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July 1 - Canada Day
CELA will be closed on Tuesday, July 1st for Canada Day. Our office will reopen and our Contact Centre services will resume on Wednesday, July 2nd. Enjoy your holiday!
CELA will be closed on Tuesday, July 1st for Canada Day. Our office will reopen and our Contact Centre services will resume on Wednesday, July 2nd. Enjoy your holiday!
Showing 1 - 19 of 19 items
By Ralph Fletcher. 2018
A heartfelt middle grade companion to Marshfield Dreams that captures the boyhood years of twelve-year-old Ralph Fletcher in relatable episodes…
of everyday disappointments and triumphs.As the oldest of nine kids, Ralph was often cast as another parent to his siblings rather than as an older brother; teetering between these two conflicting roles, Ralph longed to be home alone on a sick day, but hated the emptiness of feeling left behind. He loved to play sports with his neighborhood friends but resented the skillful victories of his younger brother. Thrust into the expectations of impending adolescence, Ralph was curious about girls, but embarrassed to take part in the school square dance. This satisfying memoir offers a snapshot of those pivotal moments between grade school and high school, all while tracing the roots of Ralph Fletcher’s acclaimed storytelling.Christy Ottaviano BooksBy Peter Lourie. 2017
Here is a compelling middle grade nonfiction tale of how one classic writer drew upon a rugged life of adventure…
to create works of literature, punctuated by stunning black-and-white art by Wendell Minor and illustrative photographic material.Swept up in the Gold Rush of 1897, young Jack London headed north to strike it rich in the Klondike and discovered something more precious than gold—the seeds of the stories that would flower into his classic novels The Call of the Wild and White Fang, and timeless short stories such as "To Build A Fire." This gripping tale follows London as he treks up the ruthless Chilkoot Trail, braves the lethal Whitehorse Rapids, survives a bad case of scurvy, and conquers many more dangers of the Yukon during his quest for gold. A Christy Ottaviano BookBy Bev Vincent. 2024
By Brent Runyon. 2004
In The Burn Journals, Runyon describes that devastating suicide attempt and his recovery over the following year. He takes us…
into the Burn Unit in a children's hospital and through painful burn care and skin-grafting procedures. Then to a rehabilitation hospital, for intensive physical, occupational, and psychological therapy. And then finally back home, to the frightening prospect of entering high school. Adult. Some descriptions of sex. Some violence. Strong languageBy April Jones Prince. 2019
A humorist, narrator, and social observer, Mark Twain is unsurpassed in American literature. Best known as the author of The…
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , Mark Twain, not unlike his protagonist, Huck, has a restless spirit. He found adventure prospecting for silver in Nevada, navigating steamboats down the Mississippi, and making people laugh around the world. But Twain also had a serious streak and decried racism and injustice. His fascinating life is captured candidly in this enjoyable biographyBy Jim Gigliotti. 2022
Find out how a journalist and sportsman became one of the most famous American novelists of the twentieth century in…
this new addition to the #1 New York Times bestselling series! Ernest Hemingway wasn't just a novelist. He was a hunter and a fisherman; he became an ambulance officer in Paris, France, during World War I; and he worked as a reporter during the civil war in Spain in the 1930s. All of these experiences had such an important impact on Ernest's life that he used them as inspiration for some of his most notable works of fiction, including The Sun Also Rises , A Farewell to Arms , and For Whom the Bell Tolls . He wrote short stories, novels, and articles in an understated, direct style, that is still beloved by readers today. Hemingway is remembered as much for his fiction as he is for his adventurous lifestyleBy Billy Merrell. 2024
Find out how a young boy from the Midwest became one of the most important writers and activists of the…
Harlem Renaissance in this addition to the #1 New York Times bestselling series! Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, and was raised by his grandmother, who told him many stories of the Black American experience and taught him to be proud of his race from a young age. With her guidance, Langston went on to become a talented writer in high school, creating dramatic plays, poetry, and articles for the school paper. His career as a writer would continue to blossom. Langston pioneered Jazz Poetry and published nearly twenty poetry books during his lifetime as well as novels, books for children, nonfiction books, and plays. He was an activist and a major figure of the Harlem Renaissance period, alongside Zora Neale Hurston and Countee Cullen. Young readers can learn about Langston's beloved writing, including some of his most famous poems "Dreams" and "The Weary Blues," and his long-lasting legacy in this middle-grade biographyBy Gail Herman. 2022
An entertaining biography of the man behind Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web, two of the best loved children's books of…
