Age

Catalog sorted by age group

The Giant-Slayer

A girl’s imagination transports polio-afflicted kids into a fantastic world.The spring of 1955 tests Laurie Valentine’s gifts as a storyteller. After her friend Dickie contracts polio and finds himself confined to an iron lung, Laurie visits him in the hospital. There she meets Carolyn and Chip, two other kids trapped inside the breathing machines. Laurie’s first impulse is to flee, but Dickie begs her to tell them a story. And so Laurie begins her tale of Collosso, a rampaging giant, and Jimmy, a tiny boy whose destiny is to become a slayer of giants.As Laurie embellishes her tale with gnomes, unicorns, gryphons, and other fanciful creatures, Dickie comes to believe that he is a character in her story. Little by little Carolyn, Chip, and other kids who come to listen, recognize counterparts as well. Laurie’s tale is so powerful that when she’s prevented from continuing it, Dickie, Carolyn, and Chip take turns as narrators. Each helps bring the story of Collosso and Jimmy to an end—changing the lives of those in the polio ward in startling ways.

A Very Fine Line

Rosalind Kemp is the youngest in a family of sisters. She lives a comfortable life in a small town in Ontario. Ros is active, loving, and artistic. And, she has second sight. It is a part of her nature with which she has trouble coming to terms: sometimes it is nothing more than a pleasant parlor trick, like knowing that King Edward will abdicate; sometimes it is a curse that makes her feel freakish; and sometimes it is just plain terrifying. Ros tries everything she can to suppress the gift, and subsequently herself, but nothing works. If she is going to live her life fully, she will have to come to terms with every part of her being, just as everyone must.This brilliant novel is Julie Johnston at her very best: it is funny, frightening, and painfully insightful.

Off to War

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have impacted the children of soldiers–men and women who have been called away from their families to fight in a faraway war. In their own words, some of these children describe how their experience has marked and shaped them.

Give Up The Ghost

Cass McKenna much prefers ghosts over “breathers.” Ghosts are uncomplicated and dependable, and they know the dirt on everybody…and Cass loves dirt. She’s on a mission to expose the dirty secrets of the poseurs in her school. But when the vice president of the student council discovers her secret, Cass’s whole scheme hangs in the balance. Tim wants her to help him contact his recently deceased mother, and Cass reluctantly agrees. As Cass becomes increasingly entwined in Tim’s life, she’s surprised to realize he’s not so bad—and he needs help more desperately than anyone else suspects. Maybe it’s time to give the living another chance….

Camilla D’errico’s Burn

Burn was once human.He also had a family and friends, until a metallic angel of death took everything from him. This mechanical monster, Shoftiel, was one of many living machines made to help humanity that revolted and declared war on their creators. It tore through Burn’s home and wreaked havoc on his city until the buildings collapsed, crashing down upon them.Emerging from the rubble, Burn and Shoftiel discover their once separate bodies have become one — neither human nor machine, but a freak union of both. Internally their minds are caught in a raging battle for control. Just as mankind must struggle against the sentients for survival, Burn must find the strength to overcome Shoftiel’s genocidal programming to retain whatever’s left of his humanity.

The Midnight Curse

A relative has passed on and left Charlie and Lacey an inheritance–but before they can claim it, they will have to deal with a couple of ghosts, a white witch, a butler who is too good to be true, and a tragic romance from the past.

 

Hannah

Life is incredibly hard for all the immigrant families who work in the mine, but harder still for Hannah’s – her father recently killed in the mine, her mother nearly dead from giving birth to the latest child. Hanna defies all convention and passes herself off as a boy to get into the mine that is their only real hope of salvation. Common wisdom is that women are bad luck in a mine, so when her secret is discovered, the superstitious miners are furious. Will she survive this too? Author Diana Vazquez paints a gritty portrait of the bleak mining shanty town and the lives of the people who live there. But it is the indomitable spirit of her unsentimental, blunt, and fearless heroine that will remain memorable to all who encounter her.

Ellen’s Book Of Life (Ellen Fremedon)

Ellen’s Book of Life is the fourth installment in the popular and multi-award-winning Ellen Fremendon series. Off enjoying an exciting summer in the big city, Ellen is far away from her sleepy hometown when she receives heartbreaking news: her mother has died. Shutting out her best friend and her family, Ellen tries unsuccessfully to cope with her sudden loss. Then she finds a letter that her mother has left her, which piques her natural curiosity and sets her on a new mission — Ellen knew that she was adopted, but now her mum has given her the tools she needs to find her birth mother. With her typical energy and open-heartedness Ellen starts the search and embraces not only her newfound family but a new faith, both of which help her, and her family, to move on with their lives.

The Secret Fiend

It is 1868, the week that Benjamin Disraeli becomes Prime Minister of the Empire. Sherlock’s beautiful but poor admirer, Beatrice, the hatter’s daughter, appears at the door late at night. She is terrified, claiming that she and her friend have just been attacked by the Spring Heeled Jack on Westminster Bridge and the fiend has made off with her friend. At first Sherlock thinks Beatrice simply wants his attention, and he is reluctant to go back to detective work. He also believes that the Jack everyone fears is a fictional figure. But soon he is suspicious of various individuals, several of them close friends. Set at a time when many in England were in a state of fear because a Jew was running the country, Shane Peacock presents a compelling story filled with an atmosphere of paranoia and secrets and surprises played out on late-night London streets. Sherlock gets drawn deeper and deeper into the pursuit of the Spring Heeled Jack, whose attacks grow in number until it seems that there are Jacks everywhere. The Secret Fiend is the fourth book in Shane Peacock’s award-winning Boy Sherlock Holmes series, combining brilliant storytelling with fascinating historical detail and a mystery worthy of one of the greatest sleuths in English literature.

Secret of the Night Ponies

In 1965 Newfoundland, thirteen-year-old Jessie’s brave and impulsive nature leads her to commit a variety of daring acts, including rescuing a herd of wild ponies and kidnapping a poor orphan girl who is being mistreated by her guardians. Includes factual information about the history of the Newfoundland pony.