A rogue black bear, 300 pounds of fury, is attacking the family's campsite, pouncing on her parents as prey.At her dying mother's faint urging, Anna manages to get her brother into the family's canoe and paddle away. But when the canoe dumps the two children on the edge of the woods, and the sister and brother must battle hunger, the elements, and a dangerous wilderness, we see Anna's heartbreaking love for her family -- and her struggle to be brave when nothing in her world seems safe anymore.Told in the honest, raw voice of five-year-old Anna, this is a riveting story of love, courage, and survival.

    Now they are dealing with Alan’s devastating early-onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis. As he is cast adrift in the depths of his own mind, Pina is left to face the consequences alone, until the arrival of a flock of black cockatoos seems to tie him, somehow, to the present.Nearby, conservation biologist Arianna Brandt is involved in a project trying reintroduce the threatened glossy black cockatoos into the wilds of Murrungowar National Park. Alone in the haunted bush, and with her birds failing to thrive, Arianna’s personal demons start to overwhelm her and risk undoing everything.At first, when the two women’s paths cross, they appear at loggerheads but – in many ways – they are invested in the same outcome but for different reasons.Ultimately, unexpected events will force them both to let go of their pasts and focus on the future.Rain Birds is a powerful and lyrical novel about love, grief and loss, one that examines personal tragedy as set against global and environmental responsibilities, and how we negotiate our often-conflicting ideals.

    As one holiday after another speeds by, Arlene takes comfort in the amusing old people who surround her in the rehabilitation center and one special friend who relates well to Arlene. But when will her husband, whose love is more real to her than anything, come to visit her? Treasure this Christmas novella from bestselling author Lori Copeland that demonstrates the healing power of true love.

    Drawn from the original text and intended for even the youngest of horse lovers, Black Beauty's Early Days in the Meadow depicts the first few months of the horse's life as a foal frolicking in the meadow. Artist Jane Monroe Donovan renders the classic story in lush oil paintings that convey a pastoral world of green fields and shady trees, while tenderly capturing the special love between mare and foal. The perfect harmony of words and pictures proves once again that the simplest messages are often the strongest. Readers will relish the sweetness of life in the meadow and the companionship of family and friends.

    *** Upon hearing screams, handsome rancher, Foster O’Donnell races to his barn and finds a stranger giving birth. When he tells her his name, she screams he can’t be Foster O’Donnell. Foster O’Donnell is the father of her baby. Can Christmas change their mutual distrust? Will Foster and Ginger find The Greatest Gift?

    Kidnapped, beaten and starved, Buck becomes a legend when he is shipped to the snowy northern goldfields to work as a sled dog.Buck's companions have become almost as famous. There's Spitz, the dog that Buck must fight for the leadership of the pack, the one-eyed Sol-leks, the tragic Curly, Dave, Joe, Pike, Dub and Dolly. And there's John Thornton, the new master who Buck comes to love.Yet Buck knows that one day he must leave the human world, for his ancestors are telling him to answer the call of the wild.

    Percy definitely isn’t just for Christmas… Percy is homeless, abandoned by his owner at an animal rescue centre on a cold winter’s night. So when he finds a loving new home with Gail and her family, his deepest wish is that this time, it’s forever.Gail hopes that Percy will be the little miracle that her family so desperately needs. Her young daughter, Jenny, is in and out of hospital and she’s only just holding things together with her husband, Simon.With the family at breaking point, and Christmas just around the corner, is Percy the furry friend they’ve all been waiting for? Full of hope and utterly heartwarming, A Pug Like Percy is the perfect read for fans of A Street Cat Named Bob and Alfie the Doorstep Cat.

    

    The trees stand still as statues and the world is silent as a dream. Whoo-whoo-whoo, the father calls to the mysterious nighttime bird.But there is no answer.Wordlessly the two companions walk along, for when you go owling you don't need words. You don't need anything but hope. Sometimes there isn't an owl, but sometimes there is.Distinguished author Jane Yolen has created a gentle, poetic story that lovingly depicts the special companionship of a young child and her father as well as humankind's close relationship to the natural world. Wonderfully complemented by award-winning John Schoenherr's soft, exquisite watercolor illustrations, this is a verbal and visual treasure, perfect for reading aloud and sharing at bedtime.

    Dooks. But when a kindly substitute teacher introduces her to LaVaughn's inner-city world in the free verse novel, Make Lemonade, Prinny discovers that life can be full of possibilities – and poetry.

    Though his curious mind proves surprisingly adept at intercepting Canadian pot smugglers and potentially dangerous illegals, years of security hysteria and cross-border resentment - and a fascinating young Canadian who has turned her green thumb to a more lucrative crop - complicate Brandon’ s world in ways even he might not be able to see past.Border Songs is that rare delight: a gently satirical portrait, an extraordinary love story and a celebration of the coincidental and the miraculous.From the Hardcover edition.

    I've never seen the water, so I've gone there. I will try to remember to come back.Etta's greatest unfulfilled wish, living in the rolling farmland of Saskatchewan, is to see the sea. And so, at the age of eighty-two she gets up very early one morning, takes a rifle, some chocolate, and her best boots, and begins walking the 2,000 miles to water. Meanwhile her husband Otto waits patiently at home, left only with his memories. Their neighbour Russell remembers too, but differently - and he still loves Etta as much as he did more than fifty years ago, before she married Otto.

    He wants to be a good husband to his wife and a good father to his children; he wants to forgive his once-beloved mother for the crime she committed and the long lost father who accused her. But when he receives a call from his mother after years of silence, he takes solace in the very pain medication he prescribes, spiraling downward into addiction.His sole source of true comfort is his “life list”—the all-encompassing record of the 863 bird species he’s spotted and identified. His is the third longest list in all of North America. But when Henry Lassiter, the legendary birder who held the region’s second longest list, dies suddenly, Adrian seizes the opportunity to make his way to the very top. A desperate search for the extremely rare Ivory-billed Woodpecker eventually leaves him stranded in the thick swamplands of Florida’s panhandle, where he is forced to confront his past and present failures, to reflect on what his obsessions and addictions have cost him, and to question what is truly important in his life.Combining wry humor and mystery with environmental adventure, The Life List of Adrian Mandrick is a fast-paced, engaging story that heralds the arrival of a new literary talent.

    Merinda Herringford and Jem Watts would be enjoying the season a lot more if they weren’t forced to do their own laundry and cooking. Just as they are adapting to their trusty housekeeper’s ill-timed vacation, they are confronted by the strangest mystery they’ve encountered since they started their private investigation firm.In this bonus e-only novella, what begins as the search for a missing cat leads to a rabble-rousing suffragette and the disappearance of several young women from St. Jerome’s Reformatory for Incorrigible Females. From the women’s courts of City Hall to Toronto’s seedy docks and into the cold heart of the underground shipping industry, this will be the most exciting Christmas the girls have had yet…if they can stay alive long enough to enjoy it.

    A big ball of grey fur who changes the lives of every family he meets. When the Clover family move into Alfie’s neighbourhood he soon makes friends with eight-year-old Stanley Clover. Stanley wants to be a famous explorer and takes Alfie along on his adventures. But Alfie soon realises that Stanley is unhappy. He is jealous of his talented sister Viola and feels ignored by his mum and dad who only ever seem to notice him when he gets into trouble. Can Alfie help Stanley get noticed for the right reasons?