by Philip Nel February is Black History Month, which is a time to celebrate Black voices and Black lives while also recognizing the work that must be done in the present to ensure diversity and racial justice is part of the future. One part of this necessary work is highlighting the importance of creating […]
The Barren Grounds By David A. Robertson Morgan is a thirteen-year-old foster kid who was taken away from her mother when she was only three. She has lived with many different families, none of whom have ever made her feel truly at home. By the time she moves in with Katie and James, she […]
Songs for the End of the World By Saleema Nawaz If I had to guess, I’d say that most people are a bit tired of hearing about the pandemic and dearly wish they could be thinking about other things. Yet there is something cathartic about reading a novel about a pandemic during a pandemic. Frankly, […]
Mars Patel By Sheela Chari Eleven-year-old Mars Patel is constantly being sent to detention at H.G. Wells Middle School. He is famous for pulling pranks and generally being disruptive. Mars is regarded as the leader of his gang of friends, all of whom have their own quirks. Caddie can sense other people’s thoughts and feelings. […]
by Kim Thuy Vi by Kim Thúy is this year’s choice for One eRead Canada, a national eBook reading event which runs from January 1 – 31st. The title character Vi, the youngest of four children and the only girl, narrates this moving story of a Vietnamese family over several decades of the 20th century. […]
Witches of BrooklynBy Sophie Escabasse When 11-year old Effie’s mother dies, she moves in with her two strange aunts who live together in a Brooklyn brownstone. Montreal-based author illustrator Sophie Escabasse delivers vivid images for this feelgood story. In the middle of one of her first nights staying there, Effie’s favourite singer and idol, Tilly […]
When You Trap a Tiger By Tae Keller “Long, long ago, when tiger walked like man…” The summer before grade 7, Lily, her sister, and her widowed mother move in to take care of their elderly grandmother, Halmoni. We first meet the family on their drive up from California to Washington State when Lily […]
When Stars Are ScatteredBy Victoria Jamieson and Omar Hassan When Stars Are Scattered is a warm and welcoming graphic novel that introduces us to two brothers, Omar and Hassan, who are from Somalia but staying in a Kenyan refugee camp after their father dies in the Somalian Civil War and they are separated from their […]
The Longest Night of Charlie Noon By Christopher Edge Charlie Noon has one friend at her new school in rural England. Dizzy is a bit of a scatterbrain, but nonetheless, he is kind to Charlie. When Dizzy finds some coded messages made of sticks in a clearing in the woods, he enlists Charlie’s help to […]
A Field Guide to Getting Lost By Joy McCullough Sutton is almost ten years old and is very scientifically minded. She spends her days programming robots to navigate a maze she has created. She has inherited her scientific skills from her mom who is currently living in Antarctica studying penguins. Sutton’s parents are divorced, so […]