Books published by publisher Sonoma Press

When Jessa wins a trip for two to horse camp, she and Cheryl are so excited they can hardly think of anything else. But Camp Singing Waters may not be a blissful getaway. Feuding campers, a lame horse and drafty cabins are bad enough, but should they have listened more carefully to Mrs. Bailey's ominous warnings about Dr. Rainey's experiments with witchcraft? Or, are the late-night ghost stories around the campfire just fuelling their overactive imaginations?

Banished from his tribe, twelve-year-old Dominique's quest continues as he reaches the great port city of Carnillo. Civil strife and rumours of imminent invasion bring suspicion upon all who walk the streets. Arrested and imprisoned, Dominique receives help from an unexpected ally and is drawn into a confusing conspiracy of constantly shifting alliances. As he attempts to unravel the truth behind the strange web of conflicting stories about his father, Dominique learns there is a greater challenge before him. It will require all of his inner resources to help mend the rift that tore his people asunder centuries earlier. Second in the Estorian Chronicles trilogy, The Battle for Carnillo continues to explore the nature of story and the power wielded by those who control information. Inspired by the myths, legends, and folktales of cultures from around the world, Tate weaves an exciting tale of adventure as one young boy struggles to understand the beliefs, prejudices, and shortcomings of his own people.

Twelve-year-old Dominique fails to complete a deadly serious ritual and is banished from his place with the Estorian people, a tribe of nomadic storytellers. He must travel alone to a distant cave where, it is believed, he will find the voice he has always longed for. His quest takes him to far-off lands where he must do battle with a mighty river serpent, outwit pungent yagabonos, and survive capture by a group of powerful leranons. Inspired by the creatures and legends of a variety of mythologies, Nikki Tate has created a world where there is no greater honour-and no greater challenge-than being a magnificent storyteller. The first novel in the Estorian Chronicles Trilogy, Cave of Departure introduces a feisty young word warrior and his female counterpart, Amana, the Campriano, whose relentless search for the truth is destined to change Dominique's life forever.

Twelve-year-old Pepper and her misfit brother, Everett, are spending their summer on Shack Island with Grandma. Pepper has mysterious dreams that foretell the future, so she decides to practice her ESP skills to see if she can get better at it. Pepper also knows she is adopted, but she knows nothing of her real family. As the summer days and starlit nights begin to work their magic, Pepper decides her Shack Island summer will be an excellent time to try to find out who they might be. By the end of the summer, she’ll have some answers...but they might not be the ones she’s looking for.

Anneke had heard the noise too. A twig cracking. Slow steps coming from the partly overgrown path. Was it the cougar? The bear? Searchers? She'd have to outsmart them all. Bear, play dead and dumb; cat, play big and brave. . .When her mother is no longer able to take care of her, eleven-year-old Anneke takes her border collie, Sheera, and moves to a cave near her home in the Kootenay mountains. Although she knows how to survive and stay hidden in the woods, she is shaken by a close encounter with a cougar and a terrifying thunderstorm. Anneke may need to turn to the kind foster parents she stayed with several years earlier, but they are poor substitutes for the mother she misses so much. Why can't the doctors find the right medication to control her mother's schizophrenia? Anneke finds comfort from Gram, who lost her own mother at an early age, and in her talent in woodworking, as she copes with a difficult summer of changes and adjustments. Summer of Changes is the first in a series of realistic adventure stories by award-winning author Ann Alma.

For twelve-year-old Anneke, the summer has brought uncertainty and change. Her dream of creating a home with her mother, who has schizophrenia, seems increasingly remote. When Anneke's foster parents offer her the possibility of adoption, she must face some difficult choices. Her struggle to discover where she really belongs takes a new direction after she rescues a Japanese carving, a netsuke, from a rushing river, a direction that leads Anneke and her friend Ken to the Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre and then into the beautiful, unforgiving Kootenay mountains. Lost in the wild, the two friends, accompanied by Anneke's dog, Sheera, must draw on all their strength and courage to survive. In the end, both Anneke and Ken will discover what family really means. Summer of Adventures is the second book in Ann Alma's Summer series. Resource Links recommended that "all elementary school libraries obtain Summer of Changes," the first book in the series, because it is "full of pathos, optimism, and love [and] written in a very realistic and appealing style."

Faye finds an old diary at a tack sale and becomes absorbed in the life of Mary Inglis and her mount, Colleen, as they train and ride as show jumpers. It’s a wonderful distraction from Faye’s state of mind. She’s been taking some time off from jumping to recover from a fall. While her shoulder is getting better, her memories aren’t. Every time she recalls the fall, she panics. In this fourth Hillcroft Farm novel, horsewoman and talented storyteller Julie White skillfully intertwines a tale from the early days of women in international competition with Faye’s journey back to the show ring after a nasty accident.

During the U.S. Prohibition of the 1920s, an illegal, one-way trade in alcohol arose. Canadian brews flowed south, and American dollars flowed north, creating fortunes that can still be seen in Canadian society today. Central to this trade were the rum-runners, their loaded boats speeding through dark waters, dodging pirates and the U.S. Coast Guard to bring their illegal cargo to thirsty Americans. In Chasing the Moon, Penny Chamberlain drops young, courageous Kit feet-first into this dangerous world. With her mother in a tuberculosis sanatorium, Kit must spend the summer with her estranged father, whose mysterious nighttime activities and free-spending habits arouse her suspicions. Then a strange carnival boy enters the picture. He has an eerie way with a tarot deck that shakes Kit to the core. Still, something about him engages Kit, and, together, they embark on a headlong journey that will carry them from the dark waters south of Victoria to the "blind pigs" of Seattle. On the way, Kit will discover depths of insight she did not know she possessed, and will win for herself one of her dearest wishes.