(4) 4-6 Kevin's family receives a mysterious invitation to stay at a house in Halifax. Soon after arrival, Kevin starts hearing a ghost: "Where's Michael? What have you done with my boy?" Some investigating leads to the discovery of a family secret tied to the Titanic disaster. The real-life events on which the story is based are fascinating; the ghost story is mildly chilling.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Kasia Charko. A starstruck boy in an 1899 Yukon gold rush town blows his big opportunity to perform in a Wild West show but ends up using his fancy lassoing to stop a thief. Pure hokum, and the writing relies too heavily on clichés, but the energetic illustrations are crowd pleasers and the book's many plot twists and turns are fun.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Paul Mombourquette. Noah hides his cat, Shadow, in his bag when he and his father set out on the long and difficult journey to Alaska in pursuit of gold-rush riches. In the end, the feline stowaway proves her worth. Although Noah's success at hiding first Shadow and then her five kittens is hardly credible, it makes for a good (if lengthy) story, and the skillful oil paintings, which flesh out the details about the trip, bring a slice of history to life.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(4) 4-6 In 1897, sixteen-year-old Ned leaves his home in Victoria, British Columbia, in pursuit of Klondike gold. The novel charts his struggles in the north while following Catherine, a teenage girl running away from her past, and Ned's twelve-year-old sister, Sarah, as they, too, make the dangerous trek to the mining town. The plot is full of coincidences, but the characters are appealing and the setting is wonderfully realized.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Paul Mombourquette. Emma loves the "silkers," fast-moving trains that race the clock with their valuable cargoes of silk. When one of the silkers derails, Emma hopes to find a missing bolt of the precious fabric for a silk garment of her own. Securing the silk from the fast-moving river almost costs her life--then saves it. The text and the richly colored oil paintings provide a fine portrayal of another place and time.

Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Sheena Lott. Too excited to sleep on her first night in the mountains, a girl thinks about the quiet magic of the cold, snowy landscape. Watercolors depict the family's snowy adventures hiking, skiing, and playing an icicle xylophone. The overly lyrical text is written in the first person but does not come close to the thought or speech patterns of a young girl.

Reviewer: Suzy Schmidt