From the author of My Deal with the Universe, a lighthearted, tender story of a girl and her steadfast duck.I spend a lot of time thinking about what Grandad said that day Webster first went missing. How if you spend too much time dwelling on the things you've lost, you might not notice what you've got in its place. And how sometimes those things can be just as wonderful. But in a different way.Sarah is turning twelve. For the last ten years, ever since her dad mysteriously left, Sarah and her mom have always celebrated together for an entire birthday week. But when Sarah finds out that this year her mother has to work, and that she's signed Sarah up last minute for a week of culinary school instead, things go from bad to worse.At least the camp has agreed to let Sarah bring her duck, Webster. Sarah knows that with Webster by her side, she can handle whatever comes her way. But then Webster goes missing, just as...

A Junior Library Guild Pick!Opposite Identicals is an upper middle grade novel set in the very near future – a time when climate change has irreversibly altered our planet and lifestyles. Nova and Joule are fourteen-year old twins whose scientist parents have recently uprooted the family from their urban home and moved to the country on a year–long research assignment, studying the effects of GMO 'SuperCrop' farming on the environment in the final regulatory phase before global expansion. Surrounded by nature and quiet, open spaces, shy, bookish Nova is in heaven. But Joule – whose life' s ambition is to be famous and reach a million Hollagram followers – is desperate to escape. One day, Joule gets her wish, although not in a way anyone ever expected. In an instant, she's gone – swallowed up by a mysterious sinkhole under her bedroom floor. Suddenly twinless, Nova is forced to step in and lead the search for her missing sister. But can she face...

A girl, a dog and a summer they won't forget.Twelve-year-old Paige Coopersmith and her family have won a house in an essay-writing contest. Excited to leave their cramped apartment and move to a sprawling property in rural Ontario, they're more than a little surprised to find the house is old and in need of major repairs. They're even more shocked to discover that Iggy — the old dog who lives there — comes with the house. Apparently it was all in the fine print!Due to financial stress, and with nowhere else to go, the family stays. Paige, who is scared of the large, unkempt Newfoundland dog, does her best to stay out of her way, while her parents deal with an unusual list of instructions from the previous owner.But girl and beast soon form a special bond, when Paige, a hesitant reader, practises her reading out loud and discovers that Iggy loves to be read to.Little does Paige know Iggy is even more special than she realizes. In fact, someone else...

A summer trip to Greece seems like the perfect chance for thirteen-year-old Dani to spend some time on the beach, help her bookish best friend Cathy get her first kiss, and maybe find some summer romance of her own. But when bad luck begins to strike over and over, and continues to strike when she returns to her home in Toronto, Dani starts to wonder if she is cursed. Literally. Cathy tells of the "evil eye," and warns that a curse may have been put on Dani by a mysterious girl whose path she crossed in Greece. Dani gets sick, injured, and her family car is vandalized. Is it the "evil eye," or is someone out to get Dani? And what bizarre lengths will Dani go to as she tries to get the curse lifted?Combining the humorous and the sinister, Bye-Bye, Evil Eye is an engaging read from Governor General's Literary Award finalist Deborah Kerbel.

Tabby Freeman and Lora Froggett go to the same school, but they live in totally opposite worlds. Tabby is rich, pretty, and the most popular girl in her class. But behind closed doors, her rfectife is rapidly coming apart at the seams.On the other side, Lora is smart, timid, and the constant target of bullies. While struggling to survive the piranha-infested halls of her school, she becomes increasingly nervous that somebody might discover the unbearable truth about whats been happening to her family.Despite their differences, Tabby and Lora have something in common They're both harbouring dark secrets and a lot of pain. Although theyve never been friends, a series of strange events causes their lives to crash together in ways neither could have ever imagined. And when the dust finally settles and all their secrets are forced out into the light, will the girls be saved or destroyed?

Lily MacArthur has never been much of a sleeper, but since the death of her Aunt Su, she's lost the ability to sleep completely. Night after night she goes to bed and waits for the sun to rise, without catching a wink of sleep. As she pushes people away by day, her closest friend becomes the night-time moon. Looking for a way to spend her sleepless nights, she slips out of the house. She meets Ben, who works the night shift at the local drive-thru. A newcomer to town, Ben has a troubled past - and future - that he keeps from Lily. As Lily's sleeplessness begins to destroy her health, she has no idea that Ben holds the key to finding her sleep and saving her life. But first, she has to find a way to save his.

A Victorian garden, a fishing lure, and a ghost named John Absolutely nothing is going right for Max Green. His parents have just uprooted their family from Vancouver to the bleak suburbs of Toronto, he has no friends, and everybody at his new high school is ignoring him. To make matters worse, he's in love with an older girl who's completely out of his league. When Max discovers a local library rumoured to be haunted by ghosts, he's immediately drawn to it. With the help of some cryptic messages, he begins to piece together the identity of the teenage ghost and the mysterious chain of events that have connected its spirit to the building for over a century. But just who was John, anyway? Why has he chosen to contact Max? And what does an old fishing lure have to do with solving the mystery?

Since her father's death, Finch's life has fallen apart. Her mother just sits and stares. Her brother hangs out with awful Matt, a bully who picks on her. And Finch has the meanest teacher in the school. But most of all, she's lonely. A graffiti message in a bathroom stall leads to a surprising friendship, and things start to look up. But her friend's family is different and secretive in ways Finch cannot quite understand. When cultural differences cause trouble at school and her friend disappears, Finch knows that flying away is not an option. She's the only one who may have a clue to the disappearance, and she needs to say something, now.

Fifteen-year-old Mackenzie Hill knows something is up when she arrives home to find her father making a home-cooked dinner, instead of his standard delivery pizza. But nothing prepares her for the bombshell announcement: Mackenzie and her dad, alone since the death of her mother a year ago, are moving to Jerusalem, where her father has taken a position as a visiting professor at a university.The adjustment from life in Canada to life in Israel is dramatic - though it's eased somewhat when Mackenzie is befriended by an American girl in her new school. The biggest shock of all comes when Mackenzie faces the wrath of her new friends, new community, and even her own father after she begins dating a Muslim boy.ReviewThe novel was a great read; I enjoyed learning a little more about this region, people and culture through the book. It was an insightful story. From the Inside FlapWhen 15-year-old Mackenzie Hill and her dad move to Jerusalem, the adjustment from life in Canada to life in Israel is dramatic. The biggest shock of all comes when Mackenzie faces the wrath of her new friends, new community, and even her own father after she begins dating a Muslim boy.