New Releases by Roy MacGregor

La légende de Tom Thomson est l’arbre qui cache la forêt. Et Roy MacGregor, qui a grandi à l''ombre du parc Algonquin, voulait percer le mystère. Au coeur de ces histoires au sujet du célèbre peintre se trouvait Winnie Trainor, une parente de Roy MacGregor. Winnie était la « vieille fille » trop excentrique pour être un personnage romanesque, même si l’on savait bien que Tom Thomson avait été amoureux d’elle. Par ailleurs, Thomson s’était fait des amis dans le Nord de l’Ontario, mais aussi des ennemis. Il aimait boire un coup. Il partait à l’aventure en canot des journées durant. Il était également perçu comme un séducteur. Était-il bon à rien et coureur de jupons ou, plutôt, gentleman visionnaire ? Noyé ou victime d’un homicide ? Dans L‘étoile du Nord, MacGregor explore ces mystères, qui n''ont de cesse de nous fasciner, même un siècle plus tard.

If you could travel through time, who would you want to meet? Lucas Finnigan eats, sleeps and breathes hockey. With his friends Edge, Swift and Crunch, Lucas plays on his hometown’s rink, dreaming of the day when he knows he’ll make the NHL. But lately money has been tight at home, and, after a major growth spurt, Lucas is forced to wear hand-me-down gear that doesn’t quite fit right. Now he’s not sure he’ll ever make it to the Hall of Fame like his hockey heroes. And that’s not the only problem. With the community arena’s chiller on the fritz, and replacement parts too tough to come by, it looks like Lucas and his friends may be doomed to a season on a plastic rink—or worse, no hockey at all! But with a magical discovery, and some help from one of hockey''s greatest players (who was a kid once, too!), their final skate might turn into their first great adventure . . .

Expanding on his landmark Globe and Mail series in which he documented his travels down 16 of Canada''s great rivers, Roy MacGregor tells the story of our country through the stories of its original highways, and how they sustain our spirit, identity and economy--past, present and future. No country is more blessed with fresh water than Canada. From the mouth of the Fraser River in BC, to the Bow in Alberta, the Red in Manitoba, the Gatineau, the Saint John and the most historic of all Canada''s rivers, the St. Lawrence, our beloved chronicler of Canadian life, Roy MacGregor, has paddled, sailed and traversed their lengths, learned their stories and secrets, and the tales of centuries lived on their rapids and riverbanks. He raises lost tales, like that of the Great Tax Revolt of the Gatineau River, and reconsiders histories like that of the Irish would-be settlers who died on Grosse Ile and the incredible resilience of settlers in the Red River Valley. Along the Grand, the Ottawa and others, he meets the successful conservationists behind the resuscitation of polluted wetlands, including even Toronto''s Don, the most abused river in Canada (where he witnesses families of mink, returned to play on its banks). Long before our national railroad was built, our rivers held Canada together; in these sixteen portraits, filled with yesterday''s adventures and tomorrow''s promise, MacGregor weaves together a story of Canada and its ongoing relationship with its most precious resource.

The Screech Owls are invited to compete in a four-day skills competition in Detroit. Along with another team, they will be participating in a reality show called Goals & Dreams. They''re staying at a fancy hotel, being showered with hockey swag, given Hollywood nicknames, and posing for the film crew -- Hockeytown doesn''t look bad at all! That''s until they meet the other team and start noticing how differently they''re being treated. Are the producers engineering certain tensions and situations to pump up the show? The Screech Owls don''t like to be manipulated . . .

9-year-old Gabe (Gabriella) Murray lives and breathes hockey. She''s the youngest player on her new team, she has a nifty move that her teammates call "the Gabe," and she shares a lucky number with her hero, Hayley Wickenheiser: number 22. But when her coach hands out the team jerseys, Gabe is stuck with number 9. Crushed, Gabe wants to give up hockey altogether. How can she play without her lucky number? Gabe''s grandmother soon sets her straight, though--from her own connection to the number 9 in her hockey-playing days to all the greats she cheered for who wore it, she soon convinces Gabe that this new number might not be so bad after all. A lovely intergenerational tale and a history of the storied number 9 in hockey, The Highest Number in the World is a must-have for any hockey fan.

The Screech Owls are in Boston for the Paul Revere Peewee Invitational. Nish decides to drop out of school. If it worked for Ben Franklin, it will work for him. Sarah becomes increasingly concerned about Samantha''s attraction to a group of protesters demanding that the New England Aquarium "Free the Penguins." When the girls learn that the protesters have far more in mind than speeches and waving placards, the Owls have to act fast to save the lives of thousands of sea creatures.

When the Screech Owls travel to New York City for the Big Apple International Peewee Tournament and a New Year''s Eve party in Times Square, they learn that terrorists plan to disrupt the New Year''s celebration.

