Canada

Materials from Canada

The Mystery of the Martello Tower

Hazel and Ned are home for summer vacation and looking forward to long, lazy days of sleeping late, shooting hoops, building stink bombs, and spending time with their art-dealer father. But when he disappears without saying good-bye, their summer plunges into chaos. The babysitter leaves town, their apartment is burgled, and two menacing thugs start turning up everywhere. Ned and Hazel try escaping to an island castle belonging to long-lost relatives, only to find there’s no escaping this adventure. As the siblings work to untangle the threads that ensnare their father, they learn of a second, darker secret—one that surrounds their mother’s death years ago. Only by solving both mysteries can they bring their father home.

The House that Max Built

Having worked construction for many years, author and illustrator Maxwell Newhouse shows young readers step-by-step how houses are built in this picture book. From drawing up the plans to excavating the site to laying the foundation, the unique and colorful paintings move through the seasons as Max builds the house of his dreams. Watch the framing crew as they build a floor frame to hold the house, raise the walls into place, and make the roof frame. See them install the windows and doors, bricklayers build the outside walls with bricks and mortar, and roofers nail the shingles into place. Follow the plumber as he puts in the water lines, the electrician as he installs the wiring, and the drywaller as he places wallboard on the inside walls. Along come the tile setter, floor layer, cabinetmaker, and painter, who all do their part to make Max’s house beautiful as his mischievous little dog romps through the pages. Finally, when the property has been landscaped with plants, trees, grass, and stones, Max moves into his beloved new home.

With a list of all the trades and a description of what they do, The House That Max Built is a must-have for any child with a natural curiosity and a passion to build things.

The Long Road

Although life is difficult in José’s Central American village, he enjoys playing football with his friends, sharing the large meals cooked by his aunts, and even going to school. But a civil war breaks out in his country. Outspoken people like his mother are in danger, so José and his mother must flee.The road north to make a new home is arduous and very long, but it is only the beginning of hard times. They face days of paperwork and nights in a hostel for refugees. Even when his mother finds work as an office cleaner, they must rely on a food bank.Slowly, the pieces of this new life begin to come together as José and his mother realize that they have finally arrived at the happy end of a very long road.

Thing-Thing

Thing-Thing was neither a Teddy bear nor a rabbit; not a stuffed dog or cat. It was something like each of those, and nothing at all you could name. But it had something special. It had the hope that one day it would find a child to love it and talk to it and make it tea parties and take it to bed. A child it could love back. Certainly Archibald Crimp was not that child. He had just thrown Thing-Thing out the open sixth-floor window of the Excelsior Hotel. Oh, dear, thought Thing-Thing to itself. This is bad, this is very bad.

The Crazy Man

This novel in verse tells the story of a 11-year-old girl struggling to recover after a farm accident leaves her crippled and fatherless.

After Emaline, 11, is crippled by a farm accident with her father’s tractor, Daddy kills her beloved dog, Prince, and walks away from the farm. Mom takes in Angus from the local mental hospital to help with the farm work, but the neighbors complain about the crazy man on the loose. Emaline never denies Angus’ illness, but she sees his kindness and strength, and they help each other with their work and with their grief.

A Thief in the House of Memory

Six years ago, when Declan Steeple was 10 and his sister was just a baby, his mother, Lindy, disappeared, searching for something better than the dusty family estate with its generations of clutter and memory. Now the Steeples live in a modern split-level down the hill from the Big House, but the mansion is still there, filled with a past that hides secrets. When a local man is found dead in the house, memories of Lindy and her unhappiness living there suddenly become a pressing weight on Dec, compounded by the fact that he and his sister were the ones to discover the body. The teen feels lost and suspicious; his father seems to be hiding something and Dec realizes how much has never been discussed.

Rex Zero, King of Nothing

In 1962 Ottawa, 11-year-old Rex Norton-Norton faces several confusing mysteries, including his father’s troubling secrets from World War II, the problems of a beautiful but unhappy woman named Natasha, what to do about his mean and vindictive teacher, and whether or not he should even be concerned about these things.

Sketches

After fleeing her home, suburban-bred Dana struggles to survive in the alleys, squats and subway stations of downtown Toronto. Dana’s graffiti on an underpass catches the eye of a counselor at Sketches, a drop-in center where homeless teens can express themselves through art. As Dana works on a painting, she begins to confront the reason she left home. The truth of what her stepfather did to her is trying to break free, but will it come out through her paintbrush or the blade of a knife?

Escape the Mask

Coriko has never known a world beyond his cell and the fields where he toils all day. He does what he’s told and tries not to anger the Spears, the cruel, masked jailers who guard him and the other child slaves. If he gathers baskets of shards and keeps quiet and orderly, then he can spend time with his cellmate and best friend, Pippa. But without warning, the children’s orderly lives begin to change—slowly at first, with the arrival of a pair of siblings who speak Coriko and Pippa’s language. Soon after, violent events shake up the quiet world of Grassland, and Coriko must find the strength to grasp his freedom.