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The Brian Doyle Up to Low Bundle
by Brian DoyleUp to LowYoung Tommy and Baby Bridget, the girl with the trillium-shaped eyes, discover that living, healing and dying are not always what they seem. And they make that discovery with the help of a wonderful cast of characters, including Crazy Mickey, Frank and the Hummer.Uncle RonaldOld Mickey is one hundred and twelve years old. He can't remember what he ate for lunch today, but he can remember every detail of what happened one hundred years ago, when he and his mother ran away from his violent father to take refuge in the hills north of Ottawa.Mary Ann AliceMary Ann Alice McCrank was named for the pretty church bell in the steeple of St. Martin's Church in the Martindale. She has the soul of a poet and Mickey McGuire Jr. is in love with her. Mary Ann Alice is passionately interested in many things, especially the geology of her part of the world. Her teacher, the wonderful Patchy Drizzle, shares her passion for rocks and fossils, many of which can be found along the river and in caves under the famous Paugan Falls.
Bridget’s Black ’47
by Dorothy PerkynsBridget Quinlan is a spirited 13-year-old when the Irish potato famine of the 1840s shatters her life. Although her home is a hovel with few possessions, her family survives as long as her father can grow a good crop of potatoes on his small piece of land. Tragedy strikes when crops fail and typhus spreads, killing one of the boys in her school and then her brother, Rory. With soldiers evicting the ill and unemployed, the Quinlans are forced to accept the offer of a passage to Canada. Appalling conditions onboard contribute to many deaths so that by the time they reach Grosse e, Quebec, Bridget and her sister are alone in the world. The two are adopted by a kind farming family and gradually settle into their new life. After all the sadness and loss, a surprising turn of events brings them lasting joy.
Broken Circle
by Christopher DinsdaleAngry at missing a week of summer video game entertainment, Jesse, a twelve-year-old boy of European/Native American descent, grudgingly follows through with his deceased father’s request that he join his Uncle Matthew and cousin Jason at Six Islands, on Georgian Bay, for a special camping trip. Uncle Matthew explains that Jesse’s father wanted Jason’s vision quest to be his introduction to their native culture. During their first night around the camp-fire, it is Jesse who has a vision, and the adventure begins. Not only is he swept back in time four hundred years, but he is transformed into a majestic, white-tailed deer. He must now survive the expert hunting skills of his ancestors while somehow rescuing his people before they are destroyed by warfare.
Burying the Moon
by Andrée PoulinA beautifully illustrated novel in verse about a young Indian girl who tackles the taboos around sanitation in her village. In Latika’s village in rural India, there are no toilets. No toilets mean that the women have to wait until night to do their business in a field. There are scorpions and snakes in the field, and germs that make people sick. For the girls in the village, no toilets mean leaving school when they reach puberty. No one in the village wants to talk about this shameful problem. But Latika has had enough. When a government representative visits their village, she sees her chance to make one of her dreams come true: the construction of public toilets, which would be safer for everybody in her village. Burying the Moon shines a light on how a lack of access to sanitation facilities affects girls and women in many parts of the world. Key Text Features author's note illustrations Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3 Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.3 Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.5 Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama, or poem. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.7 Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3 Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6 Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.
By the Skin of His Teeth: A Barkerville Mystery
by Ann WalshIn By the Skin of His Teeth, 17-year-old Ted MacIntosh, whom author Ann Walsh showcased earlier in Moses, Me and Murder and The Doctor’s Apprentice, befriends a young Chinese boy despite the intense prejudice seething in the frontier town. Ted suffers intimidation and violence at the hands of the cruel, arrogant Tremblay and his cronies, but with courage and conviction the young man stands up for what he believes and defends his Chinese friend.
