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Past Featured Books Age: Young Adults, I to P
I J K L M N O P
Books are listed Alphabetically by Title:
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I’m Not Scared |
| In the scorching Italian summer of 1978, nine-year Michele Amitrano was riding his bicycle in the hills above the tiny hamlet where he lives with his younger sister, his devoted mother and his remote father. Michele comes across a tumble-down cottage where he finds the body of a boy. When he tells his father about this, the older Amitrano brushes him off. Drawn to the cottage again, Michele finds that the boy is not dead, but dehydrated and disoriented, unable to account for being there. Michele brings him water and food, and eventually comes to realize that all the adults in his hamlet are part of a kidnapping and ransom. A gripping story of the loss of innocence, of children confronting adult situations, this story is the winner of the Viareggio-Repaci Prize for Fiction. | |
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I am the Cheese |
| Adam Farmer, a shy fourteen-year old only child, inadvertently discovers that his life is not what he has believed it to be. His father was an investigative reporter whose digging into government business uncovered corruption on a significant scale. In order to safeguard his wife and child, he agreed to enter a witness protection program. For ten years, he has been an insurance agent. The family's life is turned upside down when it seems that their identities have been discovered. What happens to them is truely horrific, especially given that the government is implicated. Told in a three part narrative, this is a truly challenging reading experience. | |
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I Capture The Castle |
| Seventeen-year old Cassandra lives with her family amidst the poverty of a worn-down English castle. Over a period of six months, her family tries to restore the beaten relic. At the same time, Cassandra struggles to perfect her literary skills - and discovers a wonderful future she never could have predicted. This is a great coming of age story set in strange and mostly comical situations. Cassandra soon becomes one of your most treasured friends! | |
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Into Thin Air |
| In this personal account of the May 10, 1996 climb of Mount Everest, Krakauer details the deadliest season on the world's highest mountain. Shortly after he descended freezing and hallucinating from the summit, a storm rolled in. It trapped those climbers still on the mountain, killed nine of them and maimed at least one other. Krakauer's previous climbing experience coupled with this stark, compelling recounting makes powerful reading to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the first successful climb of Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. | |
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Jester, The |
Innkeeper Hugh de Lac, disillusioned by his military adventures in the First Crusade, returns home with a few relics to find that his village is destroyed and his wife Sophie abducted, he believes, by the knights of his enemy Lord Baldwin. Convinced that Sophie is alive, Hugh is encouraged by the lady-in-waiting Emilie to infiltrate the nobleman’s castle by posing as a jester. A very clever story, its fast-paced action and well-developed characters paint a vivid portrait of a difficult time in European history. |
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Just Some Stuff I Wrote |
In eight different short stories, Bell explores situations many teens can relate to, including parents who seem to be indifferent, the need to belong (“The Scream School of Parenting”), unrequited love (“Window Tree”), personal eccentricities (“Chumley”; “Beer Can Man”), and the simmering underbelly of life in a high school (“The Staircase”). As always, his engaging style is witty and evocative, and captures the voices and views of young adults. |
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Kalyna's Song |
| Colleen Lutzak straddles two worlds: that of her friends and school in St. Paul, Alberta, and that of the traditions of her Ukrainian family. She is a gifted musician and a strong student. Her name in Ukrainian is Kalyna, the name of her older cousin, who has suffered spousal abuse for years. When Colleen fails her first year of university in Edmonton, she joins a volunteer organization that sends her to Swaziland in Africa. There she learns other dimensions to the meaning of the word, survival. | |
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Kirinyaga: A Fable of Utopia |
| Koriba is the wise man of his tribe, the Kikuyu of Kenya. He is disenchanted with life in a polluted, over-populated, consumer-driven Africa, and yearns for a simpler time before contact with other cultures altered the community of his people. Accordingly, he leads his acolytes to Kirinyaga, a pristine planet where he works to re-establish a lost way of life. Many complications arise: conflicts between technology and the environment, and the role of faith in human affairs. A provocative and challenging examination of the nature of leadership, obsession and faith for sophisticated readers. | |
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Kissing the Rain |
| Fifteen-year old, Michael “Moo” Nelson is overweight and uncouth, tormented by schoolmates for being so different. Moo refers to the torment as the RAIN, from which he escapes by riding his bike to a bridge and in Zen-like fashion, meditates on the traffic. One day, he is the sole witness to a murder. If he tells the truth, the authorities will prosecute his deadbeat father for welfare fraud. If he lies, the thug charged with the murder will seek retribution. His third choice leaves him even further adrift. For those who were challenged by I am the Cheese, the echoes of Robert Cormier are evocative. | |
