It is 1595, and the rabbi's son Jacob is frustrated with having to live in the walled ghetto known as Jewish Town. Why can't he venture outside of the gates and explore the beautiful city? His father warns him that Passover is a dangerous time to be a Jew and that the people from outside accuse the Jews of dreadful deeds. But one night, Jacob follows his father and two companions as they unlock the ghetto gates and proceed to the river, where they mold a human shape from the mud of the riverbank. When the rabbi speaks strange words, the shape is infused with life and the Golem of Prague is born.In this breathtaking retelling of a timeless tale, Irene N. Watts's beautiful words are complemented by the haunting black-and-white images of artist Kathryn E. Shoemaker.From the Hardcover edition.

Thirteen-year-old Katie is an unwilling summer guest in the Victorian home of her Halifax grandparents. All she wants to do is stay in her attic bedroom and brood. Disgruntled over her new stepmother's pregnancy and how a baby might affect her life, Katie takes refuge in her dreams of playing the part of the disagreeable orphan Mary Lennox in the upcoming school production of The Secret Garden.When Katie sees a shadow on her bedroom wall of an old-fashioned girl holding a flower, she tries to convince herself it is caused by moonlight. But the girl reappears and shares her life with Katie, reaching across the years to her. Is she a ghost? As Katie searches for some tangible evidence of the girl's presence, she discovers a package of letters from World War I containing clues to a bygone time when British orphans were sent to Canada as Home Children. In this haunting journey of a young girl looking for answers and an orphan girl from the past who tries to...

A heartbreaking story of loss and love.As autumn turns toward winter in 1938 Berlin, life for Marianne Kohn, a young Jewish girl, begins to crumble. First there was the burning of the neighbourhood shops. Then her father, a mild-mannered bookseller, must leave the family and go into hiding. No longer allowed to go to school or even sit in a café, Marianne's only comfort is her beloved mother. Things are bad, but could they get even worse? Based on true events, this fictional account of hatred and racism speaks volumes about both history and human nature.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Young Marianne is one of the lucky ones. She has escaped on one of the first kindertransporte organized to take Jewish children out of Germany to safety in Britain.At first Marianne is desperate. She does not speak English, she is not welcome in her sponsors' home, and, most of all, she misses her mother terribly. As the months pass, she realizes that she cannot control the circumstances around her. She must rely on herself if she is to survive.In this exciting companion to Good-bye Marianne, Irene N. Watts has created a memorable character, and a story that is ultimately about hope, not war. Based on true events, this fictional account of hatred and racism speaks volumes about history and human nature.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Millie's is a small family -- just a mother, a father, a small brother, Hamish, and her. Both her parents had been orphaned (and were introduced in Watts' novel Flower), but the family they created was tight-knit and loving. When Millie's mother announces that she is pregnant, it seems life is perfect. They have each other, and, although the Great Depression has brought hard times to their small town, Millie's father's services as a blacksmith are still in demand. But when her mother dies, suddenly everything changes. Her father retreats into depression and Millie, only thirteen, finds herself responsible for a newborn baby. When a stranger appears and threatens the remnants of the family even further, Millie musters courage she never dreamed she had to rebuild the home that means so much to her.Irene N. Watts' memorable story is as complex and as comforting as family life itself.From the Trade Paperback edition.

A story of reliance and resilience.Did you call out to us, Johnny, before your small body was dragged down under the water? Why didn't we hear you? I am sorry! I'll never forget.Louisa Gardener is the fourteen-year-old nursemaid to the young daughters of a wealthy, titled family living in London, England, in 1912.Despite the bullying Nanny Mackintosh, for whom she is an extra pair of hands, she loves her work and her young charges. Then everything changes. The family decides to sail to New York aboard the Titanic. An accident to the children's nanny, only days prior to the sailing, means that Louisa must go in her stead. She cannot refuse, although she dreads even the mention of the ocean. Memories she has suppressed, except in nightmares, come crowding back.When Louisa was five and her sister seven years old, their two-year-old brother died on an outing to the seaside. Since that time, Louisa has had a fear of the ocean. She blames herself for...

Let them burn. They're a lot of cattle anyway."A factory-owner's response regarding the use of fire drills in March 1911. Touched by Fire, Irene N. Watt's exquisite new novel, explores one family's journey as they flee from the pogroms of Russia in 1905, where the Cossacks burn villages to the ground, to Berlin, Germany, where Jews have a hard time living and working in peace, to the streets of the Lower East Side in New York. Teenage Miriam gives a first-hand account of the excitement everyone feels about going to America, the "Golden Land," the journey in steerage, the arrival at Ellis Island, and the discrimination the immigrants feel while seeking employment. When Miriam finally lands a job at the Triangle Shirt Waist Company as a cuff setter, she believes her future in the New World is finally secure. But on March 25, 1911, the fire that starts from overflowing bins of material scraps rages into what becomes known as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory...

Selected by the Pennsylvania School Librarians Association as one of the PSLA YA Top Forty Fiction Titles 2003Nominated in the fiction category for the 2004/2005 Red Cedar Book Awards (British Columbia's Young Reader's Choice book award)Sophie Mandel was only seven years old when she arrived in London on the first Kindertransport from Germany. She has grown up with a friend of her parents, a woman she calls Aunt Em, and despite the war and its deprivations, she has made a good life for herself in England with her foster mother. She has even stopped thinking about the parents she left behind. Now the war is over, and fourteen-year-old Sophie is faced with a terrible dilemma. Where does she belong?In this, the third book about the characters introduced in Good-bye Marianne and Remember Me, Irene N. Watts explores the themes of friendship, family, and the nature of love. Finding Sophie is sure to become a favorite.From...