Best Selling Books by Allan Stratton

Now in paperback--the internationally acclaimed psychological thriller from Governor General''s Award nominee Allan Stratton. Cameron and his mom have been on the run for five years. His father is hunting them--or at least that''s what Cameron''s been told. When they settle into an isolated farmhouse, Cameron soon finds himself embroiled in the unsolved mystery of a woman and child who disappeared decades ago, and he starts to hear and see things that just aren''t possible. What''s hiding in the night? What''s buried in the past? Are there dark secrets to uncover, or is Cameron''s own mind playing tricks on him? In The Dogs, acclaimed author Allan Stratton manages to deliver at once a page-turning thriller and a powerful exploration of the realities of domestic violence and its after-effects.

One misunderstood teen. One eccentric granny. One missing uncle. A coming-of-age story that gets to the heart of one family''s secrets. Zoe''s straitlaced and narrow-minded parents don''t understand her -- they are shocked by her swearing and believe that she''s a bad girl. They also want to put Zoe''s Granny in a seniors home, despite Zoe''s objections. Sure, Granny has become a bit odd and her memory is spotty, but she''s outspoken and funny, and Zoe loves her. Granny still mourns her favourite son, Teddy, who was also a troublemaker, and who died before Zoe was born. Or did he? After a series of disastrous incidents, including a school suspension and a near-death experience, Zoe decides to liberate herself and her grandmother from their respective prisons, taking them on an unforgettable journey to Toronto, where Zoe learns the truth about her uncle and discovers strengths of her own that just might help her find a way back home. From award-winning storyteller Allan Stratton comes a moving story of unresolved family conflicts, and a young girl''s awakening to the things that matter most.

Leslie can’t seem to avoid trouble, whether it’s at school or at home. Just as life seems at its lowest, Jason McCready, the exceedingly cool new guy at school, enters her life. Now Leslie is the envy of all the girls. But Jason’s appearance is deceiving –he is determined to control every aspect of Leslie’s life and he begins terrorizing her in unimaginable ways. When a substitute teacher reads the private English-class journal in which Leslie reveals Jason’s abuse, Leslie is suddenly forced into hard choices and terrifying action to take back her life.

Hans doesn''t know who he is or where he came from. When he was a baby, he washed ashore in a wooden box and was adopted by the conniving grave robber, Knobbe the Bent. Now fate has thrown him together with Angela von Schwanenberg, a young countess fleeing for her life from the evil Archduke Arnulf and his dreaded Necromancer. Together, these friends are on a daring quest to discover Hans'' true identity and to save Angela''s parents from the archduke. Join Hans and Angela on their grand adventure as they ride through the depths of the great forest, sled down a mountain in a coffin, and sneak along the secret passageways of the archduke''s palace. The Grave Robber''s Apprentice is a world of highwaymen, hermits, and dancing bears; and of a boy separated from his family by the sea. In this world anything is possible with luck and imagination—even for a grave robber''s apprentice.

The truth is closing in. Life''s not easy for Sami Sabiri since his dad stuck him at a private school where he''s the only Muslim kid. But it''s about to get a lot worse. When Sami catches his father in a lie, he gets suspicious. . . . He''s not the only one. In a whirlwind, the FBI descends on his home, and Sami''s family becomes the center of an international terrorist investigation. Now Sami must fight to keep his world from unraveling. An explosive thriller ripped from today''s headlines, borderline is the story of a funny, gutsy Muslim-American teen determined to save his father, his family, and his life.

Chanda’s mother is not herself, her younger sister is acting out, and her best friend needs help. A powerful story set amid the African HIV/AIDS pandemic. In this sensitive, swiftly paced story, readers will find echoes of To Kill a Mockingbird as Chanda, a 16-year-old, astonishingly perceptive girl living in the small city of Bonang in Africa, must confront the undercurrents of shame and stigma associated with HIV/AIDS. Through his artful style and dramatic storytelling, Allan Stratton captures the enduring strength of loyalty, the profound impact of loss, and a fearlessness that is powered by the heart. Above all, it is a story about living with truth. Proceeds from the sale of this book will be used to support organizations working to better the lives of Africans living with HIV/AIDS.

