Product Description
Cass feels the long winter shadows on her heart. Her mother died of cancer and her father has remarried a woman who has moved into their old Manitoba house with her nasty, babyish daughter and an attitude that's very hard to take. Christmas promises to be a miserable time.

More than a century earlier, Christmas is proving to be difficult for Beatrice, too, for she has shadows of her own. Some are cast by her circumstances. She sees the growing prejudice against people like her who are of mixed Cree and Scottish backgrounds. And like Cass, she has a stepmother. Her father's new wife is threatened by Beatrice and is driving a wedge into the family. Beatrice can only be sure of her beloved Cree grandmother, relegated to a room upstairs. When a way of escape presents itself to Beatrice by way of an eligible bachelor, she is torn by the choice it offers her. Should she settle for a man she doesn't love or address the problems at home? Through her journal, she explores the answer and, at the same time, inspires Cass to find the strength she needs to face her own situation. Margaret Buffie's great skill as a storyteller creates a splendid, engaging novel that offers readers a rich combination of fine history, suspenseful shifts in time, and unforgettable characters. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

A haunting ghost story
This is one of my favorite books. I must have read it hundreds of times. I remember lines from this book that stuck with me, and shaped my trasition into adulthood. This novel captures the mysertious mind of young adults and teens while they make the difficult transition into adulthood.

I remember after I read this book, I redecorated my room. I was about 14 at the time, and having a difficult time in middle school. The main character has amnesia. When she looks in a mirror, she doesn't recognize her own face. She also cannot remember her own family, the house and the town she lives in. She has been in the hospital for weeks, and nothing has come back to her about her life before the accident. When she returns home for the first time, and enters her own room, it was like going into a stranger's bedroom. I couldn't imagine walking into my room and not recognizing it! In the detailed description of her room, the author described the decorated ceiling. The ceiling was covered in sheer squares of multicolored fabric hanging down that made one feel as though they were in a fairyland. When I redecorated my room, I did this in my bedroom. :)

I think this novel was well written and engaging. It is a modern ghost story for our jaded youth, who are used to the violence andcrime in the world, too jaded by it to enjoy real good books.

I don't know about you, but I always want to know the other books that the person reviewing a book read before and after the one they are reviewing. I think it helps improve the reccomendation. :) Some other novels I read around this time period and in a similar genre are:

"Remember Me", "The Lost Mind" (similar themes as this novel!), "The Immortal", "Bury me Deep", "Whisper of Death", "Die Softly", by Christopher Pike

"Whispers from the Grave" by Leslie Rule

"Let me Tell you how I died..." by Simclair Smith
The Fear Street Trilogy: "The Burning" (BOOK 1),by R.L. Stine.

The Vampire Journals Trilogy by L.J. Smith

The Secret Circle Trilogy by L.J. Smith

So, if you like this novel, and want books that are similar, check out the ones I mentioned above. I hope you enjoy this fabulous young adult book as much as I did!

the dark garden
The Dark Garden was an exellent book.thea who had had a byicle accident which caused her to get amnesia tries to find out who she is and who she isnt,when she comes back home hoping somthing will make her remember but she starts remembering some elses memories,but whos memories theas or someone elses,she thinks she has gone nuts and might have broken done if it wasnt for lucus who helps her discover a mystery on something that had happened long ago.it is full of action and drama and recomend it to any one who likes action,drama and romance all mixed into one.

twists & turns- why to read this book!
I read this book and absolutely fell in love with it! It is one of those novels that forces you to believe one thing, and all of a sudden, something else happens. Absolutely mysterious and written beautifully... very passionate.

Good but annoying
I enjoy these kind of stories and I would have liked it except the main character was soooooo annoying!She was rude and disrespectful. I just thought that it was hard to pay attention to the plot when you had a whinny 16-year-old in your face.Over all, the story was good and you might find Thea nice and interesting.Go ahead and try it out!You'll probably enjoy it.

An all time favourite!
This book might be one of the best books I've ever read, and that's saying something. Told in amazing detail by Thea, the main character who is suffering from amnesia, you realize how different two worlds can be for the same person. Intertwined in a mystery of the memories she is having that aren't hers, Thea is challanged with romance and spooks...I was so scared at times and then at other times I just wanted to smile and never stop because it was so good. Margaret Buffie has real talent for developing characters and I could see the house they were living in exactly. The book really brought out my emotions and I would recommend it to anyone! :) ... Read more

