National Network for Equitable Library Service

Broken Trail is the story a thirteen-year-old white boy, the son of United Empire Loyalists, who has been captured and adopted by the Oneida people. Striving to find his vision oki that will guide him in his quest to become a warrior, Broken Trail disavows his white heritage — he considers himself Oneida. But everything changes when Broken Trail, alone in the woods on his vision quest, is mistakenly shot by a redcoat soldier. Broken Trail is taken to the soldier's camp and then sent south on a mission to deliver a message to Major Patrick Ferguson that could save many lives.

Thirteen-year-old Johnny Anders is something of a misfit, with no friends and a poor school record, but all this begins to change when he is awakened one night to find a soldier-ghost in his bedroom. Johnny is taken back to meet a series of unusual heroes in Canada's war history. These include Joan Bamford Fletcher, who commandeered Japanese soldiers to take hundreds of wounded civilians to safety through the jungles of Indonesia, and the much-decorated Raymond Collishaw, through whom Johnny learns that Canada played a role in the Russian Revolution.

The Kingdom of No Worries is the story of three young friends who create their own kingdom on a piece of land that emerges in the middle of the river that runs through their city. Inspired by their actions to create a democracy that is a model of social tolerance and global thinking, the surrounding community turns out in the thousands to participate in what becomes a radical cultural hub of the city. Over the course of one hot summer the boys grapple to learn what a democracy is and to oversee its demands.

This young adult historical novel focuses on Charlotte and her family, Loyalists who are forced to flee their home in the Mohawk Valley as a result of the violence of the “Sons of Liberty” during the American Revolution. At the beginning, fifteen-year-old Charlotte Hooper is separated from her sweetheart, Nick, who sympathizes with the Revolutionaries. The war has already taken the lives of her three brothers, and it is with a sense of desperation that Charlotte and her parents begin the long trek north to the safety of Fort Haldimand (near present-day Kingston).

In this new collection of stories, F.B. Andre explores what it means to "belong." Frequently his stories portray individuals involved in mixed relationships, of different cultures and races or backgrounds, of people struggling to feel at home with themselves and their situations. Andre depicts characters newly arrived in Canada as well as those who have called Canada home for generations. With his wonderful ear for dialogue, Andre allows us to listen in on things that are deeply felt, and we are reminded that the unsaid often reveals more than that which is said.

Falling in love creates an enchanted time, and when it’s on the magical Sunshine Coast of British Columbia during WWII, it is never to be forgotten. The increased emotions of a country at war are always present, as well as the heartache as the young men who joined up to serve their country return wounded—or not at all. For Meg, who is seventeen and beginning to go to dances and to meet interesting young men, the time appears filled with possibilities. She longs to enter the world of adults but with an education that will allow her a fulfilling life.

This historical time-travel novel, for children ten and up, is the third volume in Cathy Beveridge's ongoing series on Canadian disasters. Once again we meet Jolene and her twin brother Michael, this time in an RV on the shores of the Great Lakes, where her father and grandfather are conducting research into the Great Storm of 1913. When Grandpa discovers a time crease that enables them to step back into 1913, Jolene embraces the opportunity but soon finds herself, along with her brother and a new friend, inadvertently on board ship in the midst of the Great Storm.

Lois Donovan’s new historical fiction, The Journal, begins in 2004 when thirteen-year-old Kami receives a bizarre offer involving a historic house in Edmonton, from her estranged grandfather. A move to Edmonton was definitely not part of Kami’s “best-year-ever” plan, but her mother insists it is an opportunity to reconnect with the father she hasn’t heard from in two years. When Kami discovers a journal from 1929, newspaper clippings inside send Kami hurtling back in time where she becomes an eye-witness to two of Alberta’s biggest stories of the year.

The fifth volume in the “Forging a Nation” series begins in 1791. The year a new province is created in the country that will one day be called Canada. The year Hope Cobman’s life turns around. At thirteen, she must leave the orphanage where she has lived since her mother’s death one year ago. Alone in the world, she dreams of finding her father and three brothers — all complete strangers to her, for even before her birth the American Revolution had scattered her family.

Sebastian Carlisle, Duke of Trent, must find a proper woman to marry. But he finds himself falling for Miranda Hodgkins, his free-spirited neighbor, who is in love with his brother.