New Releases by Cary Fagan

Multiple award-winning author Cary Fagan displays his extraordinary range and talent in a new collection that is by turns sensitive, surprising, and outrageously funny. A disgruntled border in 1970s London watches an affair develop between his landlady and a young Canadian student. A woman recalls the family that lived in a very nice tree in her backyard. A fifteen-year-old girl steals a book from a "pretty little bookstore" and sets in motion a remarkable whirlwind journey through New York City. Three turn-of-the-century musicians cross into Saskatchewan to escape an angry gunslinger. A couple decides to separate, only to find that their cat and their dog have a lot to say on the matter. With witty dialogue, compelling characters, and superb writing, each of these five exquisite stories differs vastly from the next, yet together conjure a world fuelled by the power of our wildest imaginings. A Fast Horse Never Brings Good News is a propulsive and vital new work from one of our country''s most gifted and treasured writers.

Forced into stealing valuable books from a rich widow, Willis takes refuge on an abandoned island populated by robots in this new middle-grade novel by acclaimed writer Cary Fagan. For fans of The Wild Robot. It isn''t bad enough that Willis has to live with his cold uncle Tod in a dusty old house of used books. He can''t even spend time with his friends Harrison and Galaxi because of the nasty after-school jobs his uncle makes him take on. But then his uncle asks him to visit an old widow lady in the mansion on the hill. To his surprise, Willis likes Mrs. Shorthouse and even the books they read together (Little Women, Great Expectations). Meanwhile, taking a rowboat ride, Willis discovers an abandoned town from the 1950s populated by square-headed robots. What is the connection between Mrs. Shorthouse and Robot Island? What will happen after the police find out that Willis has been stealing rare books from the mansion? And when Willis turns on the electricity and the robots of Robot Island come to life, will they turn out to be friends or enemies?

The arrival of a mysterious new neighbor inspires a kid to write her own poetry in this humorous and unforgettable new middle-grade novel by award-winning author Cary Fagan. Andie Gladman is your typical kid — she lives in a small town, doesn''t have many friends and quietly puts up with taunts from the school bully, Myrtle Klinghoffer. But one day, a new neighbor moves into the house next to Andie''s family . . . and he looks awfully familiar. Could he be famous author Hans Christian Andersen? Andie sure thinks so, and the arrival of this well-known writer inspires Andie to write her own poems (with a feminist twist) based on his classic fairy tales. Her newfound hobby leads her to make a friend and finally feel some excitement about her previously quiet life . . . but will a shocking revelation change everything for Andie?

Annabelle discovers an animal bone in the woods and decides to make it her new plaything. But nature ends up moving Annabelle in mysterious ways. At first, Boney, as Annabelle names him, makes the perfect companion. While Mom is busy with the baby, Boney and Annabelle share a meal, play at the park, and share a bedtime story before Annabelle tucks Boney into his shoebox-bed for the night. But when creatures run wild through her dreams, Annabelle considers for the first time where Boney really belongs. This thought-provoking story by award-winning picture-book creators Cary Fagan and Dasha Tolstikova encourages a deeper sense of wonder about the natural world and celebrates the wilderness that lives within us all. Key Text Features illustrations Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3 With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

"In a quaint tourist village, Dorn makes miniature scale models displayed in the local shops. Yet life is far from idyllic; he suffers under the thumb of a rich, philandering younger brother and an unloving, pudding-obsessed father. Nor can he find the courage to admit his love to Ravenna, the tall and ungainly school teacher who was once the village''s only Olympics hope. Life takes a strange turn when the government-sponsored ''Wild Home Project'' begins in the village. Dorn''s neighbour now lives with a wolf. Others are in company with rats, minks, otters, and bears. Soon, Dorn receives a mysterious commission, finds a body in a park, and has several run-ins with a former classmate-turned police officer. When fire breaks out, Dorn takes on the unlikely role of hero in the hope of changing the course of his life. A realist novel with the air of a fairy tale, this surprising, funny and thought-provoking story from beloved author Cary Fagan explores the nature of relationships faunal and human, reminds us of the challenges of finding one''s place in society... and that living with a wolf is not a very good idea."--

One morning Rafe wakes up to discover his bedroom is floating in a vast sea of water. An unforgettable middle-grade novel with elements of James and the Giant Peach meets Waterworld and The Road. One morning Rafe wakes up to discover his bedroom is floating in a vast sea of water. Alone with only his dog for company, Rafe adapts to this strange new world by fishing cans of food out of the water and keeping watch. Boxes float by, as does a woman, playing her cello. Then, one day, Rafe fishes out a young girl, who joins him in his room -- they don''t speak the same language, but they will face this uncertain future together.

