Full Steam to Canada by Anne Patton Published by Coteau Books for Kids Review by Catherine Fuchs $8.95 ISBN 978-1-55050-457-6 Full Steam to Canada takes the reader along on a capricious journey from Victorian England to the wilderness of Canada in the early 1900’s. All of this is told through the eyes of 10 year old Dorothy Bolton. Young readers get to follow Dorothy and her new friends as she travels with her family across the Atlantic and across Canada to start a new life on the prairies. Anne Patton’s latest novel is based on a true story that has magical beginnings in the chance story telling of an elderly woman. More than a quarter century ago, Anne Patton taped an interview with the original ‘Dorothy’, and built on these memories a fictional cast of characters venturing to start a new life in the Barr Colonies of the Canadian Prairie in the year 1903. Many of Dorothy’s journeys and observations of her new life were further based on the archives and diaries of the original settlers from the Barr Colonies in Saskatchewan. The historical context in which this book is written will take the reader back in time. Young readers…

Ghost Messages by Jacqueline Guest Published by Coteau Books for Kids Review by Jessica Bickford $8.95 13:9781550504583 Ailish O’Connor is like any other thirteen year old girl living in Ireland in 1865, except she has what her father calls the “fey gift”. Ailish can see into your soul with the touch of her hand. She uses her gift to keep her and her father fed, telling fortunes that most think are a “penny’s entertainment” until her Da brings Rufus Dalton to their wagon. Ailish feels his darkness, but doesn’t know just how evil he is until she wakes up to find her father near death, and their one precious possession, a golden figurine which was to be their future, stolen. In Jacqueline Guest’s newest juvenile fiction Ghost Messages, a young girl is faced with a ship-full of trouble and will do anything to ensure the future of her and her father. This includes sneaking on to the Great Eastern as it departs Ireland for its mission to lay the first transatlantic telegraph cable between Europe and North America, cutting her long hair, donning trousers, and putting in her labour as a cabin boy. Luckily she meets David Jones, who is…

Katie Be Quiet by Darcy Tamayose Published by Coteau Books Review by Shelley A. Leedahl $18.95 ISBN 978-1-55959-390-6 Thirteen-year-old Katie Bean has much to process. She and her mother have moved to a “sleepy prairie town,” she is the target of school bullies, and “Her body [is] going through weird changes.” Her mother is preoccupied with her unusual new job – “drawing up plans for Constantine’s lavender farm” – and thus has zero time for Katie. These issues are difficult enough, but what’s truly devastating is the fact that Katie’s eccentric musician-composer father recently died “in his sleep,” and Katie’s grieving in solitude. Her only friend is her father’s piano. There is, however, a strange new development in her young life: the voice that “[keeps] shushing her.” Is she going crazy? So begins the juvenile novel, Katie Be Quiet, the second book by Lethbridge writer Darcy Tamayose. The “new kid not fitting in” scenario is common among books for young readers, but Tamayose’s book stands out for its complex mystery, its intermingling of youth and adult characters – including a rude man from Paris and his poodle-doting wife who’ve come to manage the lavender farm’s tea room – and for…

The Kayak by Debbie Spring Published by Thistledown Press Review by Marie Powell Mendenhall $12.95 ISBN: 978-1-897235-71-3 Debbie Spring launches the action of her juvenile novel, The Kayak, in the opening chapters, when Teresa is kayaking around the islands of Georgian Bay. She notices a wind surfer in trouble, and manages a daring rescue, pulling him to shore by rope. Once on shore, though, Teresa’s father comes and lifts her from her kayak into her wheelchair. That doesn’t bother Jamie, who asks her to a campfire with his friends. In spite of the manipulations of his former girlfriend, Kat, Jamie tells Teresa: “There’s something special about you and I want to find out.” Written in the first person, the book’s style helps readers connect with Teresa: “The choppy waves rise and fall. My kayak bobs like a cork in the swirling waters of Georgian Bay. I love it. I feel wild and free… I am one with the kayak. The blue boat is an extension of my legs. I can do anything: I can go anywhere. Totally independent. Totally in control of my life. It’s so different back at shore.” Teresa easily solves the conflicts that arise in her life….

Twelve by J.L. Kiunga Published by First Choice Books Review by Jennifer Barrett $16 ISBN 978-1-926747-18-7 Georgie Christmas has not had an easy life. In 15 short years, he has had to deal with his father’s suicide and the removal of his alcoholic mother from their home. It is not surprising then, that he struggles with low self-confidence, and becomes a target for bullies in small-town Saskatchewan. Jessica Kiunga’s Twelve follows Georgie Christmas as he tries to salvage the reputation of his family name in the face of gossip. Members of a local “gang” made up of some of the town’s hockey players constantly follow Georgie and regularly beat him up. To make matters worse, his older brother moves out, leaving Georgie alone to look after their younger sister. It is only after all this defeat that there is a glimmer of hope, but it doesn’t come from where you might expect; it’s a mysterious invitation to an underground boxing gym. Despite being terrified of his own shadow, Georgie accepts the invitation and squeaks his way into the gym. As he learns how to fight, his self-confidence improves, his life improves, and he learns that not everyone in town will judge him…

