The Cat at the Wall by
A remarkable and thought-provoking new novel set on Israel's West Bank, by the author of The Breadwinner. On Israel's West Bank, a cat sneaks into a small Palestinian house that has just been commandeered by two Israeli soldiers. The house seems empty, until the cat realizes that a little boy is hiding beneath the floorboards. Should she help him? After all, she's just a cat. Or is she? It turns out that this particular cat is not used to thinking about anyone but herself. She was once a regular North American girl who only had to deal with normal middle-school problems -- staying under the teachers' radar, bullying her sister and the uncool kids at school, outsmarting her clueless parents. But that was before she died and came back to life as a cat, in a place with a whole different set of rules for survival. When the little boy is discovered, the soldiers don't know what to do with him. Where are the child's parents? Why has he been left alone in the house? It is not long before his teacher and classmates come looking for him, and the house is suddenly surrounded by Palestinian villagers throwing rocks, and the sound of Israeli tanks approaching. Not my business, thinks the cat. And then she sees a photograph, and suddenly she understands what happened to the boy's parents, and why they have not returned. And as the soldiers begin to panic, and disaster seems certain, she knows that it is up to her to diffuse the situation. But what can a cat do? What can any one creature do?
The Dogs by
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch something moving by the barn. When I look, it disappears. Wait. There it is again, at the cornfield. Some movement, some thing. Mom and I have been on the run for years. Every time he catches up with us, we move to a new place and start over. But this place is different. This place is full of secrets. And they won't leave me alone.
Fragile Bones by
Meet Harrison and Anna. One is a fifteen-year-old boy with an uncanny ability to recite every bone in the skeletal system whenever he gets anxious -- and that happens a lot. The meaning of "appropriate behaviour" mystifies him: he doesn't understand most people and they certainly don't understand him. The other is a graduating senior with the world at her feet. Joining the Best Buddies club at her school and pairing up with a boy with Aspergers/autism is the perfect addition to her med school applications. Plus, the president of the club is a rather attractive, if mysterious, added bonus. Told in the alternating voices of Harrison and Anna, Fragile Bones is the story of two teens whose lives intertwine in unexpected ways. Each one-to-one novel tells the story of a different pair of teens participating in the Best Buddies program at Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School. Follow the lives of this group of friends who come together with different expectations and problems, seeing the world from their own unique perspectives and facing it head on together.
The Gospel Truth by
2015 Governor General's Literary Award Winner!! Award-winning author Caroline Pignat's new historical novel recreates the world of a Virginia tobacco plantation in 1858. Through the different points of view of slaves, their masters and a visiting bird-watcher the world of the plantation comes to live in this verse novel. Phoebe belongs to Master Duncan and works in the plantation kitchen. She sees how the other slaves are treated -- the beatings and whippings, the disappearances. She hasn't seen her mother since Master Duncan sold her ten years ago. But Phoebe is trying to learn words and how to read and when she is asked to show the master's Canadian visitor, Doctor Bergman, where he can find warblers and chickadees she starts to see things differently. And Doctor Bergman has more in mind that just drawing the local birds. Phoebe's friend Shad works on the plantation as well -- but mostly he worries about his brother Will. His brother is the last member of his family and he is determined to escape from the master and the tobacco plantation. He has already been caught and beaten more than once. And the stories about life in Canada can't be true, can they? How does a man survive without the master there taking care of everything? Author Caroline Pignat was interviewed by CanLit for LittleCanadians blog about The Gospel Truth and the Governor General's finalist announcement. Click here to see the interview.
Prison Boy by
A heart-wrenching tale of selfless love and the powerful desire to survive.
In an unnamed country, when little Kai is brought to the orphanage run by Bell, a fearsome Englishwoman whose dedication to her charges is unflinching, an older child, Pax, immediately takes him under his wing. It soon becomes apparent that Kai is a brilliant child, and given the right circumstances, could go on to achieve great things. Penniless and living amidst political strife and constant uncertainty, the children are nonetheless taken care of and protected--until Bell dies and they are left on their own. Pax is determined to keep Kai safe, and to make sure he gets the education he deserves. But life on the streets is tough--and dangerous. In a desperate attempt to make enough money to keep Kai in school, Pax agrees to work for a shady character known only as Mister. Mister sends Pax on a "special" mission--carry a very heavy box to a pre-arranged location, and wait. At the very last minute, Pax realizes that the box contains a bomb, which explodes, killing and maiming hundreds of people. Pax and Kai escape the deadly explosion, only to be arrested soon after and charged with terrorism. What follows is a descent into the hellish prison where brutal guards stop at nothing to make Pax talk. This haunting novel brings home the tragic situation in which children in over 40 countries are tortured with impunity. But it also speaks to the strength of love in the most dire situations.
