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Nura and the Immortal Palace
By M. T. Khan, M. T. Khan. 2022
Aru Shah and the End of Time meets Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away in this mesmerizing portal fantasy that takes readers…
into the little-known world of Jinn.Nura longs for the simple pleasure of many things—to wear a beautiful red dupatta or to bite into a sweet gulab. But with her mom hard at work in a run-down sweatshop and three younger siblings to feed, Nura must spend her days earning money by mica mining. But it’s not just the extra rupees in her pocket Nura is after. Local rumor says there’s buried treasure in the mine, and Nura knows that finding it could change the course of her family’s life forever.Her plan backfires when the mines collapse and four kids, including her best friend, Faisal, are claimed dead. Nura refuses to believe it and shovels her way through the dirt hoping to find him. Instead, she finds herself at the entrance to a strange world of purple skies and pink seas—a portal to the opulent realm of jinn, inhabited by the trickster creatures from her mother’s cautionary tales. Yet they aren’t nearly as treacherous as her mother made them out to be, because Nura is invited to a luxury jinn hotel, where she’s given everything she could ever imagine and more. But there’s a dark truth lurking beneath all that glitter and gold, and when Nura crosses the owner’s son and is banished to the working quarters, she realizes she isn’t the only human who’s ended up in the hotel’s clutches. Faisal and the other missing children are there, too, and if Nura can’t find a way to help them all escape, they’ll be bound to work for the hotel forever. Set in a rural industrial town in Pakistan and full of hope, heart, and humor, Nura and the Immortal Palace is inspired by M.T. Khan’s own Pakistani Muslim heritage.
Ghostlight
By Kenneth Oppel. 2022
Gabe’s summer job scaring tourists with ghost stories turns terrifyingly real when he accidentally summons the spirit of a dead…
girl—and must join forces with her to protect the world of the living. A new story by award-winning author Ken Oppel for ages 10 and up.The story of the tragic death of sixteen-year-old Rebecca Strand and her lighthouse keeper father is just an elaborate tale Gabe tells tourists for his summer job on Toronto Island. Or so he thought. When his ghost tours awaken Rebecca’s spirit, Gabe is drawn into a world far darker than any ghost story he’s ever heard. Rebecca reveals that she and her father were connected to the Order, a secret society devoted to protecting the world from "the wakeful and wicked dead"—malevolent spirits like Viker, the ghost responsible for their deaths. But now the Order has disappeared and Viker is growing even stronger, and he’ll stop at nothing to wreak chaos and destruction on the living.Gabe and his friends—both living and dead—must find a way to stop Viker before they all become lost souls.
Arab Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook (Fairy Tale Feasts #4)
By Karim Alrawi. 2021
No Place Like Home
By Linh S. Nguyen. 2023
Sweeping in scope and timeless in tone, No Place like Home is a middle-grade portal fantasy unlike any otherLan, a…
teenager who recently came to Canada from Vietnam, spends every day searching for a sense of belonging. Books are the only things that make her feel at ease. But it comes as a shock when a mysterious wind whisks her right into the pages of her latest fantasy read. More shocking still is the fact that she herself summoned this wind! Plunged into the magical world of Silva, Lan realizes she has much to offer protagonists Annabelle and Marlow. Once a homesick reader and bystander rooting for the very characters that now stand before her, Lan is a budding witch who suddenly has the power to help their quest. Somewhere inside her lies the ability to not only save Annabelle and Marlow’s home, but also to shape a familiar tale into something new.As Lan faces off against tree guardians, moving corn mazes, heart-eaters and thoughtless kings, she finds that Silva is not so different from Toronto: new homes can be messy. Now, torn between several places at once, Lan begins to confront an important question: how do you redefine a lost home?
Sneaks
By Catherine Egan. 2022
Men in Black meets middle school! A school project takes an alien turn when three kids uncover a secret society…
whose aim is to keep sneaks--mischievous interdimensional sprites--from slipping into our universe!When Ben Harp sees his teacher's watch crawling across the hallway, he thinks he must be dreaming. But no, he’s just seen his first Sneak—an interdimensional mischief-maker that can borrow the form of any ordinary object. He figured this school year would be bad—his best friend moved away, the class bully is circling, and he’s stuck doing a group project with two similarly friendless girls, Charlotte and Akemi. Still, he wasn’t expecting aliens! And he certainly wasn’t expecting that the woman he and Charlotte and Akemi are assigned to interview for their “living local history” project would be a Sneak expert. Or that she’d foist an old book on them to keep safe . . . and then disappear. Now Ben, Charlotte, and Akemi are trying to understand a book that seems to contain a coded map while being pursued by violent clothes hangers, fire-spitting squirrels, and more. The Sneaks want that book! And they want something else, too: to pull a vastly more dangerous creature into the world with them. Can three misfit kids decode the book in time to stop an alien takeover? And if they do, will they get extra credit on their group project?