An exhilarating fairytale adventure from the author of the Governor General''s Award nominated The Grave Robber''s Apprentice. The Dream Witch haunts the forest beyond the kingdom of Bellumen, waiting to collect on a horrible debt owed by the king and queen — the heart of their only daughter, Princess Olivia. Until she has it, none of the kingdom''s children are safe. As Olivia''s thirteenth birthday approaches and the witch''s deadline draws near, her desperate mother seeks help from Prince Leo of neighbouring Pretonia. But the treacherous prince seizes their castle instead, determined to marry Olivia and take over the kingdom. So Olivia makes a daring escape from the castle, two friends by her side: the peasant boy Milo and a curious talking mouse with a surprising past. Together, the friends face certain danger and fantastical adversaries to save their families and rescue a kingdom.

She promised her mama she''d keep them safe. It''s been six months since Mama died, and Chanda is struggling to raise her little brother and sister. Determined to end a family feud, she takes them to her relatives'' remote rural village. But across the nearby border, a brutal civil war is spreading. Rebels led by the ruthless General Mandiki attack at night, stealing children. All that separates Chanda from the horror is a stretch of rugged bush and a national park alive with predators. Soon, not even that. Before she knows it, Chanda must face the unthinkable, with a troubled young tracker as her unlikely ally. Chanda''s Wars is the unforgettable story of a teenager who risks everything to save her brother and sister. Epic in its sweep, intimate in its humanity, here is a gripping tale of family intrigue, love and courage, forgiveness and hope.

Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award 2015 — Nominated Faith healers, movie moguls, and social-climbing fraudsters collide in Depression-era Los Angeles It’s the Great Depression and Mary Mabel McTavish is suicidal. A drudge at the Bentwhistle Academy for Young Ladies (aka Wealthy Juvenile Delinquents), she is at London General Hospital when little Timmy Beeford is carried into emergency and pronounced dead. He was electrocuted at an evangelical road show when the metal cross on top of the revival tent was struck by lightning. Believing she’s guided by her late mother, Mary Mabel lays on hands. Timmy promptly returns to life. William Randolph Hearst gets wind of the story and soon the Miracle Maid is rocketing from the Canadian backwoods to ’30s Hollywood. Jack Warner, J. Edgar Hoover, and the Rockettes round out a cast of Ponzi promoters, Bolshevik hoboes, and double-dealing social climbers in a fast-paced tale that satirizes the religious right, media manipulation, celebrity, and greed.

Edgar Beamish dies, leaving his corporate empire to his estranged son, Junior, who launches a charitable foundation with company assets. Disaster ensues; bankruptcy appears certain. But Junior has a fundraising inspiration, The Phoenix Lottery. It offers its winner instant fame and fortune: the chance to torch a prized van Gogh at a live event, and to sell the story to TV, tabloids and Hollywood. Junior has an ally in performance artist Lydia Spark. But powerful enemies include the slippery Vatican envoy Cardinal Wichita, the ghost of Junior''s father - and the spirit of van Gogh himself. An exploration of art, commerce, and untidy family relationships, The Phoenix Lottery is a grand comedy told with outrageous wit, and a keen eye for the masks with which society maintains the fiction of a moral world. Book jacket.

Read together, A Flush of Tories and Rexy! form comic bookends, the first viewing our current dilemmas in the context of Conservative leadership in the last century; the second, in the context of more recent Liberal leadership. A Flush of Tories was widely produced in Canada and adapted for a drama special on CBC; Rexy! won the Chalmers Award, the Dora Mavor Moore Award, and the Canadian Authors'' Association Award.

David Pearce, Associate Professor of English, is giving a tutorial to a pretty co-ed who aspires to the lofty heights of poetical inspiration and romance. David is fending her off when the department chairman''s wife barges in with plans to make her husband jealous by telling him she is having a torrid affair with David. David is shocked and worried about his tenure review. He is even more shocked when the chairman arrives, boiling, and finds his wife in one room and the love-smitten co-ed in another.