The Darkness Between the Stars

Burtinshaw, Julie

McKellar and Martin Publishing Group

At fourteen, teenager Jack Garrett finds himself living in an unhappy household. His mother is acting strangely, retreating to bed, refusing to cook and pleading for time alone. Meanwhile, his father buries himself in his work and makes excuses for her "illness." But when his mother is checked into an institution for clinical depression, Jack and his ten-year-old sister Laura are shipped from Toronto to their Aunt Jenn's home in Desolation Sound, British Columbia. When it looks like their situation might be permanent, Jack and Laura are dismayed and decide to rebel. They steal a dinghy and head for the deserted caves on Dragon Island, intent on calling their father's bluff. But a stormy sea and an accident on the cliffs soon turns their defiance into desperation -- and suddenly their "crazy family" is the only hope for rescue. This is a gripping adventure story that also deals with complex issues of mental illness, family breakdown and the ties that bind parents and children.

Adrift

Teen & Young Adult

Literature & Fiction

Raincoast Books

After the death of his tough, guitar-playing, much-loved sister, Michelle, Brian finds it increasingly difficult to care about anything. He doesn’t care about his parents. He doesn’t care about his friends. He doesn’t care about school. He just doesn’t care anymore. The only time Brian comes alive is in the few seconds it takes for the razor to slice through his skin. But he never cuts deep enough to cause any real damage. At least, not yet... In The Perfect Cut, Julie Burtinshaw has written an incredibly honest and perceptive novel about cutting, revealing why this dangerous practice has become an increasingly common form of stress relief among young adults. Told from the perspective of the grief-stricken Brian who, in his mind, has run out of options for coping, it’s clear that while he makes some bad choices, he’s not a bad person. The book ends on a grace note, reassuring young readers that even terrible obstacles can be overcome, and that where there’s life, there is hope.

The Perfect Cut

Jenny Estes shares her father’s dream of freedom. But for Jenny — born into slavery in Missouri in the 1840s — freedom seems an impossible dream. She toils alongside her mother in the steaming kitchen of the Leopold plantation, trying her best to be humble and obedient so that Mrs. Leopold won’t sell her to a slave-trader. But when she's not drying dishes or mixing biscuits, Jenny finds time to practice her reading, a skill that ultimately helps the family plan their migration and realize their dream. The Estes face a formidable journey: a grueling passage from Missouri to Saltspring Island, Canada. Along the way, Jenny’s family confronts scarlet fever, racial persecution, the arduous Oregon Trail, warring native Haidas, and finally, the challenges of homesteading. Jenny’s spirit and fortitude in the face of many adversities make her a heroine all young readers can look up to. Based on a true story, this tale is a gripping account of one young girl's coming-of-age in troubling and unsettling times.

The Freedom of Jenny

Children's Books

Francis Sloan is a shy fifteen-year-old boy. When he meets edgy sixteen-year-old Sawyer, sparks fly...and Sawyer becomes pregnant. Their relationship is still so fresh and new, they decide they will put the baby up for adoption. As the story unfolds over the nine months they wait for their baby, London, to be born, Francis and Sawyer grapple with the responsibility of becoming parents and the accelerated path to adulthood they now find themselves on. With the absence of their own fathers in their lives and the evergreen challenges of first love, will they even make it together to the point where they have to say goodbye to London?

Saying Good-bye to London

Second Story Press

Love can move mountains and overcome all obstacles. But can it survive death? As this new collection shows, love beyond the grave is often more powerful than it is on earth. Based on true accounts, these stories explore lovers united in death, the lasting effects of a lost love among the living and the tempestuous infidelities whose painful consequences never fade away: - a jealous Virginia widower marries a grieving widow, only to discover that the ghost of her dead husband is on to his murderous scheme - a pensive spirit continues to wander a grand old hotel on the Pacific coast, still celebrating the married bliss that was shattered by an international scandal - after her fiance is killed, a Colorado woman abandons all will to live, but her spirit returns to a frontier stagecoach station as the Gray Lady.

Romantic Ghost Stories

Contemporary

Ghost House Books

Hangman: The True Story of Canada's First Official Executioner

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Tidewater Press

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Books by Burtinshaw, Julie