New Releases by Kit Pearson

This curated collection of picture books is sure to spark the imaginations of readers of all ages. Immerse yourself in these wonderful tales of creative inventions, out-of-this world adventures, clever friends and unexpected heroes. This ebook bundle includes: Doors in the Air by David Weale and Pierre Pratt The Magic Boat by Kit Pearson, Katherine Farris and Gabrielle Grimard Night Boy by Anne Laurel Carter and Ninon Pelletier Once Upon a Balloon by Bree Galbraith and Isabelle Malenfant Perfect Man by Troy Wilson and Dean Griffiths Richard Was a Picker by Carolyn Beck and Ben Hodson Today, Maybe by Dominique Demers and Gabrielle Grimard

Every summer morning, Ellie and her Nonna go to the beach. They swim and build sandcastles, and while Nonna reads, Ellie watches the other children play. One day Ellie builds up the courage to approach an older girl playing on her own in a beached rowboat. Piper has a gift, an imagination so great that she whisks Ellie off on grand adventures, going high in the air, deep below the ocean and everywhere in between in their little blue boat, their magic boat. When Piper has to leave, Ellie discovers she has her own vivid imagination.

One summer will change everything. For as long as she can remember, Maisie has spent her summers on Kingfisher Island. She and her beloved cousin Una run wild, and Maisie feels the warm embrace of her big, extended family. This summer Maisie needs that escape more than ever. But now everything on Kingfisher has changed: Una has returned from her mainland school a sophisticated young woman too mature for childish games, and even worse, she has an all-consuming infatuation with David Meyer, both an old friend and an older man. Soon Maisie finds herself playing second fiddle—jealous of Una and David’s closeness, and unsure of what those feelings mean. When Maisie’s greatest attempt to maintain the special magic of her friendship with Una goes up in smoke, it seems as though all is lost. But with an enormous revelation, and a heartrending intervention, Maisie may finally discover the strength she needs to find the same peace that the island has brought her within herself.

In these eleven original stories, characters bravely face the challenges of settling into a new life. In this wonderful new short story anthology, eleven of Canada''s top children''s authors contribute stories of immigration, displacement and change, exploring the frustration and uncertainty those changes can bring. Told in first-person narratives, this collection features a diverse cast of boys and girls, each one living at a different point in Canada''s vast landscape and history. With unforgettable protagonists — such as Miriam, a Warsaw-ghetto survivor, now reunited with her family in Montreal; Wong Joe-on, a young Chinese immigrant who faces racism in a small Saskatchewan town; and Insy, an Ojibwe girl who makes her first trip to a "white" town in Northern Ontario — young readers will be moved by the opportunities and difficulties that these characters face, as each one ponders what it means to be Canadian, and struggles to fit in. Hoping for Home includes stories by Jean Little, Kit Pearson, Brian Dowle, Paul Yee, Irene N. Watts, Ruby Slipperjack, Afua Cooper, Rukhsana Khan, Marie—Andrée Clermont, Lillian Boraks—Nemetz and Shelley Tanaka.

Can your whole life change in a single day? Emily dreams of birds. She feels constrained by nearly everything—her overbearing sisters, the expectation to be a proper young lady, and even her stiff white pinafore. Kitty feels undone. Her heart is still grieving a tragic loss, and she doesn’t want to be sent away to a boarding school so far away from home. When the two girls meet by chance, on a beach on the outskirts of Victoria, BC, in 1881, neither knows that their one day together will change their lives forever. Inspired by the childhood of acclaimed Canadian artist Emily Carr, A Day of Signs and Wonders is a sensitive and insightful look at friendship, family, and the foundations of an artist, drawn over the course of a single day—a day in which a comet appears, an artist is born and an aching hole in one girl’s heart begins to heal.

In the summer of 1812, as rumours of a looming war become a reality, Susanna, her mother and sister are surviving as best they can while the men are fighting. As news of various battles reaches them, Susanna becomes even more concerned for the safety and well-being of her beloved brother and father. She is also torn between the loyalties of her best friend and her mother — both Americans living in Upper Canada — and her father''s and brother''s allegiance to General Brock and the King. But the night of the Battle of Queenston Heights, Susanna''s main concern is for survival.

Kit Pearson’s endearing heroine from The Whole Truth, Polly, is now thirteen and following in her sister’s footsteps to a boarding school in Victoria. The adjustment is difficult—all those rules!—and Polly often escapes into her dreams of becoming an artist. At least her family is intact again, and there are no more dark and difficult secrets to be kept hidden . . . that is, until her teenage sister, Maud, makes a dramatic confession. Will Polly be able to keep this new secret? Will it tear her family apart again?

When Patricia''s mother sends her to her cousins'' cottage for the summer, Patricia doesn''t want to go. She doesn''t know her cousins at all, and she''s never been good at camping or canoeing, let alone making new friends.

