Middle Grade

A selection of middle grade fiction titles featured on ALU’s Kids’ Litspace.

All Books in this Collection

Showing 65–68 of 68 results

  • Torn from Troy

    Torn from Troy

    By: Patrick Bowman
    $11.95

    Two-and-a half millennia after it was created, Homer’s Odyssey remains one of humanity’s most memorable adventure stories. In this re-creation of Homer’s classic as a young adult novel, we see the aftermath of the Trojan War through the eyes of Alexi, a fifteen-year-old Trojan boy. Orphaned by the war and enslaved by Odysseus himself, Alexi has a very different view of the conquering heroes of legend.

    Despite a simmering anger towards his captors, Alexi gradually develops a grudging respect for them. As the Greeks fight off the angry Cicones, weather a storm that pushes them far beyond charted waters, and nearly succumb to the blandishments of the bewitching Lotus-eaters, he realizes that they are not the demons they were said to be, but people like himself.

    At the same time, Alexi’s quick thinking, bravery, and the healing skills that he learned from his father prove to his captors that he is no ordinary slave. His key role in their escape from the Cyclops earns the respectof his master, Odysseus, and a striking discovery during their escape gives his life a newfound purpose.

    Straddling the boundary between historical fiction and mythology, Torn from Troy is written in a hard, realistic style and brings to life the travails of a bronze-age slave of the Greeks in a form that will appeal especially to teen boys. While this book is the first volume of the author’s Odyssey of a Slave trilogy, it is a compelling and fully-realized work on its own.

  • Vancouver Kids

    Vancouver Kids

    By: Lesley McKnight
    $12.95

    Children and teenagers stroll between the skyscrapers in Vancouver and experience the city in a different way than adults do. They have helped Vancouver transform from humble trading post to towering metropolis, yet how often are they asked to tell their side of the story? Vancouver Kids is a collection of tales about the unforgettable young people of the city of Vancouver. Based on personal interviews and thorough archival research, each true story is narrated in the voice of a young Vancouverite. Join in the adventure as these kids dodge the first cars on newly paved streets, watch the famous Stanley Park take shape, gaze up at brand new high-rises, and even learn the secrets—and dangers—behind big city crime.

    Vancouver Kids arrives just in time to celebrate the 125th birthday of the city of Vancouver. It is the fifth book in the Courageous Kids series, which includes Kidmonton: Stories of River City Kids, Rocky Mountain Kids, Island Kids, and Northern Kids. For more about this exciting series, please visit www.courageouskids.ca.

  • White Oneida, The

    White Oneida, The

    By: Jean Rae Baxter
    $11.95

    In her fourth historical novel dealing with British North America and the American Revolution, Jean Rae Baxter focuses on Broken Trail, a young boy who was born white but captured and adopted by the Oneida people. The great Mohawk leader Thayendanegea – known to Euro-Canadians as Joseph Brant – has chosen Broken Trail to assist him in the daunting task of uniting all the tribes and nations with the goal of establishing a country of their own. In preparation, Broken Trail must attend a Christian boarding school for native youth, where he soon finds that he has to gain the trust of young men from many different tribes whose ancient enmities lie barely concealed beneath the surface. With the help of Yellowbird, the only woman student, he discovers that the school – racist in the extreme – is a place of secrets where appearances can be deceiving and loyalty is sometimes proven in unexpected ways. As a first step, Brant sends Broken Trail on a long journey to meet with Tecumseh, the young Shawnee leader, to begin the work of union. In this tale of intrigue and adventure, Baxter once again demonstrates her ability to convert the past into living history.

  • Winds of L’ Acadie

    Winds of L’ Acadie

    By: Lois Donovan
    $11.95

    When sixteen-year-old Sarah from Toronto learns that she is to spend the summer with her grandparents in Nova Scotia, she is convinced that it will be the most tedious summer ever. She gets off to a rough start when she meets Luke, the nephew of her grandmother’s friend, and one unfortunate event leads to another. Just when she thinks her summer cannot get much worse, she finds herself transported to Acadia in 1755.

    Here she meets Anne and learns much about the Acadian culture and history and the Acadians’ relations with the Mi’kmac people. She also experiences the warmth she has always wanted of a closely knit family. When Sarah realizes that the peace-loving Acadians are about to be torn from their homes and banished to distant shores, she is desperate to find a way to help them. Forced to abandon her pampered, stylish lifestyle, Sarah uncovers a strength and determination she did not know she possessed.

    Although Sarah has to come to terms with the fact that “you can’t change history,” she is willing to risk her life to do everything in her power to help her Acadian family, and finds a surprising ally in Luke. Winds of L’Acadie, a historical novel for readers ten and up, reveals a painful part of Canadian history through the relationship of two young women from different centuries.