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Kite Runner, The |
| In the relatively peaceful Kabul of the early 1970s, Amir, the son of Baba, a successful merchant, is best friends with Hassan, the son of his family’s servant. When Baba flees to America with Amir, the boy grows up in the comfort and safety of his new home. He becomes a novelist, but is haunted by an act of cowardice that cost Hassan dearly. Now Amir has learned that Hassan and his wife have been murdered by the Taliban, and he wonders what has become of their son Sohrab. His efforts to locate and rescue the son of his friend bespeak the forgiveness he seeks. | |
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Lady and the Unicorn, The |
| Hanging in Paris’s Musee National du Moyen-Age Thermes de Cluny is a set of six medieval tapestries which depict the story of the lady and the unicorn. Their designer and manufacturer are lost to time. However, Chevalier, the author of Girl with a Pearl Earring, has constructed a story about an artist and the artisans who produced these majestic wall hangings about 1490. The artist is an egotistical womanizer named Nicolas des Innocents who persuades a noveau-riche merchant, Jean Le Viste, to commission the tapestries for his great hall. Nicolas recognizes the unhappiness among the female relatives of Le Viste, and incorporates their longings in his work. The artisans are members of a Flemish family in Brussels, including their blind daughter Alienor, fated to marry a boorish wool dyer. Using accurate historical contexts for this story, the author weaves an entertaining and believable human drama. | |
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Lagahoo's Apprentice, The |
| Stephen travels from Canada to Trinidad, his homeland, on the pretext of writing a biography of a powerful former politician. His visit includes meeting old friends and making new ones, but most importantly, allows him to discover some important personal truths. In a humorous but pointed style, this examines the immigrant tragedy with memorable characters and a powerful ending. | |
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Last Book in the Universe, The |
| The last book in the universe is about to be destroyed. The author presents a future world filled with danger and a young hero who must begin a terrifying quest. | |
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Last Climb: The Legendary Everest Expeditions of George Mallory |
| The first serious attempts to scale Mount Everest were British Expeditions over the time period from 1921 to 1924, which culminated in the deaths of George Leigh Mallory and Andrew Irvine. Using records, diaries, journals,letters and personal recollections of some of the participants, Salkeld and Breashears, themselves veterans of Everest climbs, including the May,1996 disaster, demonstrate the spirit of climbers trying to reach the roof of the world. As pioneers in this endeavor, these early climbers were not knowledgeable about the dangers of such high altitudes. When they disappeared, Mallory and Irvine were among the first humans to climb that high. In 1999, Breashears was part of the team that found Mallory's body. Although some questions were answered, more were not. There are many excellent photos and a prologue from Mallory's son. This is an excellent addition to the literature about Mount Everest. | |
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Last Light of the Sun, The |
| In an alternate time in Britain, the lives of Erling raiders are conjoined to those of the Anglcyn, lead by Aeldred, and the Cyngael as they struggle to survive in a harsh climate and land. The Erlings have raided the lands of the Anglcyn and the Cyngael for generations, but it is not as easy as it once was. King Aeldred is working vigorously to build the military and diplomatic defences of his kingdom to repel the invaders. The Cyngael, victims of the Erlings as well, bide their time. The peace and stability that eludes these peoples drive the actions of Erling Bern Thorkellson, King Aeldred and a learned cleric, Cenion of Llywerth. A vivid and evocative saga whose historical antecedents are evident, this is a complex and engrossing tale, a suitable successor to The Lions of Al-Rassan and The Sarantine Mosaic. | |
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Latitudes of Melt |
| In the winter of 1912, two fishermen find a baby floating on an ice pan off the coast of Newfoundland. The family who adopts her names her Aurora. With her white hair, and mismatched eyes (one blue, one brown), and her mysterious history, she is considered not only different but enchanted. As she grows up in a tiny fishing village, her oddness makes her attractive only to the son of the lighthouse keeper, who shares with her a love of reading. | |
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Life of Pi, The |
| Piscine Molitor Patel, known as Pi, learns a great deal about the animals in his father's zoo in Pondicherry, India. He is also interested in religion and adopts a blend of Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. When India becomes politically and socially uncertain in the 1970s, Pi and his family travel on a cargo ship to Canada. Some of their animals travel with them. When the ship sinks, only Pi, a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a royal Bengal tiger, called Richard Parker, survive. Pi's faith and his knowledge of animals sustain him on a long journey of survival aboard a lifeboat and makeshift raft. The characters of Pi and Richard are admirable in their determination to survive. For mature readers. Winner of the 2002 Booker Prize. | |
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Lightkeeper's Daughter, The |
