Books with author Shirlee Smith Matheson

Miles Derkach is in trouble. Along with two friends, he stole a car and went joyriding. When the dust clears, he is all alone and his friends have left, leaving him to take the blame—and the punishment—while maintaining his silence. Placed on probation and sentenced to community service, Miles begins working for a man who after suffering a stroke and not being able to drive, has kept his beloved hot rod under wraps in the garage. Seeing a chance to learn more about cars and pursue his dream of becoming a mechanic, Miles helps to restore the car. When the hot rod is stolen and Miles is the prime suspect, he realizes that he must confront his friends and stand up for himself.

Miles Derkach is in trouble. Along with two friends, he stole a car and went joyriding. When the dust clears, he is all alone and his friends have left, leaving him to take the blame -- and the punishment -- while maintaining his silence. Placed on probation and sentenced to community service, Miles begins working for a man who after suffering a stroke and not being able to drive, has kept his beloved hot rod under wraps in the garage. Seeing a chance to learn more about cars and pursue his dream of becoming a mechanic, Miles helps to restore the car. When the hot rod is stolen and Miles is the prime suspect, he realizes that he must confront his friends and stand up for himself.

On the run from the authorities and the angry townspeople of Weasel City, British Columbia, in the early 1940s, teenage Loretta and her younger brother, Teddy, travel with their gambling stepfather, "Bean-Trap" Braden, as he strikes out in search of a good poker game in the Canadian and American West.Loretta and Teddy try to adjust to life on the run as they shuttle from ghost town to ghost town, jumping borders and stowing away on trucks, sleds, and trains. As the children make friends in places like Butte, Montana; Spokane, Washington; and Ferguson, British Columbia, Bean-Trap creates enemies wherever they go. Loretta and Teddy try to persuade their father to keep on the straight and narrow, but instead Bean-Trap schemes to stay one step ahead of all the sore losers who are right behind him and hot on the trail of his gold.

Angela Wroboski has recently moved with her mother from their small hometown into the city to rid them of a dark past. Now, Angela must deal with the fact that her home will be anything but "normal." Her dad, the infamous Nick "The Weasel" Wroboski, has served three jail terms for various crimes, including robbery, during her lifetime, and on June 5, Angela's fifteenth birthday, he's released from a two-year sentence in Fort Gavin Prison. Arriving home with an attitude and attire that's sure to mess up her friendships and future, The Weasel tries in his own way to prove that this time he's going straight. But the influence of the old gang, led by notorious Uncle Al who's now operating an enigmatic "business" that's more than a little shady, remains a constant threat to Nick's future as a family man. When Angela learns that a crime is being planned that could blow apart her family, she must quickly decide how to intervene without breaking her father's code to "never discuss family business outside the home."

The sequel to Shirlee Smith Matheson’s critically acclaimed Prairie Pictures follows the main character, Sherri, as she is uprooted once again and forced to adjust to life in Calgary and get ready to start at yet another new school. Sherri is thrilled to instantly make a new friend in Sam, the girl next door. A year older than Sherri, Sam is happy to show Sherri how to dress and behave. Eager to fit in, Sherri follows Sam’s lead until she discovers that appearances can be deceiving. Sometimes, it is hard to tell what is genuine from what is phony.

Fifteen-year-old Jay Smith's quite life in the Alaska wilderness is shattered when his uncle, Midnight, arrives in his yellow Norseman airplane with news of war. It is 1942, and Canada and the United States have joined forces in a desperate bid to defend North America against Japanese attack. Together the two countries will build a 1,500-mile highway through the wilderness in only eight months. Suddenly Jay's life is filled with adventure and the colorful characters he meets working along the Alaska Highway. As the highway nears completion, Midnight disappears in the Valley of Lost Planes, and Jay sets off to find him. But will a strange old prospector named Goldbug, who guards lost planes, let him into the valley?

For twelve-year-old Sherri, moving is a way of life. Her family has lived in seven different places in as many years, three in the last year alone. But no place has ever been as strange as the ranching community of Gardin, where the Old West meets new industry and the community is divided between longtime residents and recent arrivals. Initially aligning herself with another outsider, Sherri realizes that she would rather look for friendships based on more than the arbitrary divisions that exist among her peers. But just as she starts to feel at home in Gardin, her parents announce plans to uproot the family once again.

Miles Derkach is in trouble. Along with two friends, he stole a car and went joyriding. When the dust clears, he is all alone and his friends have left, leaving him to take the blame—and the punishment—while maintaining his silence. Placed on probation and sentenced to community service, Miles begins working for a man who after suffering a stroke and not being able to drive, has kept his beloved hot rod under wraps in the garage. Seeing a chance to learn more about cars and pursue his dream of becoming a mechanic, Miles helps to restore the car. When the hot rod is stolen and Miles is the prime suspect, he realizes that he must confront his friends and stand up for himself.

Angela Wroboski has recently moved with her mother from their small hometown into the city to rid them of a dark past. Now, Angela must deal with the fact that her home will be anything but "normal." Her dad, the infamous Nick "The Weasel" Wroboski, has served three jail terms for various crimes, including robbery, during her lifetime, and on June 5, Angela's fifteenth birthday, he's released from a two-year sentence in Fort Gavin Prison. Arriving home with an attitude and attire that's sure to mess up her friendships and future, The Weasel tries in his own way to prove that this time he's going straight. But the influence of the old gang, led by notorious Uncle Al who's now operating an enigmatic "business" that's more than a little shady, remains a constant threat to Nick's future as a family man. When Angela learns that a crime is being planned that could blow apart her family, she must quickly decide how to intervene without breaking her father's code to "never discuss family business outside the home."

Keeper of the Mountains follows fifteen-year-old Chris’ trials and growth in crossing 800 miles of rivers, muskeg and mountains. Discoveries made on the expedition bring Chris to a personal crossroads, when he makes his own expedition into the sacred twin mountains and dramatically discovers the meaning of being a &quotKeeper&quot. Shirlee Smith Matheson’s tale is a rugged and wondrous blending of fact and fiction, rendered into dramatic accuracy.

The sequel to Shirlee Smith Matheson’s critically acclaimed Prairie Pictures follows the main character, Sherri, as she is uprooted once again and forced to adjust to life in the city and get ready to start at yet another new school. Sherri is thrilled to instantly make a new friend in Sam, the girl next door. A year older than Sherri, Sam is happy to show Sherri how to dress and behave. Eager to fit in, Sherri follows Sam’s lead until she discovers that appearances can be deceiving. Sometimes, it is hard to tell what is genuine from what is phony.

Short-listed for the 1997 Canadian Children's Book Centre Our Choice On the run from the authorities and the angry townspeople of Weasel City, British Columbia, in the early 1940s, teenage Loretta and her younger brother, Teddy, travel with their gambling stepfather, "Bean-Trap" Braden, as he strikes out in search of a good poker game in the Canadian and American West. Loretta and Teddy try to adjust to life on the run as they shuttle from ghost town to ghost town, jumping borders and stowing away on trucks, sleds, and trains. As the children make friends in places like Butte, Montana; Spokane, Washington; and Ferguson, British Columbia, Bean-Trap creates enemies wherever they go. Loretta and Teddy try to persuade their father to keep on the straight and narrow, but instead Bean-Trap schemes to stay one step ahead of all the sore losers who are right behind him and hot on the trail of his gold.