National Network for Equitable Library Service

Short-listed for the 1998 Sheila A. Egoff Award for Children’s Literature and Geoffrey Bilson Award In his third young adult title, John Wilson takes on the rich territory of the 1845 Franklin expedition. Cabin boy David Young travels aboard the ill-fated vessel the HMS Erebus from London, England, en route to Canada’s frozen and uncharted north, and his adventures comes to a modern-day Dave Young in Humboldt, Saskatchewan, in a series of dreams.

2009 Word Guild Award — Winner, Young Adult Fiction In the aftermath of the 1838 rebellion in Lower Canada, Sophie Mallory’s father is wrongfully convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment in Australia. But there is no question about what Sophie should do: with her guardian, Lady Theodosia Thornleigh, and Luc Moriset, she sets sail for Sydney. She finds Australia an outside-down country. The water goes down the drain the opposite way, half the population are (or have been) convicts. In one notorious incident, her father, Benjamin, and the Canadian convicts arrest police.

For as long as 13-year-old Paige Morrow can remember, the tree fort in the giant oak near her cottage in Ontario's Muskoka has been her sanctuary. Now everything is changing. Its the summer of 1971, and she and her little brother, Toby, have been at their cottage with their mother since school let out. But this year, Paige feels more alone than ever. Her father has stopped coming up from the city on weekends, while her mother buries herself in whiskey and writing.

The newest Dr. Rebecca Temple book is set alternately in 1979 Toronto and 1930s Berlin. In Toronto, Rebecca follows a trail that begins when Birdie, the schizophrenic homeless woman she is trying to help, is killed. From the German fencing instructor in whose backyard Birdie lived to the Egyptian physician in town to talk up the new drug he is developing from snake venom, nobody is who they appear to be. Strangely, the two men seem to know each other, although neither will say how.

After a shipwreck in 1809, Peter finds himself the victim of amnesia. The sea captain who finds the teenager gives him the only name he knows, while others derisively dub him Peter No-Name. Eventually, Peter finds employment in a Montreal tavern where he meets a French voyageur called Boulard who changes his life irrevocably. Boulard works for fur trader David Thompson, soon to become one of the world's most famous explorers and mapmakers.

Winner of the 2004 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original, short-listed for the 2004 Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original and for Best Historical Mystery Still coming to terms with the death of her husband, Dr. Rebecca Temple tries to continue her practice and carry on with life as usual. She meets a charming Polish count who has written a historical novel based on his own family. During a visit to his home, she discovers a murder and soon realizes that the count’s manuscript may contain clues to the killer’s identity.

It is 1900, and 14-year-old Bertie McCross is a newspaper boy in downtown Toronto. Bertie’s family has fallen on hard times and can use every penny he brings home from hawking newspapers on the frigid streets. However, in order to do that Bertie has to keep out of the clutches of the Kelly Gang, a family of slightly older Cabbagetown toughs who are shaking down "newsies." On Christmas Eve, Bertie is almost cornered by the Kellys but is saved by Tommy Fry and Milwaukee Ed, who introduce Bertie to the thrills of iceboat racing on Lake Ontario.

Published in 1940, Whiteoak Heritage chronicles the fortunes of the Whiteoak family after the Second World War. The drama continues at Jalna when Renny returns home to find his one-time love still unforgiving and his brother still involved with an older woman. This is book 5 of 16 in The Whiteoak Chronicles. It is followed by Whiteoak Brothers.

In this story of love and loss, Tibor Schroeder, a Christian and reservist in the Hungarian forces allied with Nazi Germany, and Hedy Weisz, a young Jewish woman meet and fall in love during the Second World War - a time when romantic liaisons and marriage between Christians and Jews were not only frowned upon but against the law. Not knowing of the dangers that await them, Tibor and Hedy pledge their lives to each only to be torn apart when Hedy and her family are herded into one Nagyszollos’ ghettoes. Twenty-five years pass before the lovers are finally reunited in Canada.

No amount of drama between the Dark and Penhallow families can prepare them for what follows when Aunt Becky bequeaths her prized heirloom jug - the owner to be revealed in one year's time. The intermarriages, and resulting fighting and feuding, that have occurred over the years grow more intense as Gay Penhallow's fiancé leaves her for the devious Nan Penhallow; Peter Penhallow and Donna Dark find love after a lifelong hatred of each other; and Joscelyn and Hugh Dark, inexplicably separated on their wedding night, are reunited.