| Returning to her family home on a remote island off the coast of British Columbia after an absence of four years, Elizabeth McCrae brings her three-year old daughter Tatiana to meet Hannah and Murray, Elizabeth’s parents. Gone is her older brother Alistair who drowned in a kayaking accident. To be faced is her parents’ anger and anxiety over the circumstances of Tatiana’s birth, and the grief and guilt all three suffer over Alastair’s death. The adjustments that they all must make are evocatively portrayed as this family struggles to regain its balance. | |
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Little Soldier |
As the only survivor of a massacre of the Yusulu in the fictional African country of Lasai, Kaninda Bulumba is rescued by missionary Betty Rose who takes him to London where she becomes his foster mother to help the boy recover physically, emotionally and spiritually. Laura, daughter of the family, is looking for forgiveness for her role in a serious hit-and-run accident that has brought about a gang war. Kaninda, driven by the need for revenge against those who killed his family, nevertheless becomes drawn up in Laura’s struggle. As they cope with the realities of their lives, both learn that each person must take responsibility for his or her actions. A demanding tale, this will challenge readers about the impact of war on children. |
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Long Run, The |
The Mount Kildare Home for Boys in St John’s, Newfoundland circa 1960 is Dickensonian as a bleak house that is too cold, lacks enough food and is run by Catholic brothers long on harsh discipline and pontificating platitudes. During the days, the boys who live there are obedient, but at night, they raid the bakery and the sacristy and extensively discuss sports, and girls. When the priests discover the theft of sacramental wine, they offer an assortment of bribes to find the culprits. In response, Blackie and the Dare Klub try to maintain the boys’ morale by secretly training for the St John’s marathon. A complex and well-crafted story, this includes humour, pathos and perseverance. |
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Looking Glass Wars, The |
Young Alyss Heart escapes with her life from Wonderland via the Puddle of Tears, when her parents, the king and queen are assassinated by her evil aunt Redd in a palace coup. Unable to return to Wonderland, Alyss finds herself in Victorian London where she is taken in by the Reverend and Mrs. Liddell, who name her Alice . She tells her story to Charles Dodgson in the hope that he will publish it for the record. She despairs when she discovers he has twisted the story for his own ends. Meanwhile, palace courtier Hatter Madigan leads an Alyssian resistance movement to overthrow Redd and return Alyss to her rightful place on the throne. The challenge for those familiar with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is to change perspectives from fantasy to reality and back again. |
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Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The |
| This fantasy classic is a set of 3 books which include "The Fellowship of the Ring", "The Two Towers", and "The Return of the King". It is an epic tale of a hobbit by the name of Frodo Baggins who goes on a quest to destroy a magical ring and save the world from evil. He is aided on his journey by dwarves, elves, hobbits, wizards and men but faces many dangers on his mission. This is a must read for lovers of fantasy. | |
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Lottery, The |
| Sally Hanson is this year's lottery winner (victim) of Shadow Council, the secret student club that rules by fear at Saskatoon Collegiate. Shadow assigns message delivery duties to Sally to target other students to do their sly deeds, some of them cruel and tragic. Consequently, the victim, Sally, will be shunned by all students for the year. Sally battles to maintain her sanity and her identity while still haunted by the car accident that killed her father. | |
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Lucas |
Fifteen-year old Caitlin meets Lucas walking along the causeway that connects her island home to the mainland. He is mysterious, but personable and observant. In this insular community, he becomes the target of suspicion whenever violence occurs. In spite of saving Caitlin from an attack by some local teens, he becomes the prime suspect in the attempt murder of another girl. Otherwise sensible adults lose their perspective and undertake vigilante justice. Reminiscent of The Oxbox Incident, the issues brought forward in this compelling story will stay with readers long afterwards. |
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Malarkey |
| By the author of Warehouse, this gripping thriller is action from the opening page. John Malarkey is a grade 11 student, new to Brook High School. He is in the wrong place at the wrong time, and is accused of stealing report cards to sell them to classmates to write their own fraudulent documents. He has just 24 hours to prove he is innocent, but there is so much going on beneath the surface of the school’s life. Corruption seems rampant and John’s attitude and smart mouth do not help his cause. How he resolves his dilemma makes riveting reading. | |
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Mapmaker's Opera, The |
Diego Clemente is the son of a dishonoured governess who takes him from Seville to La Mancha where her family has lived for centuries. Diego is a gifted artist who loves song whether from opera or from birds, and books, especially the work of John James Audubon. His opportunity to use his gifts comes as an illustrator for Edward Nelson, famed American naturalist who wants to document the birds of the Yucatan. Diego enters a world of sensory opulence that envelopes him as the social order of Mexico threatens to collapse in revolutionary fervour. Into this mix is added his love for the young Sofia who longs to be as free as the birds she loves. This is a rich story set in a tumultuous time. |