Who is Gretchen Oyster? The discovery of a series of mysterious handmade postcards distracts Hartley from trouble at home. A poignant novel for fans of Rebecca Stead and Holly Goldberg Sloan. Hartley Staples, near-graduate of middle school, is grappling with the fact that his older brother has run away from home, when he finds a handmade postcard that fascinates him. And soon he spots another. Despite his losing interest in pretty much everything since Jackson ran away, Hartley finds himself searching for cards in his small town at every opportunity, ignoring other responsibilities, namely choosing a topic for his final project. Who is G.O. and why are they scattering cards about the town?

Bear wants to sing his song, but the other animals won''t give him a chance to perform his masterwork in this delightful picture book companion to the critically acclaimed King Mouse. A bear finds a ukulele in the woods. It makes a nice sound -- PLINK! -- and inspires him to write his own song. His friend Mouse would love to hear it. But Bear isn''t the only animal in the forest to find musical inspiration that day, and Snake, Crow and Tortoise keep taking his turn to perform. When they finally give him the opportunity and meet his song with less enthusiasm than he''d like, the discouraged bear shelves his music career forever . . . but the kindness, empathy and appreciation of his best friend will prove that his art deserves recognition and can even inspire others. This dryly humorous and sweetly profound collaboration between two critically acclaimed children''s book creators, a follow-up to the masterful King Mouse, has the makings of a modern classic.

Masterful, hopeful stories about ordinary people taking small, bold steps into the unknown These ten compelling and delightful stories highlight ordinary people, introverts, mostly living quiet lives -- until they take the chance to leap toward small, meaningful adventure. A young woman is given a painting by Picasso by her stepfather, and she must acquire a wall to hang it on. A hippie family picks up a cello-playing hitchhiker who convinces them to get a television. And a man winds up taking his girlfriend?s son on a road trip -- an unexpected expedition for them both. Filled with a sense of hope, these stories explore the tangled bonds of family and the complex web that holds them together. Cary Fagan is an undisputed master of the short story, and Great Adventures for the Faint of Heart is a brilliant and warm collection that expands our acceptance of human frailty and our unpredictable capacity for change.

A graphic novel that tells a refugee story about education and hope

How would you feel if your dad were a clown? The boy in this story never wants to go to his friends’ birthday parties, because Happy the Clown is always there. And Happy is ... his dad. He wishes his dad had a regular job, like all the other kids’ parents. He didn’t mind his dad being a clown when he was a little kid, but now it’s just embarrassing. And even worse, since business is slow, his dad is putting a sign on the front lawn advertising his clown services! But one night at dinner Dad announces that he’s going back to his old job of being a lawyer. “You were a lawyer?” the boy asks, incredulous. Now his dad wears a suit and tie to work, the family can buy a new car, his mom can take piano lessons, and he can have a skateboard and cellphone. But something feels different. The boy wonders if his dad misses being a clown. Or is he the one who misses Happy? With bittersweet humor, Cary Fagan brings us a story about a boy’s growing consciousness and a father’s realization that he can be himself. Key Text Features speech bubbles Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3 Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character''s thoughts, words, or actions).

Kar-Ben Read-Aloud eBooks with Audio combine professional narration and text highlighting to bring eBooks to life! School''s out, and Marky looks forward to summer, including helping his friend and neighbor, Mr. Tempkin, with his garden. But when Mr. Tempkin''s plan to thwart the squirrels that have been raiding his birdfeeder goes awry, Marky learns how special a friendship can be.

King Mouse finds his authority in question when his subjects find crowns of their own. A gentle and humorous modern fable about imaginative play and kindness in the tradition of classics like Little Bear and Frog and Toad. A sweet, thoughtful tale of friendship, sharing and play, King Mouse begins when a mouse comes upon a tiny crown in the grass. The mouse puts the crown on his head, and when a bear subsequently comes upon him and asks if he''s king, the mouse responds "Yes." This diminutive monarch settles into his new role very comfortably . . . until a snake comes upon a crown and claims she is queen. The mouse is not amused, especially when one by one the other animals find crowns and claim they are kings too. But when the bear can''t find a crown, King Mouse make a most surprising decision. This inspired collaboration between an award-winning author and debut picture book illustrator Dena Seiferling is quietly profound in its simplicity and has the feeling of a modern classic.

