In this young reader novel, ten-year-old Jeanie Leclare has just moved to the West Coast from Saskatchewan. She's desperately lonely and longs for a new friend. When the girl sitting in front of her at school seems friendly, she feels a little better. Then an excavator arrives and demolishes the cute house next door. Everyone, including Jeanie's new friend, Isabelle, is aghast. But Jeanie has a secret, a secret that she knows will turn her new classmates against her. At recess time, the excavator heads for a huge and beautiful cedar next to the school. Isabelle leads a band of kids, including Jeanie, to stop it. That's when they discover Jeanie's secret: the contracting company that destroyed the house belongs to Jeanie's uncle and father. Jeanie promises her new classmates that she'll do whatever it takes to protect the cherished tree. Trouble is, she can't convince her uncle and father to agree not to cut it down. So now it's totally up to Jeanie, Isabelle and their classmates to come to the cedar tree's defence. They are the Tree Musketeers.

Harry Jerome is one of Canada's forgotten heroes. From a skinny little kid growing up in St. Boniface, Manitoba, he rose to become "the fastest man in the world," a title he held for an incredible eight years. He achieved this, despite having to battle the prejudices he and his family had to overcome, on account of their African-Canadian heritage.In this engaging and inspiring novel, acclaimed children's writer Norma Charles has woven together Harry's fascinating life story from facts gathered through research, interviews with his family, friends and coach, and also from her own memories of his races at UBC when she was a student there.Runner is the story of one Canadian kid's determination and perseverance against enormous odds. As Norma explains, "I hope it will serve as an inspiration to youth across Canada."

Thirteen-year-old Kalu and his young cousin, Aisha, are the only survivors when their African village is overrun by rebels and burnt to the ground. After making their way to the coast, Kalu gets a job aboard a smuggler's boat heading for Ireland. When the smuggler learns that the coast guard is searching for illegal migrants, he abandons the kids on Last Chance Island off the west coast of Ireland. At the same time, fifteen-year-old Spike learns that her father has died and she is shipped off to live with a distant relative, a woman who tends the lighthouse on Last Chance Island. Angry with her new situation, Spike plans to escape to begin a new life, but in one of her forays around the island, she discovers the two Africans who by this time are starving and desperate for help. What will Spike do? Is it a last chance for both Spike and the African kids?