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Marvel 1602 |
Transposed to the beginning of the seventeenth century in England, the superheroes of Marvel fame battle evil in the last years of Queen Elizabeth’s reign. Nick Fury is now one of the Queen’s advisors; Dr. Stephen Strange is magician and physician to Her Majesty; and Peter Parker, called Parquah, remains befuddled, not yet bitten by a radioactive spider. Charles Xavier, now known as Carlos Javier, is still in charge of mutant teens, who are considered “witchbreed” and his nemesis is the Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition. As in modern times, they must challenge the machinations of the power-hungry and the megalomaniacs, while saving the world. Illuminating Gaiman’s innovative story are the powerful images of Andy Kubert and Richard Isanove and the magnificent woodcut cover-art illustrations of Scott McKowen. |
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Maus: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History/Here My Troubles Began |
| The winner of the 1992 Pulitzer Prize, this is the story of the relationship between the narrator, a cartoonist named Artie, and his father, Vladek, a survivor of the Holocaust. As Vladek’s story unfolds in the years leading to the Second World War, he demonstrates his resourceful character and his commitment to his family. When the Nazis begin to carry out their plan to exterminate those citizens they deem undesirable, Vladek and his family find it more and more difficult to avoid imprisonment, until at last they are taken to concentration camps. It is there that Vladek’s resourceful character proves its worth. His wife and he survive, though their first-born son does not. The cost of their survival is high: Anja eventually takes her own life. Told in comic book format, and using animal heads on the human figures, this is an evocative and provocative study not only of the Holocaust, but of its impact on survivors and their families. | |
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Meditations on Middle Earth: New Writings on the World of J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Fantasy writers Ursula Le Guin, Terry Pratchett, Orson Scott Card, Raymond E. Fiest, Charles de Lint, and George R.R. Martin, among others, offer their observations about the influence of the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, especially upon their own and others’ writing. Some of these essays are intensely personal and others are analytical about Tolkien’s stories, style and language. An intriguing companion to Tolkien’s work, there is much worthwhile commentary and observation here. | |
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Midnight at the Dragon Cafe |
When Su-Jen Chou comes to Canada as a six-year old, she and her mother join her much older father who operates a restaurant in a small isolated Ontario town. As Annie, she grows up and into Canadian life as her mother becomes more isolated and bitter, her parents’ marriage remote and cold. When her older half-brother arrives, it becomes apparent that much more is troubling the family than the age difference between her parents. The arrival of her brother’s mail-order bride precipitates a crisis that encapsulates the fine divide immigrant children often walk between the old world and the new. A haunting story, this is powerfully and richly told in the voice of a gifted storyteller. |
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Midnighters #2: Touching Darkness |
| The sequel to The Secret Hour, the five teens who are midnighters are those born at the stroke of midnight, inhabiting a secret 25th hour. Unfortunately, some very frightening beings also inhabit this time and space. Jessica having just discovered her powers of fire also realizes that humans are stalking her in the 24 hours of the day that she believed she was safe. What are connections between these humans and the darklings seeking to destroy the midnighters? What connections are there to the work her mother’s company is doing on a secret runway in the desert? The underlying terror of the growing threat of the darklings drives this fast-paced story. | |
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Moby Dick |
| Complex and demanding, this is on one level, the story of the obsessive quest by Ahab, captain of the whaler Pequod, to hunt down and kill the white whale who took Ahab's leg in an earlier battle. It is on another level, a symbolic story of the complexities of life. Over the course of the tale, Melville evocatively described the dangerous and often violent life aboard a whaling ship, as well as an examination of the nature of whales. Told in an elegant style, this remains one of the great stories of the sea, and human existence upon and against it. (Modern perspectives on this story include Ahab's Wife or the Star-Gazer by Sena Jeter Naslund; and White-as-the-Waves by Alison Baird.) | |
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Mondays are Red |
| When fourteen-year old Luke awakes from a coma precipitated by a nearly fatal attack of meningitis, he discovers that his senses have blended into one another: the days of the week have colour; music has taste. The condition is called synesthesia, and serves him well writing poetry. But he is also haunted by an evil creature named Dreeg who tries to persuade him to commit increasingly bizarre and dangerous acts. Gradually, Luke comes to realize that his older sister Laura is in grave peril, and he must act to save her. The story is complex, sure to intrigue readers fascinated by the nature of reality. | |
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Money for Nothing |
