National Network for Equitable Library Service

Rosemary Watson lives in the small town of Clarksbury, where news travels fast and gossip sticks around. Years before, her brother Theo suffered a nervous breakdown, and Rosemary, now entering junior high, is constantly teased about it. She wonders if she might go crazy like her brother, and she feels guilty for not being able to save him. She tries to hide in books, but even there she’s uneasy: she can’t stand to see characters suffer.

2009 Silver Birch Award — Winner 2009 Red Maple Award — Shortlisted 2009 Best Books for Kids & Teens — Commended 2008 CLA Book of the Year for Children Award — Longlisted For Tara and her brother, Suraj, the year their mother and grandfather fled the village of Morni in the middle of the night has been a nightmare. Their new stepmother is cruel and deceptive, and the village itself is lacking a healer. What’s more, men of the village have been disappearing, often returning in a strange, altered form.

Mountains, travel, adventure Amelia Hammer wants it all. Instead, her globe-trotting parents have dumped her in tiny, boring Dunstone, Ontario, in the middle of winter with her grandmother and her geeky cousin Simon. Simon isn’t having much fun either, saddled with a sulky stranger in black leather and with neon hair.And he has to be nice to her. But life in safe little Dunstone turns dangerously exciting when Mara comes to town. Amelia is enchanted by this tall, proud, fearless girl, but Simon worries that Mara might be mixed up in something weird. Hes right.

In The Ruby Kingdom, readers were captivated as Amelia Hammer and her cousin, Simon, and friend, Ike, discovered a secret gate leading from the small, southern-Ontario town of Dunstone to the extraordinary land of Mythrin - a world populated by dragons.Now, dragon leader, Mara, seeks the help of Amelia and her friends again. This time, a peculiar race of humans from a world called Cassar is searching for the Prism Blade - a legendary weapon forged at the beginning of time.

Commended for the 2008 Best Books for Kids and Teens On the surface, Peter McAllister has a good life: a good school, good friends, good times. So what if his best friend is a girl — and sort of a geek? And so what if she might be more than a friend. Underneath, it’s a different story. It’s been years since the death of his parents landed him in this small town with his hardly-there uncle, but he still feels as if his life in Clarksbury is just an inch deep. Does he really belong? Only Rosemary seems real.

When John Carter goes to sleep in a mysterious cave in the Arizona dessert, he wakes up on the planet Mars. There he meets the fifteen foot tall, four armed, green men of mars, with horse-like dragons, and watch dogs like oversized frogs with ten legs. His adventures continue as he battles great white apes, fights plant men, defies the Goddess of Death, and braves the frozen wastes of Polar Mars.

On the night of her sixteenth birthday and before her father has the chance to force her to marry a complete stranger, Princess Margaret sneaks away from the riches and safety of the palace. Torn between her fate and freedom, Princess Margaret desperately goes looking for her mother as the answer. In a quest of soul searching and physical hardships, the twist of events may take the readers by surprise, instilling a piece of the story in their hearts.  

In the midst of a dangerous raid, Tassia, an elite soldier from the Wheat Sky empire, rescues Sam, a wandering nomad, from inside the compound of a lunatic enchantress. While Sam serves his debt to Wheat Sky, he and Tassia grow closer as they tend her garden together. Sam falls in love wholly and immediately, but Tassia’s feelings bloom slowly, and her reluctance to commit to Sam is further complicated by her discovery of his true identity. As they attempt to secure peace between their rival kingdoms, Tassia and Sam find that their relationship and their very lives are in jeopardy.

Dionelle was born unique: she is immune to fire. Shortly after marrying Reiser, Dionelle's unique talents catch the attention of a wicked noblewoman, Lady Karth, who is in need of a new dragon whisperer. Dionelle is crudely thrust into the position, but shows a natural talent for dealing with dragons. Reiser is against the idea, but Dionelle loves what she does and grows fond of the dragons, breeding tension between her and Reiser.

Pinmei's gentle, loving grandmother always has the most exciting tales for her granddaughter. However, the peace is shattered when soldiers of the emperor arrive and kidnap her grandmother. Pinmei quickly embarks on a journey to save her grandmother--before it's too late.