New Releases by Julie Johnston

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Shortlisted for the 2005 Young Adult Canadian Book Award Susanna''s Quill is a work of historical fiction based on the life of Susanna Moodie, writer and pioneer, by award-winning author Julie Johnston. The story takes us into Susanna’s genteel English childhood, through her humorous teenage attempts at writing, growing to her burgeoning independence, marriage to Dunbar Moodie, and their decision to emigrate from England. To the Moodies, Canada was the answer to their prayers. They would have the life they could no longer afford in Britain and they could raise their children to become wealthy landowners in their own right. The adventures that thwart this dream become a story of lost illusions and a found sense of self-reliance and inner strength.

Rosalind Kemp is the youngest in a family of sisters. She lives a comfortable life in a small town in Ontario. Ros is active, loving, and artistic. And, she has second sight. It is a part of her nature with which she has trouble coming to terms: sometimes it is nothing more than a pleasant parlor trick, like knowing that King Edward will abdicate; sometimes it is a curse that makes her feel freakish; and sometimes it is just plain terrifying. Ros tries everything she can to suppress the gift, and subsequently herself, but nothing works. If she is going to live her life fully, she will have to come to terms with every part of her being, just as everyone must. This brilliant novel is Julie Johnston at her very best: it is funny, frightening, and painfully insightful.

“If you don’t want your heart broken, don’t let on you have one.” Sara Moone is an expert on broken hearts. She is a foster child who has been bounced from home to home, but now she is almost sixteen and can not live in the system forever. She vows that she will live in a cold, white place where nobody can hurt her again. But there is one more placement in store for Sara. She is sent to live with the Huddlestons on their sheep farm. There, despite herself, Sara learns that there is no escape from love. It has a way of catching you off guard, even when you try to turn your back. When it was published in 1994, Adam and Eve and Pinch-Me won every major children’s book award in Canada. Since then it has appeared in countries around the world. Its story of love and longing strikes a universal chord.

In Spite of Killer Bees is a novel about not giving in and not giving up. Aggie and her two sisters have had to move to the small village that had been their father’s childhood home. Their mother is long gone, and their father – who’d been in and out of prison – has died. Although the village holds little charm for the girls, they have hopes. It seems that their late grandfather has made them heiresses. In the small, judgmental village, Aggie must fight to keep her diminishing family together. By refusing to abandon those she loves and comes to love, she risks more than her happiness.

The summer of 1904 holds adventure, mystery and romance for shy and stuttering Fred.

In 1946 twelve-year-old Keely is devastated when her older brother Patrick is paralyzed by polio, and she starts a campaign to reawaken his waning interest in life.