Thirteen-year-old basketball star Jordan Ryker feels like his life is falling apart. All Jordie wanted was for his parents to stop fighting. Soon, he gets his wish. His parents separate and then his dad announces he’s gay. Shocked, Jordie struggles with how to process all this. His dad taught him everything he knows about basketball, and there’s an important championship game coming up. He needs him more than ever. But Jordie feels like his dad has abandoned his family. He doesn’t want anything to do with him now and he definitely doesn't want to meet his dad’s new boyfriend. It takes a new girl with wicked basketball skills and a revelation from his best friend to help Jordie realize that while some things change, other things never do.
“When you’re hurt, the natural instinct is to hurt back. That doesn’t make it right. But it does make you human. Making mistakes is human, but trying to make things right after makes you a better one.”
This novel is a perfectly-flowing, well-told tale that intersperses delicate issues and emotions with gripping basketball scenes. There’s everything from fun, snappy dialogue to raw emotions and the restorative power of best friends and caring family. Boys accustomed to locker-room banter and team-sports pressure will relate. Athletic and independent-minded female readers will embrace it for the high-spirited character named Tammy, a budding basketball star who chooses to be the first girl on a boy’s team.
Experience the beloved story of Snow White with an interesting twist. Kohle, a crown prince, is betrayed on the eve of his coming of age and forced to flee the wrath of an evil regent who will stop at nothing to destroy the rightful heir and take the throne. With the help of the beautiful Gwynn, he escapes the deadly plot and hides in the forest with seven female dwarfs who accept him as their new brother. But will the help of his new companions and a few loyal subjects be enough for Kohle to retake his rightful place in the kingdom?
This is Snow White meets Cinderella, with a pinch of the underworld! I love how the author uses the title of each chapter to give a synopsis of the chapter itself. Is it sheer coincidence that the opening paragraph for the Epilogue mimics that of Chapter 2? What is the significance? Hmmm!
Not everyone in your circle is your friend, but apparently no one told King Mallon that. A coup would have seemed more forthcoming, but certainly not this! What was to happen to his family, his kingdom? Was the attack an accident or was it premeditated?
The Duke of Blancio is a crafty fellow, with questionable motives. One is never quite sure what his next step will be. He moves with the speed and agility of a cheetah. He’s already settled in and doing his utmost to exclude the future heir from any and everything pertaining to the kingdom. He’s a liar, a thief, a conniving coward and a slithering snake all in one.
Step into the ring at Glorious Wrestling Alliance, the universe's least-professional wrestling company. The Great Carp, an amphibious wonder, is feeling the weight of his championship. Miranda Fury has donned a mask to smash wrestling's glass ceiling. And Gravy Train is desperate for a new gimmick, but it's hard when you're shaped like a giant gravy boat.
Collected in colossal full color for the first time, Josh Hicks's cult-hit comic covers identity, anxiety and leg drops. In this hilarious love letter to the surreal theater of pro wrestling, the insecure grapplers of GWA lock up, throw things, throw each other and occasionally curl up into little balls.
I can’t say I’ve ever watched pro wrestling and thought, “I wonder what secret ambitions, side projects and existential crises go on behind the scenes for these people.” But maybe you have wondered; after all, if their wrestling is fake, how fake are their real lives? Welsh cartoonist and self-admitted non-wrestler Josh Hicks is here to imagine it with us, in a colorful and self-deprecating style that helped me breeze through this in an hour or two.
Keenan has lived all over the world but nowhere quite as strange as Centerlight Island, which is split between the United States and Canada. The only thing weirder than Centerlight itself is his neighbor Zarabeth, aka ZeeBee.
ZeeBee is obsessed with the island’s history as a Prohibition-era smuggling route. She’s also convinced that her beloved dog, Barney, was murdered—something Keenan finds pretty hard to believe.