| Josh Redmont has been cashing $1000.00 cheques each month for more than seven years. These cheques come from United States Agent, a company unfamiliar to Josh, and apparently untraceable. Now a successful advertising executive with a wife and child, Josh’s life is turned upside down when he is approached on the Fire Island ferry by an un presuming man who informs Josh that he is from United States Agent and is about to explain the strings attached to all those tax-free cheques. Josh is now “active” and in the middle of an assassination plot. A fast-paced, entertaining, and humorous tale that illustrates that there is no such thing as something for nothing. | |
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Mr. Midshipman Hornblower |
| Chronologically first in the life of the principal character, this is one of ten novels about the fictional naval hero, Horatio Hornblower. The young midshipman has been commissioned aboard a warship in the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. It details the hardships of such a life for all in the king's service, and how precarious that life could be in the routine of shipboard life or in battle. Forester's knowledge of the life aboard a tall ship, and the history of those times in Europe, is extensive. It creates a powerful setting for the telling of Hornblower's story: an intelligent, observant and cautious officer whose skill and daring earn him the respect and admiration of not only the powerful, but most especially his crews. He becomes, over time and exploits, a legend in the mold of Nelson. (Other titles in the series include Lieutenant Hornblower; Hornblower and the Atropos; Flying Colours; Hornblower and the Hotspur; Beat to Quarters; Commodore Hornblower; Ship of the Line; Lord Hornblower; and Admiral Hornblower.) | |
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Mutiny on the Bounty |
| Based upon actual events, this is the story of the HMS Bounty, a ship in the king's navy, sent to the South Pacific and under the command of Captain William Bligh. Told in the voice of midshipman Roger Byam, Bligh is portrayed as a harsh disciplinarian whose excesses aggravate, then alienate his officers and crew. Eventually, his first officer, Fletcher Christian, relieves Bligh of command. The captain and loyal members of his crew are set adrift in a lifeboat with few resources. (In fact, Bligh navigates this small craft and its crew across the Pacific to safety, an extraordinary feat of seamanship. The Royal Navy eventually tracks down the surviving mutineers on Pitcairn Island, tries and condemns them.) A story that challenges our sense of justice and compassion. | |
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My father had a daughter: Judith Shakespeare’s tale |
Growing up with her twin brother, Hamnet, in Stratford, Judith Shakespeare loves to hear her father's stories during his all-too-infrequent visits home from the London stage. When Hamnet drowns during a game that Judith started, she must cope with her guilt and grief. Discovering that her brother's death has been incorporated into her father's latest play, Twelfth Night, Judith is determined to sabotage its production. She disguises herself as a boy to infiltrate the company at the Globe theatre. A rollicking story of Elizabethan England, this recreates the vibrance of the golden age of English theatre. |
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My Sister’s Keeper |
| Anna Fitzgerald is the youngest member of her family. She was conceived to provide bone marrow and blood in a bid to save the life of her older sister Kate, suffering from a rare form of leukemia. Now at age thirteen, and expected to donate a kidney, Anna has had enough. She hires lawyer Campbell Alexander to launch a lawsuit against her family to halt any further invasive medical interventions. Much as she loves her sister, and longs for her family’s peace and happiness, Anna’s action has precipitated a crisis. Her older brother Jesse acts out through setting fires that her firefighter father Brian puts out. Her mother, a former attorney, tries to defend the family against the lawsuit. Throughout the story, the emotional and moral issues presented by this dilemma are compellingly explored. | |
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Name of the Rose, The |
| In 1327, several suspicious deaths occur among the monks of a Franciscan abbey renowned throughout Christendom for its library collection. While travelling home, Brother William of Baskerville and his acolyte Adson seek shelter at the abbey. The abbot beseeches William, well-known for his intellectual vigour, to solve the mysteries of these deaths. In the process of doing so, William is imbroiled in the theological debates raging among the brethren. This is a multi-faceted and complex story to challenge young minds. | |
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Names Will Never Hurt |
| It is the first anniversary of Jake Stiles’ shooting death. The local television station has sent a camera crew to the high school he attended, to interview students about their state of mind on this occasion. Are they coping? Are they healing? The simple answer is no. Four students tell their stories: Ryan, the football star who harbours a burdensome secret; Tisha, a biracial girl who quietly observes life around her; Floater who acts as the school prinicpal’s eyes and ears; and Kurt the outcast who doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere. In a lyrical, poetic style, Adoff builds the tension in classrooms and hallways, to reveal who the monsters really are. A challenging story with complexities reflected in teenage life. | |
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Namesake, The |
