Children and YA Fiction

★ Every Little Bit Olive Tran

Joyful and celebratory seem like odd descriptors for a book about racism, but author Phuong Truong and artist Christine Wei manage this delicate balance rather deftly in Every Little Bit Olive Tran. The story centres ... Read More »

February 26, 2025 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

Miss Matty

By Edeet Ravel

Fran was born to be an actress. After all, she has always been acting in front of everyone, even her best friend Rita – pretending her family isn’t so poor that they can’t afford store-bought ... Read More »

February 19, 2025 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

The Shape of Lost Things

By Sarah Everett

Four years ago, 12-year-old Skye’s universe shattered. Her older brother, Finn, was kidnapped by their father and has been missing ever since. In Finn’s absence, Skye is forced to celebrate his “MIA” birthdays with her ... Read More »

December 11, 2024 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

★ Fledgling: The Keeper’s Records of Revolution

By S.K. Ali

Raisa Freelund, daughter of the Chief Guardian of Upper Earth, is not naive enough to think she lives in a utopia. Her scalplink floods her mind with news of imminent threats of attack from Lower ... Read More »

December 4, 2024 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

★ A Constellation of Minor Bears

By Jen Ferguson

In award-winning author Jen Ferguson’s latest contemporary young-adult novel, long-time best friends Molly Norris-Norquay and Tray Lambert depart from their hometown of Edmonton shortly after Molly’s high school graduation. Their destination: the U.S.-Mexico border, to ... Read More »

November 6, 2024 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

The Unfinished

By Cheryl Isaacs

For Avery, running is the most natural thing in the world. It’s a way for her to exist outside the complexities of her life, to temporarily forget about her mother’s struggles as a newly single ... Read More »

September 25, 2024 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

Little by Little: You Can Change the World

By Sonya Ballantyne and Rhael McGregor (ill.); Toben Racicot

Little by Little: You Can Change the World is the story of how Indigenous activist and speaker Michael Redhead Champagne found his calling. Readers are shown how his years as a child in the foster ... Read More »

September 4, 2024 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

★ The Outsmarters

By Deborah Ellis

Governor General’s Award–winning author Deborah Ellis returns with a terrific middle-grade novel set in contemporary Toronto. Written in first-person narrative, the book follows 12-year-old Kate Grey after she is suspended from school for behavioural issues. ... Read More »

August 21, 2024 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

Killing Shakespeare

By Koom Kankesan

Killing Shakespeare, the new young adult novel from Toronto writer and teacher Koom Kankesan, begins with a compelling premise: if presented with the opportunity to go back in time, what would three contemporary Scarborough teenagers ... Read More »

August 7, 2024 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

Pillow Talk

By Stephanie Cooke and Mel Valentine Vargas (ill.)

Pillow Talk offers a heartwarming and unique riff on Whip It–style girl power with the story of a fictional sports league, the Pillow Fight Federation (PFF). At its heart is Grace Mendes, a college student ... Read More »

July 24, 2024 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

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