Canadian Sports Sites for Kids: Places Named for Speedsters, Scorers, and Other Sportsworld Citizens
by Christopher MackinnonEverything you need to know about Canadian places named after our sports stars. In Canada, sports aren’t just entertainment; they’re literally part of the landscape. We’ve named everything from parks and streets to schools and stadiums after some of our favourite pro athletes and sports figures past and present. Wayne Gretzky Drive, Mike Weir Park, Roberto Luongo Arena, the Cindy Klassen Centre, Justin Morneau Field — Canadian Sports Sites for Kids is your entertaining, map-filled guidebook to hundreds of these special locations. The fast-paced stories, maps, and lists highlight everything you need to know about Canada’s sports geography.Plus, explore other little-known sites of interest, such as: • The Canadian city that named a park after an arm-wrestling promoter • The Ontario town that honoured a hockey fan with a place name • The Prince Edward Island village where the biggest street is named for the writer of "The Hockey Song" • The whereabouts of Canada’s only street named for a boxing champ
Caring for a Colony: The Story of Jeanne Mance
by Joanna EmeryThis is a story of pioneering courage and compassion in the New World. Jeanne dreamed of devoting her life to caring for others. In 1641, she courageously gave up her comfortable middle-class life in France to journey to the French colonies, today’s province of Quebec. In overcoming incredible hardships, massacres, illness, deprivation and seven gruelling trips across the ocean, Jeanne proved to be a remarkable leader. She ended up founding the first hospital in Montreal as well as being a pioneer and founder of the city of Montreal.
The Cat at the Wall
by Deborah EllisA 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?Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.3Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).
Catch Me If I Fall
by Barry JonsbergTwins Ashleigh and Aiden have always promised to protect each other, but after an accident on a school trip, Aiden starts behaving strangely. Are they just growing apart, or is something more sinister going on? In a future Australia ravaged by climate change, twins Ashleigh and Aiden Delatour have always promised to protect and be there for each other, no matter what. Their privileged upbringing and loving, wealthy parents leave them with little to worry about. But when Aiden is seriously injured during a school trip, the twins’ entire world begins to unravel. Back home from the hospital, something about Aiden seems different and Ashleigh’s quest to find out why will uncover dark truths about the world they thought they knew, challenge their bond as twins and push how far they are willing to go to keep their promises. Catch Me If I Fall is a thrilling, timely examination of the possible future of our planet, the true meaning of family and our responsibilities to each other. Key Text Features chapters dialogue epilogue explanation prologue Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3 Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6 Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3 Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6 Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.
Changing the Pattern: The Story of Emily Stowe
by Sydell WaxmanWhen Emily Stowe was born in Ontario in 1831, every girl’s life followed a set pattern. Regardless of her personality, intelligence, capabilities or creativity, her future was limited to housework and childcare. Emily Stowe was determined to change that pattern. Sydell Waxman, a writer, researcher and lecturer on women of the 1800s, tells of the events in the life of the young Emily Stowe which caused her to become, not only the first woman school principal and the first woman to practise medicine in Canada, but a pioneer in the fight for women’s rights. With the help of original sketches and archival material, Changing the Pattern also creates a vivid picture of Canada in the late 1800s as it follows Emily’s crusade to create new patterns for girls’ lives.
The Cherry Blossom 2-Book Bundle: When the Cherry Blossoms Fell / Cherry Blossom Winter
by Jennifer MarunoThis special bundle contains both of Jennifer Maruno’s Cherry Blossom novels about the internment of Japanese-Canadians, viewed through the eyes of nine-year-old Michiko Minagawa. Michiko bids her father goodbye before her birthday celebration. She doesn’t know the government has ordered all Japanese-born men out of the province. Ten days later, her family joins hundreds of Japanese-Canadians on a train to the interior of British Columbia. There are no paved roads, no streetlights and not streetcars. At school Michiko learns the truth of her situation. She must face local prejudice, the worst winter in forty years and her first Christmas without her father. In the second novel, while Michiko wants to be proud of her Japanese heritage, she can’t be. After a former Asahi baseball star becomes her new teacher, life gets better. Baseball fever hits town, and when Michiko challenges the adults to a game with her class, the whole town turns out. Then the government announces that they must move once again. But they can’t think of relocating with a new baby coming, even with the offer of free passage to Japan. Michiko pretends to be her mother and writes to get a job for her father on a farm in Ontario. When the Cherry Blossoms Fell Cherry Blossom Winter
Cherry Blossom Winter: A Cherry Blossom Book
by Jennifer MarunoAfter being outcast to a small community, 10-year-old Michiko’s life gets better when a former baseball star becomes her teacher. Second book in the Cherry Blossom Books series. Ten-year-old Michiko wants to be proud of her Japanese heritage but can’t be. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, her family’s possessions are confiscated and they are forced into deprivation in a small, insular community. The men are sent to work on the railway, so the women and children are left to make the trip on their own.After a former Asahi baseball star becomes her new teacher, life gets better. Baseball fever hits town, and when Michiko challenges the adults to a game with her class, the whole town turns out.Then the government announces that they must move once again. But they can’t think of relocating with a new baby coming, even with the offer of free passage to Japan. Michiko pretends to be her mother and writes to get a job for her father on a farm in Ontario. When he is accepted, they again pack their belongings and head to a new life in Ontario.
