Fifteen-year-old Maxwell Stone has been surviving and thriving in the tough part of East Vancouver by being smart and fast. But when a drug deal goes wrong, Max suddenly finds himself on the run from both the bad guys and the cops. Desperate to escape, Max impulsively decides to hop on a moving freight train. His first attempt to climb aboard fails, but at the last second a hand reaches down and pulls him in. Joseph has been riding the rails for years, and his tales inspire Max to take a journey to the last place he ever expected to go.
This soothing board book by child psychologist, professor and author Dr. Jillian Roberts was written to remind us that the little people in our lives need us to be their calm. To recognize their big feelings, teach them how to honor them and let them go. A valuable tool to help young ones learn to co-regulate, Calm is just as much for babies as it is the adults in their lives.
Ever since her parents got divorced, Pia has worked hard to make sure everything in her life is Perfect, with a capital P. But everything keeps going wrong. She and her sister get into a fight. Pia falls down the stairs and hurts her ankle. She spills chocolate milk all over her lucky outfit. She accidentally studied for the wrong test. And her best friend still isn’t speaking to her since she got mad at him for throwing her a surprise birthday party. Now Pia has a big race this afternoon and she’s pretending her ankle is fine. But she has to win the race. She has to!
When We Are Kind celebrates simple acts of everyday kindness and encourages children to explore how they feel when they initiate and receive acts of kindness in their lives. Beautifully illustrated by artist Nicole Neidhardt, this book encourages children to be kind to others and to themselves.
Jennifer McCaffrey has been working hard on her art for years and is thrilled when she is accepted to a prestigious art school. The school is everything she always thought it would be, mostly. There is one group of kids who seem to resent her and say she only got in because of her skin color. Jen, who loves to create new pieces of artwork that incorporate her Indigenous heritage, finds herself a target when the group tells her to stop being “so Indian”. The night before the big art show at school, Jen’s beading art project is defaced. Jen has to find a way not to let the haters win.
Our favorite pretend princess, Angelica, aka Jelly, is back! A case of mistaken identity, a wild imagination and a love of storytelling leads Jelly to tell her friend Joon and the new kid she's just met, Leo, that she's a part-time lion trainer at the local animal rescue center. Her inventiveness has them completely convinced, but things get a bit more complicated when the resident lioness, Mwezi, escapes from her enclosure and the kids look to Jelly’s "expertise" to save the day.
This illustrated nonfiction picture book by child psychologist Dr. Jillian Roberts introduces children to the topics of bodies, body safety and body image through a conversation-based story that begins with an observation at the community pool. Modesty, privacy and boundaries are discussed, along with how self-image is formed and how some people are more sensitive than others—sometimes at different stages in their lives. Relevant themes around body shaming, body positivity and self-esteem building are explored, with a final call to action empowering children to build their own confidence and speak up when something doesn't feel right.
Julie survived a horrific car accident, but she has no memory of the event or the boyfriend who was with her in the car. He disappeared, and she is diagnosed with PTSD. Her doctor recommends a therapy animal, and Julie chooses to get a horse. Julie's experience with horses is limited, but it's empowering to finally be involved in life again, and her symptoms abate. However, she has a lot to learn, and when the riding coach gives confusing lessons, Julie is thrown off balance, both emotionally and in the saddle. The improvement she'd begun to experience with PTSD symptoms is lost, and her nightmares return. Can Julie and the horse recover and heal their broken spirits?
Through gentle rhymes and colorful photographs of adorable children, Pride Colors is a celebration of the deep unconditional love of a parent or caregiver for a young child. The profound message of this delightful board book is you are free to be whoever you choose to be; you'll always be loved. Celebrated author Robin Stevenson ends her purposeful prose by explaining the meaning behind each color in the Pride flag: red = life, orange = healing, yellow = sunlight, green = nature, blue = peace and harmony, and violet = spirit.