The Bear House (#1)
By Meaghan McIsaac. 2021
In a gritty medieval world where the ruling houses are based on the constellations, betrayal, intrigue, and a king's murder…
force the royal sisters of the Bear House on the run!Moody Aster and her spoiled sister Ursula are the daughters of Jasper Lourdes, Major of Bears and lord of all the realm. Rivals, both girls dream of becoming the Bear queen someday, although neither really deserve to, having no particular talent in... well, anything.But when their Uncle Bram murders their father in a bid for the crown, the girls are forced onto the run, along with lowly Dev the Bearkeeper and the Lourdes's half-grown grizzly Alcor, symbol of their house. As a bitter struggle for the throne consumes the kingdom in civil war, the sisters must rely on Dev, the bear cub, and each other to survive--and find wells of courage, cunning, and skill they never knew they had. A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Sneaks
By Catherine Egan. 2022
Men in Black meets middle school! A school project takes an alien turn when three kids uncover a secret society…
whose aim is to keep sneaks--mischievous interdimensional sprites--from slipping into our universe!When Ben Harp sees his teacher's watch crawling across the hallway, he thinks he must be dreaming. But no, he&’s just seen his first Sneak—an interdimensional mischief-maker that can borrow the form of any ordinary object. He figured this school year would be bad—his best friend moved away, the class bully is circling, and he&’s stuck doing a group project with two similarly friendless girls, Charlotte and Akemi. Still, he wasn&’t expecting aliens! And he certainly wasn&’t expecting that the woman he and Charlotte and Akemi are assigned to interview for their &“living local history&” project would be a Sneak expert. Or that she&’d foist an old book on them to keep safe . . . and then disappear. Now Ben, Charlotte, and Akemi are trying to understand a book that seems to contain a coded map while being pursued by violent clothes hangers, fire-spitting squirrels, and more. The Sneaks want that book! And they want something else, too: to pull a vastly more dangerous creature into the world with them. Can three misfit kids decode the book in time to stop an alien takeover? And if they do, will they get extra credit on their group project?
Beatrice and Croc Harry
By Lawrence Hill. 2022
One of Canada’s most celebrated author’s debut novel for young readersBeatrice, a young girl of uncertain age, wakes up all…
alone in a tree house in the forest. How did she arrive in this cozy dwelling, stocked carefully with bookshelves and oatmeal accoutrements? And who has been leaving a trail of clues, composed in delicate purple handwriting?So begins the adventure of a brave and resilient Black girl’s search for identity and healing in bestselling author Lawrence Hill’s middle-grade debut. Though Beatrice cannot recall how or why she arrived in the magical forest of Argilia—where every conceivable fish, bird, mammal and reptile coexist, and any creature with a beating heart can communicate with any other—something within tells her that beyond this forest is a family that is waiting anxiously for her return.Just outside her tree-house door lives Beatrice’s most unlikely ally, the enormous and mercurial King Crocodile Croc Harry, who just may have a secret of his own. As they form an unusual truce and work toward their common goal, Beatrice and Croc Harry will learn more about their forest home than they ever could have imagined. And what they learn about themselves may destroy Beatrice’s chances of returning home forever.
My City Speaks
By Darren Lebeuf. 2021
A young girl’s exploration of the city she loves. A young girl and her father spend a day in the…
city, her city, traveling to the places they go together. As they do, the girl, who is visually impaired, describes what she senses in delightfully precise, poetic detail. Her city, she says, “pitters and patters, and drips and drains.” It’s both “smelly” and “sweet.” Her city also speaks, as it “dings and dongs and rattles and roars.” And sometimes, maybe even some of the best times, it just listens. A celebration of all there is to appreciate in our surroundings — just by paying attention!
Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor (Zachary Ying)
By Xiran Jay Zhao. 2022
Percy Jackson meets Tristan Strong in this hilarious, action-packed middle grade contemporary fantasy that follows a young boy as he…
journeys across China to seal the underworld shut and save the mortal realm. Zachary Ying never had many opportunities to learn about his Chinese heritage. His single mom was busy enough making sure they got by, and his schools never taught anything except Western history and myths. So Zack is woefully unprepared when he discovers he was born to host the spirit of the First Emperor of China for a vital mission: sealing the leaking portal to the Chinese underworld before the upcoming Ghost Month blows it wide open. The mission takes an immediate wrong turn when the First Emperor botches his attempt to possess Zack’s body and binds to Zack’s AR gaming headset instead, leading to a battle where Zack’s mom’s soul gets taken by demons. Now, with one of history’s most infamous tyrants yapping in his headset, Zack must journey across China to heist magical artifacts and defeat figures from history and myth, all while learning to wield the emperor's incredible water dragon powers. And if Zack can’t finish the mission in time, the spirits of the underworld will flood into the mortal realm, and he could lose his mom forever. New York Times Bestseller
When I Listen to Silence
By Jean E. Pendziwol. 2022
When a child is asked to “Please, be quiet!” they sit silent … and their imagination sweeps them away on…
a breathtaking journey. Through the window, the child can hear the trees breathe and watches them sway back and forth as they begin to dance. Then bears join in, accompanied by the child on their drum, making so much noise they wake up a dragon! The dragon’s smoky breath fills the sky, and the wind forms a knight on a steed that gallops through the stars. The child’s adventure continues, as one wonderful flight of fancy leads to the next, from pirates to mermaids to whales, until they find themselves sitting silent once again among the trees. Jean E. Pendziwol has written a charming story-poem that looks at silence and stillness as an opportunity for the imagination and creativity to flourish. Carmen Mok’s magical illustrations flow from one spread to the next like animation, in a palette inspired by vintage printmaking. Key Text Features dialogue illustrations Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3 With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7 With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3 Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7 Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.
Maggie’s Treasure
By Jon-Erik Lappano. 2020
When Maggie’s treasure collection grows too big to manage, she finds a creative solution. Maggie finds treasure wherever she goes.…
Whether it’s a button, a feather or a shiny stone, she picks it up and takes it home. At first the neighbors and city workers are grateful to Maggie for cleaning up; the mayor even gives her an award. But over time Maggie’s collection grows bigger and bigger, until it spills out of her house and garden in an unsightly mess. Her parents tell her “Enough treasure!” and eventually even Maggie realizes that something must be done. Finally, inspired by a bird outside her window, she finds a way to share her treasure that enchants and transforms the entire neighborhood. Jon-Erik Lappano and Kellen Hatanaka, winners of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Tokyo Digs a Garden, have created a stunning picture book about a child who turns her passion for collecting into a pleasure for her community. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2 Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.
Percy’s Museum
By Sara O'Leary. 2021
A sweet story about embracing change, the excitement of discovery and the wonder of nature and new friends. A young…
boy moves from the city to a new home in the country. He misses his friends, but at least it’s summertime — flowers are blooming, baby birds are hatching, and caterpillars are transforming into butterflies. Enraptured by the natural world, Percy climbs trees, tastes wild strawberries and tries to catch fish in the river with his bare hands. Percy also likes to draw pictures of what he has seen that day. He collects interesting leaves and rocks, and insects in jars. Percy discovers that being alone doesn’t have to be lonely, but explorers often share their findings. So, he creates a way to share his collection with others … Percy’s Museum is a sweet story about embracing change, the excitement of discovery and the wonder of nature and new friends. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3 Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
Lark Has the Shivers (Orca Echoes #5)
By Natasha Deen. 2022
The summer is for sleuthing, and Lark and Connor have been served a double helping! It's time for the annual…
pet fair and the twins have been hard at work teaching their dog, Max, some new tricks. But on their way to the fairgrounds, they're offered not one, but two intriguing cases. Pets from the pet show have gone missing and their guardians are blaming each other for the disappearances. Meanwhile, Lark and Connor's frenemy, Sophie, thinks her house might be haunted and refuses to go inside. The twins split up to solve the mysteries, but can they find the vanished pets and the source of the spooky noises before the show has to start? Lark Has the Shivers is the fifth title in the Lark Ba Detective series, following Lark and the Desert Disaster, Lark Takes a Bow, Lark and the Diamond Caper and Lark Holds the Key. The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.
Water, Water
By Cary Fagan. 2022
One morning Rafe wakes up to discover his bedroom is floating in a vast sea of water. An unforgettable middle-grade…
novel with elements of James and the Giant Peach meets Waterworld and The Road.One morning Rafe wakes up to discover his bedroom is floating in a vast sea of water. Alone with only his dog for company, Rafe adapts to this strange new world by fishing cans of food out of the water and keeping watch. Boxes float by, as does a woman, playing her cello. Then, one day, Rafe fishes out a young girl, who joins him in his room -- they don't speak the same language, but together they will face this uncertain future together.
