Alison Lohans - No Place for Kids

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 eductors 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

Prairie Pictures

by Shirlee Smith Matheson

FOR TWELVE-YEAR old Sherri, moving has become a way of lifemigrating with her wanderlust family from Calgary to Fort McMurray to Regina.

Now, shes preparing to start Grade Six in Gardin, an Alberta prairie town that has recently been shaken from its cowboy culture to become an industrial hub. Sherri must once again meet new teachers, adapt to a new curriculumand try to make friends amidst the cultural conflicts found in this wild country.

Prairie Pictures is told with compassion and stark realism, and portrays a lifestyle that is becoming increasingly common across North America.

• Canadian Childrens Book Centre Choice
• Manitoba Young Readers Choice 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

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

ALISON LOHANS of Regina, Saskatchewan, is an internationally published, award-winning author of twenty-six books for young people. Alison has given hundreds of readings, writing workshops, and conference presentations across Canada. A writer all her life, Alison has spent decades working with other writers through mentorship programs, writing workshops, creative writing classes, and a ten-month residency at Regina Public Library. She is thrilled when those she has mentored go on to publish booksand several of her students have won awards for these books. Alison has served on boards and executives of arts organizations at local, provincial, and national levels. She was a finalist for the 2013 Mayors Arts and Business Living the Arts Award and is the 2012 recipient of the Regina YWCA Jacqui Shumiatcher Woman of Distinction Award for her contributions to the arts. Music is another one of Alisons passions. She does a bit of music teaching, plays three instruments, and sings in eight amateur groups. In 2008 Reginas Civic Naming Committee placed the name Lohans on the list of names to be used for new streets in the city.

Q: No Place for Kids is the story of two sisters who escape a bad home life to find what they hope will be a better life with their aunt halfway across the country. What inspired you to write this story?

A: No Place for Kids was written in response to my Mystery of the Lunchbox Criminal, which appeared in 1990 in Scholastic Canada's Shooting Star Series for younger readers. That story featured J.J., who was the first victim of a disappearing lunch at school. The girls' plight only became known at the end of the book. Realizing the story of the runaways was actually more compelling than the original mystery, I wrote that side of the story, renaming my characters and making a number of other changes when the manuscript was accepted by a different publisher.

Q: This book was originally published fifteen years ago. Do you feel the story is still as relevant to our society today as it was when you first wrote it? Did you change anything in the story to make it more current or relatable to a present-day audience?

A: Yes, I feel that the story is just as relevant now as it was fifteen years ago. Sadly, issues such as losing a parent to cancer, and alcholism and neglect are still difficult problems faced by families. The changes I did make in this version for the most part had to do with updating technology, which is far more accessible to kids these days than it was fifteen years ago.

Q: Why do you feel its important for kids to read stories like this, whether or not they have personally experienced any of the hardships that Sarah and Jennifer face?

A: In our society, we take our comfortable lives for granted. Yet the news on TV and in the paper constantly shows us families whose lives have been devastated, whether by war or natural disaster, as well as areas of the world where people have lived in poverty, with poor health, for generations. Yet our own society also has its pockets of extreme poverty, as well as sometimes-hidden problems with alcohol and violence. I think stories like No Place for Kids help open people's eyes to how fortunate most of us are, and can help us understand how others feel when their lives are so messed up that they have to do things they'd never imagine doing just to be able to survive. If things were to go so badly wrong in our own lives, what would we do?

Q: The book ends on an optimistic note. If you could continue the story from that point forward, what would be next for Sarah, Jennifer, their aunt Ellen, and their father?