National Network for Equitable Library Service

The Depression has ruined Henry Dafoe's life: his father has left the family farm to look for work, his mother is sick and now she's decided to send Henry to Nova Scotia to work on his uncle's fishboat. But Henry has other ideas. He runs away from home to join his father, which proves more difficult than he imagined. Alone and scared in a strange city, he befriends an old hobo named Clickety Clack, who agrees to take him to find his father. As they make their way across the country, Clickety Clack teaches Henry about the secret signs that hoboes use to communicate with each other.

When Colin accepts the job to clean up the graffiti in an upscale neighborhood he worries that he might be targeted by gangs. But he doesn’t expect to become a suspect in a series of robberies. Every time he is sent to clean up graffiti, the police are nearby investigating a crime. Colin knows he’s done nothing wrong, but his presence at the crime scenes look suspicious, and his record as a troublemaker doesn’t help matters. The only way he can clear his name is to figure out what is really going on.

When Cassie comes to Vancouver from Australia for an intensive summer program at a prestigious ballet school, she finds it hard to fit in. A clique of girls who have been at the school a long time don't want the newcomers to get any attention. At first Cassie tries to go along to get along, but when she realizes that some of the visiting summer students are being bullied and threatened, and that she herself is being sabotaged, she finally speaks out, and finds out how far some girls will go to succeed.

Following the demise of his first band, Ace has started a duo called Two with Lisa, a girl he has a huge crush on. As Ace and Lisa get serious about their music, Denny, Ace's hapless friend, tries to help out by filming their every move so that he can create the ultimate music video. As a joke, Denny puts together a Two video capturing all of the embarrassing moments, moments that Lisa in particular doesn't want shared. Somehow, the video gets posted on YouTube. Lisa and Ace find themselves starring in the latest comedic viral video.

Kip's only friends are the members of the Daredevil Club, a club whose mission is to complete seven dangerous dares before their rivals, the Wildmen, complete their list of dares. Before the cliff diving accident in which he lost the use of his leg, Kip had been the leader of the Daredevil club. Now he has difficulty completing the dares and suspects that his membership is threatened. As the daredevils plan their final stunt, a dangerous climb along a narrow steel shelf beneath a bridge, they try to convince Kip that he may not be up to the task.

Jenna Cooper was only a few days old when her father was murdered and her family was shattered. Now fifteen, she daydreams of a picture-perfect sitcom family as she struggles with the gritty realities of her life. When Jenna finds out that Travis Bingham, the man who shot her father, has been released from prison, she becomes obsessed with tracking him down and confronting him. But her search reveals that there may be more to her father's murder than she has been led to believe, and will her relationships with her family and friends survive her obsession?

Fourteen year old Pamela Collins is struggling to come to terms with her mother's death. Somewhat shy, Pamela is thoughtful, full of passion, often funny and sometimes tearful as she learns to cope with the emotional overload the tragedy has brought to her life. Her favourite things include walking alone in Lynn Canyon Park, the art of Emily Carr, and a certain boy with a "wicked grin." At the moment she dislikes her English teacher, shopping and being singled out for special treatment because of her mother’s death.

Riley Donovan is the new kid in a small town where her aunt (and guardian) has just started a job as a detective on the town’s police force. Riley is home alone when a neighbor’s barn catches on fire; when she realizes that he is trapped in the barn, she calls 9-1-1 and then tries to save him . But instead of being hailed as a hero, Riley finds herself the target of vandalism and violence. Never one to back away from a confrontation, Riley discovers that her neighbor, Mr. Goran is an immigrant from Kurdistan who is hated by most of the townspeople.

It'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 to 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.

Reggie Scott has always prided himself on being a hard-hitting middle linebacker. But after he is involved in a play on which an opposing player is seriously injured, things change. Football doesn’t seem to matter so much when another boy is lying on the field, unable to move. When Reggie is accused of being a “dirty” player, he is forced to confront his guilt and decide if he can continue to play football.