all time. Learn about E.B. White's exciting life in this new addition to the #1 New York Times bestselling series! Today, most people remember E. B. White as the beloved children's book author who gave us Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little , but did you know that most of his career was spent writing for famous magazines like The New Yorker ? His lifelong dream to write a children's book about a mouse would take years to get published before it became the classic book we know and love today. A few years later, White would publish yet another children's book inspired by a pig he had raised and a spider whose webs he loved to admire in his barn.By Janet Pascal. 2016
It seems entirely fitting that Maurice Sendak was born on the same day that Mickey Mouse first made his cartoon…
debut—June 10, 1928. Sendak was crazy about cartoons and comic books, and at twelve, after seeing Disney's Fantasia , he decided that he was going to become an illustrator. His love of childrens books began early: often sick and confined to bed, little Maurice read and read and read. Though many of his own stories were light and funny, the most important ones— Where the Wild Things Are , In the Night Kitchen , Outside Over There —dealt with anger, jealousy, abandonment, content that had never before been the subject of picture books. As well as covering career highlights, this easy to read biography also describes the personal life of this genius. Who Was Maurice Sendak is perfect for kids wild about one of the most influential children's book artists of the twentieth century!By Kirsten Anderson. 2021
How did a New York printer become one of the most influential poets of all time? Find out in this…
addition to the Who HQ library! Walt Whitman was a printer, journalist, editor, and schoolteacher. But today, he's recognized as one of America's founding poets, a man who changed American literature forever. Throughout his life, Walt journeyed everywhere, from New York to New Orleans, Washington D.C. to Denver, taking in all that America had to offer. With the Civil War approaching, he saw a nation deeply divided, but he also understood the power of words to inspire unity. So in 1855, Walt published a short collection of poems, Leaves of Grass , a book about the America he saw and believed in. Though hated and misunderstood by many at the time, Walt's writing introduced an entirely new writing style: one that broke forms, and celebrated the common man, human body, and the diversity of America. Generations later, readers can still find themselves in Whitman's words, and recognize the America he depicts. Who Was Walt Whitman? follows his remarkable journey from a young New York printer to one of America's most beloved literary figuresBy Dana Meachen Rau. 2016
Born in Connecticut in 1811, Harriet Beecher Stowe was an abolitionist, author, and playwright. Slavery was a major industry in…
the American South, and Stowe worked with the Underground Railroad to help escaped slaves head north towards freedom. The publication of her book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a scathing anti-slavery novel, fanned the flames that started the Civil War. The book’s emotional portrayal of the impact of slavery captured the nation’s attention. A best-seller in its time, Uncle Tom’s Cabin sealed Harriet Beecher Stowe’s reputations as one of the most influential anti-slavery voices in US historyBy René Saldaña. 2024
"When students ask author René Saldaña, Jr. how one becomes a writer, he says, "It's complicated." In this memoir written…
in verse for young adults, the author remembers his boyhood and the path that led to his becoming a reader, writer and scholar. He begins with "The Deets: My Parents as Kids," and recounts "'Apá was born a long time ago / 'Amá a few years after him." His father finished elementary school in Mier, Tamaulipas, and then went to Nuevo Laredo to study machines. His parents married in Chihuahua, Texas: "It's got one street / called Charco, or mud-puddle." René's childhood along the Texas-Mexico border was filled with lots of family -- cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents; his abuelo told countless stories that helped define the boy. He read magazines at the grocery store, watched his mother read Selecciones, the Spanish-language version of Reader's Digest, and realized writing poetry was the way to get a girlfriend. But he remembers junior high school as "those blasted years" and the teachers "who made me fall / out of love with reading a book." Later he found a book in the library in which he saw himself for the first time; there were kids that spoke Spanish, had brown skin and names like his." -- Provided by publisherBy Yona Zeldis McDonough. 2014
Many girls in elementary and middle school fall in love with the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. What…
they don't always realize is that Wilder's books are autobiographical. This narrative biography describes more of the details of the young Laura's real life as a young pioneer homesteading with her family on many adventurous journeys. This biography, complete with charming illustrations, points out the differences between the fictional series as well as the many similarities.Yona Zeldis McDonough's Little Author in the Big Woods is a fascinating story of a much-celebrated writer.By Quartez Harris. 2025
Discover the story of young James Baldwin in this ode to the legendary writer and the power of the written…