Nura and the Immortal Palace
By M. T. Khan. 2022
Aru Shah and the End of Time meets Studio Ghibli&’s Spirited Away in this mesmerizing portal fantasy that takes readers into the little-known…
world of Jinn.Nura longs for the simple pleasure of many things—to wear a beautiful red dupatta or to bite into a sweet gulab. But with her mom hard at work in a run-down sweatshop and three younger siblings to feed, Nura must spend her days earning money by mica mining. But it&’s not just the extra rupees in her pocket Nura is after. Local rumor says there&’s buried treasure in the mine, and Nura knows that finding it could change the course of her family&’s life forever.Her plan backfires when the mines collapse and four kids, including her best friend, Faisal, are claimed dead. Nura refuses to believe it and shovels her way through the dirt hoping to find him. Instead, she finds herself at the entrance to a strange world of purple skies and pink seas—a portal to the opulent realm of jinn, inhabited by the trickster creatures from her mother&’s cautionary tales. Yet they aren&’t nearly as treacherous as her mother made them out to be, because Nura is invited to a luxury jinn hotel, where she&’s given everything she could ever imagine and more. But there&’s a dark truth lurking beneath all that glitter and gold, and when Nura crosses the owner&’s son and is banished to the working quarters, she realizes she isn&’t the only human who&’s ended up in the hotel&’s clutches. Faisal and the other missing children are there, too, and if Nura can&’t find a way to help them all escape, they&’ll be bound to work for the hotel forever. Set in a rural industrial town in Pakistan and full of hope, heart, and humor, Nura and the Immortal Palace is inspired by M.T. Khan&’s own Pakistani Muslim heritage.
Haunted Hospital (Orca Currents)
By Null Marty Chan. 2020
Is this place actually haunted by ghosts? Or something even more terrifying? Xander thinks the George Wickerman Hospital would be…
the perfect setting for Spirits and Specters, a role-playing game where players go on “missions” to find evidence of paranormal activities. According to local legend, tuberculosis patients were used as test subjects in medical experiments that ended tragically, and their disfigured ghosts walk the hallways of this now-abandoned building. What better location to go ghost hunting? Even though they didn’t really believe the rumors, Xander and his friends soon begin to suspect that they are not alone. This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for middle-grade readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read! Available in French as L’hôpital hanté. Orca Book Publishers is pleased to offer Haunted Hospital in two accessible editions. The audiobook features alternate text descriptions of images, including the cover. The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.
I Talk Like a River
By Jordan Scott. 2020
I wake up each morning with the sounds of words all around me. And I can't say them all .…
. . When a boy who stutters feels isolated, alone, and incapable of communicating in the way he'd like, it takes a kindly father and a walk by the river to help him find his voice. Compassionate parents everywhere will instantly recognize a father's ability to reconnect a child with the world around him. Poet Jordan Scott writes movingly in this powerful and ultimately uplifting book, based on his own experience, and masterfully illustrated by Greenaway Medalist Sydney Smith. A book for any child who feels lost, lonely, or unable to fit in.
Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen: The Body under the Piano (Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen #1)
By Marthe Jocelyn. 2020
A smart and charming middle-grade mystery series starring young detective Aggie Morton and her friend Hector, inspired by the imagined…
life of Agatha Christie as a child and her most popular creation, Hercule Poirot. For fans of Lemony Snicket and The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency.Aggie Morton lives in a small town on the coast of England in 1902. Adventurous and imaginative but deeply shy, Aggie hasn't got much to do since the death of her beloved father . . . until the fateful day when she crosses paths with twelve-year-old Belgian immigrant Hector Perot and discovers a dead body on the floor of the Mermaid Dance Room! As the number of suspects grows and the murder threatens to tear the town apart, Aggie and her new friend will need every tool at their disposal -- including their insatiable curiosity, deductive skills and not a little help from their friends -- to solve the case before Aggie's beloved dance instructor is charged with a crime Aggie is sure she didn't commit.Filled with mystery, adventure, an unforgettable heroine and several helpings of tea and sweets, The Body Under the Piano is the clever debut of a new series for middle-grade readers and Christie and Poirot fans everywhere, from a Governor General's Award--nominated author of historical fiction for children.
Elvis, Me, and the Lemonade Stand Summer
By Leslie Gentile. 2021
Winner of the 2021 City of Victoria Children’s Book Prize It’s the summer of 1978 and most people think Elvis…
Presley has been dead for a year. But not eleven-year-old Truly Bateman – because she knows Elvis is alive and well and living in the Eagle Shores Trailer Park. Maybe no one ever thought to look for him at on the Eagle Shores First Nation on Vancouver Island. It’s a busy summer for Truly. Though her mother is less of a mother than she ought to be, and spends her time drinking and smoking and working her way through new boyfriends, Truly is determined to raise as much money for herself as she can through her lemonade stand … and to prove that her cool new neighbour is the one and only King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. And when she can’t find motherly support in her own home, she finds sanctuary with Andy El, the Salish woman who runs the trailer park.