The Winter Vault

“Peter was walking the wall. On the house side, the snow had melted. But on the cemetery side, it still lay on the ground… Holding his arms out at his sides, he pushed off lightly from the tree and wavered for an instant between winter and spring.”

While his mom is recovering from a breakdown, Peter travels to live with grandparents he barely knows. Nan and Pa are kind and caring, but Peter senses a strange silence between them, of some past unspoken pain. An old cemetery lies just beyond the stone wall at the end of his grandparent’s backyard, and Peter takes to walking this wall – transforming into a high-wire artist whose exploits he knows well. And so it begins. An extraordinary cast of characters will enter Peter’s life, drawing him into worlds he had never known to exist. Secrets and mysteries swirl like snowflakes above the ancient brick building standing among the headstones – the Winter Vault.

Michael Bedard was born and raised in Toronto. His novels include Stained Glass, A Darker Magic, Painted Devil, and Redwork, which received the Governor General’s Literary Award and the Canadian Library Association’s Book of the Year Award for Children. He has also written several acclaimed picture books, including The Clay Ladies, which received the Toronto IODE Book Award. His biography, William Blake: The Gates of Paradise and his picture book Emily attest to his interest in poets and poetry.

Michael Bedard is a Canadian children's writer and winner of the Governor General's Award for Children's Literature. He was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He graduated from the University of Toronto in 1971 with a BA in philosophy and English. He began writing when his former high school teacher showed him works of Emily Dickinson and T. S. Eliot. Michael Bedard is the critically acclaimed author of several award-winning books for young readers. His novels include Stained Glass, A Darker Magic, Painted Devil, The Green Man, and Redwork, which received the Governor General's Literary Award and the Canadian Library Association's Book of the Year for Children Award. He has also written several acclaimed picture books, including The Clay Ladies, which received the Municipal Chapter of Toronto IODE Book Award. His major work of non-fiction, William Blake: The Gates of Paradise, attests to his passionate interest in poets and poetry. Bedard currently lives in Toronto with his wife Martha. He has four children and six grandchildren.

Bjoern Arthurs is an award-winning Norwegian-Canadian illustrator and designer based in Toronto and, for a time in Atlanta. A little on the tall side.