FROM CHARLIE'S POINT OF VIEW by Richard Scrimger

(All images and reviews uploaded from Red Cedar Book Award site)

In this funny, exciting mystery, join Charlie, who is blind and who has extraordinary senses of perception, along with his fiery best friend Bernadette, and their extremely talkative new friend Lewis. On their first day of school, Charlie’s dad is mistaken for the notorious Stocking Bandit and is arrested. Charlie, Bernadette and Lewis must race to solve the mystery and find the real bandit before Charlie’s dad is convicted. Full of humour and magic, From Charlie’s Point of View provides wonderful insight into being a blind student in today’s school system, and takes the reader along through an exciting adventure.

FLOWER by Irene Watts

(All images and reviews uploaded from Red Cedar Book Award site)

Thirteen-year-old Katie thinks she is going to London with her father and new stepmother, but is furious to find out at the last minute that she’s being left behind at her grandparents’ B&B in Halifax. But when she goes to bed in the attic room of the old house, she is startled out of her discontent by the appearance of the ghost of a young girl who tells Katie her story.

The ghost girl is Lillie. She is a six-year-old orphan in 19th century London forced to work all day hemming handkerchiefs by the woman who is paid to look after her. Lillie is left-handed and is slapped when she is caught using her “wrong” hand to sew. Every night when she goes up to her attic room, Katie learns a little more of Lillie’s story.

The novel alternates between Katie in 2005 and Lillie and the heartbreaking conditions endured by poor children in Victorian England. Meanwhile, Katie also gets to know her grandfather and finds out that his father was an English orphan too and that along with the other orphaned English children he and Lillie were eventually sent to Canada. Find out the amazing conclusion to this compelling story about how Katie uncovers her own personal connection to Canada’s past.

DEAR CANADA: WINTER OF PERIL by Jan Andrews

(All images and reviews uploaded from Red Cedar Book Award site)

Sophie Loveridge’s father decides that the only way to become a great poet is by moving his family to Canada from the stately manor in England where they live off relatives and are taken care of by servants. So in 1721 the ill-equipped Loveridge family embarks on a rough voyage on a vessel crossing the Atlantic to Newfoundland, fishing for cod. On board, Sophie is left on her own while her parents withdraw to their cabin. Going about the ship, Sophie starts to make friends with the workers and help them with their jobs. She even joins in cleaning and salting the fish. Before the ship returns to England, the crew builds a few cabins for the Loveridges, a helper named Lige and two poor Irish families who have come to Canada to homestead. After this the ship leaves before the sea freezes over. In this harsh landscape there is no settlement, no food unless you catch it yourself, and no servants. Sophie’s parents continue to ignore the realities of their new life, and when Old Lige dies it is up to Sophie to keep the family alive through an unbelievably harsh winter. Sophie’s diary records this frightening, difficult time.

COMING TO CANADA by Susan Hughes

(All images and reviews uploaded from Red Cedar Book Award site)

From the first Stone Age “immigrants” and right up to the present day, people have been coming to Canada from all over the world — by foot, boat, car, train, and airplane — to make this land their new home. Why did they leave? How did they get here? How did they learn to adapt?

Coming to Canada tells the stories of Canada’s immigrant groups, from the early French and English settlers to today’s refugees from war-torn places. With this book, you can imagine what their lives must have been like as they left their homes and made new lives in this vast country.

CHASING THE FALCONERS by Gordon Korman

(All images and reviews uploaded from Red Cedar Book Award site)

This is the first book in an absolutely addictive action series about Aiden and Meg Falconer, whose parents have been arrested as spies. The authorities change the kids’ names and put them into a work camp with tough delinquent children “for their own protection”. Then Aiden accidentally sets the barn on fire and, in the ensuing havoc, the two take off on foot to find the man who framed their parents. The resolute Falconer kids travel across the country by any means possible: horse, all-terrain vehicle, bus, and even though underage and unable to drive, a stolen SUV. There are plenty of hair-raising near-captures and ingenious escapes from the FBI agent who locked up their parents and a professional killer the kids call Hairless Joe. But the incredibly determined siblings won’t stop until they’ve proven their parents innocent.

BACKYARD BIRDS by Robert Bateman

(All images and reviews uploaded from the Red Cedar Awards site).

Here’s a birding book with a difference! Renowned wildlife artist and naturalist Robert Bateman invites young birders to discover the wonderful world of birds that exists in their own backyards. Chock-full of Bateman’s lifelike paintings and sketches, Backyard Birds also includes easy tips for identifying, feeding, and attracting birds of all kinds. There’s no better way to start a lifelong adventure with birds!

ARE YOU PSYCHIC? by Helaine Becker

(All images and reviews uploaded from Red Cedar Book Award site)

Have you ever had a dream about something, only to find that it happened the very next day? Or have you received a phone call from the very person you were just about to call? Does this mean you are psychic? Is there really such a thing as ESP? In this book, you will explore this fascinating topic. You will uncover some tricks used by dishonest fortune tellers, and you will learn about scientific experiments designed to test whether or not psychic abilities are real. A mind-bending book from start to finish!