Product Description
Fifteen-year-old Emma has long suspected that something is not quite as it should be in her life. With her long, pale face and white hair, she looks nothing like her parents or frail younger sister. She acts nothing like them either. While her parents happily pursue their daily routine, Emma senses danger. She knows she must watch over the family day and night -- but from what, she doesn't know. Things spin out of control when Emma takes a summer job caring for an eccentric elderly neighbor and is drawn into playing a strange board game. She's suddenly plagued by surreal, frightening dreams that begin to invade her waking hours. Emma is soon hurtled from her quiet farm life into strange worlds of intrigue and terror. As she becomes a participant in a bizarre game of life and death, the mystery surrounding her is solved ... and her future decided. The Watcher is the first book in The Watcher's Quest trilogy. The following two books in the series are The Seeker and The Finder. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

A frightening and intriguing story.
The summer that her parents move to Grandpa MacFey's farm, 15-year-old Emma finds that nothing will ever be the same again. Her mother has become the keeper of her dead father's bees, her father is building a strange sculpture in a nearby field, and her sister Summer is fading away.

Who are The Watchers? Emma knows that they are not the people she has grown up with --- or are they? She alone in her family has the strange birthmark, two moons with an arrow shaft through them. When Tom Krift comes to work for her father, Emma discovers that he also bears the birthmark.

Is her father's sculpture, which he has named Bruide Henge, a portal to another world? Who are the strange people who have suddenly appeared in the village and who inhabit Emma's dreams? Emma seeks answers from Tom Krift who claims that he too is a Watcher and that they must save Summer. Can she trust him, or is he part of the plot to harm her sister and her family?

Emma's life spins out of control when she takes a job caring for an eccentric elderly neighbor and becomes involved in the board game Fidchell. Emma proves herself a worthy opponent. However, does she have the courage to play out the real game of life and death that will draw in each member of her family as she tries to understand her role in this frightening new magical world? Once again, Winnipeg writer and artist Margaret Buffie has taken seeming ordinary people and thrust them into a bizarre, magical world to create a frightening and intriguing story.


--- Reviewed by Audrey Marie Danielson

Why you have to read this and others in the series
In The Watcher, 15 yr old Emma finds out that she, like others of her kind, was literaly bred to watch over important children; hence the name. In the begining of the book, Emma thinks she is an ordinary teen with a weird family. Then she gets strange dreams about diferent worlds, and a child;the niece of the dead king of some wierd world. While taking care of an elderly neighbor, she finds out that she is not who she thinks she is. Things only get wierder when a classmate, Tom Krift, starts geting interested in her fathers plexiglass henge. It is Tom that tells her that her sister is wanted,as is she.

Hope the next one is as good!!!
I just got this book recently and it was fantastic, in all senses of the word. I hope the next one is as good. Emma has a lot of fixing to do to make her family safe again. Looks like the next one in the series is called The Seeker. Hope I'm right! I can hardly wait for it to come out.

A True Buffie Piece
The Watcher by Margaret Buffie is not to be compared to that of James Howe's. In this watcher, a young girl (who never quite belonged) finds out, after a series of troubling events, that she is a watcher. A character in a deadly game in another deadly world.Margaret Howe has an excellent sense of creativity and originality, as shown in this storyline. But the bright story is somewhat dulled by the characters and the setting. But the storyline is not one to be sneezed at --- while I was reading this book (though I found myself skipping through certain boring descriptions) I was held by the story itself, and the fact that this author had the creativity to dream up such a marvelous plot. With alternative universes of purple sands and orange moons, Buffie holds the readers eye and never fails to let go. So indeed this is worth a read or two (despite the open ending), especially if you've read her other works (considering Buffie's writing style is evident in all her novels).

There has to be a second Watcher book coming!
I'm almost 15 and a pretty average reader and I didn't find Watcher the least bit confusing. It was easy to follow and I couldn't put it down. The places Emma goes to and the people she meets I thought were amazing. I didn't want it to end. Yes, the ending is a mix of happy and sad, but I found it more than satisfying. It's pretty clear to most readers, I bet, that there's a second Watcher book coming after this. ... Read more

Product Description
Here is the second volume of Margaret Buffie's trilogy The Watcher's Quest. Emma's Earth mother, Leto, is dying. Longing to be reunited with her human daughter, Ailla, who was stolen at birth, she has lost her will to live. Emma has pledged to find the missing child and restore order to her adopted family's life. But the quest becomes a dangerous race when Emma realizes she isn't the only one searching for Ailla. The Seeker is the second book in The Watcher's Quest trilogy. The other two books in the series are The Watcher and The Finder. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Pretty Good Read
This book is about a girl named Emma who has resently found that she is a watcher. (check book 1. The Watcher) and now she is on a quest to save her dying human mother from illess by bringer her human father to another world and discovering where her lost human sister is all the while beating a great game player at his own game and finding out many secrets and mysterys along the way. with some unexpected firends, Emma finds what she really didnt know she needed to find. this is an amazing story and i would recomend it to anyone over 13.

