Books with author Marah Ellis

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Winner of the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Book Prize in Canada, The Baby Project tells the poignant story of a family forced to make hard adjustments. Jessica and her brother Simon are somewhat shocked when their high-powered engineer mother announces she is pregnant. While Simon is off in his own teenage world of sports and music, 11-year-old Jessica is more focused on home, the punk tenant in the basement, and her best friend Margaret. She and her stay-at-home dad share excitement in anticipating the new baby, and when Lucie arrives it is the happiest time in Jessica's life. But soon the entire household is turned upside down by the tragedy of the baby's sudden death. First published in hardcover as The Family Project, this realistic story, by turns funny and sad, tender and moving, is a powerful and sensitive look at a child coming to terms with death and grief. The Baby Project will long remain in the memory of young readers.

Eleven-year-old Jessica is excited about her new class project. She gets to research the animal of her choice and, with her best friend and project partner Margaret, give a multimedia presentation on the subject in front of the entire class. Then, at a family meeting, Jessica’s engineer mom announces that she’s pregnant. Her two older brothers, wrapped up in their own adolescent lives, take the news in stride but Jessica is thrilled, and so is Margaret. The two girls quickly decide that instead of researching the duck-billed platypus for their project, they’ll study babies. But despite all of their reading, research, and discussion, Jessica and her family are still unprepared for the drastic changes little Lucie brings to their lives, leaving them touched and forever changed. Tender, moving, remarkably realistic, and laced with refreshing humor throughout, this beautifully written novel is reminder of the strength that can be found in an ordinary family.

A quest set in contemporary China as two children race to find Imperial Chinese treasure to save their own farm in England. Lily was born in the Year of the Dragon. She's an impulsive child who jumps at the chance to visit her maternal grandparents in China for New Year. Mum and Dad can't be with her because their farm in England is in financial trouble. Lily and her brother Tom travel to China and both are fascinated by the different way of life. They hear about their ancestor -- Grandfather Tsui, who was a Court Artist in Imperial China, over 300 years before -- and who helped to hide Court treasures from being plundered. He left behind replicas, in a beautiful wooden box -- Lily's heirloom. When Lily finds a scrap of paper covered in Chinese characters in the box, she senses it is a clue to where the real treasure is hidden and she determines to seek this out. Together with her brother and her aunt, Lily travels to a country village between mountains and paddy fields...to search for her heirloom...her destiny.

Thirteen-year-old Polly loves life — with her single-parent mom (a stained-glass artist), her quirky best friend Vanessa (who has a crush on their English teacher), and her endearing neighbor Ernie Protheroe (who collects postal codes and TV theme songs). But when the house they live in is sold, Polly’s perfect life seems to vanish overnight. Her mom doesn’t have much luck finding them an affordable place to live. And Polly is beginning to think that having a father — and a conventional lifestyle — wouldn’t be such a bad idea. As an interim solution, Polly goes to stay with her affluent relatives. But Uncle Roger turns out to be crass and chilly, his wife is self-indulgent, and their daughter, Polly’s teenage cousin, is on a shoplifting spree. With humor and compassion, Sarah Ellis portrays adolescent enlightenment, as Polly discovers that like the child’s game of pick-up sticks, each part of life touches every other and cannot be disturbed without affecting the whole.