Mystery for Kids
Those four bright kids that we met in the last Maple Harbour Adventure are off on a new and suspenseful escapade. Claire and Nathan live in Maple Harbour, a town not unlike Gibsons. Ryan and Kendra are their cousins and they spend the summer once more sailing in Claire’s boat, enjoying Aunt Jennie’s tasty meals and building their own tree house by themselves.
This latest book, The Mystery of the Missing Mask (Rainy Day Press), is from Gibsons author M.A. (Michael) Wilson.
Book 1, Adventure on Whalebone Island, was nominated for a BC Readers’ Choice Award (Chocolate Lily Award), in which readers can vote for their favourites. This book 2, a mystery, is aimed at children eight and up and it promises a rosy future for sequels in this lively series.
When someone steals a rare, 200-year-old grizzly bear mask gifted to the local museum, it is up to the kids and their faithful dog Meg to solve the mystery. One unusual thing about these children and their adventures: there isn’t a cell phone or iPad in sight. It sure would have helped to have a phone to summon the police when they encountered the bad guys, yet it’s believable that they might function without. Generations of kids have done so. However, technology does come into play when the children encounter a mini submarine that scoots under their boat one day. The sub and its owners are the key to unravelling the mystery.
The Mystery of the Missing Mask launches on Nov. 25 at the Roberts Creek Craft Fair and can be bought for $9.95 from bookstores soon after.
Magic for Kids
Haida Bolton’s first novel, Aida’s Adventures in Africa, takes readers aged eight to 12 on a magical journey to the land of wild animals. Bolton recalls waking up in the middle of the night when she was five and seeing an African lion run from behind the neighbour’s house, stand beside the chestnut tree and gaze up at her. It was the foundation for a story that would follow her all her life. In the book, young Aida steps inside a hollow tree and finds herself travelling on the underground root network to Denmark and then to Africa. She’s helped on her journey by friendly squirrels, giant ants and the moles that operate the global transportation system they call Mole Ecular Travel. She meets human children on her travels while searching for the friendly lion that began her adventure. She runs with zebras, escapes hungry lionesses and plays with tricky baboons.
Later in her adult life Bolton went to explore Africa, working to create Camp Uganda for African children. Her knowledge of the languages and the terrain gives the book its authenticity. However, it is fiction and so does not explain how an underground root network can cross the Atlantic Ocean. Must be magic!
There is a message to this book: Aida’s friendly lion tells of the plight of the creatures whose forests are being cleared for human purposes and how the animals are losing their homes and their food supply. Bolton, who lives in Pender Harbour, walks her talk; she has started her own nature-based businesses, including guided tours in the forest.
The book is currently available in Pender Harbour at EarthFair Store and Euspiria Café where Bolton will be holding a launch on Dec. 8. It’s also in Sechelt at Talewind Books and at the Pender Harbour Community Centre Craft Fair on Dec. 2. See NatureWithHaida.ca for more.
One for Grown-Ups
Fatal Charm (Wild Rose Press) is the latest in a romantic suspense series by Gibsons author Blair McDowell.
Jewelry designer Caitlin Abernathy is unwittingly drawn into the aftermath of a jewel robbery when she discovers a finely crafted gold and jewelled dragon amulet, once worn by Marie Antoinette, that had been stolen from the Louvre. With her good friend Aristotle and her new friend, the handsome historian Professor Colin Stryker, she flies to Paris to return the jewel to the gallery. But returning the jewel to its rightful place is more complicated than it should be, especially when two desperate thugs have other ideas that will put Caitlin in danger.
The story crackles along and the inevitable growing love interest between Caitlin and Colin is sweet and passionate. The scents, the tastes, the images of Paris and of the Brittany coast fill the pages – it is a vivid description by one who enjoys her travel.
McDowell is a retired musician and teacher of music. In that role she has published six professional books and numerous articles. However, it’s obvious that her true love is writing in this genre. Check the bookstores or www.blairmcdowell.com for purchase information. A previous novel – one of McDowell’s most popular – Where Lemons Bloom, is now available in audio books through Amazon.