Margaret Buffie does it again
I remember picking up "The Watcher" in a bookstore a couple of years ago. At that time, I wasn't sure what I thought about it, but as soon as I finished... well, needless to say, I read it again right away.

When I discovered that there was a sequel to "The Watcher", I couldn't wait to read it! When I finally got a copy, I sat down with it and finished it off the first day. It picked up a few months after "The Watcher", giving lots of background information and not allowing the reader to get lost. It was an amazing book. I really felt that I could sympathize with Emma, and I was pleased to read that Tom was still around. The book has a great fantasy-adventure storyline, and the new characters fit in seamlessly with the old. The ending was very satisfying, and left a few details unanswered- a reason to read the next book (when it comes out)!

I would recommend "The Seeker" to all fantasy lovers, regardless of age. It has a bit for everyone, I think. However, I would say that readers should read the prequel first.

Emma's dangerous new game
I remember a couple years ago when I first picked up the book, The Watcher. My mother saw it in a library and thought that it would be a good book for me. Well, she was right and my pitiful amazon review is still up for it today. Seeker: Watcher's Quest, is not only the sequel to The Watcher but it is also the second book in The Watcher's Trilogy.I'm not sure when the third book, Finder, comes out but I highly recommend that you read Seeker as soon as possible.

Emma is in training to become watcher, a protector of some sorts who watches over her obligations. Unfortunately since she was born on Earth and raised as a human she often lets her strong human emotions take control. Emma is facing a huge problem, the woman that she grew up believing was her mother, Leto, is dying of grief. Emma believes that if she can find the child that was taken from her mother and replaced with Summer, the young Queen who Leto still views as her own daughter, her mother will survive. Unfortunately to do that Emma must set out on a complicated quest set out by the evil game player Fergus. And she only has eight days to do it. Armed only with her wits, her friends, and whatever she may find on the way Emma is facing a daunting task, a task that she appears to be losing. Can Emma find her sister in time?

This book was very exciting with amazing new creatures and characters. One of my favorite new characters is Cill, the nervous little leaf creature who accidentally gets dragged on this quest. I was also happy to see a lot of character development happen with Emma as she learns more about the still strange new world around her. The book ties up a lot of loose ends from the end of The Watcher but also leaves a lot of things open that will be resolved in Finder. Margaret Buffie is a talented author who doesn't get the credit she deserves. If you've already read The Watcher I highly recommend picking this one up as well. If you haven't read the Watcher you could probably read this book as well, although it would completely spoil the ending to the first book in the trilogy. Still I highly recommend reading this book, regardless of your age. It's an exciting work of sci-fi/fantasy that you'll stay up way to late finishing. ... Read more

Product Description
When Rachel moves in with her great aunt, she begins to understand the evil reasons behind her premonitions that something bad is going to happen and the strange voices that she hears. Reprint. VY. K. SLJ. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A page turner
Rachel's voice is so realistic, you feel as if you were talking with a friend instead of reading a story. ... Read more

Product Description
Something frightening is happening at Willow Creek Ranch, where Jess and her parents moved after the death of her brother. Jess is seeing things -- or are they seeing her? Margaret Buffie's ambitious novel delicately intertwines two stories -- one set in 1908, the other in the present -- and explores how Jess deals with her own and her parents' grief. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A Spooky Ghost Story
When Jess's father moves the family to a ranch after the death of Jess's brother life is not easy for anyone. Jess's mother is slowly losing his mind and Jess is being forced into a world she wants nothign to do with. But when she hears her mother speaking to someone in her room in the night time, she's convinced that she's gone crazy. But as Jess digs into the past and finds an old journal she learns that her mother's Ghost is real, but not in the way she thinks.

I was impressed with this book. The first couple chapters are a bit slow but once you get past that you realize that it's an amazing book. It's written in two parts, one from Jess's world and another as Ian's journal. If you've read any other one of Margaret Buffie's books or just love a good ghost story this book is for you. I highly reccomend it.

My Mothers Ghost
After the death of her little brother, Jess moves to a ranch with her parents. She meets Percy, the old ranch hand and his wife, Winny; and Ben, Percy's young, handsome but shy helper. But she also meets the ghosts of Ian and his mother. What do they want? The supernatural, twisted with family issues and even some romance, makes this book a good read any time, anywhere, for anyone. Another excellent story by Margaret Buffie.

