★ My Long List of Impossible Things

Vladimir Nabokov advised fiction writers to put their characters up a tree and then throw rocks at them. In the edgy and suspenseful My Long List of Impossible Things, novelist Michelle Barker’s tree is tall ... Read More »

February 13, 2020 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

★ Wildfire

By Carrie Mac

This powerful new novel by Vancouver writer Carrie Mac begins in media res, deep in a Pacific Northwest forest. Two teenagers, Annie and Pete, are in a tent with a forest fire approaching. Annie is ... Read More »

February 6, 2020 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

Until Niagara Falls

By Jennifer Maruno

In two very different but affecting middle-grade novels, we learn about the complicated inner lives of girls as they confront their fears, bullies, and the uncertainties of growing up. Author and educator Jennifer Maruno (When ... Read More »

February 3, 2020 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

My Best Friend and Other Illusions

By Suri Rosen

February 3, 2020 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

Bloom

By Kenneth Oppel

If you were to tweak the words to that famous Five Man Electrical Band protest song, you’d have the gist of the latest Kenneth Oppel novel: Vine, vine, everywhere a vine, blocking out the scenery, ... Read More »

January 23, 2020 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen: The Body Under the Piano

By Marthe Jocelyn and Isabelle Follath (ill.)

This first instalment in an exciting new historical-fiction series by Marthe Jocelyn (Mable Riley; What We Hide) promises to woo a new generation of mystery fans. In the character of Aggie Morton, Jocelyn’s created a ... Read More »

January 20, 2020 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

Given

By Nandi Taylor

Nandi Taylor’s Given garnered over a million reads on Wattpad before becoming one of the site’s first hard-copy releases. The novel bodes well for Wattpad’s expansion to traditional publishing: it’s fast-paced, nuanced, and presents a ... Read More »

January 9, 2020 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

★ Me and Banksy

By Tanya Lloyd Kyi

In Tanya Lloyd Kyi’s latest middle-grade novel Me and Banksy, a small group of eighth-graders tackle school security and privacy violations. Aspiring artist Dominica “Dom” Rivers and her best friends – former child star Holden ... Read More »

January 2, 2020 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

Hearts, Strings, and Other Breakable Things

By Jacqueline Firkins

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen’s catalogue of work – and specifically Pride and Prejudice – is well suited for modernized adaptations. When considering Mansfield Park, however, examples are few and far ... Read More »

December 16, 2019 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

Safe Harbour

By Christina Kilbourne

The idea of “safe harbour” began as a nautical concept, referring to a place of safety for seafaring vessels during wartime or storms. It is neither a departure point nor a destination, but a sheltered ... Read More »

November 14, 2019 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

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