| Their marriage arranged, Asoke and Ashima Ganguli immigrate from their traditional family life in Calcutta, India to Cambridge, Massachusetts. While he strives to become part of this new country, she longs for home. When their son, Gogol, is born, the struggle to name him underscores the immigrant dilemma: respecting the traditional culture while finding a place in the new. The story follows Gogol as he walks in two worlds of divided loyalties. This is an accurate portrayal of the unique circumstances immigrants experience in defining who they are in two worlds. | |
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Night I Disappeared, The |
| Seventeen-year old Jamie is plagued by freaky "mindslips" and vivid daydreams after she and her mother move to Chicago from California in order that her mother can defend a young girl accused of killing her stepfather. Jamie's mindslips occur anytime, anyplace. She finds herself in some frightening situations, and eventually realizes that her boyfriend whom she has known since she was a child, has always been a figment of her imagination. She created him in order to cope with a terrible experience when she was nine. Written in the first person, this fast-paced story shapes our understanding of Jamie's psychological issues, as though we have a key to her mind. | |
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No Shame, No Fear |
Life in Restoration England is much more difficult for Quakers. Susanna Thorn must leave her home in the countryside to find work in the town, when her father is jailed for practicing his faith. There she meets and falls in love with William Heywood, son of a prosperous merchant, apprenticed, with his life mapped out for him by his father. Told alternatively in Susanna's voice and Will's voice, this story illustrates how remaining true to one's values can be costly. |
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Nobody's Child |
Told from the perspective of two young Armenians in Turkey during the genocide that coincided with The Great War, this story portrays the struggle of the human spirit against inhumane circumstances. When the Armenians are forced into the desert to die, Mariam is rescued by her Turkish friend Rustem, and becomes part of his father's harem. Kevork is shot and left for dead in a mass grave where he is rescued by nomadic Arabs and restored to health. The compassion shown by individual Armenians and Turks to each other, counterpoints the brutality of this mass slaughter, and emphasizes the choices left to these two young people: remain in the security of adoptive homes or risk death to search for family. The sequel to The Hunger,this is a challenging story that will engage readers in a little-known event. |
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Northern Light, A |
| Mattie Gokey has ambitions to be a writer, but at sixteen years of age, she is discouraged from her goals by her widowed father and her fiancé, who want her to remain on the farm and help with the work. She wins a scholarship to Barnard, and begins a summer job at the local hotel that caters to tourists visiting a nearby lake. She meets a troubled young woman, Grace Brown, who gives Mattie a packet of love letters and instructs Mattie to burn them. When Grace drowns while boating, Mattie finds the letters a means to unravel the mystery surrounding Grace’s death, and the apparent drowning of her boating partner. Based on a true case in 1906 (which was the basis of Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy, and its film adaptation, A Place in the Sun), this is complex story of poverty, racism and feminism. | |
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Nothing to do |
| Have the words “There’s nothing to do!” ever crossed your lips? What do you do when there is a day with nothing planned - can you even imagine a day or a summer with no scheduled events? Well, clear the calendar! Find some blank spaces on it, and think about what it could be like without soccer practice, dance class, computer camp, etc. Begin your day with a read of this book, and you will soon have all kinds of ideas for simple pleasures that will stretch out time – catching fireflies, sitting quietly on a dock, climbing a tree, checking out cloud shapes, etc. A great read for summertime…or anytime the hectic pace of life gets you down! (P.S. share this one with an adult and they will thank you!) |
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Nothing to Lose |
| Told in alternating present/past chapters, this is the story of Michael Daye, a.k.a. Robert Frost, who fled his abusive family life to join a traveling carnival. Now a year later, he has returned with the carnival to Miami where he discovers that his mother is on trial for the murder of her abusive husband, Michael’s millionaire stepfather. It becomes apparent that Michael can support his mother, but at what cost personally? A candid and accurate depiction of spousal abuse and the damage it inflicts, this is a compelling story of love and loyalty. By the author of Breathing Underwater (2001) and Breaking Point (2002) | |
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One Hundred Million Hearts |
Born physically deformed, Miyo is cared for with dedication by her father. After she leaves home as an adult, he dies. It is only then that Miyo learns that he was a kamikaze pilot in World War II; that his apparent girlfriend Setsuko was in reality his wife and that there is another daughter, Hana, living in Japan. When Miyo and Setsuko travel to Tokyo to meet Hana, the complexities of their lives and the turmoil that damaged them are evocatively portrayed as these women try to come to terms with the events that shaped their world. |
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Onion Girl, The |