An exciting, gripping tale, perfect for golden summer nights
When sixteen-year-old Jessie Locke's little nine-year-old brother, Scotty dies after drowning in a pool, her RCMP father Rick moves her and hermother, Jeannie to Double Oak Ranch.

But all's not well. Jeannie iscoping with grief and depression at the loss of her son, Rick tries to turnthe ranch into a successful business and Jessie tries to help her emotionalmother who is convinced she's seeing the ghost of her dead son.

Thisstory is really exciting and mysterious as Jessie uncovers the secret ofthe tombstone on the hills and about her mother's ghost. ... Read more

Product Description
A young girl reads the diary of a long-dead boy and discovers that the ghost he writes about is her mother. By the award-winning author of The Haunting of Francis Rain. ... Read more

Product Description
Fifteen-year-old Addy panics and runs back to her room, her heart -- pounding. She can't do it. She can't go to school. Addy is afraid afraid of taking even one step out of the house. And it's worse than that. She can't hear people when they're right in front of her, yet she hears voices that no one else can. Addy feels as if she's falling apart. Where can she turn? Her parents have just split up and her one real friend is a thousand miles away. Addy wishes she were back at her old school, but she knows there's no going back. The trouble is, she can't move forward. She can't even leave her room. Angels Turn Their Backs is a compelling, supernatural thriller about a girl whose life is suddenly turned upside down by agoraphobia. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

One of my personal Favs!
I read this book when I was in school, we had to read something & to be honest at first the only reason I picked it up was because compared to the very other few books the class offered, it was the only book that was colorful & looked interesting from the cover. Once I started reading, I could not put it down! I read it everywhere until I finished it. This book also helped me a lot at that time in my life because my parents had just separated & I also was going through the same kind of things: not wanted to go to school & such. I still have this book & I know the unwritten rule of read it & pass it on, but I couldn't bare part with this one because it touched my life so well at the time. I even read it again a few times back then & might read it again now.:o)

Angels turn their backs
Addy has always been afraid of things; but ever since she and her mother moved she has been afraid to leave her own house. She can't find the nerve to tell her brave mother.
Addy has also been hearing voices and then she starts seeing things. She thinks she is insane.
But once Addy is able to come to terms that she isn't crazy she is able to solve more problems then her own.
It is a wonderful book about: strength, fear, friendship, family, and speaking up.

If you liked this book you should also read: Dark Garden, The

Great Book!
A Review by Carol
This story is about a 15-year-old girl named Addy Jarrick. Her parents split up and her mom and her moved to Winnipeg. She moves into an apartment building. Addy hears voices of the old lady who used to live there. She hears these voices through a parrot named Victor who makes the story humorous. I think that this story is so great because of all of the different emotions in it. I never wanted to put the book down. You have to use your imagination to really enjoy this book. Some things that happen aren't very real but the whole situation and conflict is very good and interesting. I would recommend this book to teenagers. The feelings change throughout the book. It is sad because Addy has agoraphobia, a fear of going outside. It is also scary because she hears voices but that's what makes the book so interesting. The book was pretty easy to follow, easy to understand and very efficient. I could read this book over and over again!

A powerful combination
Angels Turn Theirs Backs is beautifully written, and it is also fast-paced, a powerful combination for readers. It is the sensitive portait of a girl facing deep emotional problems after her parents separation. The characters are very real, while the parrot Victor offers great humor as well as important information about the past. It's also an excellent ghost story. The rich colors that fill the story are still with me a week after reading it. I highly recommend it.

Colourful but Unrealistic
This was an....interesting book. The story is well enough--a 15-year old girl (Addy Jarrick) is sent all to the way to Edmonton (much to her dismay) when her parents split up and her mom pursues a film making career. Tending to spend a lot of time to herself, Addy isn't exactly one to write the book on making friends, so her first day at school wasn't exactly that enjoyable. Later in the book she develops agoraphobia --- a strong fear of going outside.

Yeah, that's basically the whole plot. Though a little..er.. simple, Ms. Buffie pulls it off with a various assortment of characters. The characters are mostly humourous, if not sometime moody, but somehow I felt the book lacked a sense of reality. I mean, Sean was a little too cocky and Addy a little pessimistic.

But, just because I pointed out some bad parts doesn't mean this isn't a good book. I found it strangely colourful (even if it isn't truly realistic) and well, your typical happily ever after ending story(kind of). So all in all, this book is worth a read! ... Read more

Product Description
Fifteen-year-old Lizzie digs up a pair of old glasses and finds out she can see ghosts from the past when she wears them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

One Of Best Books I've Ever READ!!
This is one of the best books I've read in a long time and I've read alotof books. It's interesting in a fictional sense but meanwhile the maincharacter still has her own domestic problems so the book is almost takingyou into 2 different worlds and the transition is very well done and wasn'tabrupt which is what many writers would do. I'd reccomend this book toanyone of any age.

