Historical fiction

  • Me n Len Life in the Haliburton Bush 1900-1940

    Creator

    Pope, Richard

    Broadfoot, Neil

    Abstract

    Me n Len is a warm and humourously nostalgic look back at life in the backwoods of Ontario in the "good old days." The setting is the rural area of eastern Haliburton, Ontario, in the decades before the chainsaw and the outboard motor became the common sounds in this beautiful region of central Canada. The main character is a grizzled and lovable 82-year-old trapper and woodsman named Len who takes the reader through the adventures in his memory to meet the people of his past.

    Publisher (Source)

    Toronto

    Dundurn

    Not specified
  • Three Million Acres of Flame

    Creator

    Sherrard, Valerie

    Abstract

    Commended for the 2009 Best Books for Kids & Teens For Skye Haverill and her family, it begins as an ordinary day. But in the annals of Canadian history, October 7, 1825, is the date of one of our greatest national disasters. The Haverill family has been turned upside down in the last year. Following the death of their mother, Skye and her brother, Tavish, have adjusted to live with a single parent. And when they're asked to make another adjustment – when his father remarries and his new wife becomes pregnant – Skye finds that some changes are too much to handle.

    Publisher (Source)

    Toronto

    Dundurn

    Not specified
  • The Gambler's Daughter

    Creator

    Smith-Matheson, Shirlee

    Abstract

    Short-listed for the 1997 Canadian Children's Book Centre Our Choice On the run from the authorities and the angry townspeople of Weasel City, British Columbia, in the early 1940s, teenage Loretta and her younger brother, Teddy, travel with their gambling stepfather, "Bean-Trap" Braden, as he strikes out in search of a good poker game in the Canadian and American West. Loretta and Teddy try to adjust to life on the run as they shuttle from ghost town to ghost town, jumping borders and stowing away on trucks, sleds, and trains.

    Publisher (Source)

    Toronto

    Dundurn

    Not specified
  • Strange School, Secret Wish

    Creator

    Gold, Bernice

    Abstract

    The year is 1927, and the Merril children are once again in school – but one that’s unlike any other. For 10 months out of the year their school, set up in a Northern Ontario railway care that also serves as their home, is on the move. Theirteen-year-old Jenny Merrill loves life on the tracks, but she has a secret wish. She’s fallen in love with a violin on page 244 of the Eaton’s catalogue. But how will she get the money to pay for it?

    Publisher (Source)

    Toronto

    Dundurn

    Not specified
  • Nine Bells for a Man

    Creator

    Unwin, Peter

    Abstract

    Young Robert Pachal crosses Canada by train with his brotherinlaw’s coffin, bearing witness to a way of life that will never be seen again. When he arrives in Barry’s Bay, he unwittingly sets in motion one of the final and most tragic events in pioneer Canada.

    Publisher (Source)

    Toronto

    Dundurn

    Not specified
  • Boxcar Kid

    Creator

    Charles, Norma

    Abstract

    In 1909, 13-year-old Luc Godin arrive in British Columbia from Quebec only to discover that the house they thought they'd move into hasn't been built. So the Godins have to make due with living in a railway boxcar with three other families. Luc's father and the many other newcomers to the Fraser Valley have come to work in the lumber industry. Their new home still has vestiges of the wilderness, and Luc and his family find find pioneering life difficult, especially as French speakers in a world of English.

    Publisher (Source)

    Toronto

    Dundurn

    Not specified
  • Becky Chan A Novel

    Creator

    Mitchell, Jared

    Abstract

    Becky Chan’s life gets off to a rocky start. She is born into a poor family, with a ne’er-do-well father. But by 1967, she is the reigning queen of the Hong Kong film industry, and her life is frequently confused by her public with the roles that she plays, including the Goddess of Mercy. In the city, Communist factions are setting bombs and kidnapping people. In mainland China, itself in the throes of the Cultural Revolution, rival factions of the Communist Party are terrorizing the nation.

    Publisher (Source)

    Toronto

    Dundurn

    Not specified
  • Battle Cry at Batoche

    Creator

    Bayle, B.J.

    Abstract

    Ben and Charity Muldoon are 15-year-old twins who find themselves in the midst of politically charged events in the Saskatchewan River Valley in 1885. One day, as Ben is walking through a ravine, he encounters a Cree boy named Red Eagle, who quickly becomes his friend after a hair-raising rescue. Ben eventually discovers that a confrontation between the North-West Mounted Police and the Natives, led by Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont, is imminent.

    Publisher (Source)

    Toronto

    Dundurn

    Not specified
  • Settlement

    Creator

    Birch, Ann

    Abstract

    The untold story of scandal and political intrigue in early Toronto. Anna Jameson arrives in the tiny settlement of Toronto in November, 1836. She has come at the request of her estranged husband, but she intends to gather material for a new book, which will eventually be published in England years later. At first, Anna finds herself in an alien world. She has little in common with Toronto women whose interests centre on gossip and their families, but as she begins to move into adventures like sleigh-riding and helping to fight a major fire, she enters a new life.

    Publisher (Source)

    Toronto

    Dundurn

    Not specified
  • Come Looking for Me A Novel

    Creator

    Cooper, Cheryl

    Abstract

    In Come Looking for Me, a mysterious young English woman named Emily risks a crossing of the Atlantic during the War of 1812 for the promise of a new adventure in Canada. But she never arrives. Captured by Captain Trevelyan, a man as cold-blooded as his frigate is menacing, Emily is held prisoner aboard the USS Serendipity. Seeking to save herself, she makes a desperate escape overboard in the midst of a raging sea battle and is rescued by the British crew of HMS Isabelle.

    Publisher (Source)

    Toronto

    Dundurn

    Not specified