Robert Finley, The Accidental Indies (McGill-Queen's University Press) $27.95, ISBN 0-7735-2006-6.

At once moving and lyrical, The Accidental Indies invites us to join Christopher Columbus on a fantastical voyage through western seas and Western imagination. Charting a course through the days at sea, his incisive and luminescent story, scrupulously grounded in sixteenth-century sources, illuminates the power that "naming" has to create a world. Through its elaboration of the rich and lively ironies of the Columbus story, The Accidental Indies looks at the nature of storytelling itself.

Robert Finley is an associate professor of English at l'Université Ste-Anne, and an editor of their trilingual literary journal Feux chalins. He is currently at work on his next book on harbours and Halifax.

Elaine Ingalls Hogg, Remembering Honey (Nimbus Publishing) $7.95, ISBN 1-555109-336-7.

Honey has been a special part of the Campbell family from the moment the playful puppy arrived at Brandon and Bhriegh's house in a little shoe box. Years later, she falls ill during a visit to their grandmother's. After leaving the vet's office, the young twins must accept that their dog won't recover from her illness, and that soon Honey will die. This story helps children come to terms with the painful loss of a pet by encouraging them to think about what they can keep and cherish of their relationship with their animal friend. Detailed colour illustrations by Jane Gallinaugh beautifully complement the text.

Elaine Ingalls Hogg has spent over a decade working with the Strait Richmond Palliative Care Society. This book was born when a co-worker challenged her to write a story that would help young children to express their grief after the death of a loved one.

Hugh MacDonald, Tossed Like Weeds From The Garden (Black Moss Press) $16.95, ISBN 008753-330-2.

Out of stories of hand-milking cows and castrating pigs, Hugh MacDonald nurtures a hatred of the violence of the farm, even while his poems burst with memories of lessons learned and love and friendships fueled by the weeks of his childhood summers spent on his grandfather's farm outside Georgetown on the east end of Prince Edward Island. These new poems cover the ground between coming of age and the coming of old age with enticing humour and considerable wit.

Born in Charlottetown, Hugh MacDonald is the author of two other collections of poetry, Looking for Mother and The Digging of Deep Wells, as well as the children's picture book Chung Lee Loves Lobster. A former actor and director who has taught theatre, he now teaches English and writing in Souris, PEI and lives in Brudenell with his wife Sandra and their six children.

Alain Raimbault, Herménégilde l'Acadien (Les Editions Hurtubise) $19.95, ISBN 2-89428-441-1.

Herménégilde se réfugie chez les Micmacs quand son village de Grand-Pré en Acadie est détruit par les soldats anglais en 1755. Le jeune Acadien avec l'aide de son ami, Long Souffle, apprend à surmonter sa peine et aussi à écouter ses rêves. Un jour il décide de partir seul pour retrouver sa famille. A partir de 9 ans.

Alain Raimbault habite en Nouvelle-Ecosse où il enseigne le français et l'espagnol dans une école francophone. Il a toujours écrit des poèmes et a publié dans des revues de la poésie et des nouvelles. Herménégilde l'Acadien est son premier roman pour les jeunes.

Bonita Slunder, Captain of Her Heart (Orpheus Books) $4.99, ISBN 1-55252-013-7.

Belinda Bonjoli, daughter of an iron-willed Admiral and widowed mother of two very active teenagers, has more than just her own feelings to consider when Sidney Holmes, the youngest Captain in the Canadian Navy, unexpectedly sails into her life. Sid takes charge of her father's prized naval vessel - and before she can consider committing herself to Sid, Belinda must raise the courage to stand up to her father before he destroys the man she loves.

Novelist and screenwriter Bonita Slunder grew up on the East Coast in a large Navy family, and now lives in Ontario with her husband Daniel. Captain of Her Heart was the first Canadian book to be formatted for the Rocket eBook (a popular paperback-book-sized gadget which can store about ten books at a time) and is also available in pdf format for Adobe Acrobat (free software which Internet users can download).

Budge Wilson, The Fear of Angelina Domino (Stoddart Kids) ISBN 0-7737-32179 (hard cover) $19.95 / ISBN 0-7737-61209 (paperback) $9.95.

When Angelina Domino was five her parents gave her a kitten named Boris. Boris was as wild as an African lion; he bit her when she petted him and scared the daylights out of her. Angelina became frightened of all animals. When her friend Josephine played a trick on Angelina by putting a stray cat on her bed, Josephine expected Angelina to run away screaming, but the old marmalade cat had other ideas.

Chosen for a dozen Canadian Children's Book Centre's "Our Choice" designations, Budge Wilson is a cat lover who has written several books for children, including The Long Wait, another cat story also illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes. She lives in a fishing village on the South Shore of Nova Scotia with her husband Alan and their dark grey cat.