Nafiza Azad

FOLD Kids, the young readers’ edition of the Brampton, Ontario, Festival of Literary Diversity, will begin hosting a quarterly book club to encourage kids to read diverse books all year round. The first book in the FOLD Young Readers Book Club will be Nafiza Azad’s YA novel The Candle and the Flame (Scholastic), a fantasy novel about warring factions of djinn. The first meeting of the club will take place online on Oct. 2 as one of three preview events for the digital FOLD Kids festival, which takes place Oct. 3 and 4.

“We’re excited to be able to expand our programming to support young readers year-round,” FOLD artistic director Jael Richardson said in a statement. “We believe introducing young readers to a wide range of stories and storytellers is important for their personal growth and development. Getting young people to read for enjoyment outside of school is also critical to the book industry as a whole.”

FOLD will encourage young readers, educators, and schools to purchase the book in advance of the event. The second author in the book club will be announced during the FOLD Kids program. The full schedule will be announced and registration will open for FOLD Kids on Sept. 2.