The
Burning Time
Set in France in the sixteenth century, The
Burning Time tells the story of a young girl whose mother is
accused of being a witch. In her village, everyone is suspect. An
accusation is enough to bring arrest, shame, even torture. Rose Rives
cannot understand how the authorities–from the magistrate to the
village priest–can encourage the villagers to denounce their neighbours
as witches. Rose's simple life is shattered when her mother, who has
been a midwife and a healer to half of the families in town, is turned
over to the authorities. Struggling to free her mother, Rose finds
herself pitted against some of the people she trusted the most.
The Burning Time, is an
unrelenting examination of the cruelty and injustice committed against
women through all ages and the courage some women have found to speak
out.
Now from Orca Books Publishers
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Gotcha!
 At age eleven, Rose
Lepidus's main concerns are winning at ring-a-levio, going to school,
and staying out of trouble. But when Mama falls ill with pneumonia and
Papa throws all the family savings into the nickelodeon business, the
burden of caring for her family falls on Rosie's shoulders.
Tall for her age, Rosie is able to pass for
sixteen and take Mama's place sewing sleeves at a shirtwaist factory.
Her family needs the money. But working conditions are horrible and the
factory boss is incredibly strict. The girls are fined for nearly
everything—even talking or humming! Within days of starting work, Rosie
hears the buzz about a huge strike of twenty thousand shirtwaist
workers. It's the strike that Mama's been working toward for ages: a
huge push for change in the workplace. Rosie wants to join in, but as
the streets become more dangerous, Papa asks his daughter to return to
school. And Rosie must choose: follow Papa's orders … or fight with
everything she's got.
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Play
Ball!
 Life
in Chicago sure is busy for Rosie. Between school and working as an
usher in her father's nickelodeon, she has little time for play. She
hears all about the Chicago baseball scene, though, from Abe, one of
her younger brothers. He's alway talking about the fierce rivalry
between two teams, the Tigers and the Chavarim. Things really heat up
when the Chavarim's top player gets hurt, with only one deciding game
left in the season. The team's in a bind and they need help … fast!
With an arm and a spirit stronger than most
boys', Rosie seems to her brothers an obvious choice for a substitute
player. Maintaining her disguise as a boy to play with the all-male
Chavarim is a big enough challenge without having to deal with bullies
on the other team — and the sidelines — who are standing between her
and a win. But fortunately for the Chavarim, nothing can stop this girl!
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Action!
 With
the success of Papa's latest baseball film, Rosie and her family move
to beautiful Los Angeles to shoot more films starring Rosie. And
there's no wasting time; within days of unpacking, Papa brings home an
entire Wild West show so he can make authentic Westerns! Rosie's so
excited about riding a horse for the first time that she forgets to
watch her step — and before she knows it, she's caused a terrible
accident for the show's best trick rider. Oy vey!
Where will Papa's Western movies be without a real trick rider … and
with a star who doesn't even know how to get on a horse?
Enter Zach, the son of the injured rider.
Rosie finds him simply irritating! And just when Rosie thought it
couldn't get any worse, she and Zach get hopelessly lost in the hills.
All they have to get past the mountain lions, rattlesnakes, and other
enemies in the wild are their wits, their skill, and each other. Can
Rosie and Zach set aside their differences and brave the challenges
ahead so that this story has a happy ending?
Rosie's adventures are published by Aladdin
Books in the United States and Key Porter Books in Canada.
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Footsteps in the Snow
The Red River Diary of Isobel Scott
Rupert's Land, 1815
November 3, 1815 We arrived today at The
Forks! So much has happened since my last entry, and weeks have passed.
Near the end of the journey we had to endure another trial. We ran out
of food. The hunters were only finding small game, not nearly enough to
feed such a large group. At times all I could think of was my empty
stomach. This morning when we arrived the sun shone. On the rough
wooden dock, waiting for us, were thirteen families — the only settlers
who had not been driven away by the North West Company. It was chaos as
news was exchanged. I looked around anxiously to get a good view of our
new home, but it all looked similar to the landscape we had just
travelled. I was anxious to go exploring. I was about to suggest this
to James and Robbie when Father hurried over to us and stated, "We
cannot even unpack. The settlers have not had a chance to rebuild since
the attack. Apparently there is not enough food for us to spend the
winter here." I cannot yet believe it. Such a long and difficult trip,
only to discover home is still beyond out grasp.
Published by Scholastic Canada Ltd.