City of Neighbors (ThinkCities #4)
by Andrea CurtisA splash of paint, a place to sit, a popup park or playground bring life and a sense of fun to our cities. Neighborhoods where people look out for each other, eat together, make art and build community are healthier, happier, greener and cleaner. Journey around the world to discover how people have been dreaming up new ways to ensure their cities and neighbourhoods are creative, inclusive and environmentally sustainable. These placemaking ideas can be big — like the skateboard park built on the grounds of an orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya — or small — like the painted rock snake that winds along a beach in Toronto, Ontario. Together, we can create public spaces where everyone belongs. Includes a list of ideas for children to get involved in their neighborhoods, along with a glossary and sources for further reading. The ThinkCities series is inspired by the urgency for new approaches to city life as a result of climate change, population growth and increased density. It highlights the challenges and risks cities face, but also offers hope for building resilience, sustainability and quality of life as young people advocate for themselves and their communities. Key Text Features fact further information further reading glossary historical context illustrations resources references Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.1 Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.6 Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text.
City of Water (ThinkCities)
by Andrea CurtisThe second book in the ThinkCities series explores water as a precious, finite resource, tracing its journey from source, through the city, and back again. Living in cities where water flows effortlessly from our taps and fountains, it’s easy to take it for granted. City of Water, the second book in the ThinkCities series, shines a light on the water system that is vital for our health and well-being. The narrative traces the journey of water from the forests, mountains, lakes, rivers and wetlands that form the watershed, through pipes and treatment facilities, into our taps, fire hydrants and toilets, then out through storm and sewer systems toward wastewater treatment plants and back into the watershed. Along the way we discover that some of the earliest cities with water systems date back to the Indus Valley in 2500 BC; that in 1920 only 1 percent of the US population had indoor plumbing; that if groundwater is used up too quickly, the land can actually sink; and more. The text is sprinkled with fun and surprising facts — some water fountains in Paris offer sparkling water, and scientists are working to extract microscopic particles of precious metals found in sewage. Readers are encouraged to think about water as a finite resource, and to take action to prevent our cities and watersheds from becoming more polluted. More than 2 billion people in the world are without access to safe, fresh water at home. As the world’s population grows, along with pollution and climate change, access to clean water is becoming an urgent issue. Includes practical steps that kids can take to help conserve water. The ThinkCities series is inspired by the urgency for new approaches to city life as a result of climate change, population growth and increased density. It highlights the challenges and risks cities face, but also offers hope for building resilience, sustainability and quality of life as young people advocate for themselves and their communities. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.3 Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.
City Streets Are for People (ThinkCities #3)
by Andrea CurtisCongested city streets are noisy and thick with cars and trucks, while pedestrians and cyclists are squeezed to the dangerous edges—but does it have to be this way? Imagine a city where we aren’t stuck in cars, where clean air makes it easier to breathe, and where transit is easy to access—and on time. Imagine a city where streets are for people! This fun, accessible and ultimately hopeful book explores sustainable transportation around the globe, including electric vehicles, public transit, bicycles, walking and more. It invites us to conjure up a city of the future, where these modes are all used together to create a place that is sustainable, healthy, accessible and safe. Includes a list of ideas for children to promote green transportation in their communities, along with a glossary and sources for further reading. The ThinkCities series is inspired by the urgency for new approaches to city life as a result of climate change, population growth and increased density. It highlights the challenges and risks cities face, but also offers hope for building resilience, sustainability and quality of life as young people advocate for themselves and their communities. Key Text Features diagrams facts further information further reading glossary historical context illustrations labels resources references Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.7 Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.3 Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.6 Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text.
