In this final instalment of the fall preview, Q&Q presents young adult novels and nonfiction titles. Last week’s instalment featured middle grade and graphic novels. 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.

Intrigue, love, and horror make up this fall’s crop of young adult novels. Dynamic duo Sarena Nanua and Sasha Nanua take readers to Edwardian Paris in A Riddle of Thorns, queer joy and love take centre stage in Cale Plett’s Wavelength, and Liselle Sambury returns with an all-new series. And the nonfiction titles don’t disappoint as they aim to help readers understand their bodies, their feelings, their perspectives, and their words. We invite you to explore this season’s offerings and find your next favourite read. 

A Riddle of Thorns 
Sarena Nanua and Sasha Nanua
Holiday House, Oct.  

Set in Edwardian Paris, A Riddle of Thorns follows 18-year-old Sana Gupta, whose mission is twofold: beat a trio of rivals to win the deed to her ancestral home, Razorthorn Manor, as well as the treasure it holds, and uncover the truth of why her mother disappeared when she was a child.

Mermaids of Prince Edward Island 
Allison Wolvers
Acorn Press, Oct.

Fierce Voice 
Susan Currie
Common Deer Press, Sept.

The Dark Cove Theatre Society 
Sierra Marilyn Riley
Annick Press, Oct. 

Qallupilluit: The Takers of Children 
Louise Flaherty and Neil Christopher; Megan Kyak-Monteith, ill. 
Inhabit Media, Oct. 

From Louise Flaherty comes a bilingual edition of a traditional Inuit story from the North Baffin region about the qallupilluit, mysterious beings that lurk under the ice. David, like all children in the Arctic, is warned about the qallupilluit, but when he doesn’t take heed and ventures on the ice carelessly, it may cost him someone he loves.

Songs for Ghosts 
Clara Kumagai
Penguin Teen Canada, Aug.    

The Dandelion Riots 
Kim Smejkal
Pushkin Children’s Books/Steerforth Press, Sept.

Wavelength 
Cale Plett
Groundwood Books, Oct. 

A Mastery of Monsters 
Liselle Sambury
Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, July 

When August is attacked by a 10-foot-tall creature with fur and claws, she realizes that her brother, who has gone missing, is in unimaginable danger. Willing to do anything to find him, August partners with Virgil Hawthorne, a monster himself, to win entry into a secret society full of monsters in this new series by Liselle Sambury.  

What Friends Are For 
Harriet Zaidman
Wandering Fox/Heritage House, Oct. 

Red Flags and Butterflies
Sheryl Azzam
DCB Young Readers/Cormorant Books, Oct. 

You Were Made for This World: Celebrated Indigenous Voices Speak to Young People 
Stephanie Sinclair and Sara Sinclair, eds.
Tundra Books/Penguin Random House Canada, July 

Forty Indigenous writers, artists, activists, athletes, scholars, and thinkers come together in You Were Made for This World to celebrate both the potential and the purpose that resides within every young reader. This collection, which includes stunning original artwork, boasts contributions from artist Chief Lady Bird, Governor General’s Award–winning author David A. Robertson, illustrator Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley, and singer/songwriter Tanya Tagaq, among others.

Can Posters Kill? Antisemitic Propaganda and World War II 
Jerry Faivish and Kathryn Cole
Second Story Press, Oct. 

All of Us 
Manon Gauthier; Michel Savard, trans.
Running the Goat, Nov. 

This trio of books celebrates the majesty of the great outdoors!

Birds Life Size: Up Close and Personal with 47 Bird Species by Chris Earley (Firefly Books, Sept.) | Animals Illustrated: Arctic Land Mammals by Inhabit Media, ed. (Inhabit Media, Oct.) | If You Go Walking by Erin Alladin and Miki Sato, ill. (Pajama Press, Nov.) 

The Gland Factory: A Tour of Your Body’s Goops, Juices, and Hormones 
Rachel Poliquin and Clayton Hanmer, ill.
Greystone Kids, Oct. 

Across the Ice: How We Saved the Ojibwe Horse 
Darcy Whitecrow and Heather M. O’Connor; Natasha Donovan, ill.
Candlewick, Sept.

Burst Your Bubble!: Outsmart the Algorithms and See What You’re Missing 
Joyce Grant and Jan Dolby, ill.
Owlkids, Nov. 

Burst Your Bubble! takes on the algorithm! Over seven chapters Joyce Grant, co-creator of TeachingKidsNews.com, teaches readers what algorithms are, why they are used, what can influence an individual’s information bubble, and why it’s important to look beyond it. The inclusion of sidebars allows for additional context, while activities offer readers the opportunity to understand concepts first-hand.

My Street Remembers 
Karen Krossing and Cathie Jamieson, ill.
Groundwood Books, Sept. 

This Is Orange: A Field Trip Through Color 
Rachel Poliquin and Julie Morstad, ill.
Candlewick, Oct. 

A collection of books about extraordinary women who exemplified courage in the face of hardship.  

Never Silent: A Hiroshima Survivor’s Story by Setsuko Thurlow and Kathy Lowinger; Michelle Theodore, ill. (Annick Press, Aug.) | I Am My Name: A Girl’s Journey to Finding Her Cree Family by Na’kuset and Judith Henderson; Onedove, ill. (Knopf Books for Young Readers/Penguin Random House Canada, Oct.) | Victoria Chung: A Doctor of Change by Haley Healey and Kimiko Fraser, ill. (Heritage House, Oct.)

Feeling Your Feelings: The Head-to-Toe Science of Emotions 
Tanya Lloyd Kyi and Phil Nicholls, ill.
Kids Can Press, Oct.  

Star Sailor, The Story of Words 
Sara Cassidy and Julie McLaughlin, ill.
Orca Book Publishers, Aug. 

In Star Sailor, The Story of Words, Sara Cassidy, finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award in Young People’s Literature, unravels the history of how the English language came to be and how it continues to be remade with the passage of time.  

2025 fall preview: Picture books
2025 fall preview: Middle grade and graphic novels
2025 fall preview: Fiction
2025 fall preview: Short fiction and poetry
2025 fall preview: Nonfiction
All 2025 fall previews.