The Student is a portrait of a life in two snapshots: 1957, 2005 LATE SUMMER - AUTUMN, 1957: Miriam Moscowitz is starting her final year of university with unwavering ambition. She is a serious and passionate student of literature who studies hard, dates a young Jewish man with a good job, and is the apple of her father’s eye and the worry of her mother’s. But then, in a single moment, her dreams crumble around her as she realizes that—as a woman—the obstacles to achieving what she wants could be unsurmountable. Unsure of how to break a path for herself, she begins a reckless affair with an American student obsessed with the civil rights clashes in the south—specifically in Little Rock, where public schools had been desegregated. When the young man abandons her to join the movement back home, Miriam gets on a bus to follow him, no longer sure of anything in her life AUGUST 21, 2005: It is the morning of Miriam’s son’s wedding (a newly-legal, same-sex marriage). She climbs the stairs to her study to look at a book she had carried with her forty-eight years earlier, on a bus to the United States. In the days leading up to the wedding, she had deciphered every word of marginalia in her young, minuscule handwriting. It had been familiar and strange, embarrassing and exhilarating, and she had wondered what the young person who had written all these words had to do with the old woman who read them now. The Student is a compassionate and compelling work of fiction that brings together two pivotal times in history. With its innovative structure, masterful prose, and intelligently crafted characters, this book illustrates how we are shaped by—and can eventually overcome—the constraints of the times we occupy.

From New York Times-bestselling illustrator Kady MacDonald Denton and award-winning author Cary Fagan comes a charming sibling story that has the makings of a contemporary classic. Benny''s little brother is really good at a lot of things -- making potions and paper airplanes, building forts, putting on puppet shows, even petting the neighbor''s cat (he has a special way of scratching her just behind the ears). But whenever he tries to join in Benny''s activities, all Benny ever says is "No." Maybe his little brother can watch him do cool stuff, if he''s lucky. What is a little fox to do, except give Benny a taste of his own medicine? Totally familiar yet fresh and original, tenderly told and consistently funny, this story perfectly captures the joys (and annoyances!) of sibling relationships.

An escaped lion is hiding in the middle of the city, and it is up to Sadie and Theo to save him! When a circus train derails in Toronto in 1925, a lion escapes and finds shelter in High Park, a four-hundred-acre park in the west end of the city. No one knows about the creature except for Sadie Menken, the feisty daughter of a pie-maker. As various squirrels, dogs and an expensive peacock meet unfortunate ends, and the park “beast” is spotted by visitors, the lion’s presence draws the attention of the authorities. Can Sadie save the lion? Can she resist the temptation to try to make a pet of a creature that is wild at heart? That will take the help of some unlikely allies, including her busy pie-making father, Miss Clemons the retired librarian, and a polite but lonely rich boy named Theodore, as Sadie discovers that an “all-right” ending can sometimes be just happy enough. A story about a child who follows her heart, set at a time when kids were not always under a grownup’s watchful eye, when wild and urban spaces intertwined, and adventure could be found in a city’s back alley, or just past the picnic tables of the local park. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3 Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character''s thoughts, words, or actions). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.3 Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3 Describe how a particular story''s or drama''s plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

A classic story of imagination, friendship, rock bands and high-speed helicopter chases. For fans of Ivy & Bean, Judy Moody or Nate the Great. Everyone''s favorite odd couple is back. Our heroine, Renata Wolfman (Wolfie) does everything by herself. Friends just get in the way, and she only has time for facts and reading. But friendship finds her in the form of Livingston Flott (Fly), the slightly weird and wordy boy from next door. This time, Fly has convinced Wolfie to join him in his one-man band. Before they know it, they''re playing live onstage in front of a stadium of screaming fans. But these fans are about to get out of control--and Wolfie and Fly have to make a daring escape! Even though Wolfie thinks she''d rather be at home reading by herself, playing the drums in a rock band is actually pretty fun. Maybe there is something to this friend thing...

