I Want to Go Home!


Gordon Korman - 1981
    Rudy Miller is so unhappy spending the summer at Camp Algonkian Island that he devises dozens of tricks to get himself sent home.

The Sky Is Falling


Kit Pearson - 1989
    Norah lies in bed listening to the anxious voices of her parents downstairs. Then Norah is told that she and her brother, Gavin, are being sent to Canada. The voyage across the ocean is exciting, but at the end of it Norah is miserable. The rich woman who takes them in prefers Gavin to her, the children at school taunt her, and as the news from England becomes worse, she longs for home.As Norah begins to make friends, she discovers a surprising responsibility that helps her to accept her new country.

The Phantom Tollbooth


Norton Juster - 1961
    For Milo, everything’s a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he’s got nothing better to do. But on the other side, things seem different. Milo visits the Island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping), learns about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock, and even embarks on a quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason! Somewhere along the way, Milo realizes something astonishing. Life is far from dull. In fact, it’s exciting beyond his wildest dreams. . . .

Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang


Mordecai Richler - 1975
    Not only must he say everything twice just to be heard over his four brothers and sisters, but he finds himself the prisoner of the dreaded Hooded Fang. What had he done to deserve such a punishment? The worst crime of all--insulting a grown-up. Although he's small, Jacob is not helpless, especially when The Infamous Two come to his aid.

Silverwing


Kenneth Oppel - 1997
    But he's determined to prove himself on the long, dangerous winter migration to Hibernaculum, millions of wingbeats to the south. During a fierce storm, he loses the others and soon faces the most incredible journey of his young life. Desperately searching for a way to rejoin his flock, Shade meets a remarkable cast of characters: Marina, a Brightwing bat with a strange metal band on her leg; Zephyr, a mystical albino bat with a strange gift; and Goth, a gigantic carnivorous vampire bat. But which ones are friends and which ones are enemies? In this epic story of adventure and suspense, Shade is going to need all the help he can find -- if he hopes to ever see his family again.One of Canada's best books for young readers was written by a pretty young writer himself. Kenneth Oppel, who had his first book published when he was 18, really hit his stride a dozen years later with Silverwing, the first volume in a thrilling adventure trilogy set in the nocturnal world of bats that immediately captured the attention of middle readers and award juries alike.

Chronicles of Avonlea


L.M. Montgomery - 1912
    There was the case of Ludovic Speed, who wouldn't propose to the woman he had courted for fifteen years until Anne devised a plan to "speed" him up . . . if it didn't backfire and break his heart. But no one could blame mischievous Anne for the hilarious battle of the sexes that erupted when a man-hating woman and her cat got quarantined in the same house with a woman-hating bachelor and his dog. From sprawling Penhallow Grange, where a family waits nearly forever for two quarreling lovers to break their stubborn silence, to the tumbledown farm of Old Man Shaw, who awaits the retum of his beloved daughter, L. M. Montgomery has written twelve tales of secret hopes and hidden dreams, filled with enchantment and humor.

The Secret World of Og


Pierre Berton - 1961
    Berton often cited The Secret World of Og as his favourite of his forty-seven books. It has sold more than 200,000 copies in four editions.The series follows the five Berton children, Penny, Pamela, Peter, Patsy, and baby Paul (better-known as “The Pollywog”) as they discover and explore a vast,mysterious world of caverns and rivers hidden beneath a trapdoor in the floor of their clubhouse. In their subterranean adventures, they befriend the little green inhabitants called Ogs, share their worldly knowledge with them, and, at the same time, gain a little wisdom themselves.The series is directed by Paul Schibli who also directed the long-running CBC series The Raccoons.

Anastasia Krupnik


Lois Lowry - 1978
    Anastasia's tenth year has some good things, like falling in love and really getting to know her grandmother, and some bad things, like finding out about an impending baby brother.

Calico Captive


Elizabeth George Speare - 1957
    Young Miriam Willard, on a day that had promised new happiness, finds herself instead a captive on a forest trail, caught up in the ebb and flow of the French and Indian War. It is a harrowing march north. Miriam can only force herself to the next stopping place, the next small portion of food, the next icy stream to be crossed. At the end of the trail waits a life of hard work and, perhaps, even a life of slavery. Mingled with her thoughts of Phineas Whitney, her sweetheart on his way to Harvard, is the crying of her sister’s baby, Captive, born on the trail. Miriam and her companions finally reach Montreal, a city of shifting loyalties filled with the intrigue of war, and here, by a sudden twist of fortune, Miriam meets the prominent Du Quesne family, who introduce her to a life she has never imagined. Based on an actual narrative diary published in 1807, Calico Captive skillfully reenacts an absorbing facet of history.

Emily Eyefinger


Duncan Ball - 1992
    Having been born with an extra eye on the end of her finger, Emily finds that it comes in very handy in many unusual situations.

The Incredible Journey


Sheila Burnford - 1960
    And so the doughty young Labrador retriever, the roguish bull terrier and the indomitable Siamese set out through the Canadian wilderness. Separately, they would soon have died. But, together, the three house pets faced starvation, exposure, and wild forest animals to make their way home to the family they love. The Incredible Journey is one of the great children's stories of all time—and has been popular ever since its debut in 1961.

The Secret of the Mansion


Julie Campbell - 1948
    But then a millionaire's daughter moves into the next-door mansion, an old miser hides a fortune in his decrepit house, and a runaway kid starts hiding out in Sleepyside!"

Willow and Twig


Jean Little - 2001
    Her mother has taken off again, she has to look after her brother Twig, and they're out on the streets of Vancouver with nowhere to go. Then Willow remembers her grandmother, whom she hasn't seen in years. Gram doesn't even know Twig exists, and Twig is, well, difficult. But Gram is her only hope now. After a few urgent phone calls from a police station in Vancouver to Ontario, Willow and Twig are on their way across the country to a grandmother they hardly know, and a strange household made up of an eccentric uncle, a hostile aunt, and a motley crew of animals. Willow is entranced by this new home-but is it really home? Are they safe at last?

Owls in the Family


Farley Mowat - 1961
    Wol brings dead skunks to the family dinner table and terrorizes the minister, the postman, and the French teacher. Weeps is a comical bird, afraid of everything except Mutt, and he never does learn how to fly. Here is the heartwarming story of how a boy named Billy finds Wol and Weeps and unwittingly adds two new members to the family.

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle


Avi - 1990
    Not every thirteen-year-old girl is accused of murder, brought to trial, and found guilty. But I was just such a girl, and my story is worth relating even if it did happen years ago. Be warned, however: If strong ideas and action offend you, read no more. Find another companion to share your idle hours. For my part I intend to tell the truth as I lived it.