word-with exquisite prose from acclaimed poet Quartez Harris. The first time Jimmy read a book the words clung to him like glitter... Before James Baldwin was a celebrated novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and activist, he was a boy who fell in love with stories. Words opened up new worlds for young Jimmy, who read and wrote at every opportunity. He ultimately realized his dreams of becoming an author and giving voice to his community, and in doing so he showed the world the fullness of Black American life. This book biography of an American icon is a poetic introduction to James Baldwin and celebration of the power of language. Additional biographical information and personal notes from the author round out this stunning celebration of Baldwin's life and work. ★ Lyrical, accessible true story of an American icon, with bonus information at the back of the book ★ Celebrates the power of reading, hard work, and following your dreamsBy Catherine Reef. 2019
On the 200th anniversary of the publication of Frankenstein, comes a riveting biography of its author, Mary Shelley, whose life reads…
like a dark gothic novel, filled with scandal, death, drama, and one of the strangest love stories in literary history. The story of Frankenstein&’s creator is a strange, romantic, and tragic one, as deeply compelling as the novel itself. Mary ran away to Lake Geneva with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley when she was just sixteen. It was there, during a cold and wet summer, that she first imagined her story about a mad scientist who brought a corpse back to life. Success soon followed for Mary, but also great tragedy and misfortune. Catherine Reef brings this passionate woman, brilliant writer, and forgotten feminist into crisp focus, detailing a life that was remarkable both before and after the publication of her iconic masterpiece. Includes index.By Frank McCourt. 2000
A Pulitzer Prize–winning, #1 New York Times bestseller, Angela&’s Ashes is Frank McCourt&’s masterful memoir of his childhood in Ireland—now…
with a new introduction by Patrick Radden Keefe. &“When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.&” So begins the luminous memoir of Frank McCourt, born in Depression-era Brooklyn to recent Irish immigrants and raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Frank&’s mother, Angela, has no money to feed the children since Frank&’s father, Malachy, rarely works, and when he does he drinks his wages. Yet Malachy—exasperating, irresponsible, and beguiling—does nurture in Frank an appetite for the one thing he can provide: a story. Frank lives for his father&’s tales of Cuchulain, who saved Ireland, and of the Angel on the Seventh Step, who brings his mother babies. Perhaps it is story that accounts for Frank&’s survival. Wearing rags for diapers, begging a pig&’s head for Christmas dinner and gathering coal from the roadside to light a fire, Frank endures poverty, near-starvation and the casual cruelty of relatives and neighbors—yet lives to tell his tale with eloquence, exuberance, and remarkable forgiveness. Angela&’s Ashes, imbued on every page with Frank McCourt&’s astounding humor and compassion, is a glorious book that bears all the marks of a classic.By Catherine M. Andronik. 2007
Meet the rebellious young poets who brought about a literary revolutionRock stars may think they invented sex, drugs, and rock…
and roll, but the Romantic poets truly created the mold. In the early 1800s, poetry could land a person in jail. Those who tried to change the world through their poems risked notoriety—or courted it. Among the most subversive were a group of young writers known as the Romantics: Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Samuel Taylor Cole-ridge, William Wordsworth, and John Keats. These rebels believed poetry should express strong feelings in ordinary language, and their words changed literature forever. Wildly Romantic is a smart, sexy, and fascinating look at these original bad boys—and girls.By Ralph Fletcher. 2005
The colorful boyhood of a popular author comes to life in this personal account Imagine learning from a nosy classmate…
that your mother is having yet another baby. To Ralph's classmates, news of one more Fletcher baby is just "scuttlebutt." But for Ralph, the oldest of nine, being part of a large family means more kids to join in the fun—from making tripods in the woods and "snicking" up the rug, to raising chicks and even discovering a meteor (well, maybe). It doesn't feel like there's life beyond Marshfield, Massachusetts. Then one day Dad's new job moves the family to Chicago, and there's so much Ralph has to leave behind. In this humorous and captivating memoir, Ralph Fletcher traces the roots of his storytelling.By Catherine Reef. 2011
“An excellent ‘starter biography,’ clearly written, peppered with period images, movie stills and great tidbits of historical facts . .…
. engaging.”—AustenproseJane Austen’s popularity never seems to fade. She has hordes of devoted fans, and there have been numerous adaptations of her life and work. But who was Jane Austen? The writer herself has long remained a mystery. And despite the resonance her work continues to have for teens, there has never been a young adult trade biography on Austen. Catherine Reef changes that with this highly readable account. She takes an intimate peek at Austen’s life and innermost feelings, interweaving her narrative with well-crafted digests of each of Austen’s published novels. The end result is a book that is almost as much fun to read as Jane’s own work—and truly a life revealed. Includes bibliography and index.“Along with extensive details of Austen’s family . . . Reef deftly sets the biographical facts onto a larger cultural and historical canvas that will give readers a much deeper understanding of Austen’s novels, and well-chosen images, from period paintings and photos to contemporary film stills, add even more context.”—Booklist (starred review)“Perhaps this work will lead readers to Jane Austen and imaginatively apply the facts of the author’s life to the novels—or vice-versa.”—Kirkus Reviews