| Jilly Coppercorn, an artist whose work captures the magical life of the fictional Canadian community of Newford, is recovering in hospital, the apparent victim of a hit-and-run driver. Parts of her body, including her painting hand, are not working properly. Her rehabilitation is complicated by fears that simmer below the surface, and outside events that hurt her. While she is in hospital, her studio is vandalized and many of her favorite paintings are destroyed. To heal physically, she must also heal spiritually and emotionally, peeling back layer by layer, as an onion. | |
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Other Boleyn Girl, The |
| When Anne, the younger daughter of Thomas Boleyn, ambitious functionary in the court of Henry VIII, returns from years at the French court, she catches the roving eye of a king deeply concerned about his lack of a male heir. Anne’s older sister, Mary, had been the king’s mistress even though she was married to one of his courtiers. Along with their brother, George, Thomas’ children were expected to advance their family’s cause, especially that of their uncle, Thomas Howard, who eventually became the Duke of Norfolk. Told from Mary’s perspective, this well-researched story of intrigue, betrayal and death is a compelling window on a time of upheaval in English history. | |
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Our Story |
| This collection of short stories includes work by Maria Campbell, Tantoo Cardinal, Tomson Highway, Drew Hayden Taylor, Basil Johnston, Thomas King, Brian Maracle, Lee Maracle, Jovette Marchessault and Rachel Qitsualik. Each writer has used as the context for the story an event in Canadian history, but told from their uniquely Aboriginal perspective. From encounters with Viking explorers to the Oka crisis, these storytellers with wit, grace and humour help us understand how events have shaped who we are. | |
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Oxford Shadows |
| Two worlds at different times in the past parallel each other in this story. One concerns two kids billeted in the English countryside during World War II. The second is about a young novelist in the present, who trips over the story while researching her latest book. Dark connections are discovered and the death of a ten-year old evacuee and his billeting hostess deepen the mystery. | |
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Paperboy’s Winter, The |
| Callum Taylor is adrift since the death of his much loved father. While visiting his hometown, a small community on the banks of the Fraser River in British Columbia, his chance encounter with a figure from his past triggers a flood of memories of his tenth year. Among them is Ezra Hemsworth, an eccentric fisherman whose odd life introduces the young Callum to the adult world. The story of that winter is a haunting journey for the mature Callum. | |
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Paradise |
| The town of Ruby, Oklahoma was built upon the African-American families that settled there to escape the difficulties of living in mainstream society. The isolation of their community is highlighted by the rigidity of its structure, and fear. That fear leads nine of the community’s men to attack the four women living in a convent nearby. This challenging story illuminates the complexity of community and its historical antecedents. | |
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Paradise: Based on a True Story of Survival |
| This is the fictional account of the ordeal of Marguerite de la Rocque, an historical figure from Canada's earliest colonial days. Marguerite sailed from France to Canada in 1542. Her uncle banished her, her maid and her lover to the tiny Isle of Demons. This is the story of her desperate, resourceful struggle for survival, a compelling and at times, horrifying account of a dark and tragic life. | |
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Patient, The |
| When Dr. Jessie Copeland, a respected neurosurgeon and scientist, develops a tiny robot used to excise inoperable brain tumors, her work becomes the target of an extremely dangerous terrorist. He wants the surgery, and is prepared to cause severe consequences for the hospital and staff if he is thwarted. Suspenseful and exciting. | |
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Peace Weavers |
| Hilde and her brother Tom have been relocated with their father to an Anglo-American military base in Britain, while their mother participates in a peace demonstration in Iraq. Coincidentally, Hilde has become involved in a local archaeological dig that unearths the skeleton of an Anglo-Saxon woman named Maethilde, a peace weaver in sixth century Britain. When Hilde removes from the site a golden brooch, she begins to have vivid dreams that seem to direct her to work for peace in her own time. The interweaving of a modern story and a medieval story threaded with efforts for peace is intended to provoke a debate about just how far we have come to achieving this goal. | |
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Pearl Diver, The |
| Shortly after the end of the Second World War, a nineteen-year old Japanese pearl diver discovers she has two spots of leprosy on her arm. Disowned by her family and exiled to an island leprosarium, she assumes the name, Miss Fuji and is assigned the task of nursing sicker patients. Although her own case of the disease is halted by new medication, she cannot leave the island. Over time, she connects to others living there, and comes to wonder if she could make a life anywhere else. Told in fragments associated with artifacts, this spare lyrical story illustrates compassion and spirit in the face of debilitating illness. | |
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Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood |
