Charis Cotter

A creepy, mysterious dollhouse takes center stage in this atmospheric middle-grade mystery for fans of Doll Bones and Small Spaces. Alice's world is falling apart. Her parents are getting a divorce, and they've cancelled their yearly cottage trip -- the one thing that gets Alice through the school year. Instead, Alice and her mom are heading to some small town where Alice's mom will be a live-in nurse to a rich elderly lady. The house is huge, imposing and spooky, and everything inside is meticulously kept and perfect -- not a fun place to spend the summer. Things start to get weird when Alice finds a dollhouse in the attic that's an exact replica of the house she's living in. Then she wakes up to find a girl asleep next to her in her bed -- a girl who looks a lot like one of the dolls from the dollhouse . . . When the dollhouse starts to change when Alice isn't looking, she knows she has to solve the mystery. Who are the girls in the dollhouse? What happened to them? And what is their connection to the mean and mysterious woman who owns the house?

The Dollhouse: A Ghost Story

Seeking solace in the attics of their adjoining houses in 1960s Toronto, Polly and Rose develop an unlikely friendship based on Rose's ability to see and talk to ghosts.

A Ghost Story

The Swallow

Ghosts, a family curse, buried secrets -- and two girls who have to figure it all out. A new book from an acclaimed author, for fans of Coraline, Doll Bones and The Night Gardener. For the first time, Ruth is heading to Newfoundland to stay with family she's never met instead of spending the summer traveling with her dad. When she arrives, she finds life in the small community of Buckle very different from Toronto--everyone knows everyone else, and some of them believe in ghosts and The Sight and family curses. Ruth's cousin Ruby is also staying for the summer, and the two discover they have a lot in common: they both lost their moms when they were two years old, they're the same age and they even like the same food. But while Ruby believes in spirits and fairies, Ruth believes in science and cold, hard facts. When they find ominous information on some tombstones in the local cemetery, Ruth and Ruby start investigating their family's past and discover that twin girls are born in every generation, and every set of twins dies young, leaving their children without mothers. What's more, one of the twins always has The Sight and can see the Ghost Road that leads to the mysterious lost settlement of Slippers Cove. What happened there? What does it have to do with their family? And who is the ghostly presence that keeps visiting Ruth late at night? The answers lie somewhere along the Ghost Road . . . if they can only find it.

The Ghost Road

On her summer vacation, Ruth and her cousin Ruby begin exploring their family history, discovering that a twin from the previous generation was rumored to have The Sight and could see the Ghost Road leading to the lost settlement of Slippers Cove.

The ghost road

Painting

Seeking solace in the attics of their adjoining houses in 1960s Toronto, Polly, an imaginative girl from a large family, and Rose, a sharp-tongued waif whose parents leave her alone frequently, develop an unlikely friendship based on Rose's ability to see and talk to ghosts.

The Swallow: a Ghost Story

By offering a dramatic episode from their childhoods, a profile of five junior royals reveals the often startling realities of the life and times of these child rulers, including Mary Queen of Scots, the Dalai Lama of Tibet, and King Tutankhamun. Simultaneous.

The Remarkable Lives of Five Child Monarchs

Kids Who Rule

Adapted from family stories told across Newfoundland and passed down over generations, these 10 spine-tingling tales traverse centuries and introduce readers to nooks and the Island's nooks and crannies. This spooky collection features black-and-white illustrations as well as traditional context on each story and the art of storytelling in Newfoundland.

Ghost Stories from Old Newfoundland

Screech!

Photographs and text capture the changing face of Toronto, Ontario between the two world wars.

Life in the City 1919-1939

Toronto Between the Wars

Terry Durack

"1001 Foods" is a delicious collection of the best foods the world has to offer, from Julia Child's recipe for scrambled eggs to Mexican Chicken Mole and everything in between. Each food is described in loving detail, including fascinating insights into its historical and cultural significance, and illustrated with stunning, appetizing photographs. The subject foods are organized according to the structure of a classic dinner: from Soup to Nuts. There are recipes and features throughout on particular subjects such as the best chicken dishes, the most expensive ingredients, the most delicious artisanal cheeses of the world, and many others. The arbiters of the list are food professionals whose names are known in kitchens and bookstores worldwide. They share their expert opinions on the whole foods, dishes and cuisines that must be experienced at least once in a lifetime. Contributions from Nigella Lawson, Madhur Jaffrey, Jamie Oliver, Delia Smith, Rick Stein, Bill Granger, Claudia Roden, Jill Dupleix, Ken Hom and Donna Hay among others.

