Books published by publisher Red Deer Press

Kate Allen, a fifteen-year-old girl, travels back in time to the Tudor court of Henry VII. While there, she is mistaken for an absent Katherine of Aragon, and subsequently takes the place of the young woman positioned to become the first wife of the future king Henry VIII. In her present time, Kate has been dealing with drastic changes in her life; hence the journey into the past is a welcome relief. But gradually, she recognizes her own ability to adapt and learns to stop running from the things she fears, and embrace life, a decision that will make a difference to her in times to come.

Ann Connor Brimer Award for Children's Literature finalist, 2013 The Children's Literature Roundtables of Canada's Information Book Award finalist, 2012 2013 Ann Connor Brimer Award for Children's Literature nominee Sierra Leone is the poorest country in Africa. Yet it is populated by people who are hopeful, and aspire to better themselves through education, proper health care, and through putting behind them the horrors of civil war. Kathleen Martin spent several weeks in the tiny village of Kamakwie in the interior of the West African country. Here she spoke to the people -- and the children -- about their lives, their aspirations, their memories of war. The experience was a revelation, which she has so wonderfully chronicled in this moving and inspiring portrait of a people willing to forgive so they can look to the future with regained hope and dignity.

2014 Silver Birch Express Award nominee Jason's mom says he is a problem, and puts him in a group home. Now Jason has to live with boys and grown-ups he doesn't know. Jason thinks, Now I'm in a house that isn't my house. I watch their hands and feet. When hands and feet move fast, you're going to get hit. There's a big bubble of mad inside Jason. It makes him yell and throw things. Jason wants to be good and move home again, but the mad bubble just won't go away.

Mona and Bird witness something terrible from their treetop perches and suddenly life changes forever. On this side of the sky, Mona and her kid sister, Bird, hide in the woods each day because it's far better than being home. But then there's the other side, the side Bird dreams of while she sits in the tall trees she climbs to get away from a life devoid of love. Bird may be eight, but her mind's only five, and Mona has to babysit her most of the time. All their father can do when he gets home is lie on the couch and watch TV, and with another baby on the way, it seems like Mona's mother is always too occupied with her own problems and misery to pay any attention to her. They don't have many friends, but Mona and Bird have always had each other and the hideout of the hidden lake to run to when they needed to escape from mothers and fathers and teachers and bullies and the friends they want and the friends who need their help. But then Mona and Bird witness something terrible in the woods, and suddenly life changes forever for Mona and the others trapped on this side of the sky. Written from Mona's perspective, this translation of a Governor General's Literary Award-nominee and winner of the PRIX DU LIVRE M. CHRISTIE explores themes of racism, sexual abuse, low self-esteem and the pain all these inflict on those who deserve it least. Due to more mature content, this book is recommended for children 14 and up. IBBY Honour List (Translation French to English), 2008 CCBC's Best Books for Kids and Teens, 2008 "Starred Choice"

Kacey and Sara have been the best of friends since grade three. They did everything together. But then Kacey left and Sara had to learn to cope with her life after that moment. She knows everyone at school is staring and whispering about her behind her back. And the "Obnoxious Counsellor" that her parents force her to meet with thinks writing letters to Kacey in a journal will help Sara deal with her grief. Her parents and teachers are trying to convince her that life needs to get back to normal — but how can anything ever be normal again? She and Kacey had plans — college together, vacations around the world, best friends together forever. But then Kacey chose to end her life and Sara was left to try to understand what it all meant. Dawn Green's novel for young adults is an emotional and moving look at a young teenage girl's journey towards understanding after her best friend's suicide.

In the great frozen expanse of the high Arctic, Pani, a young Inuit girl, longs to be a great hunter of polar bears like her parents before her. But first, says Pani's grandmother, she must become a great fisher. The next day at the fishing hole, Pani hooks her first fish. In honor of her accomplishment her grandmother presents her with a special ivory fishing lure that once belonged to Pani's mother.Proud of her lure, Pani tells her friends that it is magic and someday she will be a great hunter. But they mock her, insisting that only men can become great hunters. Hurt by their jeers, Pani puts her hands over her ears and runs and runs. Before she knows it she is far out on the polar ice, where she encounters the pale shape of a wounded polar bear cub. Now she must decide whether to hunt or help. "It's all right, Nanook," she says to the weakened cub. "I will take care of you." Inspired by a traditional Inuit legend, The Polar Bear's Gift is about the compassion and resourcefulness of a young girl with ambitious dreams. It is Pani's trial and her triumph to discover that what makes a great hunter is not necessarily a straight aim. It is the lure of the heart on the cold arctic ice.