The Adventures of Caraway Kim…Right Wing by Don Truckey Published by Thistledown Press Review by Kim McCullough $10.95 ISBN 978-1-897235-43-0 Set in the dead of a 1960s Alberta winter, The Adventures of Caraway Kim…Right Wing is the story of eleven-year-old Kim and his race to become Top Scorer of the Caraway hockey team. Kim was first introduced in author Don Truckey’s first ‘Caraway Kim’ novel for middle years readers: The Adventures of Caraway Kim…Southpaw, published in 2005. To win the title of Top Scorer, Kim he has to beat Brad Rooks, the local troublemaker. The boys’ rivalry continues off-ice, forcing Kim to confront his own sense of right and wrong, as well as stand up for himself against Brad’s overbearing ways. In Kim, Truckey continues to follow a likeable young hero who makes realistic choices. Truckey’s clear rendering of a time he calls “before now” makes life in the 1960s come alive. Young hockey fans interested in the old days of the Original Six will be thrilled with the detailed descriptions of the difficulties players faced back in those days: the rough ice; the biting cold; and the thin, not-so-protective equipment that left heads, knees and throats vulnerable to injury….

In Silverthorne’s latest book, the prolific and award-winning Regina writer again introduces readers to a contemporary character who travels back in time. Young Emily, the likeable protagonist, travels to Scotland to spend time with her geologist father (whom she’s not seen since her parents decided to divorce, months before), and to learn more about her family’s Scottish ancestry. Before leaving, however, she finds a hand mirror – “with intricate filigree metalwork and inlaid stones” – in her recently-deceased grandmother’s home, and the image in the mirror is not Emily’s own.

Einstein Dog by Craig Spence Published by Thistledown Press Review by Shelley A. Leedahl $14.95 ISBN 978-1-897235-65-2 “It’s a dog’s world,” or so it’s been said, but imagine if that statement turned literal? What if dogs were technologically-enhanced and became smarter than humans? And what if a fascist organization trained and bred these SMART dogs to achieve global domination? These seemingly outrageous ideas are investigated in Einstein Dog, the new juvenile novel written by Langley, BC author Craig Spence, and recently published by Thistledown Press. In 258 action-filled pages, Spence unleashes confident writing, distinguishable characters, and interesting subplots, but what really sparkles are his explorations of what could be; his flair for adventure; and the care he takes in portraying the singular loyalty between humans and their four-legged best friends. The story opens with young Bertrand and his friend Ariel – each of whom live with their single parents in the Forestview Townhouses – hoping to have the research dog, Libra (aka SMART 73), released from being “cooped up” in the lab where Bertrand’s father, Professor Smith, is conducting Sequenced Mentally Accelerated Research Trials. The Dean of the Biology Department has other ideas, however, especially after a medical supply firm…

Danger in Dead Man’s Mine by Dave Glaze Published by Coteau Books for Kids Reviewed by Shanna Mann $8.95 ISBN1-978-1-55050-416-3 Danger in Dead Man’s Mine is a great book, especially for reluctant readers. The Mackenzie Davis Files (this book is third in the series) is set in 1912 on the prairies. The author does a terrific job of settling the reader into the era without being too obtrusive. It’s possible that the younger reader will not even notice the quaint details, like the fact that dishes are washed in a basin, not a sink, using soap flakes, not detergent, and the dirty water is carefully toted outside to water the vegetables. Mackenzie travels with his mother and sister to Lethbridge, so that his mother can take care of his pregnant aunt. Since his uncle is sick, his aunt is bedridden, and his mother has her hands full with the household, Mackenzie and his cousins are at loose ends. Unlike a lot of books, the author doesn’t make the mistake of allowing his protagonist to make extravagant changes and experience sweeping success. Instead, he shows the boys hunts gophers for a few pennies (there is a bounty on the tails) or…

The Adventures of Caraway Kim…Right Wing” by Don Truckey Published by Thistledown Press Review by Kim McCullough $10.95 ISBN 978-1-897235-43-0 Set in the dead of a 1960’s Alberta winter, The Adventures of Caraway Kim…Right Wing is the story of eleven-year-old Kim and his race to become Top Scorer of the Caraway hockey team. To win, he has to beat Brad Rooks, the local troublemaker. The boys’ rivalry continues off-ice, forcing Kim to confront his own sense of right and wrong, as well as stand up for himself against Brad’s overbearing ways. In Kim, Truckey has created a likeable young hero who makes realistic choices. Truckey’s clear rendering of a time he calls “before now” makes life in the 1960’s come alive. Young hockey fans interested in the old days of the Original Six will be thrilled with the detailed descriptions of the difficulties players faced back in those days: the rough ice; the biting cold; and the thin, not-so-protective equipment that left heads, knees and throats vulnerable to injury. The play-by-play action of the hockey games will keep young readers engaged and interested. The Adventures of Caraway Kim…Right Wing is more than just a sentimental journey back to “the good…