It is 1901 and Mable Riley dreams of adventure and of becoming a writer. When her older sister leaves home to become a schoolmistress in the small town of Stratford, Ontario, Mable is sent along too. Mable hopes her new world will be full of peril and romance. But life at the Goodhand Farm (where the sisters board), is as humdrum as the one she’s left behind.Then Mable encounters the mysterious Mrs. Rattle, a peculiar widow with a taste for upsetting the townspeople with her strange opinions. Mrs. Rattle is a real writer, and Mable eagerly accepts her invitation to a meeting of the Ladies Reading Society. But the ladies are not discussing books at all, and Mable may soon have more peril than she’d bargained for!Composed of the letters Mable sends home, the poems she writes for her classmates, and chapters from her own work-in-progress, Mable Riley is the funny, inspiring, (and reliable) record of a young girl finding her voice, and the courage to make it heard.
Sisters
Bindi Babes
Amber, Jazz, and Geena Dhillon, a.k.a. the Bindi Babes, are three fabulous sisters with a reputation for being the coolest, best-dressed girls at their school. But their classmates don’t know that the sisters miss their mom, who died a year ago. An interfering auntie from India invites herself into their household to cramp their style and soon the sisters’ pushover dad is saying no to designer clothes and expensive sneakers. There’s only one way to be rid of Auntie: marry her off to some unsuspecting guy. Will Amber, Jazz, and Geena find a man who can put up with Auntie before she completely ruins their lives? Or are Auntie’s new rules doomed to make the fabulous Dhillon sisters just average?
Flicka, Ricka, Dicka and the New Dotted Dresses
One day, Flicka, Ricka and Dicka get beautiful, new dotted dresses. Then they met Aunt Helma, who needs some help. They work hard to take care of her chickens and cow. But in the end, the dotted dresses are in a very sorry state.
Into The Woods
Storm, Aurora, and Anything Eden live in a decaying mansion on the edge of the wilds with their erstwhile father and indolent mother. When an accident leaves them orphaned and at the mercy of the sinister Dr. DeWilde, these three courageous and eccentric sisters are forced to flee into the woods, where they encounter kidnappers, sweet-filled orphanages, mountains of ice, diamond mines, and some ravenously hungry wolves. This fantasy incorporates numerous fairytales and weaves them into a wholly original story of imaginative happenings and dastardly deeds.
The Red Shoe
Three sisters growing up in post-World War II Sydney, Australia, deal with their mentally unstable father, their possibly unfaithful mother, and the defecting Russian spy who lives next door.
The Witch’s Face: A Mexican Tale
Don Aurelio falls in love with a witch who has a beautiful face but fails to heed her special instructions.
No One Must Know
It is 1957 and Alexandra’s immigrant family is living the North American dream. Her world is turned upside down when she discovers that her parents, who emigrated from Hungary, are not Catholic as she has been raised but Jewish.
The Power Of The Rellard
Lucy, repeating the fourth grade after a malady of the nervous system has left her with a withered arm, finds herself and her siblings in the midst of a power struggle with agents of an ancient evil.
Knock, Knock, Teremok!: A Traditional Russian Tale
In this cumulative tale, a fly, a mouse, a frog, a duck, a hare, a fox, a pig, and a wolf come to live together, until a bear comes along.
My Librarian Is A Camel
Introduces the many ways books are delivered to readers in different countries around the world, including by camel, bicycle, and wheelbarrow.