Shirlee Matheson - Prairie Pictures

Contemporary Canadian classics reimagined for todays young readers

WANDERING FOX BOOKS is an imprint of Heritage House Publishing, catering to young readers ages eight to sixteen. Wandering Fox titles are timeless Canadian stories by bestselling, award-winning authors who count kids, parents, librarians, and educators among their loyal fans. The name Wandering Fox encompasses the curiosity, mischief, and adventure of young readers on the journey to adulthood.

All books are suitable for classroom use and come with discussion and/or comprehension questions and author interviews.

For more information, or to order books in the series, see wanderingfoxbooks.com, heritagehouse.ca, or hgdistribution.com.

And in the Morning

by John Wilson

JIM HAY IS fifteen, thinks war is a glorious adventure, and cannot wait for his turn to fight. But as his father boldly marches off to battle in August 1914, Jim must be content to record his thoughts and dreams in his journal.

All too quickly, however, Jims simple life begins to unravel. His father is killed in action, his mother suffers a breakdown, and when he does at last join up, it is as much to find refuge as it is to seek glory.

What Jim discovers in the trenches of France is enough to dispel his romantic view of the war. The final tragic outcome is one he never could have imagined.

• New York Public Library selection Best Book for Teens
• Canadian Childrens Book Centre Our Choice starred review
• White Pine Award nominee
• Chocolate Lily Book Awards nominee
• Stellar Book Awards nominee

History in the Faking

by Andreas Oertel

ANCIENT EGYPTIANS DISCOVER North America! Well, not really. But thats what Cody and his friends want people to believe.

The tiny town of Sultana needs tourists, and it needs them badly. And if twelve-year-old Cody doesnt do something fast to help lure them back, hes going to be the only kid left. So Cody, his best friend Eric, and Erics twin sister Rachel concoct an elaborate hoax to transform sleepy Sultana into a hotbed of activity. But when their prank starts working too well, and the shenanigans get out of control, the kids have to make some tough decisions.

Who knew that faking history could be so tricky?

• Ontario Library Association Silver Birch Award nominee
• Manitoba Young Readers Choice Award finalist
• New York State Reading Association Charlotte Award nominee

No Place for Kids

by Alison Lohans

SARAH AND JENNIFERS happy family life died with their mother. Now their dad only seems interested in drinking. Without a job or even a house, the small family drifts from one place to another. Neglected and always hungry, the girls must cope on their own. Twelve-year-old Jen has a tough attitude. Sarah has doubts about her older sisters tacticsincluding stealing and bullyingbut she has no choice but to follow along. When one of their dads creepy friends starts paying too much attention to them, they cant stand it anymore.

With very little money and no clear plan, Sarah and Jen set out across the Prairies. Will they be able to make it to Vancouver, where Aunt Ellen lives?

• Saskatchewan Book Award for Childrens Literature
• A Resource Links Best Book
• Canadian Childrens Book Centre Our Choice selection

City Pictures
by Shirlee Smith Matheson

Stones of Time
The Shenanigans SeriesBook Two
by Andreas Oertel

Flames of the Tiger
A Fields of Conflict Book
by John Wilson

If You Live Like Me
by Lori Weber

SHIRLEE SMITH MATHESON was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but has lived in over twenty different communities. Her own experiences of making new friends and leaving familiar things behind inform many of her stories. Shirlee is an alumna of the Banff Centres writing program and has published award-winning fiction and non-fiction books for adults and young people. She lives in Calgary, Alberta.

Q: Prairie Pictures is about adjusting to life in a new place, making new friends, and being uprooted, just when you start feeling at home. What inspired you to write this story?

A: Personal experience. By the time our older daughter was in Grade Nine, she had attended ten different schools in two provinces and in Australia. She nonetheless managed to turn these moves and adjustments into positive experiences, as does Sherri.

Q: This book was originally published twenty-five years ago, before the Internet and social media, which are so central to kidslives today. In reintroducing Prairie Pictures to a new generation of readers, did you consider how Sherris experience of moving to Gardin would be different today than it was in the late 1980s?

A: Basically, the main difference would be the rapidity of communication via Google searches for information rather than seeking out resource books, and texting and emails rather than telephone calls or letter-writing. However, human emotions and personal challenges are universal and have remained relatively unchanged throughout the ages.

Q: What advice do you have for aspiring young writers?

A: First of all, just write. Keep a journal to record not only daily events but also social and personal situations and feelings; these can be kept private, or shared.

Enroll in kids lit writing groups, classes or summer camp sessions. If these opportunities are not offered in your area, research and check out such groups on-line, many of which offer reciprocal editorial comments and friendship among peers.

Read a variety of books, as well as how-to articles found in writersmagazines, and personal advice and notes found on authorsweb pages. After reading a book, write a book report for your own writers education, by recording your observations on how the author has developed characters, plot, settings, style, and emotion. This will help you to evaluate how an author has created the book that you have just read, and provide ideas on how you might create and form your own material.

Share your work with others. Writing is communicating. Learn to accept both the positive comments and the critiques with grace. Its all part of your literary journey.

Never give up!

Chapter 1

THE TOWN HUNG like a necklace of cheap costume jewellery from the shoulders of the Trans-Canada Highway: service stations, tire stores, convenience marts. We glanced at them in turn, desperately hoping to spot something interesting.

I was twelve the day we moved to Gardin, my younger sister Bonnie just six. It was our third move that year. Dad had been hired to set up the marketing department for the new meat-packing plant, Ranchers Beef Processing, that had just been built, and hed been really excited about this new challenge. Now, after driving six hours from Regina over the flat, bald prairie and actually seeing the rough-looking town where wed be living, his enthusiasm, and ours, experienced a serious reality check.