Books with author Karen Ball

The second book in the suspenseful, intelligent Dove Chronicles series is perfect for fans of Ender's Game and The Maze Runner.Phaet Theta is a fugitive. Hiding in plain sight on the drowned planet Earth, Phaet discovers the rugged beauty of the world her ancestors once called home. All her life, she’s been taught to fear the “Earthbound,” and their generosity and kindness surprise and touch Phaet. But when the Lunar Bases attack her friend Wes’s village, Phaet’s past catches up with her, and she’s forced to choose: stay on Earth and fight, or stow away on a Moon-bound ship so she can save her brother and sister from the government that killed their mother. This thrilling sequel to Dove Arising plunges readers deeper into this complex and haunting world where freedom comes at a chilling price. “Phaet is an engaging character, with whom the readers should readily identify.”—VOYA “Karen Bao is an incredibly talented young writer. Beautiful prose and one of the most interesting main characters I've read. Dove Arising marks the debut of a promising new talent. I loved the story, and I can't wait to read more!” —Christopher Paolini, New York Times bestselling author of Eragon on Dove Arising

Seeking cell phone reception after a remote plane crash, city kid Jared and local Kyle scale a hill that Kyle’s Cree grandmother has forbidden him to climb. Coming down the next day, the boys find that the plane has disappeared, the forest has changed, and something is hunting them. A modern imagining of the Cree Wîhtiko legend.Jared’s plane has crashed in the Alberta wilderness, and Kyle is first on the scene. When Jared insists on hiking up the highest hill in search of cell phone reception, Kyle hesitates; his Cree grandmother has always forbidden him to go near it. There’s no stopping Jared, though, so Kyle reluctantly follows.After a night spent on the hilltop—with no cell service—the teens discover something odd: the plane has disappeared. Nothing in the forest surrounding them seems right. In fact, things seem very wrong.And worst of all, something is hunting them.Karen Bass, the multi-award-winning author of Graffiti Knight and Uncertain Soldier, brings her signature action packed style to a chilling new subject: the Cree Wîhtiko legend. Inspired by the real story of a remote plane crash and by the legends of her Cree friends and neighbours, Karen brings eerie life—or perhaps something other than life—to the northern Alberta landscape in The Hill.

Seeking cell phone reception after a remote plane crash, city kid Jared and local Kyle scale a hill that Kyle’s Cree grandmother has forbidden him to climb. Coming down the next day, the boys find that the plane has disappeared, the forest has changed, and something is hunting them. A modern imagining of the Cree Wîhtiko legend. Jared’s plane has crashed in the Alberta wilderness, and Kyle is first on the scene. When Jared insists on hiking up the highest hill in search of cell phone reception, Kyle hesitates; his Cree grandmother has always forbidden him to go near it. There’s no stopping Jared, though, so Kyle reluctantly follows. After a night spent on the hilltop―with no cell service―the teens discover something odd: the plane has disappeared. Nothing in the forest surrounding them seems right. In fact, things seem very wrong. And worst of all, something is hunting them. Karen Bass, the multi-award-winning author of Graffiti Knight and Uncertain Soldier, brings her signature action packed style to a chilling new subject: the Cree Wîhtiko legend. Inspired by the real story of a remote plane crash and by the legends of her Cree friends and neighbours, Karen brings eerie life―or perhaps something other than life―to the northern Alberta landscape in The Hill.

More than anything, Sid wants to be a drummer in a band. When she gets the chance to try out for the best high school band in the area, she finds out that there is a lot more involved than just being a great drummer. How much will Sid give up to get what she wants?The Fourth Down needs a drummer, and Sid's the best in the school. But right from the start, the all-male band makes her struggle. One member outright votes against a girl in the group. And as for the lead singer, Rocklin, if Sid's going to make it in his band, she’s going to have to start dressing the part of a girl. Accustomed to being invisible, Sid quickly discovers the consequences of the makeover she undergoes at the hands of her cousin, who knows exactly how the girl-game is played. It's not only that playing kit in a skirt is impractical. As someone who was once taunted about her sexuality for being a drum-playing girl who likes shop class, Sid is now forced to deal with guys who think her new look makes her fair game. Frustrated with the two stereotypes forced on her and other girls –gay or slut – Sid turns even more to her music. The band can't deny she’s the best, but, as Sid soon discovers, sometimes being good still isn't good enough. Drummer Girl tackles the dangerous side of peer pressure and the politics of identity in high school, and ultimately, what it means to march to the beat of your own drum.

