Canada

Materials from Canada

The Vindico

X-Men meets The Breakfast Club in this darkly humorous adventure. The Vindico are a group of supervillains who have been fighting the League of Heroes for as long as anyone can remember. Realizing they’re not as young as they used to be, they devise a plan to kidnap a group of teenagers to take over for them when they retire–after all, how hard can it be to teach a bunch of angsty teens to be evil?Held captive in a remote mansion, five teens train with their mentors and receive superpowers beyond their wildest dreams. Struggling to uncover the motives of the Vindico, the teens have to trust each other to plot their escape. But they quickly learn that the differences between good and evil are not as black and white as they seem, and they are left wondering whose side they should be fighting on after all . . .With fast-paced action, punchy dialogue, and sarcastic humor, this high-stakes adventure from a talented new YA voice pulls you in from the first page.

Seraphina

In a world where dragons and humans coexist in an uneasy truce and dragons can assume human form, Seraphina, whose mother died giving birth to her, grapples with her own identity amid magical secrets and royal scandals, while she struggles to accept and develop her extraordinary musical talents.

Bigfoot Boy: Into the Woods

Rufus is bored at his grammy’s house in the country. But when he follows a girl into the woods and finds a totem in a hollowed-out tree, things become a whole lot more interesting. Especially when he reads the word etched into the magical talisman: “Sasquatch.”

Island of Doom

Modo, the shape-shifting, masked spy, and fellow spy Octavia Milkweed learn that Modo’s biological parents are still alive but when the Clockwork Guild find Modo’s parents first, Octavia and Modo chase them across Europe and North America to the Island of Doom.

One Year in Coal Harbor

In a small fishing village in British Columbia, twelve-year-old Primrose tries to be a matchmaker for her Uncle Jack, befriends Ked, a new foster child, tries to decide if she is willing to go to jail for her convictions, and together with Ked, publishes a cook book to raise money for the Fisherman’s Aid. Includes recipes.

The Chaos

Scotch has never quite fit in.  With her white Jamacian father and black Canadian mother, she doesn’t belong with the Caribbeans, white, or blacks.  Though recently she feels different for stranger reasons–her skin is being covered in spots of black stickiness that won’t go away no matter what she tries.  Not to mention that she sees floating, bodiless horse heads that no one else can.  But soon Scotch has even bigger problems.  She’s out for a night with her brother when a bubble of light appears.  Scotch dares her brother to touch it.  He does, and then he disappears.  A moment later a volcano emerges in Lake Ontario, and all Toronto is invaded by the Chaos.  Scotch is desperate to find her brother, but she doesn’t know where to begin searching in a city gone mad.  Mythical cretures sush as Sasquatches are walking down the streets, and ordinary peope are transforming in truly weird ways.  Scotch herself is getting blacker and blacker.  Can she find her brother before she becomes completely unrecognizable?

Renowned author Nalo Hopkinson mixes fantasy and Caribbean folklore in this rollicking story of identity and self-acceptance in a world given over to Chaos.

Nowhere Else On Earth

You don’t have to live in the Great Bear Rainforest to benefit from its existence, but after you read Nowhere Else on Earth you might want to visit this magnificent part of the planet. Environmental activist Caitlyn Vernon guides young readers through a forest of information, sharing her personal stories, her knowledge and her concern for this beautiful place. Full of breathtaking photographs and suggestions for ways to preserve this unique ecosystem, Nowhere Else on Earth is a timely and inspiring reminder that we need to stand up for our wild places before they are gone.

Visit http://www.greatbearrainforest.ca to find teacher and student resources, view the online photo gallery, or read a sample chapter from the book. To access the free teacher’s guide for Nowhere Else on Earth, click here:http://orcabook.com/nowhereelseonearth/guides/teachersguide.pdf.

Fishtailing

Teen violence, bullying and the burning quest to fit in are presented in the poems of four unforgettable high school students: Natalie, Kyle, Tricia, Miguel. Their stories unfold in this explosive new book told in free verse. A story of teen angst like no other, it is based on fictional characters but is rooted in the realities of the teen experience. When Natalie moves to a new high school she befriends three unwitting victims into her spider-web of manipulations, lies and deceit. Through the poetry and assignments of an English class we glimpse the world of the four teens. Natalie, whose alcoholic parents, years of neglect and ultimate rape by her father’s friend has shaped her into a cruel and manipulative teen; Tricia, dealing with her blended family, is drawn into Natalies’ forbidden world of partying and rebellion; Kyle, a would-be musician is in love with Tricia and Miguel who lusts for Natalie while hiding the secrets of his family. The story weaves us through their poetry, their lives and culminates at a party where the four lives fishtail out of control. English class will never be the same.