| Marjane Satrapi’s stark black and white images of her life from ages six to fourteen tell about the events in Iran including the overthrow of the Shah, the Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war. Initially, her parents welcome the change in government but they come to realize that another form of totalitarianism is taking shape. They struggle to educate their daughter amid the chaos of the Iran-Iraq war, while trying to cope with the imprisonment and eventual death of Marjane’s uncle Anoosh. Eventually, they send Marjane to Europe for her own safety. An unsentimental view of tumultuous times, this is a powerful memoir. | |
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Portrait in Sepia |
| Aurora del Valle was a photographer, a metaphor for the story of her life. When she was five, she went to live with her ambitious and larger-than-life paternal grandmother, Paulina. As the family fortune dwindled, Paulina gathered up her household in San Francisco and returned to her native Chile. There, the family story unfolded as Aurora experienced horrific nightmares that she must eventually understand. A story with broad themes and grand sweep, this is an entertaining and enjoyable sequel to Daughter of Fortune. | |
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Postcards from No Man's Land |
Jacob Todd, acting as his grandmother’s representative at a commemoration of the Battle of Arnheim, meets Geertrui, the woman who nursed his grandfather during World War II. Shortly after arriving in Amsterdam, Jacob is mugged and finds himself as the houseguest of Daan, Geertrui’s grandson. He is at first bewildered by the diversity of experiences he has, including the unsettled feeling engendered by the Anne Frank house; the new acquaintances whose personalities and proclivities intrigue him, and most disturbingly, the imminent assisted death of Geertrui, whose story of life in occupied Holland in 1944 is as vivid as when it happened. The intertwining of Jacob’s experiences with those of 1944 shows parallels that make the conclusion haunting. Winner of the 2003 Michael L. Printz Award; British Carneige Medal. |
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Prey |
| In the Nevada desert, a military experiment has gone wrong. A cloud of nano-particles--micro-robots--has escaped from the laboratory. The cloud is self-sustaining, self-reproducing, intelligent and learns from experience. For all intents and purposes, it is alive. It has been programmed to prey upon the human race. Evolving swiftly, it becomes more deadly with each passing hour. Every attempt to destroy it has failed. But scientists must stop this plague. How will they accomplish what seems to be an impossible feat? | |
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Princess Diaries, The |
| Mia Thermopolis is pretty sure there's nothing worse than being a five-foot-nine, flat-chested freshman, who also happens to be flunking Algebra. Think again - she's a princess who is about to be ripped away from her beloved Manhattan and put into lessons about being a princess. 2001 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers (ALA), Books for the Teen Age 2001 (NYPL) and 2001 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA) | |
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Private Peaceful |
| Young Thomas Peaceful lied about his age in order to join his brother Charlie to serve in the First World War. While standing vigil and watching the minutes tick by, Tommo reflects on his life growing up in England: his role in the accidental death of their father, his relationship with Charlie, his friendship with Molly and his experiences in the war. It is somber, poignant and often idyllic. It is not until the end of the story that it is clear why Thomas is standing vigil and what it means to him and his family. This shocking story is an unforgettable reminder of the cost of war. | |
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Prom |
When a troubled teacher makes off with the money for the school prom, Ashley is impressed into service by her best friend, Natalie to whom the prom is everything. Ashley does not care about the event, given her too-full home life with a pregnant mother, three younger brothers, a cab-driver father and an addled grandmother. Complicating her life further is her gorgeous, drop-out boyfriend, her perpetual after-school detentions and her unfulfilling part time job serving pizza while dressed in a rat costume. Told in Ashley’s voice, this witty and prescient tale will entertain readers with its over-the-top ending. |
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Purple Hibiscus |
| In Eugene’s ancestral village in Nigeria, he is known as Omelora (The One Who Does for the Community) for his wealth, his philanthropy and his outspoken criticism of the government through his newspaper. To outsiders, his wife, son Jaja and daughter Kambili lead a privileged life. But Eugene is a religious fanatic who terrorizes his family for any infraction of what he believes to be the exemplary Christian life. Kambili and Jaja get a taste of a different life when they are permitted to visit their aunt Ifeoma, who raises her children with love and care in spite of their near-poverty. The unraveling and re-forming of Kambili’s family is a striking testament to how a seed of hope is planted. | |
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Pyongyang: a journey in North Korea |
| While supervising the animation of a children's cartoon program in North Korea, Guy Delisle was accompanied virtually everywhere he went by a guide and a translator. This did not prevent him from observing and recording his experiences, transforming them into an (ironically) black and white visual representation of his journey. His observations are especially piquant in the context of North Korea's isolation not only politically but economically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. This will appeal to current events aficionados and fans of the graphic novel genre. | |
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