Clear Skies
by Jessica Scott KerrinAs the US/Soviet Space Race heats up in 1961, eleven-year-old Arno finds his dreams of becoming an astronomer exploding like an extragalactic supernova. It is the summer of 1961, and eleven-year-old Arno Creelman wants nothing more than to be an astronomer. His claustrophobia rules out flying in a cramped space capsule, so instead, Arno dreams of exploring the galaxies with powerful telescopes back on Earth. Arno’s first move: Enter a local radio contest and win a visit to the new observatory that is about to open near his town. The ribbon will be cut by Arno’s idol, Jean Slayter-Appleton, a renowned astronomer whose weekly columns Arno clips for his own notebooks. When he finally manages to phone in and correctly answer the skill-testing astronomy question, Arno is thrilled. Then a new boy moves to the neighborhood, and he seems to challenge Arno in every way. Robert even believes in astrology, which Arno argues is not a science at all. Before long, Arno is feeling left behind, on the outs with his friends and even abandoned by his beloved dog, Comet. How did Arno’s dream become a cosmic nightmare? Key Text Features illustrations Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3 Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).
Covered Bridge
by Brian DoyleWinner of the Governor General's Award and the Mr. Christie's Book AwardIn this award-winning paean to country life we find Hubbo O'Driscoll, whom we first met in Easy Avenue, now living in the lower Gatineau with his guardian aunt and uncle. When the local covered bridge -- home to a wayward ghost and her lovelorn postman -- is threatened by development, Hubbo must devise a strategy to save it.
The Crazy Man
by Pamela PorterIt is 1965, and twelve-year-old Emaline lives on a wheat farm in southern Saskatchewan. Her family has fallen apart. When her beloved dog, Prince, chased a hare into the path of the tractor, she chased after him, and her dad accidentally ran over her leg with the discer, leaving her with a long convalescence and a permanent disability. But perhaps the worst thing from Emaline's point of view is that in his grief and guilt, her father shot Prince and then left Emaline and her mother on their own. Despite the neighbors' disapproval, Emaline's mother hires Angus, a patient from the local mental hospital, to work their fields. Angus is a red-haired giant whom the local kids tease and call the gorilla. Though the small town's prejudice creates a cloud of suspicion around Angus that nearly results in tragedy, in the end he becomes a force for healing as Emaline comes to terms with her injury and the loss of her father. In the tradition of novels such as Kevin Major's Ann and Seamus and Karen Hesse's Out of the Dust, novelist and poet Pamela Porter uses free verse to tell this moving, gritty story that is accessible to a wide range of ages and reading abilities.
Danny, Who Fell in a Hole
by Cary FaganFinalist for the 2014 Silver Birch Express AwardDanny finds himself stranded at the bottom of a giant construction hole, armed with nothing but his school backpack, his wits — and the company of a poetry-spouting mole… Danny’s parents have always been a bit flaky, but this time they have gone too far. Now his mother wants to bake cheesecakes in the mountains, and his father wants to be an opera singer. That means Danny and his older brother will spend half the year in Banff (wherever that is) and half the year in New York City. Worst of all, in preparation for the big move, his parents have given away the family dog, Thwack. Furious with his family, Danny runs out of the house and keeps running — straight onto a construction site, where he ends up at the bottom of a very, very large hole. When it appears that help is not immediately forthcoming, he settles in for the short haul, like a subterranean Robinson Crusoe. Drawing on his ingenuity, he provides himself with shelter (garbage bag and paper clips), cereal (coffee creamer, rainwater, granola bars and a few rogue raisins found at the bottom of his backpack) and a washroom (a hole in a hole). He even does his homework! The only thing missing is a Man Friday. Who turns out to have a long, earth-covered snout, a taste for beetles, and no eyes to speak of. Oh, and he also talks. His name is Mole, and he is excellent company — until a snake appears, and Danny must be not only ingenious, but also brave, if he is going to save his new friend.Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.1Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.3Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of eventsCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.6Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).
Dear Sylvia
by Alan CumynWinner of the OLA's Forest of Reading Silver Birch Express Award Sylvia Tull -- the girl whose very glance turns Owen's face into a burning tomato -- has moved away from the small village where Owen lives with his parents and two brothers. But he still has the birthday gift she gave him -- a stationery set, complete with stamped envelopes -- because she wants him to keep sending her stories. So Owen nervously begins to write Sylvia about all the things that are going on in his life. How his little brother, Leonard, got his head stuck in the bannister. The disastrous camping trip with his irritating girl cousins. How his new baby cousin will only stop screaming if Owen carries her. And he tells her about the most bewildering drama to hit the Skye household yet, when the boys' father quits his insurance job to write a novel, and all the Skyes have to cope with the consequences. Alan Cumyn has written an irresistible epistolary novel. Owen is a true writer in his head -- but getting the right words onto the page is another story. Young readers will easily identify as he wrestles with his spelling, with his writer's insecurity, and with his deep desire to tell Sylvia the truth about what is going on in his life, and in his heart.
