Special Collections
High Interest Y. A. Novels
Description: High Interest, Low Vocabulary books are for teenagers looking to advance their reading capabilities. Perfect for emerging teen readers. #teens
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Strange Beauty (SideStreets)
by Lori WeberPenny gets a reading assignment and chooses to interview her grandma, who tells her all about the Queen of Sheba and her celebrated beauty. Then grandma dies and the eccentric lady next door comes to pay her respects. That's when Penny begins to realize that there is a "Strange Beauty" in all of us and that beauty is sometimes fleeting.
The Darwin Expedition
by Diane TullsonTej and Liam are going snowboarding. When they take a shortcut over a treacherous logging road and have an accident, their adventure becomes more about survival than fresh powder. Tracked by a hungry bear, while trying to outrun the weather without any food, Tej and Liam learn about their friendship and what it will take to survive. When Tej is hurt, Liam decides he has to go for help—alone.
Scarlet Thunder
by Sigmund BrouwerTrenton Hiser is trying to walk in the footsteps of his uncle, Mike Hiser, a successful Hollywood director. During Trenton's summer vacation, he goes with his uncle to film the inside story of Scarlet Thunder, a top-level stock-car racing team. As they film the action, too many things go wrong, deadly mistakes are made and Trenton finds out that much more than the race is at stake.
Gravity
by Leanne LiebermanEllie Gold is an orthodox Jewish teenager living in Toronto in the late eighties. Ellie has no doubts about her strict religious upbringing until she falls in love with another girl at her grandmother's cottage. Aware that homosexuality clashes with Jewish observance, Ellie feels forced to either alter her sexuality or leave her community. Meanwhile, Ellie's mother, Chana, becomes convinced she has a messianic role to play, and her sister, Neshama, chafes against the restrictions of her faith. Ellie is afraid there is no way to be both gay and Jewish, but her mother and sister offer alternative concepts of God that help Ellie find a place for herself as a queer Jew.
Walking Backward
by Catherine AustenWhen Josh's mother dies in a phobia-induced car crash, she leaves two questions for her grieving family: how did a snake get into her car and how do you mourn with no faith to guide you? Twelve-year-old Josh is left alone to find the answers. His father is building a time machine. His four-year-old brother's closest friend is a plastic Power Ranger. His psychiatrist offers nothing more than a blank journal and platitudes. Isolated by grief in a home where every day is pajama day, Josh makes death his research project. He tests the mourning practices of religions he doesn't believe in. He tries to mend his little brother's shattered heart. He observes, records and waits—for his life to feel normal, for his mother's death to make sense, for his father to come out of the basement. His observations, recorded in a series of journal entries, are funny, smart, insightful—and heartbreaking. His conclusions about the nature of love, loss, grief and the space-time continuum are nothing less than life-changing.
Dream Racer (SideStreets)
by Jacqueline GuestZoë's caught the racing bug. Not only is she following in the tire tracks of her older brother as a rally racer, she thinks she might even have the stuff to become a race car engineer one day. But Zoë's mother has another dream for her daughter, and it's called "Zoë Kendall, M.D."
The Scarlet Letter (Adapted)
by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Stephen FeinsteinAdapted from the classic by Stephen Feinstein. This 88-page book includes described drawings and an 8-page study guide at the end.
Watch Me
by Norah McClintockAt first Kaz intends to help the old lady who's fallen in the park. But then he starts thinking about how he never gets what he wants. The next thing he knows, he's running away with her purse. The purse contains only five dollars and a battered watch. When Kaz learns who the old woman is and where the watch came from, he begins to understand consequences in a new way.
Sk8er (Sports Stories Series)
by Steven BarwinJordy Lee and his friends are thrilled when a new skateboarding park offers a youth competition.
Flux (Orca Books)
by Beth GoobieDeep in another reality, while using her ability to travel to parallel worlds, Nellie uncovers a conspiracy to abduct children for an experimental laboratory.
Waking
by Alyxandra Harvey-FitzhenryBeauty is afraid to sleep--her dreams are haunted by the Shadow Lady who stalks and threatens her. During her waking hours, Beauty's life is safe, safer than she wants it to be. Since her mother's death, her father has become so over-protective that he has locked away all the knives in the house. Her mother's death, the accident, is never discussed. Beauty has lost her desire to be an artist. At school Beauty tries to be invisible to avoid the questions and innuendo that have arisen since her mother's death. But when a new student arrives, things begin to change. Luna is a free spirit, confident and exciting. She encourages and challenges Beauty to come out of her shell. Beauty finally admits to her attraction to Poe, a boy who lives a few doors away. Her artistic drive returns. But as Beauty gains self-confidence, her nightmares become ever more terrifying, filled with dark images of blood and death. Beauty must now struggle to solve the riddle posed by her dreams: who is the Shadow Lady and what is the nature of her curse?
Out of Order
by Robin StevensonFifteen-year-old Sophie sees her move to Victoria as a chance to start over and leave her old self behind. She is soon drawn into the orbit of the charismatic but troubled Zelia. As their friendship develops, and Zelia's behavior becomes increasingly self-destructive, Sophie struggles to maintain both the friendship and her own sense of self. Then Sophie meets Max. At first, Max seems to be Zelia's opposite: direct, straightforward and sure of herself. But this new friendship brings its own unexpected challenges and confusion, and Sophie slowly starts to realize that friendships are a place in which one can both lose and discover oneself.
