New Release Books by Martha Brooks

This book features six colorful designs that recreate the beauty of quilts with the ease of crochet. All projects are made with Red Heart medium worsted-weight yarns.

Have you ever seen the rabbit-in-the-moon? Folktales from many cultures explain how the rabbit came to be there. When award-winning novelist Martha Brooks heard one such tale, she was inspired to write her own lovely story about a little rabbit who finds a special way to brighten the darkest month of the year. A little rabbit asks his mother how the shape of a rabbit came to be on the moon. She tells him the story of Great Mother Creator Rabbit, who came down to earth to see how her creatures lived. Finding herself cold and hungry, she built a fire, placing a stewpot on top. Another rabbit, seeing her predicament, took it upon himself to save her and jumped into the pot. But before he could perish, Great Mother Rabbit tossed him up into the moon. The little rabbit’s mother explains that this is why all the rabbits now gather to hear the choir sing “Winter Moon Song,” to bring light and a little magic at the darkest time of the year. The next night all the rabbits gather to hear the ancient song, and the little rabbit takes his place in the choir. But at the end of the performance, he feels a little disappointed. It had been beautiful, but did not seem all that special, and certainly not magic. In the wintry air outside the gathering place, the little rabbit looks up at the rabbit-in-the-moon and is suddenly inspired to sing the song once more, very tentatively at first, and then more courageously. Some of the other rabbits, even the old ones, join in; some are moved to tears. And in singing the song anew, they realize the joy in being one great rabbit family. Leticia Ruifernandez has graced the story with her tender illustrations. Includes an author’s note.

On the prairies of Canada during World War II, a girl and her two young siblings begin a war of their own. Stricken with tuberculosis, they are admitted to a nearby sanatorium. Teenager Marie Claire is headstrong, angry, and full of stubborn pride. In a new strange land of TB exiles she must "chase the cure," seek privacy where there is none, and witness the slow wasting decline of others. But in this moving novel about fighting a way back to normal life, it is the thing that sets back Marie Claire the most—the demise of her little brother—that also connects her with the person who will be instrumental in helping her recover.

After losing her husband, Brian, to cancer, Martha Brooks begins writing him daily love letters to help deal with her grief.

Kieran, a new boy visiting her small town for the summer, helps Sidonie and her family come together again following the death of Sidonie''s mother.

In the midst of a heaven-rattling summer storm a young stranger blows into a small prairie town. On the run after taking her latest boyfriend''s truck, with a pocketful of stolen money and a heart full of pain, seventeen-year-old Noreen Stall seems to invite trouble. And trouble comes soon enough, as Noreen''s new mistakes trigger calamities that shake the lives of the residents of Pembina Lake. Acclaimed novelist Martha Brooks has written an unforgettable and award-winning story about a terribly complex heroine and the effects she has on those around her.

When her father wills her a cabin on land in rural Manitoba, Alexandra meets a young man who shares her Indian heritage and her experience of being haunted by spirits. Reprint.

Odella is haunted by family secrets. Before she was born, her mother was the only survivor when a car full of teenagers plunged through ice to the bottom of Mistik Lake. Years later, when her mother runs off with a man, Odella is left to hold her fragile family together. Then she meets Jimmy Tomasson, whose prophetic dreams of flying fish have led him to her. In the heat and tenderness of their deepening feelings, Odella starts to unravel the guilty secrets that have ensnared them all. A stunning novel about trusting your heart, and about the lies, bad choices and secret suffering that haunts those who don''t.

Four months ago Patrick Devereaux''s little brother, Andrew, was struck down and killed by a car. Unable to express his grief, twelve-year-old Patrick is caught in a merry-go-round of guilt and denial. Then the eccentric Petersons move in next door. Twelve-year-old Gillian, a budding carpenter, is angry about leaving her best friend behind. Sarah, her nine-year-old sister, uses theatrics to deal with being in the middle. Their brother Neil, a lonely five year old, plays with imaginary buffaloes and a baby rabbit named Sparky. With dogged persistence, the Petersons set about to make hostile Patrick their new best friend. And Patrick begins, finally, to heal.

The car lurches to a halt.The old man finally rolls down his window, studies Laker for one eternal moment while his daughter, behind the steering wheel, fumes and listens to the radio. Laker stands, shrunken and zipped and snapped and collared inside his damp, sweaty leather jacket, and then he hears this unexpected question: Do you do yard work? Kicked out of his house, sleeping on the street, Laker Wyatt meets eighty-three-year-old Henry Olsen, a lonely widower with family troubles of his own -- a bossy daughter and a beautiful granddaughter, Charlene, with whom Henry admits he doesn''t always get things right. Eventually, Laker''s stay with Henry leads him not only to the revelation of a long-kept secret, but to a deeper understanding of the mysteries and difficulties of love.

Fourteen short stories dealing with various aspects of love.

A collection of short stories which focus on the difficult journeys teens take on their way to adulthood.

J. J., a young girl from the country, runs into more than she can handle when she encounters Raymond, a bully who takes out his frustations and fears by terrorizing her. With the help of her new friends, David, an imaginative youngster with ambitions to be the next Wynton Marsalis, and Karla, a physically powerful ally with a soft heart, J. J. is able to confront both her fears and Raymond''s attacks and solve her problem.

A blank book for drawing

Fourteen short stories dealing with various aspects of love.

Grade level: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, e, i, s, t.