The Truth Commission by
This was going to be the year Normandy Pale came into her own. The year she emerged from her older sister's shadow-and Kiera, who became a best-selling graphic novelist before she even graduated from high school, casts a long one. But it hasn't worked out that way, not quite. So Normandy turns to her art and writing, and the "truth commission" she and her friends have started to find out the secrets at their school. It's a great idea, as far as it goes-until it leads straight back to Kiera, who has been hiding some pretty serious truths of her own.
Uncertain Soldier by
It's WWII. Erich, a young German prisoner of war who dislikes Nazism, and Max, the twelve-year-old son of German immigrants, become friends when Erich is sent to work at a Canadian logging camp near Max's town. But with a saboteur haunting the logging camp and anti-German feeling running high in town, their friendship puts them both in danger. Seventeen-year-old Erich is a prisoner of war working at a northern Alberta logging camp. Twelve-year-old Max goes to school--reluctantly--in the nearby town. The two would be unlikely friends, except that neither has anyone else to turn to. At the height of World War II, nobody wants to befriend a German. It doesn't matter that Erich was forced into the military by his father, or that Max was proudly born in Canada. They are both easy targets for the locals' grief and anger against the Nazis. The other prisoners are no more welcoming, distrustful of Erich's perfect English and his dislike for Nazism. Still, when a series of accidents shake the logging camp, they pressure Erich to question the Canadians and find the saboteur--even if his questions get him into trouble. Caught between angry prisoners and suspicious captors, Erich is afraid to take any action at all. It is only when Max's schoolyard tormentors cross a dangerous line that Erich realizes that his real loyalties lie not with a regime or a country, but with his friend.
Walking Home by
Set in both the wilds and slums of Kenya, a powerful story about a brother and sister's brave journey to find a place to call home. 13-year-old Muchoki and his younger sister, Jata, can barely recognize what's become of their lives. Only weeks ago they lived in a bustling Kenyan village, going to school, playing soccer with friends, and helping at their parents' store. But sudden political violence has killed their father and destroyed their home. Now, Muchoki, Jata, and their ailing mother live in a tent in an overcrowded refugee camp. By day, they try to fend off hunger and boredom. By night, their fears about the future are harder to keep at bay. Driven by both hope and desperation, Muchoki and Jata set off on what seems like an impossible journey: to walk hundreds of kilometers to find their last remaining family.
We Are All Made Of Molecules by
"Thirteen-year-old Stewart Inkster is academically brilliant but 'ungifted' socially. Fourteen-year-old Ashley Anderson is the undisputed 'It' girl of grade nine, but her marks stink. Their worlds are about to collide when Stewart and his dad move in with Ashley and her mom. 'The Brady Bunch' it isn't Stewart is trying to be 89.9% happy with it, but Ashley is 110% horrified. She already has to hide the truth behind her parents' divorce; 'Spewart' could further threaten her position at the top of the social ladder. They are complete opposites. And yet, no matter their differences, they share one thing in common: they--like the rest of us--are all made of molecules." - Publisher's website
Young Man with Camera by
A picture is worth a thousand words -- and with a unique photographic format, a stunning original voice, and a provocative portrayal of bullying, YOUNG MAN WITH CAMERA is a book to get people talking.T-- is used to getting grief. He gets it from his mom, who blames herself for his accident years earlier. He gets it from Mr. Lam, who suspects every kid of stealing from his shop. Worst of all, he gets it from Joined at the Hip, a trio of bullies so vicious that they leave T-- terrified of even using his entire name. But T-- has his own strength too: his camera, which captures the unique way he sees the world. His pictures connect him to Ms. Karamath, the kind librarian at school; his friend Sean, whose passion for mysteries is matched only by his love for his dog; and especially Lucy, a homeless woman who shares his admiration for the photographer Diane Arbus. When Lucy is attacked by Joined at the Hip, T-- documents the assault on film. But the bullies know he has the photographs, and their anger could be deadly. What's the right thing for T-- to do? Do pictures ever tell the whole truth? And what if the truth isn't always the right answer?
The Dogs by
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch something moving by the barn. When I look, it disappears. Wait. There it is again, at the cornfield. Some movement, some thing. Mom and I have been on the run for years. Every time he catches up with us, we move to a new place and start over. But this place is different. This place is full of secrets. And they won't leave me alone.