The Jigsaw Puzzle King

2021 Silver Birch Fiction Award — Winner • 2022 Diamond Willow Award — Shortlisted • 2022 Rocky Mountain Book Award • 2022 Chocolate Lily Award — Shortlisted Being yourself isn’t always easy. When you’re new in school, all you want is to fit in. When eleven-year-old Warren and his family move to a new city, his twin brother, who has Down syndrome, attracts too much attention for Warren’s liking. Bennie’s different and doesn’t care about it. But while Bennie may be oblivious to those who are curious or uneasy with him, Warren notices every smirk, comment, and sideways glance. Warren is weary of flip-flopping between trying to be just like everyone else and being the protective brother of a boy with special needs. Sometimes he thinks his life would be easier if he had no brother. But what he really needs is to stop worrying about what other people think.

Eleven-year-old Warren is flip-flopping between trying to fit in at a new school and being the protective brother of Bennie, who has Down syndrome.

Here’s a memorable tale of two unlikely heroes: the lively, beautiful Flora and her husband, the brooding, studious Simon, two immigrants, both sent to America by their families to find a better life. An improbable match, they meet in New York City and fall in love. Simon—inventor of the jigsaw puzzle—eventually makes his fortune. Now wealthy, Flora and Simon become obsessed with rescuing those they left behind in Europe, loved ones whose fates will be determined by growing anti-Semitism on both sides of the Atlantic. The Puzzle King explores a fascinating moment in history with a cast of characters who endure with dignity, grace, and hope for the future.

Originally created as an educational tool for children in the 1700s, jigsaw puzzles developed into a national craze during the Great Depression. A renowned puzzle expert pieces together the origins of this beloved pastime and examine the minds of such famous puzzlers as Queen Elizabeth II, Bill Gates, and Stephen King. Includes illustrations and photos. 0-425-19820-0$22.95 / Penguin Group

Short-listed for the 2009 Silver Birch Award, commended for the 2009 Best Books for Kids & Teens Due to circumstances beyond her control, 12-year-old Peggy Henderson has to move to the quiet town of Crescent Beach, British Columbia, to live with her aunt and uncle. Without a father and separated from her mother, who’s looking for work, Peggy feels her unhappiness increasing until the day she and her uncle start digging a pond in the backyard and she realizes the rock she’s been trying to pry from the ground is really a human skull. Peggy eventually learns that her home and the entire seaside town were built on top of a 5000-year-old Coast Salish fishing village. With the help of an elderly archaeologist, a woman named Eddy, Peggy comes to know the ancient storyteller buried in her yard in a way that few others can – by reading the bones. As life with her aunt becomes more and more unbearable, Peggy looks to the old Salish man from the past for help and answers.

Key Selling Points A boy planning his bar mitzvah project is frustrated that he’s not allowed to pursue his interests. This book examines gender stereotyping in a safe and humorous way. Fish Out of Water explores theissue of toxic masculinity, which is very much in the news right now as traditional gender roles and assumptions are being challenged. The author has written numerous books for middle-grade audiences and balances funny and sweet well. The author is Jewish and includes Jewish content in all her stories. New, enhanced features (dyslexia-friendly font, cream paper, larger trim size) to increase reading accessibility for dyslexic and other striving readers.

Ghosts aren’t meant to stick around forever... Shelly and her grandmother catch ghosts. In their hair. Just like all the women in their family, they can see souls who haven’t transitioned yet; it’s their job to help the ghosts along their journey. When Shelly’s mom dies suddenly, Shelly’s relationship to ghosts—and death—changes. Instead of helping spirits move on, Shelly starts hoarding them. But no matter how many ghost cats, dogs, or people she hides in her room, Shelly can’t ignore the one ghost that’s missing. Why hasn’t her mom’s ghost come home yet? Rooted in a Cree worldview and inspired by stories about the author’s great-grandmother’s life, The Ghost Collector delves into questions of grief and loss, and introduces an exciting new voice in tween fiction that will appeal to fans of Kate DiCamillo’s Louisiana’s Way Home and Patrick Ness’s A Monster Calls.