Books with author Josh Wilson

Fourteen-year-old Al is spending the summer on the shores of Ontario's James Bay with his eccentric archaeologist father. On their last day there, Al paddles his canoe awawy from the rocky, tree-lined shore and is strangely overtaken by a thickfog that disorients him. As the mist rolls over him, Al is startled to see a ship in the distance that he recognizes as the Discover, whose captain was the ill-fated Henry Hudson. Is it a ghostly apparition?

Nate and Walt MacGregor are cousins who have never met, living on opposite sides of a deeply divided continent. Nate, the privileged son of a plantation owner in the American South, and Walt, an abolitionist son of a pioneer farmer in Canada West, are both profoundly affected by the story of a runaway slave named Sunday. While Nate prepares to fight for his Southern homeland, Walt fears that the seizure of a Confederate ship with British envoys on board will pull Britain into the war. When the cousins at last cross paths during the Battle of Shiloh, they learn that what unites them is more powerful than what divides them.

Short-listed for the 2004 Canadian Children’s Book Centre Norma Fleck Award and commended for the 2004 Best Books for Kids and Teens Discovering the Arctic is an exciting recounting of the life of a 19th century doctor and explorer who worked for the Hudson’s Bay Company and opened up vast tracts of land in the Canadian Arctic and may have been the true discoverer of the Northwest Passage. Rae discovered the fate of the failed Franklin Expedition and evidence of cannibalism on the bones he found, but he was disgraced by a slanderous campaign against his name, which resulted in a century of subsequent obscurity. Rae was one of the first Europeans to show respect for Inuit customs and to take inspiration from their Arctic survival skills. John Wilson brings this fascinating man and his times to life in an exciting narrative full of survival stories, shipwrecks and scandals. The book is illustrated with sketches, maps and archival photos.

Steve thinks he made the right choice turning down a snowy week with his cousins at a cabin in northern Ontario in favor of a relaxing (and perhaps romantic) time under the Spanish sun with his friend, Laia. But when an email from his brother DJ arrives, implicating their grandfather in some shadowy international plots involving nuclear bombs, Steve and Laia immediately put aside all thoughts of a lazy, sun-drenched vacation. In a desperate attempt to find out if Steve’s grandfather was a Cold War-era spy, they crack mysterious codes, confront violent Russian mobsters, dodge spies, unearth a bomb and avoid nudists. But the more they uncover, the more Steve wonders: whose side was Grandpa really on? Broken Arrow is the sequel to both The Missing Skull, part of The Seven Prequels and Lost Cause, part of Seven (The Series).

A gripping World War One saga with a strong female protagonist, published for the third year of the war's centenary.Manon Wouters grew-up in the idyllic Belgian city of Damme, where she spent her afternoons cycling into beautiful Bruges to study nursing. But as Europe--and the world--erupted into a devastating war, teenaged Manon soon found herself faced with unbelievable choices. Would she hide? Or would she fight? As Manon toils away at the local hospital, no one would guess just how crucial a role she is really playing. A trained spy, Manon gathers information to send to the British to aid in ending the war. Soon, she uncovers information about a monster plane that must be stopped at all costs. As she races to fulfill her mission, Manon must confront enemies at every turn, and face a terrifying and sobering truth: that innocents are being killed on both sides of the front.

In this novel by John Wilson set during the Battle of Stalingrad, three participants -- two fighters and a boy -- are caught in its horrors. Their story is told over seven days of fierce and deadly street-by-street fighting. Vasily is a patriotic Russian soldier determined to rid his country of the hated Nazi invaders -- if he can stay alive long enough. Conrad is a German tank officer, part of the seemingly unstoppable force sweeping eastward over the steppe, expecting a quick victory over Stalin's ill-trained and badly equipped army. Between them is eight-year-old Sergei, whose home is the maze of rubble that used to be the city of Stalingrad. None of them can know that their fates will be intertwined as the cataclysm engulfs them.

On a visit to a seaside town in Australia, fifteen-year-old Sam meets Annabel, who works at the local museum. Annabel's interest in history is infectious, and Sam soon finds himself eager to hunt for the remains of a boat called the Mahogany Ship―a shipwreck sought after by many. When a storm creates an erosion hole that exposes a structure, Sam and Annabel are convinced it's the fabled ship. Soon all of the museum staff are at the erosion site to check it out. But the same storm also destroys the museum's power; someone knows the alarms aren't working and steals the museum's most treasured artifact, a large porcelain peacock worth $4 million. As Sam and Annabel search for the thief, they realize there may be a link between the fabled shipwreck and the recent theft.

John Wilson, an ex-geologist and frustrated historian, is the award-winning author of 12 historical fiction novels, most recently Four Steps to Death, Flames of the Tiger and And in the Morning. He has also authored five nonfiction books for young adults, including a biography of John Rae (Discovering the Arctic) and a book about the geology of Canada (Dancing Elephants and Floating Continents), a novel for adults (North with Franklin), over 30 poems, and hundreds of freelance articles.

Cousins Walt and Nate McGregor, and Sunday, the former slave on Nate’s father’s plantation, have survived the carnage of the Battle of Shiloh. But the American Civil War rages on, and the three young men find themselves reunited at the notorious Libby prison in Virginia. Within its walls, Nate is a guard, Sunday is a slave, and Walt is a prisoner. Their grim reunion highlights the complexity of a war that has torn a nation apart. Can these three battle-scarred soldiers hope for anything more than survival?