CEDAR DANCE 
(2019)
Best for ages 8-12 years

​Charles Cedar Dance has little in common with his hippie mother. At the annual school camp, Charles has a chance encounter with the father he has never known and while spying on him at a nearby anti-logging protest camp, Charles finds himself at the centre of a mystery involving a saboteur-turned-kidnapper.

When Charles decides he wants to get to know his dad, he learns the truth about his parents and must re-evaluate his view of his family.

“Told in the first person by Cedar, this engrossing and believable story captures perfectly the angst of a pre-teen trying to find his place in the world. Cedar’s story is told with wry, self-deprecating humor while subtly revealing that, despite his doubts about himself and his  dubious athletic abilities, he is very much his own person, stronger and wiser than he is aware. The main characters in this book are pleasingly portrayed as real people doing their best according to their lights … a fast-paced and intriguing read.” — Highly recommended, CM Magazine

Cedar Dance Study Guide for Classrooms

FULL MOON LAGOON
(2015)
Best for ages 8-12 years
Find me at your favourite book store: 
Best friends, Maddy and Cat spend their summers looking for action on magical Cortes Island, but they get more than they bargained for when they go lagoon-diving at midnight with Cat’s twin brother, “Draggin”. The three twelve year-olds emerge from the current to find themselves in a whole new world; familiar, yet unknown, and increasingly dangerous. Their simple quest to return home turns into the adventure of a lifetime.

In her wonderful debut novel, Full Moon Lagoon, Monica Nawrocki weaves together the historical and the fantastical to create a suspenseful and moving tale of young people coming to terms with the injustices of the past. 
 
Ruth Ozeki, author of A Tale for the Time Being

Full Moon Lagoon Study Guide for classrooms

Thanks for Chucking that at the Wall Instead of Me
​(2005, 2018)
Adults

​An informative and reflective study of teaching at-risk students, Thanks for Chucking That at the Wall Instead of Me is a window into what many classroom teachers don’t get to see in their whirlwind vision of a disruptive student. One teacher’s experience is shared in a way that all teachers will relate to, on both a professional and personal level. The book offers a glimpse into real lives and the pain, struggles and emotion beneath the behaviour of “bad” kids
Island Time  is a collection of short fiction and poetry created for the multi-media art show of the same name.