The Ontario Library Association has unveiled the nominees for the 2022 Forest of Reading.

The 10 nominees in the Blue Spruce category (JK–Grade 2) include the latest in the highly praised Malaika’s series, Malaika’s Surprise (Groundwood Books) by Nadia L. Hohn and Irene Luxbacher, ill., and No More Plastic (Pajama Press) by Alma Fullerton.

In the Silver Birch Express category (Grade 3–6), Danson Kioko Mutinda and Eric Walters along with illustrator Claudia Dávila are nominated for Hockey Night in Kenya (Orca Book Publishers), as are Andre De Grasse and Robert Budd with illustrator Joseph Osei Bonsu for Race with Me! (Scholastic Canada).

For the Yellow Cedar, which is the non-fiction category, the 10 nominees touch on a variety of topics, from the human body in It Takes Guts: How Your Body Turns Food into Fuel (and Poop) (Greystone Kids) by Jennifer Gardy and Belle Wuthrich, ill., to advertising in Mad for Ads: How Advertising Gets (and Stays) in Our Heads (Kids Can Press) by Erica Five and Ian Turner, ill.

The Red Maple category (Grade 7 and 8) is dominated by kidlit royalty, including Eric Walters for The King of Jam Sandwiches (Orca Book Publishers), Gordon Korman for Linked (Scholastic Canada), and Susin Neilsen for Tremendous Things (Penguin Teen).

The nominees for the White Pine category (Grade 9–12), include Liselle Sambury’s debut Blood Like Magic (Margaret K. McElderry Books) and Jael Richardson’s Gutter Child (HarperCollins Publishers).

Readers can vote for their favourite books in April, and the winners will be announced at the Forest of Reading Festival, scheduled for May 17, 18, and 19, 2022.

The full 2022 Forest of Reading nominees are listed at accessola.com.