Found as a baby outside a school in China, Kelly Stroud is adopted and raised by North American parents. One day, her dad leaves the house to buy milk, and doesn't come back. Struggling anew with what it means to be loved and then left behind, Kelly embarks with her mother on a journey back to China in search of her cultural roots. The Finding Place is an adventure story which moves from urban North America to the magical landscape of Yangshuo, China. It is also the tale of a young girl's coming-of-age, written in the voice of an international adoptee whose unique perspective throws fresh light on the meaning of family: the people who raise us, and the parents who bring us into the world. On the Fall 2016 edition of the CCBC's Best Books for Kids and Teens

Will you walk with me, Grandmother? Will you talk with me a while? I'm finding life confusing And I'm looking for some answers To questions all around me At that school and on the street. You have always been here for me Will you help me learn to see? Nokum Is My Teacher is the poetic story of a young aboriginal boy, posing questions to his grandmother, his "Nokum," about the wider world beyond the familiarity of their home and community. Through a series of questions, Nokum guides her grandson towards an understanding of his need to fit into and learn more about this large world beyond the reserve. Nokum offers her grandson a vision of a world he can enter through imagination and reading, while retaining respect for the ways of his people. By the conclusion of the book, the young grandson has learned many new ideas from his grandmother and discovered his own wisdom in dealing with the changes in his life. "The universal themes of validating education and receiving guidance from elder family members will resonate with elementary school-age children. The authentic Cree voice, artwork, and music, provide a taste of the native culture in a context that unites the concerns of children across time and place. This book will be well-received for the value of its story as well its celebration of the identity of one of North America's First Nations." --Foreword Reviews

Take science to the zoo with you with The Kids' Guide to Zoo Animals, the latest book from award-winning biologist and photographer Michelle Gilders, author of Why Am I Rare? The Kids' Guide to Zoo Animals details 200 popular zoo animals - all illustrated in full color - with information on their classification, description, diet, habitat, behavior and range. From Axolotl and Addax to Waterbuck and Zebra, The Kids' Guide to Zoo Animals takes budding biologists into a world populated by poisonous amphibians, huge herbivores, stealthy predators, colorful birds and primeval reptiles. Enter the world of the red tomato frog of Madagascar, whose brilliant color warns predators to keep their distance, or the world of the resourceful coyote, who is equally at home in the wilderness or in our own backyards. Discover how the Komodo dragon dispatches it prey and how African wild dogs raise their young. Find out who has a 45-cm-long purple tongue and who has 13 poisonous spines along its back. The educational and entertaining text provides useful background information on the role of zoos in conservation and what it really means for a species to be "threatened" or "endangered." Learn how to make your visit to the zoo more informative and how to track down that elusive animal you just have to see. More than 200 color photographs and maps illustrate this guide, making it a valuable reference for the home-and to take to the zoo. Benjamin Franklin Award for Reference nomination Canadian Children's Book Centre Our Choice selection

Phoebe belongs to Master Duncan and works in the plantation kitchen. She sees how the other slaves are treated — the beatings and whippings, the disappearances. She hasn't seen her mother since Master Duncan sold her ten years ago. But Phoebe is trying to learn words and how to read and when she is asked to show the master's Canadian visitor, Doctor Bergman, where he can find warblers and chickadees she starts to see things differently. And Doctor Bergman has more in mind that just drawing the local birds. Phoebe's friend Shad works on the plantation as well — but mostly he worries about his brother Will. His brother is the last member of his family and he is determined to escape from the master and the tobacco plantation. He has already been caught and beaten more than once. And the stories about life in Canada can't be true, can they? How does a man survive without the master there taking care of everything?

Wild Geese, the sequel to the Governor General’s Award-winning novel Greener Grass, follows Kit Byrne and her friend Mick O’Toole after fleeing famine-ravaged Ireland. Across the Atlantic aboard a notorious “coffin ship”, through quarantine, and into the heart of North America, the two displaced teenagers endure storms, epidemics, and discrimination. Desperate to find her family in the New World, Kit is willing to sacrifice everything, even her love for Mick, to reunite the remaining orphaned Byrne children. Jack and Annie are out there somewhere and Kit will not stop searching until she finds them and her family is together again. The original "Wild Geese" were Irish soldiers fighting outside of Ireland, but the term later came to encompass all expatriate Irish. Fighting for survival a long, long way from home. People like Kit. This is her Wild Geese story.

Names should be respected. They should be valued. They should be honoured. When a name is given to an adult, it is often given based on the life that person has lived. The name is a statement about the person he or she has become. When a name is given to a child, it foretells what kind of a person that child will become. If a child is given the name He Who is Kind to Strangers, that child is destined to live a life of kindness. I know this to be true because I once knew a kind man who as a child was given that name. In The First Flute, David Bouchard tells the story of a young man given the name Dancing Raven. He was a dancer - the best from all the nations. But the other men and boys in his village don't appreciate Dancing Raven's talent - hunting, fishing and tracking are the truly important talents. Dancing Raven must prove to his village the importance of his song. Includes a cd with a reading of the story as well as music from Jan Michael Looking Wolf, a native flute player from Oregon.