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Back to the Books!

Back to the Books!

Everyone keeps saying it's time to "hit the books!", which begs the question: which books ought you to hit? We're here to help.

Picture Books we Can Picture You Loving!

Buddy and Earl Go to School

Written by Maureen Fergus and Illustrated by Carey Sookocheff

In this fourth book in the critically acclaimed Buddy and Earl series, the dog who likes to play by the rules and the hedgehog who knows no limits learn just how much fun school can be.

Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress

Written by Christine Baldacchino and Illustrated by Isabelle Malenfant

Morris is a little boy who loves using his imagination. But most of all, Morris loves his classroom’s dress-up center — he loves wearing the tangerine dress.

With warm, dreamy illustrations, this is a sweetly told story about the courage and creativity it takes to be different.

Any Questions?

By Marie-Louise Gay

Many children want to know where stories come from and how a book is made. Any Questions? provides them with some delightfully inspiring answers in a fictional encounter between an author and some very curious children, who collaborate on writing and illustrating a story.

Books Perfect for the Reluctant Reader

Operatic

Written by Kyo Maclear and Illustrated by Byron Eggenschwiler

This evocatively illustrated graphic novel brilliantly captures the high drama of middle school by focusing on the desire of its finely drawn characters to sing and be heard.

A Boy Named Queen

By Sara Cassidy

Evelyn is both aghast and fascinated when a new boy comes to grade five and tells everyone his name is Queen. Queen wears shiny gym shorts and wants to organize a chess/environment club. His father plays weird loud music and has tattoos. How will the class react? How will Evelyn?

Clear Skies

By Jessica Scott Kerrin

It is the summer of 1961, and eleven-year-old Arno Creelman wants nothing more than to be an astronomer. Fortunately, his struggle with claustrophobia has little impact on his one true passion.

Then a new boy moves to the neighbourhood, and he seems to challenge Arno in every way.

Coming of Age Stories for the Ages

Flannery

By Lisa Moore

Written in Lisa Moore’s exuberant and inimitable style, Flannery is by turns heartbreaking and hilarious, empowering and harrowing — often all on the same page. It is a novel whose spell no reader will be able to resist.

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me

Written by Mariko Tamaki and Illustrated by Rosemary Valero-O'Connell

Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell bring to life a sweet and spirited tale of young love that asks us to consider what happens when we ditch the toxic relationships we crave to embrace the healthy ones we need.

Frying Plantain

By Zalika Reid-Benta

A rich and unforgettable portrait of growing up between worlds, Zalika Reid-Benta artfully depicts the tensions between mothers and daughters, second-generation Canadians and first-generation cultural expectations, and Black identity and predominately white society.

Essential Nonfiction

Breaking the Ocean

By Annahid Dashtgard

Breaking the Ocean introduces a unique perspective on how racism and systemic discrimination result in emotional scarring and ongoing PTSD. Dashtgard answers the universal questions of what it means to belong, what it takes to become whole, and ultimately what is required to create change in ourselves and in society.

Me, Myself, They

By Joshua M. Ferguson

Me, Myself, They: Life Beyond the Binary chronicles the author's extraordinary story of transformation to become the celebrated non-binary filmmaker, writer, and advocate for trans rights they are today.

Seven Fallen Feathers

By Tanya Talaga

Using a sweeping narrative focusing on the lives of the students, award-winning investigative journalist Tanya Talaga delves into the history of this small northern city that has come to manifest Canada’s long struggle with human rights violations against Indigenous communities.

Browse and shop the whole collection here.

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