Fern is a 17-year-old girl whose world crumbles when her mother dies in The Saver (Groundwood Books, $17.95 hardcover and $12.95 softcover), by Guelph author Edeet Ravel.

Now alone, except for the companionship of her cat, Beauty, and an imaginary confidant named Xanoth, Fern must learn to survive through perseverance and hard work.

Ravel, who read from her latest adult novel at the recent Word on The Street book festival in Kitchener, is also the author of the Pauline, btw series for children ages 10 to 14.

Other recent releases for young adults:

The voices of American and Canadian soldiers' children are heard in Off to War (Groundwood, $16.95 hardcover) written by Deborah Ellis, who lives in Simcoe, Ont. For ages nine and up.

In Dog Lost! (Scholastic, $18.99 hardcover), Toronto author Ingrid Lee tells the true story of a boy desperately seeking his much-loved puppy, which his mean father has abandoned.

Amani is a young Palestinian girl who longs to be a shepherd on the very land that Palestinians and Israelis fight over in The Shepherd's Granddaughter (Groundwood, $17.95) by Anne Laurel Carter of Toronto.

Medieval trickery abounds in Here Lies Arthur (Scholastic, $19.99 hardcover), written by English author Philip Reeve and shortlisted for a Carnegie Medal.

Marcus is a Roman teenager whose political savvy sends him on an almost impossible mission in The Ancient Ocean Blues (Tundra, $11.99 softcover), a new work of historical fiction by Toronto author Jack Mitchell.

Inkdeath (Scholastic, $27.50), is the striking conclusion to California author Cornelia Funk's Inkheart fantasy trilogy, for ages nine to 12.

Rosalind Kemp must come to terms with her inherited "gift" in Peterborough author Julie Johnston's A Very Fine Line (Tundra, $12.99 softcover). For ages 11 and up.