Thirteen-year-old Mark Rogers knew that his Grandpa Luigi had Alzheimer s but he hadn t counted on it turning his life upside-down. When his mother suggests that the two of them move in with Grandpa and help care for him, Mark reluctantly agrees because his grandfather has always been something of a hero to him. He doesn t know, however, how strange Grandpa s behaviour has become or that the kids in his new school have a nickname for him: Crazy Luigi.

Thirteen-year-old Jane Covington doesn t want to go to Sky Lake to visit her grandmother for the summer holidays - she wants to visit her father in the north. But when she returns to the cottage on the lake with the tall cliff, she is happy to be back in the golden country sunshine. However, Jane soon involves herself in a mystery when she finds a seventy-year-old cry for help in the form of a very old letter. She traces it to the story of a suspicious fire that took place long ago. With the help of her friend Corrie and the troubled, handsome Jess, Jane researches the age-old mystery to...

It s an exciting time for seventeen-year-old Libby, as she announces to her aunt that she plans to leave Toronto in the 1950s to spend the summer living alone in the empty family home in Pinkney Corners. Libby is determined to make it on her own and to spend some time honing her skills as a writer so that she can become a novelist and journalist like her deceased mother. But living alone can be a challenge. Libby makes a little money working at the five and dime, but the local paper can t afford to hire. And then there s the strange men that she sees on the property, and the uncomfortable...

Twelve-year-old Martin Jessup, teller of tall tales and other untruths, cannot understand his sister s objections to the family s move from Winnipeg to small-town Ontario. With Dad in the military, moving is a fact of life. Settling into his new home, Martin is intrigued by a deserted house across the street and by an unfriendly neighbour, who seems to be waiting for something to happen. Martin and new friends Granger and Holly form a club that meets in the deep end of an empty swimming pool. The friends tell Martin that the deserted house is all that remains of the Govier estate and about...

Rather than face the consequences of his attempted shoplifting, twelve-year-old Joel Osler leaves his mothers home in Toronto to go live with his dad and stepmother in Turtle Narrows. He hopes to make a fresh start in the little lakeside town. On the way, he meets a man who shows him the map with its three clues. Joel finds an unlikely ally in the fiercely independent Paige Duggan, a Grade Seven classmate at the school he now attends. Paige lives with her guardian and a growing number of rescued animals in a tiny cottage they call the Mousehole. In an effort to avoid his stepmother and...

The Osler family has just moved into the old Clifton House, with its unusual little rooftop room. Dropping in at his dads shop, Joel overhears a stranger demanding money. Suddenly, it looks like they might lose the house. If that happens, Joel wont be able to keep his dog. He is desperate for a solution. Can the houses historical connections provide the answer?

Mary Pickford's ambition, passion, innate talent, and savvy business acumen sent her career into the stratosphere and set the blueprint for the modern movie star. Born Gladys Louise Smith in 1892, Pickford was raised in a house on University Avenue in Toronto and began her acting career on the stage. However, her determination led her to the new world of motion pictures, where she not only revolutionized acting method but negotiated her own terms for the highest salary for any actress and complete creative control over her films - unheard of behaviour for a woman of that period.