Just about everyone on Centerlight is a suspect, because everyone hated Barney, a huge dog—part mastiff, part rottweiler—notorious for terrorizing the community. Accompanied by a mild-mannered new dog who is practically Barney’s opposite, ZeeBee enlists Keenan’s help to solve the mystery.
As Keenan and ZeeBee start to unravel the clues, they uncover a shocking conspiracy that dates back to Centerlight’s gangster past. The good news is that Keenan may have found the best friend he’s ever had. The bad news is that the stakes are sky-high. And now someone is after them. . .
The Mighty Muskrats are off to the city to have fun at the Exhibition Fair. But when Chickadee learns about Grandpa's little sister, who was scooped up by the government and adopted out to strangers without her parents' permission many years ago, the Mighty Muskrats have a new mystery to solve. Once in the bright lights of the big city, the cousins get distracted, face off with bullies, meet some heroes and unlikely teachers, and learn many of the difficulties of life in the city, as well as hard truths about their country’s treatment of First Nations people.
In what should have been a stellar trip to the big city, a once-in-a-lifetime tween's chance to see a famous rock band and spend some time at the Exhibition Fair, Otter and the other Muskrats find themselves the victims of an old-friend-turned-bully, and in serious trouble. A series of bad choices and mishaps turn a sad situation into something unsalvageable, and the cousins learn the hard way that some things aren't meant to be. However, there are a couple of silver linings in their family vacation that surprise all of them, and reward the Muskrats for all their frustrations, trials and efforts.
During the road trip to their Auntie's place, Otter, Sam, Atim and Chickadee learn about how their great aunt went missing as a child and hasn't been seen since. They are shocked to hear how their beloved grandfather's little sister was taken away during the Sixties Scoop, and adopted out to a non-Indigenous family by Canada's government in the 1960s. After they settle into their cousin's rec room with junk food and plans on how to spend the next several days, it becomes clear to Chickadee that locating their missing auntie needs to become their primary focus.
One more year. That’s all Gunnar has to wait until graduation. More importantly, it’s one more year until he’ll feel safe to come out.
Gunnar has kept his sexuality a secret — only his twin sister knows he’s gay. Coming out now would make him the target of homophobic bullies at his school. But a year is a long time, especially when life starts moving at its own pace, and Gunnar meets guys he wants to date.
Set in rural Alberta, Under the Radar is the uplifting story of a teen who dreams of a life in which he can be himself.
What do you do when the one thing that you love more than anything else gets taken away from you? Kids throw tantrums, adults fight. Not Gunnar - Gunnar adapts!
Gunnar is the typical run-of-the-mill teen, eagerly anticipating the arrival of graduation so he can leave his small town (with its nosey neighbors) and live his life the way he chooses - far away from prying eyes. He has no plans for college and no definite plans for his future, but he also knows he doesn’t want to stay home - farming is definitely not for him.
The literary scavenger hunt of a lifetime, starring an endlessly endearing non-binary tween. Zed Watson loves a few things: their name (which they chose themself!), their big rambunctious family and—oh yeah—monsters. When Zed discovered the mystery surrounding an unpublished novel called The Monster’s Castle, they were completely hooked. Now Zed is a member of a small but dedicated legion devoted to finding the long-buried text.
When a breakthrough discovery leads Zed to the route that they are sure will take them to the treasure, they know it’s time for a road trip. And with the help of their shy, flora-loving neighbour, Gabe, and his sister, Sam, a geologist who is driving back to college in Arizona, Zed and company are soon off on a wild adventure following cryptic clues.
But it’s not all fun and games. Gabe doesn’t like Zed’s snacks, Sam is a bossy driver with total command of the ancient Impreza’s stereo and Zed is often misgendered. It’s a good thing they also encounter kind strangers, potato-themed dance-offs and lots and lots of ice cream along the way. If Zed and Gabe can combine their strengths, survive Sam’s wrath and best the greedy historian who’s also hot on the book’s trail, they just might find the greatest treasure of all.