The Doctor's Apprentice: A Barkerville Mystery
by Ann WalshShort-listed for the 1999 Sheila A. Egoff Award for Children’s Literature and Geoffrey Bilson Award Ann Walsh’s sequel to Moses, Me and Murder (Pacific Educational Press) continues the adventures of Ted, now 14. Still tormented by the ghost of murderer James barry, Ted apprentices to the eccentric doctor J.B. Wilkinson, whose dependency on opium for his patients and for his own demons reveals a past intertwined with the life and death of an enigmatic woman named sophia Cameron.
Dragon in the Clouds
by Rosemary NelsonThe Okanagan summer stretches out in front of twelve-year-old Nikki like a sparkling rainbow, with lots of time to spend at the beach and with her horse, Ginger. When her cousin Trevor arrives in his wheelchair, spoiling all her plans, they take an instant dislike to one another. But a vision in the clouds will change both her and Trevor’s feelings about a lot of things and, in fact, will help make a dream come true as Trevor competes in the B.C. Games for the Physically Disabled.
Dream Dad
by Holly HaggartyWilla has never known her father. In fact, her mother has refused to tell the eight-year-old anything at all about him. Willa dreams about what he might look like and who he might be. She often asks herself why her hair, which is "afro-crinkly", and her skin, which is dark, are so different from her mother’s brown hair and pale skin. A substitute teacher’s request that the class draw pictures of their dads for a Father’s Day card launches Willa on an odyssey to discover the truth. Her head filled with fantasies of kings and princesses, Willa gathers the clues and, with the help of her good friend Marina, begins the alternately amusing and touching search for her father.
The Elevator Ghost
by Glen HuserAn eccentric babysitter has a knack for telling stories that are eerily well suited to her young charges. When Carolina Giddle moves into the Blatchford Arms, no one knows what to make of her sequin-sprinkled sneakers and her trinket-crusted car. But the parents are happy there’s a new babysitter around, and Carolina seems to have an uncanny ability to calm the most rambunctious child with her ghostly stories. Armed with unusual snacks (bone-shaped peppermints, granghoula bars and Rumpelstiltskin sandwiches), candles to set the mood, and her trusty sidekick — a tarantula named Chiquita, Carolina entertains the children with some good old-fashioned storytelling and, at the end, a great Halloween party. Governor General’s Award winner Glen Huser brings his quirky sense of humor and horror to some time-honored motifs. The artistic Lubinitsky girls find out that artists must be wary of the power of their own creations. Holy terror Angelo Bellini discovers that no one can throw a tantrum like a double-crossed pirate. The Hooper kids, including UFO junkie Benjamin, learn about some eerie goings-on in the New Mexico desert. Timid Hubert and Hetty Croop are practically afraid of their own shadows, until they hear the story of a boy who finds the perfect weapon for overcoming his fear of the dark. And Dwight and Dwayne Fergus, two would-be Freddy Kruegers, finally meet their match in Carolina, and her story of the footless skeleton. As for Carolina Giddle herself, it turns out that she has a timeworn connection to the Blatchford Arms, and to the ghost who still haunts the building — especially its old-fashioned elevator. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.3 Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.9 Compare and contrast stories in the same genre (e.g., mysteries and adventure stories) on their approaches to similar themes and topics.
Finders Keepers
by Andrea Spalding1996 Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize — Shortlisted 1996 Violet Downey IODE Book Award — Shortlisted 1997 Silver Birch Award — Shortlisted It all started with an ancient arrowhead in an Alberta field. While walking through a field, Danny finds an 8,000-year-old arrowhead. After he shows his friend Joshua, who lives on the Peigan reserve at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, the two go on buffalo hunts, powwows, archaeological digs, and break in to the local museum. Grappling with dyslexia and unsure of his place in the world, Danny follows the arrowhead into a distant past and back again as he learns about himself and the people who came before him.