It’s spring break, and 14-year-old Hannah Anderson is spending it with the “Coast-Is-Clear” program, a group committed to cleaning Pacific Rim National Park Reserve’s beaches of debris that has drifted across the Pacific from the tragic Japanese tsunami of 2011. Soon after Hannah arrives, Jack, her raven sidekick, discovers something washed up in the surf: a luminous glass ball marked with a strange Japanese character. Immediately, unusual things start to happen, beginning with the arrival of “Kimiko,” a Japanese girl with a secret past. Kimiko, it turns out, is part spirit fox (kitsune) and is here to reclaim the source of her power — the glass star ball she lost in the tsunami. Even with her star ball, however, Kimiko’s magic is dangerous and unpredictable, and hiding her true identity proves a challenge. But Hannah knows the truth, and with the help of Jack and a mysterious wolf waiting in the forest’s shadows, she is determined to help Kimiko find her place in the world.

Carol Anne Shaw has always loved to write stories and draw. As a child, she was forever being reprimanded for drawing in her textbooks and creating cartoons of her least favourite teachers. Hannah & the Spindle Whorl, her first novel, grew out of her fascination with the history of British Columbia, and especially its First Nations people. She spends a fair bit of time enjoying the natural beauty of Vancouver Island where she makes her home along with her husband, two sons and two dogs. When she isn't writing, she can be found painting at her easel, walking in the woods, and finding excuses not to wear shoes.

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“Fans of the earlier books will appreciate spending more time with the smart, spunky Hannah who becomes a stronger heroine with every installment. . . Recommended.”—Kris Rothstein, CM Magazine

“Everything Hannah feels and does is embedded in . . . caring and concern and she is a totally believable character. She wants to be good and do good but is still human with her distress, frustration, suspicion, worry and anger. But by tying in elements of Japanese folklore, specifically the kitsune and Okami, Carol Anne Shaw makes Hannah and the Wild Woods into a bigger story of finding oneself and one’s family and accepting mistakes as learning steps.”—Helen K, CanLit for Little Canadians

“Hannah is an appealing character that the reader can empathize with, and keeps you involved in her story as she comes to terms with the various facets of life as her story unfolds. E for excellent.”—Emma-Leigh Mitchell, Resource Links