 in British Columbia, and life is just getting exciting for Esha. A secret that looms over her family has reinforced her proud resistance to her family’s Indian identity. However, one day changes everything, and Eshas well-thought-out rebellion is put to the test. In the blink of an eye, she is forced to step up and fulfill her father’s last wish, taking her thousands of miles away to a place she never dreamed of visiting: India. Forced to follow traditions she has denied her whole life and fighting the temptations of an unlikely love interest, Esha must now confront her new reality. As she comes to understand her heritage, she also becomes a victim of the highly unstable political climate in 1984 Delhi. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi has just been assassinated, political tensions rise, and now only one chant can be heard: Blood for blood. Esha must fight to survive the three days of brutal chaos that erupts throughout Delhi in the aftermath of the prime minister’s assassination.
Trial By Fire
by Sheila DaltonWinner of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre Choice: Best Books for Kids & Teens Seventeen year-old Nathan is running – running from his past and running from his present. Raised by a white mother and never having known his native father, he must cope with prejudice and stereotypes. When he meets Sally, the beautiful outsider, he finds someone who believes in him. But when Sally’s house is put to the torch by an arsonist, suspicion falls on Nathan and he finds himself embroiled in an intrigue and murder that threaten to drive the two teenagers apart.
The Great Laundry Adventure
by Margie RutledgeThe Lawrence family (three children, one dog, one cat and two parents) has a crisis on its hands - too much laundry and no place to put it. Are the thirteen baskets they buy in the mysterious shop in the market the end of their problems? Or is it just the beginning of a grand and maybe dangerous adventure for Abigail, Jacob and Ernest? When the baskets become the gateway to another time, the children encounter mysteries which they must solve…before their parents disappear altogether.
Betrayed: The Legend of Oak Island
by Christopher DinsdaleThe fate of the known world is settled on the shores of Canada In Christopher Dinsdale’s third historical adventure for young readers, Connor MacDonald and his mother have encountered Henry Sinclair, Norwegian prince and Earl of Orkney, who rescues them from highwaymen. Prince Henry is an adventurer who has sailed to the farthest reaches of the known world. On a dark Egyptian beach, he was given a treasure so precious that kings would sacrifice everything in order to acquire it. But unlike the warmongering monarchs of Europe, Prince Henry intends it to become an everlasting beacon of peace and devises a plan so bold that only the exiled Order of the Knights Templar could even dare conceive of it. Events soon lead Connor, now a squire, his friend Angus and Prince Henry to the shores of Vinland and to Oak Island. The fate of the Templar Knights rests in the hands of two Scottish teenagers and their Mikmaq friend, Na’gu’set, as they desperately try to identify the dark forces that threaten not only to destroy them but the entire Templar Order.
The Last Superhero
by Kristin ButcherCommended for the 2011 Best Books for Kids and Teens When doing the right thing turns all wrong Sometimes a guy just cant mind his own business, no matter how hard he tries, and sometimes that guy gets mired in predicaments which are not of his making. Thats what happens to Jas, a Grade Seven boy who is putting all his energy into completing the artwork for an adventure comic he hopes will be his ticket into an elite summer art program. But when he meets Wren, an eccentric, crusading classmate, his efforts are derailed. Initially, Jas has no interest in getting involved, but circumstances and Wrens overpowering personality keep drawing him in until there is no going back. Wren is a person of values. She believes that if youre not part of the solution, youre part of the problem. When she sees things that are wrong, she sets out to correct them. Eventually she becomes the target of bullies, then, because of Jass inadvertent interference, the bullies turn their attention to him. They destroy his comic and his chances of getting into art school. What can Jas and Wren do to end the bullies’ reign of terror?
Sarah's Secret
by June Lawrason Robert McconnellIn this Christmas classic, six-year-old Sarah is determined to make the very best snowman possible, without the help of her older brother. When she sees her snowman, Max, come to life in a Christmas Eve frolic, her family refuses to believe her story. Although Sarah thinks she has proof that it was not all a dream, she decides in the end to keep the knowlege of her snowman friend as her very own special secret.
A Little Something
by Sarah Hartt-Snowbell June BradfordWhen Sandy’s daddy leaves for work in the morning, he blows Sandy a kiss. What follows is a wild adventure through the town, the countryside, the bogs and the marshes of the Land of Everywhere… to try to catch up to Daddy’s kiss!
A Drop of Rain
by Heather KirkIn this dark and moving young adult novel, sixteen-year-old Naomi’s best friend has moved away, and Naomi herself is starting at a new high school. Curtis, the artistic guy she likes, seems to be avoiding her, making her feel alone and lonely. On top of lots of difficult homework and an awful part-time job, she also has problems at home. Her dying aunt has come to live with her family, Naomi’s mother seems to be on the verge of a breakdown, and her Polish father is absent and unsupportive. How can Naomi overcome all these negatives in her life? Over three harrowing months on the eve of the new millennium, the story emerges of a young woman finding strength and of a broken family mending. The action and circumstances of the book are laid bare in a series of diary entries, not only by Naomi, but also by her boyfriend, her mother, her mothers boyfriend, and Naomi’s employer, giving the reader a much fuller understanding of what brings Naomi and her mother to the brink of despair - and back.
Voices on the Bay
by Ginny RussellWinner of the Canadian Children's Book Centre Choice: Best Books for Kids & Teens. Dave gets more excitement than he bargained for on his summer holidays to British Columbia's Gulf Islands while visiting his grandparents. He meets THAA, WEN, an elderly member of the Saanich Native Band and Rick, a new friend from Mayne Island. Together they discover an old Native campsite and THAA, WEN tells stories of the raiding parties that swept down the west coast long before the first white man arrived. Adventure begins when Dave is caught up in a search for the truth about what happened long ago at the ancient site.
Totem
by Jennifer MarunoJonny must travel to the distant past to understand the present. As an orphaned white boy in a school full of Native students, fourteen-year-old Jonny Joe isn’t like any of the others at the island Redemption Residential School off the west coast. When the advances of Father Gregory disturb Jonny, he joins another boy in an escape to a mountain cave. But when they leave the cave, the world as they knew it no longer exists. The boys travel to a native village in a sheltered bay, where Jonny becomes skilled in the art of carving. When a steamship enters the cove, the party of sightseers brings a disease that annihilates most of the people in the village. Meanwhile, Jonny has learned the secret of his past and when he returns to the present, Jonny carves a totem pole to honour the members of the village.