Travis Lindsay, his best friend, Nish, and all their pals on the Screech Owls hockey team, are on their way to New York for an international peewee tournament. Excitement builds in the team van on the way to Lake Placid. First there are the entertaining antics of their trainer, Mr. Dillinger - then there''s the prospect of playing on an Olympic rink, in a huge arena, knowing there will be scouts in the stands. But they have barely arrived when things start to go wrong. Their star center, Sarah, plays badly from lack of sleep. Next Travis gets knocked down in the street. And then someone starts tampering with equipment. It looks as if someone is trying to sabotage the Screech Owls. But who? And why? And can Travis and the others stop the destruction before the decisive game of the tournament?

In town to compete in a hockey tournament, the Screech Owls explore the historic sites of San Antonio between games and investigate when they discover that a secret and nefarious plot is in the works to destroy the Alamo.

The Screech Owls have come to Ottawa, the capital of Canada, to play in the world’s biggest minor league hockey tournament — more than 500 teams gathering from all over the world! Little does Nish realize, as he befriends the hilarious, daring mascot, that he is about to embark on the most terrifying adventure of his lifetime.

Someone is out to steal the Stanley Cup - and only the Screech Owls stand between the thieves and their prize! Travis, Nish, and the rest of the Screech Owls have come to Toronto for the biggest hockey tournament of their lives - only to find themselves in the biggest mess of their lives. First Nish sprains his ankle falling down the stairs at the CN Tower. Later, key members of the team get caught shoplifting. And during a tour of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Travis overhears two men plotting to swipe the priceless Stanley Cup and hold it for ransom! Can the Screech Owls do anything to save the most revered trophy in the land? And can the team also rise to the challenge on the ice and play their best hockey ever?

While recovering from a concussion, Travis stumbles upon a polot to steal the Stanley Cup.

Felix Batterinski grew up tough in Northern Ontario. After enjoying brief fame as an "enforcer" for the NHL''s Philadelphia Flyers, he finds himself eking out a living as a player-coach in Finland. But a controversial play spells the end of his comeback bid, and Felix begins a tragic descent into disillusion and despair.

Roy MacGregor has been called "the best hockey writer in the country," and we finally have a collection of his very best hockey writing, revised and updated. For nearly 40 years Roy MacGregor has brought hockey, our national sport, alive on the page. From tales of the game''s greats (Guy Lafleur, Jean Beliveau, Marcel Dionne) to today''s stars (Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Daniel and Henrik Sedin), his magazine and newspaper coverage has revealed so much about these and so many other personalities, in moments of promise, victory and defeat. While many of these stories play out on the ice, some of the most compelling take place on the home front (Mario Lemieux''s battle against cancer, the many tribulations of Bob Gainey), and MacGregor''s prose shines especially when focused on the human side of a sport defined by superhuman feats of speed, aggression and power. Wayne Gretzky''s Ghost is a personal book, and also a book of challenging ideas: that Wayne Gretzky, through no fault of his own, was the worst thing to happen to hockey; that CBC''s Hockey Night in Canada has lost sight of what it is; that goaltending has become a position out of all proportion to what was intended. And who could offer a better perspective on the game than a writer who, playing as a youngster, had to face an onrushing phenom from Parry Sound named Bobby Orr, or who spent a year ghostwriting a national newspaper column for the Great One himself? When it comes to hockey, Roy MacGregor has seen (and in some cases, done) it all.

Celebrating ten years and more than one million books in print! New four-in-one edition! The first four Screech Owls mysteries are now collected in one volume: #17 — The Secret of the Deep Woods #18 — Murder at the Winter Games #19 — Attack on the Tower of London #20 — The Screech Owls''s Reunion Screech Owls books have won the Our Choice Award and the Manitoba Young Reader’s Choice Award. They have been endorsed by the Canadian Toy Testing Council and shortlisted for the Silver Birch Award, the Red Cedar Award, the Arthur Ellis Award, the Ottawa-Carleton Award, and the Palmarès de Communication-Jeunesse.

Celebrating ten years and more than one million books in print! New four-in-one edition! The first four Screech Owls mysteries are now collected in one volume: #13: Sudden Death in New York City #14: Horror on River Road #15: Death Down Under #16: Power Play in Washington Screech Owls books have won the Our Choice Award and the Manitoba Young Reader’s Choice Award. They have been endorsed by the Canadian Toy Testing Council and shortlisted for the Silver Birch Award, the Red Cedar Award, the Arthur Ellis Award, the Ottawa-Carleton Award, and the Palmarès de Communication-Jeunesse.