Bill Mosienko was one of Manitoba’s greatest hockey players and athletes. Mosienko became a hockey legend in 1952 when he recorded the fastest hat-trick in NHL history—a record that stands to this day. This biography tells the story of a Manitoba legend, from his childhood spent skating on the rinks of Winnipeg’s North End in the 1920s and 30s, to his illustrious fourteen-year NHL career, to his return to Winnipeg to play with the Winnipeg Warriors, to his post-retirement career as the owner of the iconic Mosienko Bowling Lanes. Through exclusive interviews with Mosienko’s friends, family, and teammates, Dilello paints a vivid picture of Mosienko, a man known for his sportsmanship and community spirit as well as his incredible hockey talent.
Ty Dilello’s beautifully written biographical account of William “Bill”Mosienko also depicts some of the National Hockey League’s other G.O.A.Ts. (Greatest of All Times). We follow their journey from virtually unknown to world famous players. The book chronicles the early days of immigrant families living in North End -- one of Winnipeg’s poorest neighborhoods, plagued by poverty and diseases -- and how they dealt with culture shock, economic hardships and racism.
The family’s initial trip should have taken them to Saskatchewan, but a chance encounter with the Shibickys (NHL star Alex Shibicky’s parents) may have been a blessing in disguise.Roman Shibicky somehow convinced them to go to Winnipeg and this is where Bill was introduced to the sport that would eventually make him a household name.
Daniel Mosienko certainly had it hard -- maintaining his extremely large family on such a minimal salary ($1.25 per hour) from his job as a boilermaker with Canadian Pacific Railroad. The depression certainly made life unbearable, yet amidst all that hardship, the Mosienkos found a way to make it through.
In this pulse-pounding tech-thriller, Jack Heath creates a world where everyone knows when you lie—and telling the truth doesn’t always set you free.
Jarli likes to think he’s an honest guy. He’s a big believer in telling the truth, no matter what. So he develops The Truth App, a mobile application that listens in on your conversations and can tell when someone’s lying. Then his app goes viral and, suddenly, Jarli is an internet sensation. But, soon enough, Jarli realizes that being famous can be dangerous—especially when you’ve just exposed everyone’s deepest, darkest secrets. Now his entire town is out to get him: kids at school, teachers, the police, even his own family.
Also, an underground network of criminals has just added Jarli to their hit list. Sometimes, exposing the truth comes with a price…
This novel loses no time plunging into a high-speed, high-tension chase. It’s a nail-biting drama that rarely lets up. If you like high-tech and you’re into thrillers, this one’s for you. It’s well-told and an easy read. The main character Jarli is well drawn, and you’re right there with him, pulse beating wildly. But the two other featured characters (one who gets her own point of view in occasional chapters) are strong, brave girls. This novel moves. And if you like this Australian author, he’s got more than 25 other thrillers to his name.
-P.W.
Jarli only narrowly escaped death after his world-shattering app made him infamous. Now there’s a new foe afoot and Jarli is far from safe in this thrilling sequel to The Truth App.
When a seemingly unoccupied plane crash lands in the middle of Kelton, Jarli’s attempts to lay low and out of Viper’s criminal crosshairs crash lands along with it.
The cause of the accident is a mystery until his Truth App uncovers a dangerous secret at the crash site—a secret Viper will do anything to keep buried.
Suddenly Jarli is a target again and on the run with his high school tormentor, Doug. There’s no one he can trust, not even the police—and Jarli’s starting to think Doug is hiding something, too. Constantly at odds and left with no other choice, they team up to conduct an investigation of their own. But when Doug’s past comes back to haunt them, Jarli fears that there’s little hope in getting out of this one alive.
Kelton was supposed to be the perfect hiding place. But there’s no hiding from the truth.
This second in the Liars Book series is at least as tense and entertaining as The Truth App. Although it’s possible to read this one as a standalone (given that references to events in the first book are brief and clarifying), it would be better to read them both, in order, given that this one builds on the action and characters of the first.
The writing is great, and I enjoy the bits of humour sprinkled in.