This is an innovative look at the jobs that kept Ancient Egypt running for 3000 years. Complete with a fact-filled introduction, a comprehensive timeline and playful illustrations throughout, this book will inspire readers to imagine how they may have lived out their days as a member of one of history's most fascinating civilizations.

The year is 1882. A young servant girl named Esther disappears from a small Hungarian village. Several Jewish men from the village face the 'blood libel' - the centuries-old calumny that Jews murder Christian children for their blood. A fourteen-year-old Jewish boy named Morris Scharf becomes the star witness of corrupt authorities who coerce him into testifying against his fellow Jews, including his own father, at the trial. This powerful fictionalized account of one of the last blood libel trial in Europe is told through the eyes of Julie, a friend of the murdered Esther, and a servant at the jail where Morris is imprisoned. Although a novel, it is based upon a real court case that took place in Hungary in 1883. In Hungary today, the name Morris Scharf has become synonymous with "traitor." Once again, Eva Wiseman illuminates a heartbreaking episode in history for young readers.

Reviewed by Harriet Zaidman. CM: Canadian Review of Materials, December, 2008 Highly Recommended. "The false accusation of blood libel against Jews is a tool that was used over the centuries to whip up anti-Semitic fervour among the masses; the fear and loathing it inspired resulted in pogroms, deaths and persecution and kept Jews isolated in European society ... Puppet would be very useful in a study about racism, anti-Semitism or negative stereotyping."

After a mean collector named Swindle cons him out of his valuable Babe Ruth baseball card, Griffin Bing must put together a band of misfits to break into Swindle's compound and recapture the card. There are many things standing in their way - a menacing guard dog, a high-tech security system, a very secret hiding place, and their inability to drive - but Griffin and his team are going to get back what's rightfully his . . .at any cost! This is Gordon Korman at his crowd-pleasing best.

FICTION - (Included in Middle Extra and Secondary Extra Package)

The stories in this book come from behind the walls and barbed wire of Europe's ghettos during the Nazi regime. We hear the voices of young boys and girls as they live with the fear that they might be deported to the death camps at any moment. Theirs are stories of courage and determination, of struggle and resistance. They speak for those who, like them, managed to survive the war. And they speak for those who did not. First in a three-book collection of short accounts from the survivors of the Holocaust.

Animals do some extraordinary things, but not always while people are watching. When patient and persistent scientists do make a discovery, it can change how we think about animals and ourselves. This book highlights a number of amazing discoveries such as Alex, a chatterbox parrot who learned not just to mimic speech, but to communicate by talking. Alex's education is already helping some speech-delayed children learn to speak. Each animal profile includes fun facts about the featured creature, thoughts from the scientists who made each discovery, and amazing photographs of the animals in action. It will forever change your ideas of animals and how we learn from them.

In 1864, the future of British North America looked dark. Each of the colonies was struggling to survive. Some were almost broke. Others could not be governed. The United States was locked in civil war, that the North was bound to win. Would its army of two million soldiers attack British North America - and would Great Britain be able to help? There was one chance: could John A. Macdonald pull all the colonies together to form the Dominion of Canada - or would each separate colony face a dark future alone? The story of Canadian Confederation has never been this accessible and entertaining.

Reviewed by Gail Hamilton. CM: Canadian Review of Materials, November, 2008 Highly Recommended. "13 chapters include the reasons for Confederation, the struggles, the various conferences held, the American colonies and civil war, and the roles of the federal and provincial governments as outlined in the Constitution Act. A great book for history buffs."