Description
Alexandra's beloved grandfather was fond of saying, Life is full of surprises, and sometimes the good and the bad get all bunched up together. However, he could not have prepared her for the death of her father, a man she never knew, and his legacy -- a cabin on prairie land formerly owned by the LaFreniere family.
Lonny LaFreniere's stepfather is the kindest man Lonny has ever known. But Lonny, tormented by guilty memories and visions he can't shake, rejects the land Pop always wanted to pass on to him. How could he have known it would end up in the hands of a city girl like Alexandra Sinclair? Acclaimed author Martha Brooks tells an unforgettable story about two teens and their quest to understand the land and each other.
Author Bio
MARTHA BROOKS is an award-winning novelist, playwright and jazz singer whose books have been published in Spain, Italy, Japan, Denmark, England, Germany and Australia, as well as in Canada and the United States. She is a three-time winner of the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book of the Year, as well as the Ruth Schwartz Award, the Mr. Christie’s Book Award, the Governor General’s Award, and the Vicky Metcalf Award for her body of work. She lives in Edmonton, Alberta.
Prizes
- CLA Young Adult Canadian Book AwardWinner 1998
- Ruth Schwartz AwardWinner 1998
Review Quotes
“Everything about this novel commands the reader's respect and admiration...” — Globe and Mail
“Brooks's finely developed plot is a delicate blend of reality, mysticism, and spirituality, with an underlying theme of oneness with the Earth. With carefully constructed precision, she draws readers into the souls of her characters, who are typical teens with a complicated mixture of childish actions and mature insights. The result is a beautifully compelling novel.” — School Library Journal
“...perhaps one of the most magical books I have ever read...Brooks has touched chords of the human heart that few writers ever do.” — Canadian Children's Book Centre
“This is a fine novel that will leave readers embracing nature and honouring the spirits of the ancestors...Highly recommended.” — CM Magazine
“An elegantly wrought tale” — Publishers Weekly
“...remarkable and engaging...Highly recommended.” — Canadian Children's Literature - CBRA
“A lyrical, intensely felt romance.” — Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“...the inclusion of small details that develop even the most minor of characters-the unmistakable marks of a gifted short-story writer-add credence to this unconventional, memorable love story.” — Horn Book
“Brooks' writing is sure, strong, poetic but never cloying, her theme deep and transformative-the very best one can give an adolescent reader...a story not to be missed.” — Toronto Star
“Brooks' characters are so natural in their actions and wonderings...and her writing so grounded in the observable and understandable, that we do not raise the fashionable question of cultural authenticity.” — Vancouver Sun
“Never self-indulgent, her poetic narrative is incisive and revealing, a fresh way of seeing and saying...Read it and weep, but read it.” — Quill & Quire, STARRED REVIEW
