The Land Beyond the Wall: An Immigration Story

By Veronika Martenova Charles

Given the abundance of stories about refugees and immigration released over the last couple of years, it might seem that Toronto author-illustrator Veronika Martenova Charles’s latest picture book is simply another among the throng. But ... Read More »

June 12, 2017 | Filed under: Picture Books

Polly MacCauley’s Finest, Divinest, Woolliest Gift of All

By Darka Erdelji (ill.); Sheree Fitch

In this poetry-infused folktale set in the village of River John, Polly MacCauley needs a rare breed of sheep to finish a lifelong knitting project, and Star, an orphaned lamb, is the divine animal that ... Read More »

June 8, 2017 | Filed under: Picture Books

★ Stay

By Katherine Lawrence

At first glance, Stay appears to be modest in length, form, and story. But within the spare pages of this middle-grade novel in verse is a powerful narrative about a family in transition, and the ... Read More »

June 7, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction

Road Signs That Say West

By Sylvia Gunnery

Sisters Hanna, Megan, and Claire have just waved off their parents at the airport in Halifax when Hanna announces her plan: while Mum and Dad are in Europe, the three of them are going on ... Read More »

June 5, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction

By The Time You Read This

By Jennifer Lanthier; Patricia Storms (ill.)

Author Jennifer Lanthier uses a fun format and some great vocabulary to shepherd young readers through her engaging picture book, which begins on a mysterious note: in the wake of some dramatic – and initially ... Read More »

May 29, 2017 | Filed under: Picture Books

The Way Back Home

By Allan Stratton

Zoe Bird’s world is cracking apart. The teenaged narrator of Allan Stratton’s latest YA novel lives in a small Ontario town where she struggles against the oppressive influence of her narrow-minded parents at home and ... Read More »

May 29, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction

Greetings, Leroy

By Alix Delinois (ill.); Itah Sadu

The latest picture book from author, storyteller, and bookstore owner Itah Sadu is both a perfect gift for children making Canada their new home and a love letter to Bob Marley. Written as an email ... Read More »

May 24, 2017 | Filed under: Picture Books

Stop Feedin’ da Boids!

By James Sage; Pierre Pratt (ill.)

The opening spread of American author James Sage’s Stop Feedin’ da Boids! paints a lazy pastoral landscape, idyllic green and dotted with free-roaming animals. Bunnies frolic, a lone horse drinks, a clump of cows graze… ... Read More »

May 18, 2017 | Filed under: Kids’ Books, Picture Books

★ Colette’s Lost Pet (Mile End Stories, Book 1)

By Isabelle Arsenault

The opening spread of American author James Sage’s Stop Feedin’ da Boids! paints a lazy pastoral landscape, idyllic green and dotted with free-roaming animals. Bunnies frolic, a lone horse drinks, a clump of cows graze… ... Read More »

May 18, 2017 | Filed under: Kids’ Books, Picture Books

Birthdays: Beyond Cake and Ice Cream

By Dani Tate-Stratton; Nikki Tate

Birthdays: Beyond Cake and Ice Cream is a book that lives up to its title. Its three chapters explore birthdays on an individual and global level. Salient facts are interwoven with personal anecdotes, making for ... Read More »

May 18, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Non-fiction, Kids’ Books

The Fashion Committee

By Susan Juby

Told in the alternating voices of its two main characters, The Fashion Committee is the story of a style-obsessed girl named Charlie Dean and John Thomas-Smith, a boy who’s extremely talented in metalwork but couldn’t ... Read More »

May 16, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction

Undiscovered Country

By Jennifer Gold

In Cat’s life, there is the time Before, and there is the time After. Before her mother died from breast cancer, Cat was a brainy high school student with early admission to Stanford University. After, ... Read More »

May 16, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

Summer’s End

By Joel A. Sutherland

What could be worse than knowing it’s the last summer you’ll spend with your closest friends, as well as the last one before you get hit with the innocence-destroying horrors of high school? A lot, ... Read More »

May 8, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

Laura Monster Crusher

By Wesley King

There’s a reason popular kids aren’t usually called upon to take up quests in middle-grade fantasy: all metaphor goes out the window. Where’s the satisfaction in seeing a well-liked, effortlessly capable 12-year-old take down evil ... Read More »

May 8, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

Dingus

By Andrew Larsen

Life is changing for 11-year-old Henry, and not necessarily in ways he likes. He’s been okay with a baby brother arriving on the scene after 10 years of being an only child, okay with his ... Read More »

May 4, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

Good Morning, Grumple

By Manon Gauthier (ill.); Victoria Allenby

Waking up in the morning can be a challenge, but less so if you have someone who knows just the right combination of tickles, songs, and kisses to get you up and out of bed. ... Read More »

April 24, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

Bent Not Broken: Madeline and Justin (One-2-One series)

By Lorna Schultz Nicholson

Lorna Schultz nicholson’s third novel for Clockwise Press’s One-2-One series follows Madeline, a 14-year-old with a traumatic brain injury, and Justin, a high school senior still mourning his sister’s death, as they participate in their ... Read More »

April 24, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

Phoebe Sounds It Out

By Denise Holmes (ill.); Julie Zwillich

Some kids’ books address thorny childhood issues by relocating the attendant angst to the animal world, or outer space, or lands of witchcraft and wizardry. Others, like Phoebe Sounds It Out, tackle problems head-on by ... Read More »

April 17, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

★ Town Is by the Sea

By Joanne Schwartz; Sydney Smith (ill.)

Town Is by the Sea introduces readers to the day-to-day reality of growing up in a mining town, as seen through the eyes of a young boy. The boy shares everything with readers, describing his ... Read More »

April 17, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

Innocent Heroes: Stories of Animals in the First World War

By Sigmund Brouwer

With the country in the midst of sesquicentennial fever, publishers are making an effort to ensure that another important anniversary isn’t overlooked: the centennial of the First World War battle of Vimy Ridge. Three new ... Read More »

April 10, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Non-fiction

★ A Soldier’s Sketchbook: The Illustrated First World War Diary of R.H. Rabjohn

By John Wilson

With the country in the midst of sesquicentennial fever, publishers are making an effort to ensure that another important anniversary isn’t overlooked: the centennial of the First World War battle of Vimy Ridge. Three new ... Read More »

April 10, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Non-fiction

The Vimy Oaks: A Journey to Peace

By Brian Deines (ill.); Linda Granfield

With the country in the midst of sesquicentennial fever, publishers are making an effort to ensure that another important anniversary isn’t overlooked: the centennial of the First World War battle of Vimy Ridge. Three new ... Read More »

April 10, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Non-fiction

Meatless? A Fresh Look at What You Eat

By Julie McLaughlin (ill.); Sarah Elton

Meat eater, flexitarian, vegetarian, vegan: there are as many names for one’s eating preference these days as there are varieties of fruit. And where our food comes from is becoming as important to some as ... Read More »

April 10, 2017 | Filed under: Picture Books

Maud: A Novel Inspired by the Life of L.M. Montgomery

By Melanie J. Fishbane

For those of us who grew up enthralled with Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables, details about Montgomery herself always seemed superfluous. Wasn’t Anne enough? A character vivid and realized, her life story so ... Read More »

April 3, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction

Kings of the Court

By Alison Hughes

Edmonton author Alison Hughes’s latest book for young readers (her back catalogue includes picture books and other middle-grade and YA titles) tells the story of the Gladiators, a junior-high basketball team whose bully of a ... Read More »

April 3, 2017 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction