TURTLE RESCUE by Pamela Hickman

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Imagine a creature that evolved 200 million years ago — before dinosaurs — and exists almost unchanged today. That is the amazing turtle.

There are 270 turtle species, and they inhabit every part of the globe except the Arctic and Antarctic. Turtles may be slow, but they have lasting power, living 50 to more than 100 years.

Unfortunately, turtles are in decline all over the world, thanks to hunting for food and medicine, as well as habitat destruction, pollution, fishing nets, and the pet trade. The good news is that many people and governments are working hard to save these fascinating reptiles.

With plenty of photos and true stories, Turtle Rescue tells about the life cycle of turtles, threats to their survival, and efforts being made around the world, including here in Canada, to preserve them.

TROUBLE ON TARRAGON ISLAND by Nikki Tate

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Thirteen-year-old Heather Blake is just getting used to life on tiny Tarragon Island, on the west coast of BC, when something terrible happens. Her grandmother gets involved with a radical group of anti-logging protestors called the Ladies of the Forest, and they decide to make a nude calendar as a fundraising project! Of course Heather is mortified, but things get much worse when the loggers and protesters face off in the woods. Some of the protesters are arrested, and Heather is furious with her grandmother for stirring up trouble. Neighbours are fighting neighbours as the conflict escalates, and even Heather, who just wishes everyone would calm down, can’t escape the division in her own family when she writes an opinion article for the Island newspaper. As things progress, Heather starts to realize that there are at least two sides to this — and every — story.

HOW EVERYDAY THINGS ARE MADE by Bill Slavin

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Did you know that almost every product in the world is made from elements found in nature? In this book you’ll discover how these natural elements are transformed into more than sixty things that we eat, drink, wear, or play with. These transforming processes are described and illustrated in clear, entertaining, and easy to understand steps. The text and the artwork combine playfulness with accurate attention to detail. Whether you’re curious about chewing gum, surfboards or kitty litter, this book will inform and entertain you. It includes a glossary and index as well as a helpful bibliography for further study.

THE VACATION by Polly Horvath

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When Henry’s mother takes off to Africa to become a missionary, Henry’s father goes chasing after her, leaving Henry in the care of his two bickering aunts, Mag and Pigg. Henry decides his aunts dislike him and moves into the closet to avoid them. Mag, who is practically dying from a gruesome illness, decides that what they all need is a vacation. So they embark on an eccentric car trip to all the places they’ve never been. They go to Virginia Beach (too hot); the Everglades, where Henry spends four days lost in the swamp; an Oklahoma ranch, where Henry rides a horse; and a flying stop to meet Henry’s granddaddy for the first time. On the road Henry becomes a traveling companion rather than just a kid. The journey is as funny as it is touching, with Henry the only sane person in a family of decidedly odd adults.

THE ROMAN CONSPIRACY by Jack Mitchell

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Set in the year 63 BC, The Roman Conspiracy follows its hero, Aulus Lucinus Spurinna, into the treacherous heart of the Roman Republic. Together with Homer (his faithful over-educated Greek slave) and Tullia (the young daughter of Cicero), Spurinna must overcome murderers, traitors and gladiators in order to save his family’s land from the centurion, Manilus. But as Rome itself begins to shatter around him, can Spurinna also save himself?

THE KIDS BOOK OF ABORIGINAL PEOPLES IN CANADA by Diane Silvey

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Before Europeans arrived in Canada, First Nations had already lived here for thousands of years. Their rich traditions and cultural history are explored in The Kids Book of Aboriginal Peoples of Canada, which covers our nation’s seven major indigenous groups. There is detailed information about each group’s traditional way of life; be prepared to be surprised, fascinated, and impressed by the resourcefulness of Canada’s First Nations!

Find out how First Nations guides assisted our most famous explorers, like Simon Fraser and Alexander Mackenzie, and read about how the arrival of Europeans changed their traditional ways of life forever. Canada’s First Nations are still struggling to recover and maintain their traditions and stories; the last chapter of this book is an excellent introduction to the current challenges and opportunities facing many First Nations groups.

THE CRAZY MAN by Pamela Porter

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From the opening sentence, “Half the town’s driving past our farm ... just to stare at a man driving a tractor,” the teller gets you wondering, first about what’s so strange about a man on a tractor, then what’s meant by “this whole big mess,” and why s/he is recording and hiding numbers on the wall behind the mattress. This last mystery is cleared up on the second page: “Thirty-two days since that day my daddy dragged Prince’s body to the burn pile and set it afire, then walked away from the farm. And us.” But the first two aren’t. You will have to read the whole book to understand, and by then you may have changed the way you look at your own life.