Tunnels of Tyrannyby Mary Harelkin BishopPublished by DriverWorks InkReview by Michelle Shaw$19.95 ISBN 9781927570715 The tunnels of Moose Jaw are once again the backdrop for nail-biting excitement and adventure in the Tunnels of Tyranny, the fourth book in Mary Harelkin Bishop’s best-selling Moose Jaw Time Travel Adventure series. I am so delighted that the series has been relaunched. The books were originally published by Coteau Books which unfortunately closed in 2020. However, the series was still in demand and, when the 20th year anniversary of the books drew near, Mary Harelkin Bishop approached DriverWorks Ink to assist in updating the books and relaunching them. In this book, Andrea and Tony race to Moose Jaw when they hear that their grandfather is ill. He asks them to return to the past to retrieve a notebook. But when they return to 1920s Moose Jaw, they discover that the dreaded Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is in town. It’s a race against time as the children wonder if they will ever get back to the present or will have to stay in 1920s Moose Jaw for ever. Bishop’s research is fascinating, and she bases the events that occur in the book on historical facts….

Tunnels of Treacheryby Mary Harelkin BishopPublished by DriverWorks InkReview by Michelle Shaw$19.95 ISBN 9781927570692 Time travelling tunnels, thrilling, heart-stopping adventures. It must be a Mary Harelkin Bishop book! Tunnels of Treachery is the third book in Mary Harelkin Bishop’s well known Moose Jaw Time Travel Adventure series. This is the 20th anniversary edition of the series, and the book has been updated with shorter chapters, illustrations, historical notes and new resources, as well as a gorgeous new cover by illustrator Wendi Nordell. I think it’s much less well known than the first two books so I’m delighted that more readers will get a chance to enjoy it. In Tunnels of Treachery, Andrea’s friends Kami and Eddie Mark accidentally fall into the time travelling tunnels below Moose Jaw. They discover that Chinese immigrants are being forced to work in terrible conditions in the tunnels until they can pay the government-imposed Head Tax. Kami and Eddie are of Asian descent and don’t have documentation to show that they can legally be in Canada. They are forced to work as indentured labourers in the tunnels. Will Andrea and her brother Tony manage to help them escape and find their way back to the…

Tunnels of Terror: Moose Jaw Time Travel Adventure #2by Mary Harelkin BishopPublished by DriverWorks Ink and emmbee inkReview by Michelle Shaw$19.95 ISBN 9781927570678 It’s hard to believe that 20 years have passed since the Moose Jaw Time Travel adventure series was first published. Tunnels of Terror is the second book of the series to be rereleased and updated and will definitely captivate a new generation of readers. Tunnels of Terror takes place about a year after the events in the first book, Tunnels of Time. The book begins with Andrea and her younger brother Tony on the bus to Moose Jaw to spend some time with their grandparents and Great Aunt Bea. The last thing Andrea wants to do is return to the city where she was catapulted back in time and forced to deal with the dreaded Al Capone and his gangsters in the underground tunnels. But Tony has been ill and Andrea is persuaded that her parents really need a break so Moose Jaw it is. She’s uneasy though because she’s been having unsettling nightmares about being trapped in the tunnels and captured. Tony, meanwhile, has been desperate to learn what happened to his sister in Moose Jaw…

Tunnels of Time (Moose Jaw Time Travel Adventure #1)by Mary Harelkin BishopPublished by Emmbee Ink and DriverWorks InkReview by Michelle Shaw$19.95 ISBN 9781927570579 Andrea and her family are in Moose Jaw for a family wedding and the teenager is not happy. Not only is she missing a school trip, she has to spend the weekend with her family and be the junior bridesmaid at her cousin’s wedding which is really stressing her out. At the wedding rehearsal dinner which is held in the basement banquet room of a local restaurant, Andrea hears for the first time about the tunnels that run underneath the city of Moose Jaw. Well sort of. She’s not really listening. But later when they are shown one of the tunnels, Andrea gets separated from the rest of the group. She finds herself hurtling back in time to the 1920s when Moose Jaw was a completely different city full of gangsters, gambling and crime. She meets a frightening crime boss known as Ol’ Scarface, is forced into guiding dubious men through the tunnels and ends up having to hide from the gangsters and the police. Andrea wonders if she will ever see her family again. The first…

Skye Bird and Eagle Feather by Mary Harelkin Bishop Published by Emmbee Ink and DriverWorks Ink Review by Michelle Shaw $16.95 ISBN 978-192757039-5 Every time I read one of Mary Harelkin Bishop’s books I learn something new. As a relative newcomer to Canada and Saskatchewan, I’ve heard the words, “We recognize that we are standing on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis…” many times without really knowing what that meant. Now, thanks to Bishop’s latest book, Skye Bird and the Eagle Feather, I have a vivid picture in my mind. Bishop’s new book introduces us to Skye Bird, a Grade 6 student starting the new school year in a “big, shiny, new school across town”. Her old school, a local school which has recently closed, was “warm and inviting”. Although it was small, it was a vibrant community where different cultures were celebrated and shared. But Skye’s new school seems nothing like that and she feels very lost and out of place. Her little sister Cheyenne can’t find her special books in the school library and when Skye asks the librarian where to find books about Cree people or the Métis, she’s told that they don’t have…

Mistasinîy: Buffalo Rubbing Stone by Mary Harelkin Bishop Illustrated by Heaven Starr Published by DriverWorks Ink Review by Michelle Shaw $16.95 ISBN 978-1-927570-32-6 If you loved Mary Harelkin Bishop’s Seeds of Hope: A Prairie Story you’ve no doubt been waiting for it’s companion book with eager anticipation. Bishop has a way of painting characters that are memorable and her style of writing easily draws the reader into the story. You’re on chapter two before you know it! This is a story that stayed with me. It snuck into my brain and left me pondering for days. The basic plot involves two young boys who are assigned a Canadian heritage project by their Grade 6 teacher. Danny discovers his great great grandmother’s diary of arriving in Canada and the struggles the family endured as they established their farm. Zach though is First Nations. While the rest of the class has family that arrived in Canada at some point, his family has always been a part of the land. What about his family’s heritage? Doesn’t it count? Zach becomes very angry and confused. To complicate the story even further, the boys have a long history of antagonism. They’ve tried, on the whole,…

Gina’s Wheels by Mary Harelkin Bishop Published by DriverWorks Ink Review by Shelley A. Leedahl $13.95 ISBN 978-1-927570-12-8 I lived in Saskatoon for seventeen years, and during my frequent runs along the Meewasin Valley Trail, I would sometimes encounter a pleasant and energetic woman in a wheelchair. I recognized her to be Colette Bourgonje – one of Canada’s most accomplished Paralympic athletes – and I’m so pleased that the accomplished Saskatoon writer, Mary Harelkin Bishop, has penned an inspiring picture book celebrating both Bourgonje’s positive energy and achievement and the compassionate nature of a young child. Gina’s Wheels is based on a true story as experienced through a curious “real-life” girl named Maeve, whose mother co-taught with Bourgonje in a Saskatoon school. Impressed by Colette in the classroom, at three Maeve began using her own stroller like a wheelchair to “[explore] the world in a different way”. Harelkin Bishop – whose name many will recognize from her highly successful Tunnels of Moose Jaw Adventure Series – learned about Maeve when she was doing research for her biography, Moving Forward: The Journey of Paralympian Colette Bourgonje. Sometimes stories come about as if delivered on a plate, and kudos to the author…