In the gay community, a young, husky man is known as a "cub." Seventeen-year-old Theo fits the definition perfectly, but he is very self-conscious about his body. So when his best friend signs him up for a cooking competition at Heat, the city's newest trendy restaurant, Theo is nervous. He's confident in his baking ability, and dreams of opening his own bakery one day, but he's not a chef, and he hates being in the spotlight. As Theo survives round after round, he gains the admiration of both the audience and the restaurant owner, a sexy celebrity chef known as KCC. When the owner makes it clear he is more interested in what Theo might do outside the kitchen, Theo has to decide how far he is willing to go to launch his career.
Jasmine used to love dance. Now she struggles to hold on to that love as her dance team trains for a big competition. Her teammates are bickering, and when their teacher suggests that Jasmine might not have what it takes to be on the team, Jasmine is ready to quit. At a particularly rough practice, she channels her anger into her moves, surprising everyone, including herself, with how well she dances. But the team is still falling apart, and it’s up to Jasmine to figure out a way to get her teammates to work together and celebrate the joy of dance.
A natural-born explorer, Leo loves to make maps and experiment with new ways of getting around the schoolyard. But explorers sometimes get sidetracked, which can lead to getting in trouble. When Leo’s teacher, Mr. Chang, announces he’ll be giving out an award for responsibility, Leo is determined to redeem himself. The upcoming class field trip to the woods seems like the perfect opportunity. He’ll get to use his handy compass watch and show Mr. Chang he can be extra-responsible! But when two of Leo’s classmates wander out of bounds, Leo is faced with a tough decision.
Amelia’s world came crashing down when her parents separated and she was forced to relocate with her mother to a new part of town. When Duke and Gabriella move into the suite downstairs with their menagerie of exotic animals, Amelia feels like she’s been thrown a lifeline. Helping care for the animals gives Amelia a sense of purpose, and she’s determined to keep Duke and Gabriella’s secret. But eventually her mother discovers the animals and refuses to let them stay. To make matters worse, Winston, a sulcata tortoise, has fallen ill, and the medical bills are piling up. Can Amelia figure out a way to help save Winston and keep her newfound family together?
When Darren Dirkowitz's evil stepbrother (code name Waldo) gets hold of Darren's tippity-top-secret spy journal, he threatens to expose it to the entire Preston Middle School student body. Unless, that is, Darren starts doing his dirty work for him. Now Darren's got to use the oh-so-cloak-and-daggery skills he's honed in his secret alternate life as Dirk Daring, Secret Agent to spy on kids at school. Naturally, he also sets up a separate, sneaky surveillance program to unearth Waldo's own secrets. As more and more ugly truths are exposed, new alliances are forged and old friendships broken. Can Darren learn to be true to himself and build real friendships for the first time in his life? Or will he retreat back into his exciting but imaginary shadow world?
Briar has a vision for the one-act play she's been chosen to direct at her performing arts high school. She's going to create a masterpiece. If only everyone involved in the production shared her vision. Her leading lady is gifted but troubled, her leading man has a crush on the leading lady, her stage manager doesn't have a clue, and her best friend, who wrote the play, is worried that Briar's production is cursed. As Briar struggles to motivate her cast and crew, she learns some important truths about the fine art of directing, and about herself.
Basketball-crazy Jake Burnett is thrilled to be leaving home to attend prestigious Centerville Prep. It’s an opportunity to pursue his hoop dreams at the highest level. But things aren’t quite as advertised at his new school, and Jake soon finds himself struggling both on and off the court. At first, Jake is determined to play harder and ignore the warning signs. Until he discovers that his new head coach is a scam artist, putting kids at risk for his own gain. Now Jake has a difficult choice to make - advance his basketball career or do the right thing.
Reece Hansen is missing two things: his father and his frog. His parents are newly separated, and his dad is now living in another city, fighting forest fires. Reece struggles to get used to daily life without him. When he loses his pet frog, Burgess, Reece puts posters up around the neighborhood. But frogs are difficult to find. It takes an unusual classmate, the boy who wears a bathrobe to school, to pull Reece's attention away from Burgess. Through his new friend and a camping trip with his mom, Reece learns that friends can come in human form and families are resilient even when things change.