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The War Within
Holly Springs Mississippi, 1862:
The Green family own a
general store in this small Southern town where they have lived for
many years. But ever since the Union army occupied her beloved town,
Hannah Green has been furious. Her sister, Joanna, has fallen in love
with Captain Mazer of the Union — the same Union that has been fighting
against her brothers in the Confederate army to destroy the Southern
way of life.
Now General Grant has
issued General Order #11, which commands all Jews to evacuate the
territory under his command. The Greens are forced to follow the Union
army to Memphis. For the first time Hannah and her family face
discrimination simply because of their religion. She begins to realize
that not everyone believes the basic truths she has always accepted.
While the battles rage around her, Hannah begins to fight another war —
the war within — which could destroy everything she has ever believed.
With the historical
accuracy for which she is known, best-selling author Carol Matas turns
her attention to an unexamined chapter of the Civil War and creates a
thought-provoking and heart-racing masterpiece.
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Dear
readers of The War Within:
I
came across the story of the Jewish expulsion during the civil war,
quite by accident. I was reading about Judah P. Benjamin who was the
Secretary of State for the Confederacy, thinking that perhaps I would
write a play about him. He was Jewish and the highest ranking Jew to be
in public office until Henry Kissinger over 100 years later. A book
called Jews in the Civil War included a chapter about Ulysses S. Grant
and his expulsion of Jews from the territories he controlled. This
struck me as ironic since part of the motivation of the North was the
freeing of slaves. And yet, how could they then justify discriminating
against the Jews? It became even more interesting when I realized that
Jews had owned slaves. Did they not see that they were practicing
discrimination even as they railed against people discriminating
against them? And had they forgotten that they celebrated their own
escape from slavery every year at Passover?
What
became the central question for me as I wrote this book was how do we
escape from the prisons that are our minds? We are brought up a certain
way, with certain values. Some of us are brought up as Democrats, some
Republicans. Some of us are brought up to believe in God, others as
atheists. Some of us are brought up to be suspicious of everyone and
everything, others are brought up to trust everyone and everything. As
we grow up we are often encouraged to "think for ourselves." But how do
we do that if we are so used to thinking in a certain way that we do
not even realize we are doing it? Can any of us really say how we come
to our decisions in life?
Hannah
has been brought up to believe slavery is normal, even right. This book
is about her journey, a journey inside as she begins to question her
long-standing beliefs. What are your long-standing beliefs? Have you
ever thought about it? Could you even recognize them or are they too
ingrained? Can we learn to think for ourselves?
I
try to keep one maxim in mind at all times. Hillel said, Do not do to
others what you would not want done to yourself. Many people try to
indoctrinate us with one way of thinking or another. But you can test
it by using Hillel's advise. Had Hannah done that she quickly would
have realized that she would not want to be treated the way the slaves
were treated.
I hope you have enjoyed this
book and that it has given you something to think about. I'll always be
glad to hear your thoughts. You can email me at carol@carolmatas.com
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Rebecca
I didn't understand. Why couldn't I just
continue as before? I'd happily sleep on the floor. I wouldn't eat. Not
anything. Well, hardly anything. I just didn't want to be sent away!
Rebecca has always loved being part of a big
family. When disaster forces them to leave their farm and move to the
city, well, at least they are together! But life in 1912 Winnipeg isn't
easy. Until work and housing are found, shy Rebecca is sent to live
with strangers: the Kostaniuks, a Ukrainian family.
To her surprise, Rebecca finds a friend there.
Sonia likes the same books as Rebecca, and laughs at the same things.
Their friendship is stonger than Mr. Kostaniuk's attitude toward Jews.
It's stronger than the suspicion of the other Jewish girls at school.
It gets them through illness, fire, and schoolyard brawls. But can it
overcome the disapproval of Rebecca's entire family?
Reissued in the US. as Sparks Fly Upward, Clarion Books, 2002.
Sworn Enemies
 Aaron
and Zev have been protected from serving in the czar's army for very
different reasons — Aaron's father payes to keep his scholarly son free
and Zev works as a khapper,
kidnapping other poor, young Jewish boys to fulfill the czar's arm
quotas. Zev's jealousy of Aaron turns to hate when he discovers that
Miriam, the girl he loves, will be Aaron's future wife. Zev decides to
rid himself of Aaron forever by turning him over to the czar's army,
where few survive the forced labor.
In this powerful novel set in the reign of Alexander II in Russia,
Carol Matas explores the complex issues of betrayal, faith and
forgiveness.
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