In this second of three preview instalments, Q&Q presents middle grade and graphic novels. Young adult novels and nonfiction will be featured next week. The first instalment featured picture books.

Q&Q’s fall preview covers books published between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2025. All information (titles, publication dates) was supplied by publishers.

This fall’s slate of middle grade and graphic novels marks the return of many fan favourites. Willis takes refuge on an abandoned island populated by robots in Cary Fagan’s Robot Island. Kevin Sylvester introduces readers to a father and son who are part of an elite team from the future who travel in time to save lost treasures in Time Surfers. And Abby Kita sets out to uncover who killed a fellow classmate in Mariko Tamaki’s This Place Kills Me. We invite you to explore this season’s offerings and find your next favourite read.

A Summer of Dragonflies 
Natasha Deen
DCB Young Readers/Cormorant Books, Sept.

Gupta “Guppie” Persaud sees the year-long move with her family from Calgary to New York City as the chance to overcome her “terminal shyness.” There’s only one thing: she needs to survive the three-week road trip first. Excursions, detours, and run-ins abound as Guppie aims to prove to everyone, including herself, that she’s a hero.

Robot Island
Cary Fagan
Tundra Books/Penguin Random House Canada, Oct. 

Invisible: The (Sort of) True Story of Me and My Hidden Disease
David Soren
Penguin Workshop, Oct. 

I Won’t Feel This Way Forever 
Kim Spencer
Orca Book Publishers, Oct. 

Kim Spencer’s follow-up to Weird Rules to Follow finds Mia, her mom, and aunties heading to Vancouver to be by her grandmother’s side after she is admitted to the hospital. In between being shuttled from the hospital to the motel, Mia joins a basketball camp run by a teen coach who helps her understand what it means to be Indigenous. When her grandmother’s health continues to deteriorate, Mia is forced to face the truth that her grandma may not get better.

Nightmare Jones
Shannon Bramer and Cindy Derby, ill.
Groundwood Books, Oct.

The Discovery of Finnegan Wilde
Caroline Pignat
Thistledown Press, Aug. 

Seabird 
Michelle Kadarusman
Pajama Press, Sept. 

Michelle Kadarusman, a finalist for the Governor General’s Award, brings readers a story inspired by a 19th-century feminist. With the help of a former schoolmate, Kartini, a young girl of noble birth who’s being forced into an arranged marriage, challenges the expectations placed on her to gain what she desires most: her freedom – and in doing so, wins the same freedoms for the girls and women in her community.   

Time Surfers
Kevin Sylvester
HarperCollins, Sept.

This Place Kills Me 
Mariko Tamaki and Nicole Goux, ill.
Abrams Fanfare, Aug. 

Mariko Tamaki, award-winning author of Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, returns with This Place Kills Me, a compelling mystery in which transfer student Abby Kita sets out to uncover who killed Elizabeth Woodward, a member of the elite Wilberton Theatrical Society. Told through comics, diary entries, letters, and news articles, this page-turner illustrated by Nicole Goux will have readers utterly captivated. 

Separated from Santo: The True Story of an Italian-Canadian Internee during the Second World War
Brian Barazzuol and Cam Drysdale, ill.; Alex Doftoreanu, colourist
Heritage House, Oct. 

Ghost Circus 
Adrienne Kress and Jade Zhang, ill.
Union Square Kids/Hachette Book Group, Aug. 

True Colors: Growing Up Weird in the ’90s 
Elise Gravel and Montana Kane, trans.
Drawn & Quarterly, Aug. 

Elise Gravel returns with an origin story like no other! She welcomes readers into the pages of her diary, at a time when going to the mall and making cassette mix tapes were the things to do. With her signature wackiness, Elise illustrates the awesome power of art and creativity.  

Paisley & Peck: Jurassic Farm
Torres and Mike Deas, ill.
Owlkids, Sept. 

Free Piano (Not Haunted)
Whitney Gardner
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, July 

7 Generations: A Plains Cree Saga, 15th Anniversary Edition 
David A. Robertson and Scott B. Henderson, ill. 
HighWater Press/Portage & Main Press, Sept.

All four titles in the epic 7 Generations: A Plains Cree Saga series, which follows one Cree family over three centuries and seven generations, are brought together in this re-coloured and re-lettered 15th-anniversary edition that boasts a new preface from the series’ acclaimed author and an afterword from bestselling author Cherie Dimaline.

Haunted Canada Graphic Novel, Volume 2: Four More Terrifying Tales
Joel A. Sutherland; Hannah Barrett, Mike Feehan, Maya McKibbin, and Matt Salisbury, ill.
Scholastic Canada, Sept. 

2025 fall preview: Picture books
2025 fall preview: Fiction
2025 fall preview: Short fiction and poetry
All 2025 fall previews.