• Age: 10 to 16
• Grade: 5 to 11

Abandoning people who love you was about the worst thing a person could ever do. That wasn't Tia. And it wasn't Mama, either. If she let herself think that - even for a second - she was afraid she'd forget how to breathe.

In an Icelandic community in the heart of Canada, 13-year-old Tia is angry. Her mother has disappeared and she and her eight-year-old brother, Tag, have been sent to yet another foster home. In a lodge at the edge of Lake Winnipeg with a family and fake mom that feels smothering, Tia feels more isolated and farther away from her mother than ever. She desperately tries to convince her brother to return to the city where they will find Mama, and reunite their family.

But when a freak spring snowstorm and a herd of runaway horses lead her to a job at the Ice Pony Ranch and Animal Rescue Centre, Tia is offered a job that might just change everything.

[R]eal and true to life . . . As the story moves along, [Anita Daher] does a good job of slowly revealing more and more background information about Tia and Tag's relationship with their mother and their life situation with her. Tia's relationship, hot and cold, with her foster mom also rings true to life as Tia wrestles with all of her emotions. - CM Magazine

Anita Daher draws writing inspiration from the many places she's been blessed to spend time which include Summerside, PEI; Yellowknife, NT; Churchill, MB; Baker Lake, NU and Sault Ste. Marie, ON. She's been entrenched in the book publishing industry for several years writing books, articles and reviews, leading workshops and presentations, and has worked on the publishing end of things as a marketing director. Previous occupations include flight service specialist, radio broadcaster, lunch truck driver, and grave-plot salesperson. She likes writing best, as she never has to take off her slippers, can wear a funny hat, and can hold conversations with the statues and stuffies that keep her company.

Anita holds memberships in The Writers' Union of Canada, The Canadian Children's Book Center, The Manitoba Writers' Guild, The Saskatchewan Writers Guild, and was a founding member of the Territorial Writers Association. When she's not writing, she likes to spend time baking, playing her guitar (badly), and turning her backyard garden into a haven for neighbourhood bunnies. Anita currently resides in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with her husband, two daughters, a basset hound, and a Westfalia camper van named Mae.

Books with Orca: Flight from Big Tangle (2002), Flight from Bear Canyon (2004), Racing for Diamonds (April, 2007), Poachers in the Pingos (2008), On the Trail of the Bushman (2009).

For information on school presentations and workshops visit Anita's website: http://www.anitadaher.com.

Anita Daher's profile page

Shortlisted for the 2019 IODE Violet Downey Book Award.