Battle of the Bands
by K.L. DenmanJay, Kelvin and Cia are The Lunar Ticks, a dedicated band who are convinced they are on their way up. They hope to win an upcoming battle of the bands where the first prize is a full day in a recording studio. Jay is struggling to write new material but finds he lacks the experience to come up with a truly original song. Going up against Indigo Daze, a band from another school, Jay finds himself falling for Rowan, the leader of the other band. When Rowan's guitar is trashed right before the contest The Lunar Ticks are the prime suspects. Also available in Spanish.
Out of Time
by Peter McpheeMembers of Eileen's tight-knit circle of friends have made a suicide pact. When her best friend's body is discovered, it's a race against time to find another missing teen and prevent another tragedy. Eileen finds an unexpected ally in Ron, one of a gang of bullies at school who always victimized Eileen's group of "losers. " As Eileen and Ron frantically search, the reasons for the pact and its devastating consequences are revealed.
Dog Walker
by Karen Spafford-FitzTurk needs cash, but he's allergic to his own sweat so getting a job is out of the question. Then he makes a discovery: Girls love dogs. Turk's friends will do anything to meet girls. Turk starts a dog walking business. His friends walk the dogs and Turk collects half the money. In an attempt to impress dog-loving Carly, Turk brags about his business in front of the school tough guy, Chuck. When Chuck learns the true nature of Turk's business and wants in on the action, Turk worries that he will lose his business and Carly's respect.
Tiger Threat
by Sigmund BrouwerRay Hockaday plays center for the Medicine Hat Tigers in the Western Hockey League. He's spent his hockey career hiding something from the world. When his new Russian room-mate shows up, Ray is assigned to help Vlad get used to life in Canada. What Ray doesn't know is that Vlad is also hiding something. And that secret could get both of them killed.
The Bonemender (Bonemender #1) (Orca Books)
by Holly BennettIn this fantasy, Gabrielle is a bonemender, a healer, who falls in love with a man whom fate seems to have forbidden her, but they must both think about war before they can think about love.
Running the Risk
by Lesley ChoyceAfter being the victim of an armed robbery, Sean should be terrified but he isn't. He finds he likes the rush that comes from danger and tries to recreate the feeling. But when his risktaking leads him to some of the worst parts of town and he finds himself face-to-face with the original armed robbers, he finds he must do the right thing.
Power Hitter
by C. A. ForsythConnor Wells is looking forward to spending the whole summer parked on the couch with his video games, at home in Burlington, Ontario. Then something bad happens to his mother. Something really bad. When he's sent to stay with relatives in Winnipeg, he finds they play baseball--all day, every day--and he doesn't play at all. Soon, however, he discovers a hidden talent that helps him both on the diamond and off. Power Hitter shows how sport can help us understand even life's hardest experiences.
Gotcha!
by Shelley HrdlitschkaIt's "bead season" at slippery rock high. This year the bead-snatching grad game called "Gotcha" has been banned as an official school activity because the teachers have decided to put an end to a dangerous tradition. After paying an entry fee the players are given a bead and someone's name. The object of the game is snatch the bead of your victim and take their name. The winner ends up with all the beads—and all the money. After the game is banned it becomes even more appealing. The game goes underground and more grads than ever are participating. Katie is reluctant to join in, but as a member of grad council she feels she has to go along. The game quickly spins out of control. Katie finds herself losing friends and falling victim to her classmates' obsession with the game. She considers dropping out of the game but then devises a better way of getting even with her classmates. Katie finds herself sliding further and further down the chute that leads to disaster. Can she bring a safe end to this deadly game?
The Odyssey (An Adapted Classic)
by Homer and Henry I. ChristThe most popular epic of Western culture springs to life in Henry I. Christ's adaptation. Homer's masterpiece tells the story of Odysseus, the ideal Greek hero, as he travels home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. Includes a list of Greek gods and goddesses, and their Roman equivalents, along with suggested activities and an extensive list of reading comprehension questions.
Les Miserables (An Adapted Classic)
by Victor Hugo and Mary AnsaldoFrom the adapter: In preparing this edition of Les Miserables, we have tried to include as much of Victor Hugo's great story as possible. We have modified some of Hugo's vocabulary and shortened and simplified many of his sentences and paragraphs. Certain French words, titles, and expressions have been retained to give the book a French flavor. They have been translated and explained in footnotes if an understanding of them is necessary to the story. The French names of the characters have been used, because most of them have no English equivalents.
Voice of the Valley
by Sheena KoopsVoice of the Valley is a poetic, multi-layered, coming-of-age story inspired by the controversial flooding of Saskatchewan's Souris Valley. Onja Claibourn is almost fifteen. Her world is one of sage, buffalo bills, brown-eyed susans, cactus, flax, buckbrush, foxtail and orange moss—the world of the valley just beyond the family farm. Old roads twist like a game of snakes and ladders into the valley. Onja and her horse Ginger spend their summer days in exploration. But things begin to change when Onja discovers first an archeological dig and then the startling fact that there is a plan to dam and flood her valley. She cannot contemplate this change to the landscape she loves so much. And when she also discovers sixteen-year-old Etthen, working with the archaeologists, she begins those first faltering footsteps toward a totally unfamiliar landscape—romantic love. Onja Claibourn is a wonderfully complex and very real character—innocent, wise, shy, stubborn, playful, and caring. The other major character in the novel is the prairie landscape itself—huge sky, harsh sun, rolling hills, sweeping fields of grain.
Branded
by Eric WaltersIan learns that the company that makes the uniforms for his school is reputed to use child labor.
The Gramma War (Orca Books)
by Kristin ButcherAnnie learns some hard lessons about family ties when her grandmother moves in -- and takes over!