It is 1932. Polly and her older sister, Maud, travel by train and boat from Winnipeg to an island between Vancouver and Victoria. Polly will live with their grandmother, the sisters’ new guardian, and attend the small school on the island, while Maud will go to boarding school in Victoria. Their extended family welcomes the girls warmly. New-school jitters give way to new friendships and even a new puppy, and slowly Polly feels that she is becoming part of a larger family she never knew until now. But Polly and Maud have a dramatic secret, and they have promised each other never to tell anyone. A surprise arrival on the island, however, threatens Polly’s newfound happiness and tests the bonds of family love. Can Polly keep the secret and her new life on the island?

Kit Pearson’s most recent and critically acclaimed novel tells the story of the 5 Bell children, each of them coping in various ways in the aftermath of their mother’s death. Set in the 1950s and seen through the perspective of the middle child, 11-year-old Corrie, A Perfect Gentle Knight illustrates how a rich fantasy life both helps and hinders children trying to cope with loss, loneliness, and growing up.While elder sister Roz is growing up and out of the desire for fantasy games, eldest brother Sebastian, who fancies himself Sir Lancelot in their Round Table game, continues to need it as much as ever, creating tension in the family and concern for Corrie, who worries that he may have lost his grip on reality.

The Unexplained is an anthology of eighteen shivery short stories and true tales by some of Canada''s top authors. Among the talented contributors are: Kit Pearson, Karleen Bradford, Janet Lunn, Brian Doyle, Monica Hughes, Paul Yee, Tim Wynne- Jones, Jean Little and Lucy Maud Montgomery. Compiled and edited by Janet Lunn, this is a wonderfully eerie collection of short stories and anecdotes about strange and unexplained phenomena. Perfect for a sleepover or sitting around a campfire in the dark.

It is the summer of 1940, and all of England fears an invasion by Hitler’s army. 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.

Theo and her young, irresponsible mother seem trapped in their miserable, poverty-stricken life. Theo dreams of belonging to a “real” family, and her dream seems to come true when she is mysteriously adopted by the large, warm Kaldor family. But as time passes, the magic of Theo’s new life begins to fade, and soon she finds herself back with her mother. Were the Kaldors real or just a dream? And who is the shadowy figure who haunts Theo’s thoughts?

Norah, an English "war guest" living with the wealthy Ogilvie family in Toronto, can hardly wait for August. She''ll spend it at the Ogilvie''s lavish cottage in Muskoka—a whole month of freedom, swimming, adventures with her "cousins"... But this isn''t an ordinary summer. It''s 1943, and the war is still going on. Sometimes Norah can''t even remember what her parents look like—she hasn''t seen them in three years. And she has turned thirteen, which means life seems to be getting more complicated. Then a distant Ogilvie cousin, Andrew, arrives. He is nineteen, handsome, intelligent, and Norah thinks she may be falling in love for the first time. But Andrew has his own problems: he doesn''t want to fight in the war, and yet he knows it''s what his family and friends expect of him. What the two of them learn from each other makes for a gentle, moving story, the second book in a trilogy that began with the award-winning The Sky Is Falling.

For five years Gavin and his sister Norah have lived in Canada as "war guests." But now, as 1945 approaches, the war is finally ending, and Gavin and Norah will soon be going back to England. Norah, who''s fifteen, is eager to see her parents again, but ten-year-old Gavin barely remembers them. He doesn''t want to leave his Canadian family, his two best friends and his dog. Then something happens that forces Gavin to make the most difficult decision of his life. The Lights Go On Again is the last book in the acclaimed series that began with The Sky Is Falling and Looking At The Moon.

From the best-selling and award winning Dear Canada series comes the second Dear Canada Collector''s Set, featuring CLA award nominee Brothers Far From Home by Jean Little and Whispers of War by Kit Pearson, in a handsome slipcase. In Whispers of War, young Susanna Merritt and her mother struggle to keep the family farm going while her brother and father fight in the War of 1812. And in Brothers Far From Home, Eliza Bates hopes and prays that her beloved older brother, reported as missing after the WWII battle of Vimy Ridge, will return home safely.

"A collection of stories and excerpts by many prolific writers whose settings reflect the vast physical and social landscape of Canada" Cf. Our choice, 1998-1999.

Based on historical events, this moving fictional account of the adventures of two English children in a foreign land has become a favorite among Canadian children-this award-winning trilogy is now available in this omnibus edition. This unforgettable trio of novels by award-winning author Kit Pearson is composed of The Sky is Falling, Looking at the Moonand The Lights Go On Again. The character at the heart of these stories is Norah Stoakes, a young English girl who is sent by her parents to Canada, along with her younger brother, during the Second World War. After five years pass, Norah is comfortable with her new life and country, but when the war ends her brother, Gavin, is reluctant to return to England and to parents he can barely remember.

Theo and her young, irresponsible mother live a miserable, poverty-stricken life. Theo dreams of belonging to a real family with two parents and brothers and sisters, and her dream seems to come true when she is mysteriously "adopted" by a large, warm family, the Kaldors. Were the Kaldors real, or just a dream? And who is the shadowy figure who haunts Theo''s thoughts?

Eliza recounts the year spent at Vancouver''s Ashdown Academy, in particular, her friendship with Helen, a mischievous, popular girl who starts a daring game.