Raspberry House Blues

by Linda Holeman

Published 1 September 2000
Poppy is an aptly named red-head with an attitude problem. Yet, beneath her normally cool, dismissive exterior is a more vulnerable, likeable side.
At home with her adoptive mother, tensions abound as Poppy focuses her teenage angst by fantasizing about the birth mother she has never known. After a row with her mother, and hoping to trace her real mother, Poppy takes off to visit her father and his new family in Winnipeg.

Mercy's Birds

by Linda Holeman

Published 1 September 1998
Mercy is nearly sixteen, a loner, and a misfit, or at least that's how she likes to appear -- but her dyed hair and black clothes don't fool everyone. At home, Mercy has to cope with her depressed mother and eccentric aunt, who is a larger than life fortune-teller and alcoholic. Terrified by the impending return of her aunt's boyfriend, Mercy retreats further behind her image as she tries to maintain that all is well. However, Mercy's barriers are gradually eroded by unexpected friendships, and she learns to open up and accept help from others.