Alexander Graham Bell, Baddeck's most illustrious resident, and one of the world's greatest inventors, is also famous for the greatness of his compassion. It's 1908, and ten-year-old Eddie MacDonald shares the friendly inventor's passion for solving problems and for taking long walks in the fields above Bras d'Or Lake. But whereas Bell is renowned by many for being the smartest man in the world, Eddie is just a local farm boy who struggles to learn to read and write. After a few chance encounters, the elderly Bell befriends the young boy, and takes an interest in his struggle – encouraging Eddie to celebrate his successes and never give up. When Bell's long ambition for manned flight culminates in the Silver Dart soaring over Bras d'Or Lake, Eddie is inspired to find solutions to his own challenges.

Ghosts of the Pacific, the fourth volume in the best-selling Submarine Outlaw series, begins with Alfred and his crew of Seaweed the seagull and Hollie the dog undertaking a harrowing journey through the icy gauntlet of the Northwest Passage on the way to the South Pacific. Alfred wants to see those dark places of the earth where horrendous events have taken place. He sets his sights on exotic Micronesia — a beautiful place, but home to the nuclear testing of Bikini Lagoon; the Suicide Cliffs of Saipan; the airfields of Tinian, where the Enola Gay lifted off with the atomic bomb; and the Marshall Islands, which may conceal secrets to the mystery of Amelia Earhart's final days. Yet even with these past tragedies in mind, Alfred discovers that the world is facing an even greater threat today. As they sail into the hot, hazy world of the Pacific, they encounter the ruthless killing practices of shrimp trawlers and an island of plastic the size of Texas. Along the way,...

In Seas of South Africa, the sixth volume in the best-selling Submarine Outlaw series, it has been over two years since the young explorer first set sail in his own submarine, with his dog and seagull crew. Now, almost seventeen, Alfred is on the cusp of switching from exploring the world to playing an active environmentalist role in protecting the sea that he loves so dearly. Brought into conflict with the pirate scourge that plagues Africa's eastern shores, Alfred takes action against them, only to bring them into tireless pursuit of him. Escaping overland to Johannesburg, with a reckless young inventor from Soweto, Alfred discovers that the violence which taints the shores of the continent is deeply embedded in the life of South African society, so recently freed from Apartheid. Despairing at the cruelty inflicted upon his friend, Alfred learns that the antidote to violence is not more violence, but the strength of one's heart and an indomitable determination to...

Recently granted registration papers for his submarine, Alfred is no longer an outlaw and is filled with conviction to become an active environmentalist. But in Perth, Australia, he is mistakenly accused of sabotaging an oil tanker, forcing him to escape overland and to Tasmania. There he meets up with Merwin Hughes, an environmentalist- hippy. Al and Merwin strike a deal, whereby Merwin will share all he knows about environmentalism, in exchange for a voyage on Al's sub. They then travel the "safe" route around the coast of Tasmania, where they spot another tanker on its way (illegally) to refuel the whalers. The pair gets caught in the violent clashing of ships, and the heroic actions of Captain Paul Watson and crew aboard the Sea Shepherd Society's flagship, the Steve Irwin. Al learns that the war to save the planet is being waged ubiquitously by dedicated individuals, each contributing in his/her own way, and that every action, large or small, matters greatly.

In 1744, at age 15, Jacques and his father leave France for Louisbourg, the capital of Île Royale – a far cry from his books and music and the comforts of his mother’s home. In the Acadian forests that surround Louisbourg, a young Mi’kmaw man named Two-feathers watches the strange comings and goings of soldiers and citizens. The two young men follow very different paths – one formally educated and refined, the other curious and skilful – both seeking to understand their father. Canadian author Philip Roy was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Roy writes adventurous and young adult novels focusing on social, environmental and global issues, including the Submarine Outlaw series. Historical YA fiction, 12 and older, Nova Scotia, Canada, pre-Confederation, Aboriginal, Mi’kmaq.

Submarine Outlaw takes young adult readers on a unique journey when Alfred, a young boy who wants to be an explorer — not a fisherman, as his family demands — teams up with a junkyard genius to build a submarine that he sails around the Maritimes. The book takes the reader through the hands-on process of submarine construction into the world of real ocean navigation, replete with a high-seas chase, daring rescue and treasure hunting. Children will identify with Alfred’s desire for an adventurous life and the sense of empowerment that comes with building his own submarine and operating it independently. They will also love the unusual crew — a rescued dog and a quirky seagull. The First Prize Winner of the Atlantic Writers Competition, Submarine Outlaw shows how any great goal in life takes a good deal of patience, determination and hard work. But also how hard work on one’s dream becomes an act of joy.

In this sequel to the prize-winning young adult novel Submarine Outlaw, the sea of myth and legends beckons young Alfred once again, and the intrepid young explorer answers the call. With his loyal crew of a dog and a seagull by his side, Alfred sails across the Atlantic in his homemade submarine and enters the Mediterranean in search of the fabled lost island of Atlantis. Ziegfried, genius and master builder of the sub, cautions Alfred to be careful and practical. Yet Sheba, friend and island enchantress, whispers to Alfred: “Trust your feelings.” Indeed, Alfred must trust his premonitions many times on this ambitious and far-reaching adventure. From a daring rescue of drowning fishermen, to a skirmish between the Canadian coastguard and Spanish fishing trawlers; from escaping an exploding WWII sea mine, to colliding with a submerged container filled with toys; from turning the chase on bumbling pirates, to an unscheduled camel trek into the Sahara, Alfred’s...

The third volume in the Submarine Outlaw series takes Alfred and his homemade submarine up the St. Lawrence River to Montreal in search of the father who abandoned him at birth. An exciting sequel to Submarine Outlaw and Journey to Atlantis.

In Outlaw in India, the fifth volume in the best-selling Submarine Outlaw series, Alfred and his crew of Seaweed the seagull and Hollie the dog begin their exploration of India with a piece of bad luck when they surface behind a frigate and bring the wrath of the Indian navy down upon them. After a near fatal encounter off Kochi, Alfred befriends a ten-year-old homeless and illiterate but highly intelligent boy, and is given the chance to explore the changing face of India through the eyes of one of its “untouchables.” Discovering India to be an ancient land filled with extremes of beauty, wealth, tradition and danger, Alfred is tricked into making an overland pilgrimage to Varanasi, one of the world’s oldest cities. Along the journey he witnesses practices which deny human equality and dignity, but also happy events that celebrate the spirit of new beginnings, as personified in Ganesh, the Hindu god with four arms and the head of an elephant. Alfred cannot help...