Pie In The Sky

Knowing very little English, eleven-year-old Jingwen feels like an alien when his family immigrates to Australia, but copes with loneliness and the loss of his father by baking elaborate cakes.

Night Guard

This wondrous and beautiful volume pairs expressionistic poems with surreal illustrations to create a series of meditations on family relationships that explore isolation, fear, uncertainty and friendship.

The Swallow

In 1960s Toronto, two girls retreat to their attics to escape the loneliness and isolation of their lives. Polly lives in a house bursting at the seams with people, while Rose is often left alone by her busy parents. Polly is a down-to-earth dreamer with a wild imagination and an obsession with ghosts; Rose is a quiet, ethereal waif with a sharp tongue. Despite their differences, both girls spend their days feeling invisible and seek solace in books and the cozy confines of their respective attics. But soon they discover they aren’t alone–they’re actually neighbors, sharing a wall. They develop an unlikely friendship, and Polly is ecstatic to learn that Rose can actually see and talk to ghosts. Maybe she will finally see one too! But is there more to Rose than it seems? Why does no one ever talk to her? And why does she look so… ghostly? When the girls find a tombstone with Rose’s name on it in the cemetery and encounter an angry spirit in her house who seems intent on hurting Polly, they have to unravel the mystery of Rose and her strange family… before it’s too late.

The Storm Whale

Every day, in a house by the sea, a little boy watches his father leave for a long day’s work. One night, a great storm washes a small whale onto the beach. The boy discovers the whale is a good listener. The father discovers the boy is lonely. Together, they return the whale to the sea. And from that day on, the boy learns that the father can be a good listener too.

Herman And Rosie

Once upon a time in a very busy city, on a very busy street, in two very small apartments, lived Herman and Rosie. Herman liked playing the oboe, the smell of hot dogs in the winter, and watching films about the ocean. Rosie liked pancakes, listening to old jazz records, and watching films about the ocean. They both loved the groovy rhythm of the city, but sometimes the bustling crowds and constant motion left them lonely. One day, they lost their job and they lost the urge to play music. Finally they came to listen to each other’s music.

Always With You

Orphaned at the age of four when her village in Viet Nam is bombed, Kim is rescued by American soldiers and raised in an orphanage, always finding comfort in her mother’s last words: “Don’t be afraid. I will always be with you.”