After a childhood cut short by war and the harsh strictures of Nazi Germany, sixteen-year-old Wilm is finally tasting freedom. In spite of the scars World War II has left on his hometown, Leipzig, and in spite of the oppressive new Soviet regime, Wilm is finding his own voice. It's dangerous, of course, to be sneaking out at night to leave messages on police buildings. But it's exciting, too, and Wilm feels justified, considering his family's suffering. Until one mission goes too far, and Wilm finds he's endangered the very people he most wants to protect. Award-winning author Karen Bass brings readers a fast-paced story about a boy fighting for self-expression in an era of censorship and struggle.

A fast-paced middle-grade offering from internationally acclaimed author Karen Bass Reluctantly touring Halifax with his family, twelve-year-old Laz Berenger accidentally stumbles through a time tunnel to a 1745 war zone. Caught by English sailors from the American colonies, his only hope for freedom is to spy for them in the French fortification at Louisbourg. But he finds himself torn in three directions when the commander at Louisbourg becomes closer to him than his own father. Angry over his family’s recent move and current enforced holiday in Halifax, twelve-year-old Laz Berenger rebels against a guided tour of the Citadel and sets out to explore on his own. In one dark tunnel, his St. Christopher medal burns suddenly hot. There’s a strange smell, and Laz blacks out. When he wakes up, everything happens at once. A sword is put to his throat. Men who look like extras from Pirates of the Caribbean hand him over to a ship’s captain who strips him and takes his medal. He is declared a French spy. Laz realizes, to his horror, that it is 1745 and he is trapped in time. These English colonists, still loyal to King George, are at war with the French. To earn his freedom, Laz must promise to spy on the French at the fortification of Louisbourg. But once in Louisbourg, Laz earns a job as runner to the kind Commander Morpain and learns to love both the man and the town. How will Laz find a way to betray the inhabitants of Louisbourg? How else can he hope to earn back his St. Christopher medal, which is surely his key to returning to his own time? The award-winning author of The Hill and Graffiti Knight has written an enthralling, swash-buckling time-slip adventure for middle-grade readers centered on a fascinating period in North American history.

Phaet Theta fled the Moon and has been hiding on Earth with her friend Wes and his family. But Phaet's past catches up with her when the Lunar Bases attack the community and reveal that Phaet is a fugitive. She's torn between staying on Earth with Wes-whom she's just discovered her feelings for-and stowing away on a Moon-bound ship to rescue her siblings from the wrath of the government who killed their mother. But when Phaet makes the agonizing decision to return to the Moon, she finds the rebel movement there has turned her into their "Girl Sage," a symbol of their struggle. She's the biggest celebrity on the Moon: half the people worship her, and the other half want her dead.

Canadian exchange student Kurt Schreiber spends a year in Germany, learning more than he bargained for about his grandfather's life in Hitler's army. Kurt’s opa – grandfather – has never been willing to talk about his time as a German soldier, so Kurt has some deep concerns about what he might have done during the war. He's seen the movies, like Schindler’s List, and he hopes and prays his grandfather couldn’t have been involved in atrocities. Spending a year in Germany to do language training seems like a good chance to find out more, or at least to improve his German. One day, he visits the graveyard in the town he’s staying in, just outside Berlin. An old man speaks to him, calling him by his grandfather’s name, which was also Kurt Schreiber. It is Herr Brandt, the elder Schreiber's life-long friend. Kurt gets to know this man – the only one who can tell him all about his grandfather’s time in the war – because he was there. Kurt learns about his grandfather’s childhood in the Hitler Youth and his time in the German army, on the Eastern Front. Herr Brandt doesn’t try to minimize the horror of those times or to absolve himself of responsibility as a soldier. But through his story, Kurt comes to understand how as children, and later as young men, the two were drawn into participation in a war based on lies. This wonderfully written and carefully researched novel tells a story that illuminates history and fills in the texture and complexity that lie behind the bare facts.

The Fourth Down needs a drummer, and Sidney's easily the best in the school. But the all-male band has conditions for her to be allowed in—such as dressing like a girl. Accustomed to invisibility, Sid soon discovers the consequences to her makeover. It's not only that playing kit in a skirt is impractical. But as someone once taunted about her sexuality for being a drum-playing girl who likes shop class, now Sid is forced to deal with guys who think her new look makes her fair game. Sidney begins to realize the price of compromising who you really are.