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In early winter, Kataujaq, a young Inuit girl, likes to play soccer with other villagers, by the light of the moon, on broad, mile-long expanses of sea ice. A note on the back cover explains that soccer is a traditional game of the Inuit. As she plays, Kataujaq, who mourns the death of her mother, is comforted by the Inuit belief that souls of the dead also love to play soccer and can be seen, during the Northern Lights, running and chasing their soccer ball all over the sky. The soft predominantly blue-toned illustrations are accompanied on facing pages by examples of decorative beadwork patterns. These patterns can also be noted in the mother's clothing when Kataujaq searches and finds her one evening while watching the Northern Lights streak across the sky.
From Percy Williams's extraordinary victory in the men's 100 metres at
the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics to Silken Laumen's heroic bronze medal performance
at Barcelona, Olympics 100 chronicles a century of Canadian achievement
at the Olympic Summer Games. Although there are few pictures (and no supporting
indexes), this book is a pleasure to read. Stories of courage, triumph,
tragedy and defeat are presented in a relaxed and entertaining narrative
which effectively captures the suspense and emotion surrounding Olympic
competition. Olympics 100 offers both recreational and educational components
for young adults.
In this fast-paced, easy-to-read novel, 12-year-old Abby moves to a new
city, goes to a new school, takes up a new sport (gymnastics), overcomes
her shyness, and helps a friend who is bulimic. The book packs a lot of
information about gymnastics, bulimia, and interpersonal relationships
into 14 short, snappy chapters and 76 pages. The story is straightforward,
full of action, with plenty of references to contemporary adolescent concerns.
As part of Lorimer Publishers' winning series, Sports Stories, it is designed
to attract reluctant readers as well as to provide recreational reading
for children who are interested in stories about sports.
When Rana Bains, a young Sikh boy, Canadian by birth, tries to sign up for the Dinway Pee Wee hockey team, he encounters resistance and senses that he is not wanted. He has known about prejudice all his life and had learned about it in his grade five class at school, but he had never really been hurt by it until now. As he stubbornly battles discrimination, he and a teammate, Les Johnson, become friends – even though Les's father, a laid-off mill worker, tries to keep Rana off the team. Throughout this highly charged novel, Rana learns about loyalty and sportsmanship, the importance of differences, and the difficulties in overcoming racism.
When her family flees their East German home in the middle of the night, eleven-year-old Josie must leave everything behind: her friends, her grandmother, and, worst of all, her precious ice skates. It is a heartbreaking experience and her new life in Canada is not an improvement. Her first "home" is a shack without running water or electricity. Classmates at her school laugh at her accent and funny clothes. It is only when she is given a pair of figure skates and is offered a chance to take skating lessons that she begins to feel like she belongs. This book presents an enlightened and emotional account of a family's triumph over the danger, poverty, language barriers, and culture shock often experienced by refugees and immigrants.
Almost everyone knows the words to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", but the story which Kovalski tells in her illustrations is original. There is only one thing that Jenny and Joanna like better than playing ball and that is going to a Blue Jays' game with their Grandma. Outings with Grandma are so much fun, but things never ever turn out as expected. This time Grandma gets caught up in the excitement of the game, slips over the bleachers, catches a fly ball, and saves the day for the home team! Kovalski's illustrations reflect the joy and anticipation embodied in the beloved baseball song and convey the energy and excitement of the game in progress.
Corey Johnson plays left-field for the Feather-Soft Tigers, a.k.a. the "Toilet Paper" Tigers, in this zany, fast-paced novel about nine "losers" who couldn't make any other Little League team in town. The team is coached by a loveable old physicist who knows zilch about baseball and his granddaughter, Kristy, who goads, threatens, and blackmails the team from last to first place over the summer season. Although told from Corey's perspective, each chapter focuses on one of the team's players and on the unorthodox methods employed by Kristy to tap each player's unrealized potential. The last chapter is Corey's and he is disarmed – not defeated – by a surprising turn of events. This is a funny book which will entrance Korman's legion of fans.
Matt Killburn is more than just a fan – he's a dedicated student of baseball. When his mother tells him that they must move to a farm in Fergus, Ontario, he is miserable about having to leave his baseball league and his best friend Sanji. But farm life turns out to be a lot more exciting than Matt expects. While exploring an old barn on the property, a strange machine knocks Matt on the head and sends him back to 1928 where he meets Butts Wagner, inventor of the Wagner Whacker baseball bat. Butts knows everything about baseball, and even has a baseball diamond in his backyard. When he wakes up, back in the present, Matt resurrects Butts Wagner's lost dream and also helps his own family.
Since he damaged his foot in a car accident one year ago, Todd isn't sure that he'll ever climb again. When he hears that a local mountaineers club is planning to scale the Witch's Fang, one of the last unclimbed peaks in British Columbia's Coastal Range, Todd is compelled to try. Even as a kid he dreamed he would be the first to make the treacherous ascent and reach the top; in his imagination, he's climbed the Fang a thousand times. Convincing his sister, Jesse, and his best friend, Howie, to join him, Todd sets out furtively to conquer the peak, his father's advice ever-present in his thoughts: "Trust no hold on the Witch's Fang."
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