WINNER
THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING WILL by Jena Mayer
Thistledown Press, 1991 Paper 0-920633-90-0
Fifteen-year-old Meredith and her friend Samantha decide to explore an abandoned mansion one day. During their explorations they encounter a ghost who makes an unusual request of them.
NOMINEES
DEAD WATER ZONE by Kenneth Oppel
Kids Can Press, 1992 Paper 1-55074-092-X
Sixteen-year-old Paul must leave the safety of his home to search for his brother Sam in Watertown. This polluted shantytown is inhabited by dangerous criminals and run by a corrupt police force. There in the Dead Water Zone Paul meets Monica, whose reason for helping him is a mysterious as the secret that is threatening Sam’s life.
THE DRAGON’S TAPESTRY by Martine Bates
Red College Press, 1992 Paper 0-88995-080-6
Dragons haven’t flown in the land of Ve for generations. The villagers of Marmawell scoff at rumours of dragon trouble in the north. Young Marwen, the hearer’s apprentice, senses the dragon’s magic and knows that death and destruction are coming. No one will listen to her warnings. Marwen’s destiny will lead her to lost lands, a powerful magic and a terrifying mystery.
ELLEN/ELĖNA/LUNA by Paul Kropp
Maxwell Macmillan, 1992 Paper 0-02-954-1379
Ellen decides on a dare to become “more interesting” and places a personal ad in the school newspaper. On her first date with a punk rocker she becomes the mysterious model Luna. With her next date, she changes her identity to become the flirtsy Elėna. However, life soon becomes too complicated and she must figure out who she is once and for all.
FOGHORN PASSAGE by Alison Lohans
Stoddart, 1992 Paper 0-7737-5496-2
Sammie Franklin can’t handle the sight of sixteen-year-old Matt Bruckner, a brilliant violinist who has been left paraplegic after a tragic accident. The pain and unfairness of Matt’s situation remind Sammie all too vividly of her father’s recent death. Becoming friends with a bitter and angry Matt and helping him find a reason to live, set Sammie on the road to her own recovery.
GARTH AND THE MERMAID by Barbara Smucker
King, 1992 Cloth 0-670-84614-7
A terrible accident hurdles Garth Merriman into his history project on medieval times. In his attempt to free himself from peasant life in 14th century England, he must overcome many challenges.
THE GIRL FROM AWAY by Clare Mowat
McClelland, 1992 Paper 0-7704-2571-2
Thirteen-year-old Andrea Baxter is being packed off to Newfoundland for the Christmas holiday while her mother and new step dad go to Florida for their honeymoon. Andrea’s anticipation of a boring time with her uncle and aunt and two male cousins proves to be dead wrong. Christmas in the small fishing village of Anderson Arm is full of exciting traditions and surprising events.
HAL THE THIRD-CLASS HERO by Sonia Craddock
HarperCollins, 1992 Paper 0-00647-415-2
Hal responds to the King’s advertisement for a hero to rescue his daughter who has been seized by a sea serpent. His maddening, funny, frightening and sometimes downright weird adventures make for fun and entertaining reading.
HERO OF LESSER CAUSES by Julie Johnston
Lester Publishing Ltd. 1992 Paper 1-895555-43-4
In the hot summer of 1946 Keely Connor faces a mission more difficult than any of the imaginary ones she has dreamed up in her 12 years. Her beloved older brother Patrick is transformed by polio from a dare-devil to a helpless invalid. Keely’s task of saving her brother is both daunting and heroic.
JACK’S BACK by Norah McClintock
Scholastic, 1992 Paper 0-590-74350-3
High school student Jack Thorne has “returned from the dead” after months in a coma. Suffering from total amnesia, he’s a stranger in his own life. The way his family, friends and teachers react to him suggest that the “old” Jack is definitely “not back” and maybe it’s just as well. While trying to unravel the mystery of who he was and the circumstances around his accident, Jack uncovers some disturbing and frightening information.
MY MOTHER’S GHOST by Margaret Buffie
Kids Can Press, 1992 Paper 1-55074-091-1
Frightening things are happening at the Willow Creek Ranch, where sixteen-year-old Jess and her parents have moved after the death of her younger brother. She thinks she’s seeing things. What happened at the ranch so long ago? Jess is afraid to find out but it’s something she must do.
NO SIGNATURE by William Bell
Doubleday, 1992 Paper 0-385-25379-6
Seventeen-year-old Wick Chandler sets out to find his father who abandoned him ten years before. Torn by conflicting emotions for his father, their reunion brings discoveries which shatter his world.
SPUD SWEETGRASS by Brian Doyle
Groundwood Books 1992 Paper 0-88899-189-4
Who is dumping chip grease in the Ottawa River and ruining the beach where Spud Sweetgrass and his girlfriend play E.S.L. volleyball? Taking on the likely culprit Dumper Stubbs will be dangerous but Spud is up to the challenge.
TICKET TO CURLEW by Celia Barker Lottride
Groundwood, 1992 Cloth 0-88899-1630
In 1915 Sam Ferrier and his father arrive in Curlew, Alberta and begin to build a new home. The isolation of the long winter is made more bearable by new friends and adventure.