Category: Fall 2009

Tundra Books has several great picks for this Halloween – from easy readers to teens! Get in the spirit with these spooky and entertaining reads:

Monsterology: Fabulous Lives of the Creepy, the Revolting, and the Undead
Written by Arthur Slade
Illustrated by Derek Mah
ISBN 978-0-88776-714-2
Ages 9-12 | 96 Pages | Paperback

Governor General’s award-winner Arthur Slade has gathered together fifteen scary critters, ranging from Dracula to Golem, from Frankenstein to Baba Yaga and even a zombie. He provides facts, real history, imagined history, and lots of jokes to make these creatures come to life. Slade’s hilarious text presents delicious imagined gossip, favorite blood types, favorite movies, and even favorite haunts (you should pardon the expression) with character descriptions and thoroughly researched background information.

Villainology: Fabulous Lives of the Big, the Bad, and the Wicked
Written by Arthur Slade
Illustrated by Derek Mah
ISBN 978-0-88776-809-5
Ages 9-12 | 96 Pages | Paperback

Villainology is a veritable who’s who of characters from the underworld. Be they fictitious or all-too-genuine baddies, they are bound together by their infamous deeds. Author Arthur Slade takes a lighthearted view, nonetheless, and provides personal stats, their likes and dislikes, their high-school memories and an amazing array of cool facts along with up close and personal “interviews.” Readers will not only come away amused, they will come away with an enlarged store of general knowledge. Among the fourteen notable villains included are: The Wicked Witch of the West, Attila the Hun, The Wolf, Billy the Kid, The Headless Horseman, Morgan le Fay, Quin Hui, The Invisible Man, Scarface Capone, and a lineup of Shakespeare’s most memorable villains.

Wolf Pack
Written by Edo van Belkom
ISBN 978-0-88776-669-5
Ages 10-14 | 184 Pages | Paperback

After a devastating forest fire, a ranger discovers a litter of wolf cubs. He and his wife soon learn that they are no ordinary wolves. They are both animal and human. Although the young ones try to fit into the human world, their true nature makes the challenges of being teenagers all the more difficult. When one of the pack is kidnapped, the others must draw on both sides of their nature – human and wolf – to find the cunning, the strength, and the courage it takes to rescue her. Check out the other titles in the series, Wolf Man, Lone Wolf, and Cry Wolf.

Eye of the Crow: The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His First Case
Written by Shane Peacock
ISBN 978-0-88776-850-7
Ages 10-14 | 164 Pages | Hardcover

Shane Peacock has created a boy who bears all the seeds of the character who has mesmerized millions: the relentless eye, the sense of justice, and the complex ego. The boy Sherlock Holmes is a fascinating character who is sure to become a fast favorite with young readers everywhere. Check out the other titles in the series, Death in the Air, Vanishing Girl, and coming May 2010 The Secret Fiend.

The Castle on Deadman’s Island
Written by Curtis Parkinson
ISBN 978-0-88776-893-4
Ages 10-14 | 224 Pages | Paperback

Intrigue. An eccentric millionaire. A woman’s disappearance. A child’s skeleton. A ghost. A towering castle. A secret tunnel. All of these and more make up this compelling new mystery novel by award-winning author Curtis Parkinson. When the owner of the castle on Deadman’s Island dies, his bizarre will leaves it to three of his friends who hate each other. Dark schemes follow, and the curse of the castle, entrenched forever in local lore, strikes again. Also read the companion, Death in Kingsport.

Genesis
Written by Bernard Beckett
ISBN 978-0-7710-1142-9
Ages 12+ | 192 Pages | Hardcover
Co-published by McClelland & Stewart and Tundra Books

A brilliant and chilling dystopia for a new generation in the tradition of Brave New World. Anaximander, a young Academy candidate, is put through a gruelling exam. Her special subject: the life of Adam Forde, her long-dead hero. It’s late in the 21st century and the island Republic has emerged from a ruined, plague-ridden world, its citizens safe, but not free, and living in complete isolation from outside contact. Approaching planes are gunned down, refugees shot on sight. Until a man named Adam Forde rescued a girl from the sea.

Benny Bensky and the Giant Pumpkin Heist
Written by Mary Borsky
Illustrated by Linda Hendry
ISBN 978-0-88776-607-7
Ages 8-12 | 128 Pages | Paperback

Benny Bensky is a big black dog with a nose for trouble. His owner, Rosie, and her best friend, Fran, are growing a giant pumpkin for the Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off – and it looks like first prize (a ride on the first float in the parade at the country fair) is within their reach. But soon Benny and the girls are involved in solving a nefarious crime: someone is stealing the pumpkins, and what’s worse – the detective trio are getting the blame. On top of all this, Rosie must get glasses.

Easy-to-Read Spooky Tales
Written by Veronika Martenova Charles
Illustrated by David Parkins
Ages 5-8 | Paperback

Titles in this series include: Don’t Open the Door! Don’t Go Into the Forest! Don’t Go Near the Water! Don’t Go In There! Don’t Walk Alone at Night! Don’t Eat That! Don’t Enter the House! Don’t Forget! Don’t Talk to Strangers! and Don’t Touch That!

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Adapted by Alan Grant
Illustrated by Cam Kennedy
ISBN 978-0-88776-882-8
Ages 10+ | 48 Pages | Paperback

Good and evil, right and wrong. Both are seen through the eyes of John Utterson, a lawyer and friend of the scientist Dr. Jekyll. After hearing the alarming account of the horrendous trampling of a small girl “like some damned juggernaut” by a violent man named Mr. Hyde, who also holds a connection to the lawyer’s dear friend, Utterson’s curiosity gets the better of him and he begins to investigate. As he probes further into the events and the hidden life of Mr. Hyde, Utterson slowly uncovers a terrifying and ghastly story.

A Thousand Years of Pirates
Written and illustrated by William Gilkerson
ISBN 978-0-88776-924-5
Ages 10+ | 96 Pages | Hardcover

Governor General’s award-winning author William Gilkerson has spent years researching and painting about pirates. From the terrible Black Beard to the fascinating Granuaile, or Grace O’Malley as the English called her, they have come alive under Gilkerson’s paintbrush. One can almost hear the creak of timbers, the snap of canvas while turning the pages.