The Greatest Gastronomic Sensations on Earth

1001 Foods

An atmospheric, illustrated storybook about the thrill of listening to ghost stories, and a ghostly goodbye.

A Mysterious Tale

Footsteps in Bay de Verde

Marc Mongeau

Provides a brief history of ghost stories around the world, including gliding ghosts in Africa, hungry ghosts in China, and skeleton ghosts in Alaska.

A World Full of Ghosts

A collective biography of nine people who were brilliant as children highlights the lives and accomplishments of poet Phillis Wheatley, comedian Buster Keaton, and musician Stevie Wonder.

The Remarkable Lives of Nine Child Prodigies

Wonder Kids

In the 1970s, artist Gerald Squires moved, with his wife and two young daughters, into the abandoned lighthouse-keeper's house in Ferryland, Newfoundland. Shortly after their arrival, they had a visitor - one who claimed to be the former constable of the area and who regaled them with stories of the place and its previous occupants. A visitor, they soon learned, who was more than he appeared to be. Acclaimed children's writer Charis Cotter tells the tale of this mysterious visitor from the perspective of Esther, the youngest daughter. In beautifully crafted language, Cotter captures the delight of a curious young girl discovering her new landscape, the excitement of living in a lighthouse at the edge of the ocean, and the haunting mystery of the visitor himself. Renowned artist Gerald Squires has contributed paintings and drawings of the lighthouse and its surrounding landscape, as well as family photographs taken during the lighthouse years. The result is a book of striking beauty - part family album, part art book, all mystery.

The Ferryland Visitor

Winner of Heritage Toronto's Award of Excellence, Book category in 2005. The pace of life in Toronto picked up after 1919 and never slowed down again. During the 1920s and '30s, Toronto went through massive changes that affected the physical and the social life of the city. In these two decades between World War I and World War II, Toronto was finding its place in the swiftly changing world of the twentieth century. Toronto Between the Wars features 180 archival photographs of Toronto during this fascinating period. Each picture is accompanied by a captivating story about some aspect of life in the city. During this period, cars became commonplace, the downtown skyline changed as new skyscrapers were built, and women's roles changed dramatically. Then the Depression sent the economy into a tailspin, unemployment became rampant and poverty took its toll. People struggled to afford the basic necessities and lived under the shadow of a growing threat of another war in Europe. The text reveals little known facts, such as how a leading retail family kept their interest in a major downtown property secret for twenty years. Photographs capture unguarded moments with startling immediacy: a tired but happy group of disheveled merrymakers waiting for a bus; two women in flouncy bridesmaid dresses; an old man cleaning the statue of Queen Victoria; and children buying fish from an itinerant fishmonger. With intriguing pictures and absorbing text, Toronto Between the Wars offers a rare opportunity to observe life in Toronto during a critical time in its history.

Presents the lives and careers of six famous children's authors, including C.S. Lewis and E.B. White, and reflects on how their childhoods influenced their writings as adults.

The Remarkable Lives of Six Famous Authors

Born to Write

A haunting, beautiful middle-grade novel about fractured relationships, loss, ghosts, friendship and art. Annie and her mother don't see eye to eye. When Annie finds a painting of a lonely lighthouse in their home, she is immediately drawn to it--and her mother wishes it would stay banished in the attic. To her, art has no interest, but Annie loves drawing and painting. When Annie's mother slips into a coma following a car accident, strange things begin to happen to Annie. She finds herself falling into the painting and meeting Claire, a girl her own age living at the lighthouse. Claire's mother Maisie is the artist behind the painting, and like Annie, Claire's relationship with her mother is fraught. Annie thinks she can help them find their way back to each other, and in so doing, help mend her relationship with her own mother. But who IS Claire? Why can Annie travel through the painting? And can Annie help her mother wake up from her coma? The Painting is a touching, evocative story with a hint of mystery and suspense to keep readers hooked.

Charis Cotter

Books

Your next favorite book is out there