A humorous coming-of-age middle-grade novel set in 1960s Florida. Battling obxious siblings, sunburns, and a corporate millionaire, Norman is determined to help an old comedian save his career. It''s the winter of 1965. Norman Fishbein is enduring not only a cold winter but also the usual torments and annoyances from his two older brothers. When Norman wins a thousand dollars in the "Count-the-Doozy-Dots Contest" his parents let him choose how to spend it, strongly suggesting a new car is what the family needs. But Norman decides what his family really needs is their first vacation that doesn''t mean camping in a tent--a trip to Miami Beach. A snowstorm almost wrecks their plans, but in the end Norman gets his first plane ride (with both brothers air-sick on either side of him). Miami strikes him as a paradise--warm weather, palm trees, beaches, and ocean. They stay in luxury at the Royal Palm Hotel, owned by the mysterious millionaire Herbert Spitzer. One day at the pool Norman spots an old man in a black suit, who his father tells him is a once-famous comedian named Mort Ziff. (Norman''s father thought that Mort Ziff had died years ago.) Holding onto the remains of his career, Mort Ziff is performing every night in the hotel dining room. A chance meeting begins an unusual friendship between Norman and the old comedian. But after hearing that Mort Ziff has been fired, to be replaced by "The Centipedes," a pop group imitating the Beatles, Norman takes matters into his own hands, resolving to save Mort''s job and in the process, coming to realize an innner strength he didn''t know he had.

This critically-acclaimed picture book by award-winning author Cary Fagan is about stories and story-telling, and is sure to entertain children at home and at school for years to come. This is the story of a bored little boy, who meets a man, and together they build a story. This story within a story is charming and changes both their lives . . . and quite possibly the reader''s as well. Cary Fagan''s charming tale, complemented by the imaginative illustrations of artist Dušan Petricic, will delight young readers who enjoy spinning their own.

Two lonely souls find each other in this unusual tale of friendship and belonging from award-winning comic writer Cary Fagan featuring vibrant art by Banafsheh Erfanian. Is there someone out there for everyone? Two lonely souls find each other in this unusual tale of friendship and belonging from award-winning comic writer Cary Fagan. In her North American debut, illustrator Banafsheh Erfanian brings ornate artistry to the cage and birds that inhabit this surprisingly human story. A long-empty birdcage takes a chance and leaves behind its attic home to find a bird to keep. Out in the world, the cage encounters many birds and offers shelter to each of them. One by one, they refuse, explaining why they belong elsewhere. The cage feels lonelier than ever – until the cage in search of a bird finds a bird in search of a cage. Based on an aphorism by Franz Kafka, Fagan’s original story will make readers laugh at its absurdity and ponder its meaning long after they finish reading. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3 With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7 Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

Stirred by a series of found photographs, critically acclaimed author Cary Fagan brilliantly imagines the lost stories behind them in this dazzling story collection. Many years ago the photographs in this book became separated from their original owners, faces unrecognized, settings a mystery. They floated through this world, as if on a sorrowful wind... I have given them stories to replace the ones they have lost. So begins the bewitching new collection from acclaimed author Cary Fagan, and a journey into a world that is both achingly familiar and wonderfully strange. A man hangs onto a runaway horse. A woman paints in the nude. A child sparks a revolution. These stories, each inspired by a found photograph, are by turns realistic and surreal, bloody and tender, delightful and appalling. Here are stories that playfully vary in technique and form: monologues, dialogues, interviews, letters, transcripts, tall tales, and capsule histories form a single portrait, belonging — in the words of the author — “to one history, found in an album that might belong to any of us.” Fagan paints a portrait of re-imagined lives that is comic and tragic, profound and unforgettable. The beauty, humour, and the horror of days gone by haunt these pages and resonate in the world we find ourselves in today.

A sweet, whimsical tale that chronicles the journey of a chair as it changes hands and uses. Perfect for fans of The Good Little Book, Something for Nothing and Virginia Lee Burton''s The Little House. Boo''s favorite chair is little and blue. He sits in it, reads in it and makes a tent around it...until the day he grows too big for it. His mother puts the little blue chair out on the lawn where a truck driver picks it up. The truck driver sells it to a lady in a junk store where it sits for many years until it''s sold and put to use as a plant stand. In the years that follow, the little blue chair is used in many other ways -- on an elephant ride, in a contest, on a Ferris wheel, in a tree...until the day it flies away, borne aloft by balloons, and lands in a garden of daffodils where a familiar face finds it. A charming, beautifully illustrated read-aloud that follows the adventures of a little chair, beginning as the seat of a small child who loves books and circling back to that child''s child many years (and bottoms) later.

Wolfie, a lone wolf who does not like using her imagination, reluctantly befriends Fly, a slightly weird and wordy boy, and soon they find themselves navigating through deep water in a submarine made from a cardboard box.