Pour la saison estivale, les membres des Carcajous troquent leur bâton de hockey pour une crosse. Alors que Sim cherche une histoire macabre pour réaliser un film d''horreur, lui et ses amis apprennent que leur entraîneur a été quelques années plus tôt soupçonné d''avoir tué son fils. Cette affaire n''a d''ailleurs jamais été résolue...

Celebrating ten years and more than one million books in print! The third four-in-one edition to celebrate ten years of an award-winning, bestselling series. #9: Nightmare in Nagano The Screech Owls can''t believe their good luck! They are flying thousands of miles to Nagano, Japan, the host city for the 1998 Winter Olympic Games - and they''ll be playing in Big Hat, the Olympic arena. The attractions of Japan are quickly forgotten, however, when the mayor of Nagano is murdered at the tournament''s opening-night banquet. Who would want such a nice man dead? And what has it got to do with the Screech Owls? . . . And what is the source of Nish''s new superhuman powers? #10: Danger in Dinosaur Valley Summer has come early to the town of Drumheller, Alberta. Drumheller is the "Dinosaur Capital of Canada," home of the fierce Albertosaurus - cousin to Tyrannosaurus rex - whose ancient bones were discovered here more than one hundred years ago. One day when Nish returns from mountain biking, he claims he almost became breakfast for a living, breathing Albertosaurus! Of course his friends don''t believe him, but when Travis, Sarah, and their teammates go for their own ride in the hills, they come back with a monstrous story that makes international headlines. #11: The Ghost of the Stanley Cup The Screech Owls have come to Ottawa to play in the Little Stanley Cup peewee tournament. Mr. Dillinger is also taking them to visit some of the region''s famous ghosts: the ghost of a dead prime minister; the ghost of a man hanged for murder; the ghost of the famous painter Tom Thomson. At first the Owls thought this was Mr. Dillinger''s best idea ever, until Travis and his friends begin to suspect that one of these ghosts could be for real. #12: The West Coast Murders The Screech Owls'' journey to Vancouver had begun as an innocent hockey road trip. They had come to play in the new "Three-on-three" shinny tournament. But when the team headed out to sea to watch the first whales of the season return to the West Coast, the dream trip turned into a horrifying adventure. Two bodies - one a dolphin, one a man - bobbing in the tide. And when Nish stared down at the floating, twisting body of the man and announced "We know him!" the Screech Owls also knew they were in the middle of a baffling mystery. Screech Owls books have won the Our Choice Award and the Manitoba Young Reader’s Choice Award. They have been endorsed by the Canadian Toy Testing Council and shortlisted for the Silver Birch Award, the Red Cedar Award, the Arthur Ellis Award, the Ottawa-Carleton Award, and the Palmarès de Communication-Jeunesse.

Celebrating ten years and more than one million books in print! New four-in-one edition! Screech Owls books 5-8 are now collected in one volume: #5 — Kidnapped in Sweden #6 — Terror in Florida #7 — The Quebec City Crisis #8 — The Screech Owls'' Home Loss Screech Owls books have won the Our Choice Award and the Manitoba Young Reader’s Choice Award. They have been endorsed by the Canadian Toy Testing Council and shortlisted for the Silver Birch Award, the Red Cedar Award, the Arthur Ellis Award, the Ottawa-Carleton Award, and the Palmarès de Communication-Jeunesse.

Who are we? In Canadians, one of Canada’s most intelligent and beloved writers maps our national psyche in a wonderful and ambitious work. Canadians is an entertaining portrait of this country and its people, through its history, popular culture, literature, sport, landscape, and weather. In his pursuit of the Canadian national identity, MacGregor has travelled far and wide, taking our pulse, telling our stories. A sparkling blend of historical, anecdotal, and reflective writing converges in a narrative that is extraordinarily learned in its perceptions and light in its delivery—all trademarks of this remarkable writer’s work.

From Canada’s beloved award-winning journalist and bestselling author comes a collection of essays, new and previously published, on man’s best friend. In the course of 20 years of column writing about everything from politics to hockey and everything in between, Roy MacGregor has learned firsthand that the columns with the greatest reader impact have been those about the family dog. Roy has collected these columns and written many more on everything from puppy love to the sorrow of losing a pet, as experienced by Roy and the dogs he’s known and loved.

In this delightful dockside reader, one of Canada''s great writers of the outdoors celebrates the Canadian cottage experience. Written in journal form, The Weekender takes us through a typical year -the pleasures, great and small, and the occasional pains-of cottage living. From that first, essential opening-day plunge into a still-frigid lake to the last leap in at the summer''s end, and everything in between, The Weekender reprises some of MacGregor''s classic writings from Cottage Life, The Globe and Mail, and the National Post, and includes some new material, too. It''s the perfect read for the cottage lover in all of us, a book to return to again and again, in summer and all year long.

