On his old team, Tom Poulos was a star catcher. But his new team is different. For one thing, all the players are older and bigger than him. For another, no matter how hard he tries or how hard he practices, he can't catch the curve balls that the pitcher sends flying over the plate. Tom feels like he's letting the team down, a feeling that gets worse once a new catcher joins the team and Tom is benched. Can Tom find a way to regain his rightful place behind the plate?

Connor might need a pinch runner, pinch catcher, and pinch thrower, but can he ever hit a baseball out of the park! So when Connor ends up staying with his baseball-loving relatives in Winnipeg for the summer, he allows his cousin to talk him into trying out for the baseball team. Connor isnt surprised when he doesnt make it, but he is disappointed. Its going to take some powerful coaching and more than a little help from his friends to get Connor on the team.

Jazz Smith-Mohapatra is the toughest and best player on her basketball team -- and this year she's determined to lead the team to a championship win. But in the last game of the regular season, Jazz sets an offensive move called a pick and roll. A player on the other team doesn't see it coming; she crashes into Jazz, and then onto the floor. Though it's a play that Jazz has done many times, she's never hurt anyone before. Now there's going to be a Fair Play Commission hearing to determine whether the play was legal or not. But even worse than the possibility of being suspended for the playoffs, Jazz's teammates are suddenly questioning her physical style of play and whether the team can make it all the way to the pennant without her.

As far as Mary, a.k.a. Meringue, can tell, the only good thing about moving from Vancouver to Red Deer following her parents' divorce is that she was able to get a head-start on earning her Learner's Permit. Now she's sixteen, she can drive on her own. When her friend Jeff asks her to cover his pizza route, Meringue jumps at the chance to cruise around town on her mother's scooter. Little does she know that Jeff has been using his father's pizza shop as a cover-up for his small-scale drug deals. By the time Meringue figures out whats going on, a bigger drug dealer is moving in on Jeff's business -- and on her. Meringue is scared. How can she get herself out without snitching?

JODI LUNDGREN is the author of several published short stories as well as an adult literary novel and a YA novel. She teaches English and Creative Writing at Camosun College. She lives in Victoria, British Columbia.

jodilundgren.com

In 1914, Canada was a very British society with anti-Asian attitudes. Although Great Britain had declared that all people from India were officially British citizens and could live anywhere in the British Commonwealth, Canada refused to accept them. This racist policy was challenged by Gurdit Singh, a Sikh businessman, who chartered a ship, the Komagata Maru, and sailed to Vancouver with over 300 fellow Indians wishing to immigrate to Canada. They were turned back, tragically.

Over the years, the Canadian government gradually changed its immigration policies, first allowing entry to wives and children of Indian immigrants and later to many more immigrants from India. The Indo-Canadian community has grown throughout Canada, especially in British Columbia. Many in the community continue to celebrate their Indian heritage which enriches Canadian culture.

PAMELA HICKMAN is the author of over forty non-fiction books for children, including winners of the Green Prize for Sustainable Literature, the Best Book Award from the Society of School Librarians International and the Canadian Authors Association Lilla Sterling Memorial Award. She co-authored the first book in this series, Righting Canada's Wrongs: Japanese Canadian Internment in the Second World War. She lives in Canning, Nova Scotia.