Böcker av Phyllis Rudin

It seems like a dream gig when Daphne gets the job offer--live in Montreal's Underground City for a full year and blog about the experience. The flip side of the city has all the creature comforts. The year will fly by. Except there's a catch. To collect her whopping bonus for sticking it out till day 365, Daphne must agree never to set so much as a toe outside the territory of the Underground City, submitting to an ankle monitor to keep her honest. Even if the conditions are hardcore, she doesn't have much choice. Out of work, and sole provider for a grandmother whose bank account is on life support, Daphne signs on the dotted line. And that's when her life goes into freefall.Inspired by Daphne, her grandmother comes up with an underground plan of her own, sheltering a family of illegal refugees in her basement. Daphne's initial fury at her grandmother's risky move does an about-face once she meets Chantal, a young runaway holed up in the Underground City, fleeing a threat she refuses to disclose. When Chantal shows up on Daphne's doorstep desperate for protection, Daphne must decide if she's prepared to lay her underground future on the line to rescue a group of virtual strangers from discovery and ruin.

In this coming-of-age story, Benjie Gabai is convinced he''s been the victim of a terrible cosmic hoax. Instead of being born in the 18th century as a French-Canadian voyageur, God has plunked him down in present-day Montreal, into a family that views his fur trade obsession as proof that their Benjie, once so bursting with promise, has well and truly lost it. Benjie serves out his days as caretaker of The Bay''s poky in-store fur trade museum, dusting and polishing the artifacts that fuel his imagination. When he learns his museum is about to be closed down, scattering his precious collection to the four winds, he hatches a plan that risks bringing his voyageur illusions lapping dangerously up against reality. This book melds Canadian frontier history with the madcap adventures of a young man who is not ready to meet adulthood head on.