No matter how hard he tries, even with the help of his classroom aide, Ian Goobie can't do the things that the other children in his class can do. Every day he dreads going to school. Then he finds a rock, a rock that fits perfectly in his pocket, a rock that touches all his senses and whisks him away into a whole other world. From then on, as long as he has a rock in his pocket, Ian Goobie can manage his daily challenges. That is, until he stuffs so many rocks in his pockets that his pants fall down right outside in the schoolyard, in front of all his classmates. This might be the biggest challenge Ian Goobie has had to face yet.
Angelica isn't a liar, she just loves making up stories. When Angelica goes to sleepaway camp and is mistaken for a princess, she could easily clear up the misunderstanding...but pretending to be royalty is way more fun! When her best friend from home surprises her at camp, Angelica is forced to fess up. Luckily, she also has a talent for repairing things, and when disaster strikes on the girls' kayaking trip, Jelly has to repair more than just her newfound friendships.
A twenty-first-century guide for anyone who has access to a smartphone. This how-to manual looks at specific ways you can create social change through the tap of a screen. Filled with examples of successful hashtag campaigns, viral videos and new socially conscious apps, the book provides practical advice for using your smartphone as a tool for social justice and online activism. This is the first book in the PopActivism series, which includes Can Your Outfit Change the World? and Can Your Conversations Change the World?
Trevor has known since he was ten years old that he has Huntington's disease, but at sixteen he is informed that he has one year to live. One day while he's trying to figure stuff out, an old man named Plank finds him standing at a cliff by the ocean. It's the beginning of an odd but intriguing relationship. Both Trevor and Plank decide to live by Plank's Law, which is "just live." This means Trevor has to act on the things on his bucket list, like hanging out with real penguins, star in a science fiction movie and actually talk to Sara—the girl at the hospital who smiles at him. With the aid of Plank and Sara, Trevor revises his bucket list to include more important things and takes charge of his illness and his life.
This is the second story featuring Rob and Adam Maclean after Coming Clean Rob Maclean and his mom have moved to a small community in northern Ontario in order to be closer to Rob's imprisoned brother, Adam. One night after a rowdy party, Rob and some friends end up in a van speeding through a First Nations reserve. The driver of the van has a deep hatred for Indigenous people, and he lobs rotten fruit at a group of young men gathered in front of a community center. The young men chase them down, and Rob's friend Alan is injured and ends up in a coma. Now the police are pressuring Rob to identify their prime suspect.
Sixteen-year-old Bailey struggles with her job but stays because she loves the stories of the area—including the legend of a local ghost. Bailey is working at her first summer job, as a cabin girl at a fly-in fishing camp at Witch Lake. April, an older waitress with street smarts, takes Bailey under her wing and the two girls become friends. It’s all good until another waitress burns her arm and has to leave. Bailey gets a sudden promotion, and April is asked to help clean the cabins. April becomes far from friendly and Bailey finds herself alone again and messing up on the job—and possibly seeing the ghost.
While struggling with the death of her beloved adoptive mother, sixteen-year-old Brenna reconnects with members of her biological family, hoping to discover why her biological mother broke off contact many years earlier. At the same time, she is falling in love with Ryan, who provides support while she grieves but has to leave her when she needs him most. Despite powerful feelings of abandonment, Brenna realizes that getting strong physically and focusing on the needs of others might just help her move beyond her crippling grief, find peace and plan a future for herself. Dancing in the Rain continues the story that began in Shelley Hrdlitschka’s bestselling Dancing Naked.
Celebrating the supportive relationship between a child and her dog, this story gently introduces the resilience and bravery that come with the first steps toward independence. Billie is reading quietly in her apartment while her mom does laundry downstairs. But her impatient dog Bean wants to go outside. Billie has taken Bean outside before when mom was watching, so she decides to try taking Bean out by herself—just around the block. Billie and Bean enjoy the vibrant city street, but after stopping to pick a flower in the park, Billie becomes disoriented by the tall buildings and can't remember the way back to their building. As Billie begins to worry, Bean tugs on the leash in encouragement and Billie discovers that she's braver than she thought she could be.