Still one of the best books I've ever read
I read this book a few years ago. I've read it at least 12 times since then. I love Margaret Buffie's books, but this one is still one of the best. The lake area where she writes is a lot like where I live and so Ireally know the way it looks and feels. She has caught it perfectly.

A wonderful read
This was the first Margaret Buffie book I read and it's one of my favourites. I especially liked the setting and the use of the supernatural, but mostly it's the characters that interested me. I loved Lizzie's humourand all the struggles with her family. The storyline with the ghost was sosad and yet it couldn't have ended any other way.

An Excellent, Well-Written Book
Lizzie and her family visit Grandma ("Gran") at her Canadian cottage near Rain Island. The good thing is, Lizzie gets to relax and enjoy herself. The bad thing is, her rowdy family gets into arguments duringtheir stay, due to the presence of Toothy Tim, Lizzie's new step-father.Lizzie decides to paddle over to Rain Island, despite Gran's declarationthat it was off limits, and finds the old site of a cabin. She discovers apair of gold-rimmed spectacles. Putting them on, Lizzie finds herself onthe island as it was 60 years ago!

It was one of my favorite books as a teenager.
I remember reading this book in elementary school and since then I've been searching bookstores everywhere to find another copy.The story was just something I related to.I think it's a definite good read for any age. ... Read more

Product Description
It's going to be a long, hot summer for 15-year-old Lizzie. Normally a vacation at her grandmother's northern Manitoba cottage is the highlight of the year, but this summer the whole family is going along, including her new stepfather whom she detests. To escape the family's bickering, Lizzie explores a nearby island, where she finds the remains of an old cabin and uncovers a pair of spectacles. When she tries on the old glasses she is surprised to find herself watching a woman and girl from the past. Lizzie is determined to find out who these ghosts are, and why they are appearing to her. Enlisting the help of her grandmother's teenage neighbor, Alex, she puts together clues about the ghosts' identities and in doing so, finds a way to help her estranged family reunite. It's a compelling story, carrying young readers from the present to the past and back again. ... Read more

Product Description
When Emma stumbles into the world beyond the portal -- against the orders of Histal, Master of the Watcher's Campan -- she finds a place of danger, intrigue and deadly Game Playing. Everything she values and everyone she loves is suddenly at stake. Emma's powers are constantly tested and threatened in this new world. Can she solve the ominous puzzles set up in the vast and treacherous maze? It won't be easy. But when Emma feels her weakest, she discovers an inner strength she did not realize she had ... The Finder is the third book in The Watcher's Quest trilogy. The previous two books in the series are The Watcher and The Seeker. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

WOW
This Margaret Buffies end to the wathcer series is a true masterpiece, sometimes the end to a series is not nearly as good as the begininng leaving you with a feeling of unsatisfaction, not the case with this book, it is great and truly worth the time to read, and if you have bot read this series any real fantasy book lover will love it and should read it.

Great read!
Ms. Buffie's Watcher's Quest trilogy is one of the best series I've ever read. I really like how she combines great fantasy images with the feeling of actually being there. Emma is an "earth" girl but also very magical. This combination of reality and fantasy works so well! The Finder is amazing.I loved all three and this last one was super good!! ... Read more

Product Description
OUT OF FOCUS :was chosen as an OUR CHOICE (STARRED*)YA fiction novel (2007) by The Canadian Children's Book Centre. (A star (*) and a book cover in the Our Choice catalogue signify titles of exceptional calibre.)

It was chosen an an PSLA's Young Adult Top Forty Fiction List 2006/7 in the USA and was nominated: 2007 McNally Robinson Book for Young People Award. It also among the OLA BEST BETS - TOP 10 CANADIAN BOOKs FOR YOUNG ADULTS from Ontario Library Association. It was also nominated for The Snow Willow Award. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Wonderful
This novel is written for teens but is a great read for people of all ages.

Author Margaret Buffie has written an honest novel about a family that is broken up because of alcoholism and fear.

Her main characters Celia the alcoholic mother who does not seem to have a clue and her daughter Bernie are a joy to read.I do not remember the last time I read a book in which the child so honestly confronted a parent about their alcoholism and their horrible parenting (non-existing).

This storyline is hard to read, but has an inspirational message.

Buy this book.This author needs to write more of this type of book. ... Read more

Product Description
Word count: 2615. ... Read more

Product Description
A novel for young adults ... Read more