Every year, Bump longs to play in the annual family hockey game--the Christmas Classic--started by his grandfather, and finally he is tall enough to join in the tradition, which continues to go on, year after year.

The Owls are all grown up, and now they’re returning home to play an exhibition game in the town’s new arena. But deep trouble has also come to Tamarack. The Screech Owls are all grown up. Ten years have passed, and Travis, Sarah, Nish, and their friends have gone theirseparate ways, most of them scattered far and wide from their old home town. Travis is a teacher. Sarah is captain of the women’s Olympic hockey team. Data runs a computer business with Fahd. Wilson is a police officer. And Nish? Nish is in Las Vegas, a valued member of the aerial stunt team The Flying Elvises. When the people of Tamarack decide to name their new sports complex The Sarah Cuthbertson Arena, it is the perfect time for all the old friends to reunite and play an opening night exhibition game. But as the Screech Owls start to return, trouble also comes to Tamarack. The unspoiled town faces disaster in the form of a new gambling casino, and it seems that the powerful developers will stop at nothing to get their way. Not even murder.

It’s summer, and Rachel Highboy, Jesse’s hockey-playing cousin from James Bay, has come to Tamarack to join the Screech Owls on a week-long canoe trip into the wilds of Algonquin Park. At the same time, the rookie hero of this year’s Stanley Cup final is in a light plane that goes missing somewhere in the area. It is eerily like the story of Bill Barilko, the legendary Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman who disappeared when his plane crashed deep in the Ontario bush in 1951, just four months after he scored the Stanley-Cup-winning goal! When some of the team – including a terrified Nish – become separated from the others and find themselves lost in the deep woods, strange things begin to happen. A wolf comes each night to stand by the campfire. A mysterious stranger pays a visit. And a shocking discovery has Rachel and the Screech Owls wondering if they’ll make it out alive!

In February 2002, the greatest hockey teams this country could muster headed to Salt Lake City to compete in the Winter Olympics. Our men and women hoped to go all the way to the finals, but it had been fifty long years since the Canadians had won Olympic gold. In the past, they had come close it was just that luck always seemed to be against them. This time, however, their chances to end the long drought were good. The women looked set for a medal although the all-powerful American team stood between them and the ultimate prize. The Canadian men faced strong opponents, too, but prospects were good for the all-star team assembled by the great Wayne Gretzky. And this time, both teams had a secret weapon. So secret, in fact, they didn''t even know it existed. At first. Like all good secrets this one was too good not to pass along. Under the surface at centre ice, Trent Evans had hidden a Canadian loonie. The expert ice maker had been invited down from Edmonton to help install the ice for the Games, and this was his little good-luck charm for our Olympic hockey teams. Perhaps, he figured, the guys could use some "home ice" advantage. A Loonie for Luck is the true story of that loonie and the magic it wove at Salt Lake City. It follows Wayne Gretzky, Trent Evans, and the men''s and women''s teams through their time at the Games. And it pays tribute to the role of superstition and chance in hockey a part of the sport not always acknowledged, but one that brings real magic to the game. With the close co-operation of Wayne Gretzky and Trent Evans, Roy MacGregor tells the inside story of how the coin came to be in Trent Evans'' pocket and then buried under centre ice. He tells how, throughout the Games, the loonie was in danger of being uncovered as the secret began to spread, and how, as the tournament progressed, with the players in need of every break they could get, the good luck miraculously held. This true story, brilliantly illustrated by Bill Slavin, is full of suspense, humour, and charm. It will delight every Canadian who felt a surge of pride for our athletes at Salt Lake City. From the Hardcover edition.

A look into the history of Roy MacGregor''s family and its ties to the Ontario wilderness, showing an attachment between human and nature. This is shown in the development of "cottage country" in the nineteenth century as a way to escape back to nature. 2002.

The Screech Owls have come to Ottawa to play in the Little Stanley Cup peewee tournament. This relaxed summer event honours Lord Stanley himself – the man who donated the Stanley Cup to hockey – and gives young players a chance to see the wonders of Canada’s capital city, travel into the wilds of Algonquin Park, and even go river rafting. Mr. Dillinger is also taking them to visit some of the region’s famous ghosts: the ghost of a dead prime minister; the ghost of a man hanged for murder; the ghost of the famous painter Tom Thomson. At first the Owls think this is Mr. Dillinger’s best idea ever, until Travis and his friends begin to suspect that one of these ghosts could be for real. Who is this phantom? Why has he come to haunt the Screech Owls? And what is his connection to the mysterious young stranger who offers to coach the team? The Ghost of the Stanley Cup is the eleventh book in the Screech Owls Series. Check out the Screech Owls’ website at www.screechowls.com