Books
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For Chris Khalili, cross-country running is all about winning. And the only way he can hit top speed is by imagining scary figures chasing him through the woods around his home in Victoria, B.C. When forest fires to the north cause mass destruction, Chris doesn’t see why he has to participate in the charity run to help refugees from the fire, when he should be concentrating on winning the city finals.
Chris becomes friends with Jason, a First Nations kid whose family has been displaced by the fire. He and Jason train together, but Chris is horrified that the shadowy figures in his mind have become stereotypical scary Natives. Chris is even more surprised by his dad’s sudden interest in helping Jason and his family. For the first time, Chris wonders about his father’s emigration from Iran as a young man, and starts to think about what it means to be a refugee and to have to actually run for your life. But without the fear of being pursued to spur him on, how will Chris win the big race?
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The Helmets and the Gloves have been cross-river rivals forever, so when the league decides to merge the two teams to represent their small B.C. town at a big invitational hockey tournament in Vancouver, Luke and his friends are furious. At first, nothing goes right for the newly formed team. They seem more willing to brawl on their own bench than battle their opponents.
But with the arrival of a new kid – a hotshot goal-scorer from Quebec – Luke starts to wonder about the river that divides his town. If the two sides can learn to work together, will they stand a chance against the big guns in Vancouver?
Bench Brawl is available direct from the publisher (Lorimer & Co.), Amazon, or as as an e-book.
Hardback, 128 pages ISBN 9781459407121. Paperback, 128 pages, ISBN 9781459407114. Electronic book text, ISBN 9781459407138.
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Gavin and his friends Mido and Critter are starting high school this year, which means moving from a school with a championship-winning soccer team to a school that doesn’t have a team at all. With a little encouragement from his friends and granddad, a former “footballer” from England, Gavin musters up his courage and makes a deal with the school football coach — he agrees to let the soccer team share the field while the football team practices, but Gavin will be responsible for running the team. With a newbie team made up of misfits and kids just out to have a good time, Gavin soon learns that being a good coach isn’t the same as being a good player.
Playing Favourites is available from the publisher (Lorimer & Co.), Amazon, or as as an e-book.
Playing Favourites has been selected by both the Junior Library Guild of America and the Canadian Children’s Book Centre as a recommended novel. You can read a recent review here, on Booklist.com.
Hardback, 144 pages, ISBN: 9781459402577. Paperback, 144 pages, ISBN 9781459402560. Electronic book text, ISBN 9781459402584.
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Adam loves hockey, and he’s good at it. So when his family moves to Vancouver, he’s sure he’ll impress in the elite hockey league his father signs him up for. The only problem is that he’ll have to wait three weeks to find out, and it’s tougher than Adam thought to make friends in the big city. But then he meets Rodrigo, a soccer nut whose family is from Uruguay, and finds that his hockey skills can work on the soccer field as well as the rink. He learns to love the new sport, but his closeminded father disapproves.
Breakaway is available from the publisher (Lorimer & Co.) or Amazon.
Paperback, 144 pages, ISBN 9781552778623. Hardback, 144 pages, ISBN 9781552778630.
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When Vicky and her mom pack up and move across the city to a new neighborhood, it means switching schools and leaving behind her best friend and her soccer team. Now she’ll have to try out with her former rivals, deal with racism and bullying at her new school, and struggle to maintain loyalty to her old friends while making new ones. Vicky is an incredible goalkeeper and tries to keep focused on the game she loves, but it’s not easy without the support of her friends and family. You can read a review in CM Magazine here!
Sidelined is available from the publisher (Lorimer & Co.), Amazon, or as an e-book.
Hardback, 128 pages, ISBN 9781552775516. Paperback, 128 pages, ISBN 9781552775509. Electronic book text, ISBN 9781552775523
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For Vicky Parker, life has never been better. Despite mom’s new boyfriend (ew!), Vicky and best friends Parm and Marjan seem to be shoo-ins for the soccer team and the chance to play in the tournament — in England! But friendships turn into rivalries as the pressures of tryouts get to be too much, and a charming grade twelve boy takes an interest in Vicky instead of Marjan. How far are the girls willing to go when the competition heats up? And is a trip (and a boy) worth the sacrifice of a teammate and a best friend? Read a review in CM Magazine here.
Trading Goals is available from the publisher (Lorimer & Co.), Amazon, or as as an e-book.
Paperback, 144 pages, ISBN 9781552778470. Hardback, 144 pages, ISBN 9781552774250. Electronic book text, ISBN 9781552776193.
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Trevor is also a contributor to the short story anthology Tomo. His story in the anthology is entitled “The Bridge to Lillooet” and takes place in a Japanese internment camp in Canada during World War Two. You can read an interview with Trevor on the inspiration, research and process behind his story here.
Tomo (meaning “friend” in Japanese) is an anthology of young adult short fiction in prose, verse and graphic art set in or related to Japan. This collection for readers age 12 and up features thirty-six stories—including ten in translation and two graphic narratives—contributed by authors and artists from around the world, all of whom share a connection to Japan. English-language readers will be able to connect with Japan through a wide variety of unique stories, including tales of friendship, mystery, fantasy, science fiction and history.
By sharing “friendship through fiction,” Tomo aims to bring Japan stories to readers worldwide, and in doing so, to help support young people affected or displaced by the March 11, 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami disasters. All proceeds from the sales of this book will go directly toward long-term relief efforts for teens in Tohoku, the area most affected by the disasters, in the northeast region of Japan’s main island, Honshu.
The anthology was published in March 2012. You can purchase Tomo directly from Stonebridge Publishers or from Amazon. More information (including interviews with contributors) can be found on the Tomo blog.
