Fall is always an amazing time for book lovers, with many new releases coming out as the leaves change colour and the temperature starts to decrease. The fall 2018 books for children and teens look especially great this year — here are some of the titles we are especially excited to get our hands on.
Picture Books |
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Auntie Luce’s Talking Painting Every winter, a young girl flies to Haiti to visit her Auntie Luce, a painter. The girl has always loved Auntie Luce’s paintings — the houses tucked into the hillside, colourful fishing boats by the water, heroes who fought for and won the country’s independence. Through Haiti’s colours, the girl comes to understand this place her family calls home. And when the moment finally comes to have her own portrait painted for the first time, she begins to see herself in a new way, tracing her own history and identity through her aunt’s brush. |
Buddy and Earl Meet the Neighbors When Wonder Buddy and Super Earl learn that the Evil Doctor Stinker is planning to shut down the only hamburger factory in town, they know they have to find the supervillain’s secret lair — fast! Hopping into the Earl-mobile, they race into the yard next door where they come face-to-face with the new neighbours. |
Giraffe and Bird Together Again Bird lives for adventure. He wants to swoop, soar and explore. Giraffe is perfectly happy right where he is, thank you very much. He never worries when Bird flits off for a while. But one afternoon his friend fails to return. Giraffe has a bad feeling that something has happened to Bird. Giraffe dreads the wide world full of tangly forests, craggy mountains and mysterious plains. But he doesn’t hesitate. If Bird is in trouble, then Giraffe will find and rescue him. |
Goodnight, Anne A beautiful bedtime picture book based on the best-selling Anne of Green Gables, introducing the irrepressible and beloved Anne to younger readers. It’s time for Anne to go to bed, but not before she wishes goodnight to everyone and everything she loves! This sweet and heartfelt picture book is a perfect read-aloud introduction to L.M. Montgomery’s beloved Anne and will delight her brand-new fans and lifelong readers alike. |
I Am Small Mimi is so little that everyone is taller than her, even the family dog! She can barely reach the bottom of the blackboard at school and isn’t tall enough to see all the pretty cakes in the display case at the bakery. Though her friends try to tell her there are lots of advantages to being her size, to Mimi, being small is the worst. But then one day, she hears that there’s a surprise waiting for her at home. A very little surprise. And Mimi is about to discover a little something about being little. |
Ira Crumb Feels the Feelings In the funniest book about being sad, a disagreement with Malcolm sends Ira into a slump. The second Ira Crumb book marks the return of an endearing character full of personality, humour and heart. With lots of laughs and comics-style storytelling, it’s a funny, touching look at how feelings can be confusing, and how processing emotions can take time — and a bit of help from a pretty good friend. |
Moving Day! Moving day is never easy, especially when there are little kids around. Mom and Dad can really use big sister Danielle’s help in taking care the little kids. And she knows just how to keep them out of the way — pack them up with all of the stuff! When the family arrives at their brand-new home, and the kids are unpacked — well, let’s just say that they are ready to take care of Danielle, too! |
Sir Simon: Super Scarer A delightful, funny story of friendship, ghost chores, a spooky house and a professional haunter. Meet Sir Simon, Super Scarer. He’s a professional ghost who has been transferred to his first house. And just in time! He was getting tired of haunting bus stops and forests and potatoes. And to top it off, this house is occupied by an old lady — they’re the easiest to haunt! |
Junior & Intermediate Fiction |
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Call of the Wraith Christopher Rowe has no idea who he is. After being shipwrecked in Devonshire, he wakes up alone, his memories gone. Villagers tell him he was possessed by an unseen evil, and only became conscious after being visited by the local witch. As Christopher tries to get his bearings, he realizes his current state may be far from coincidence. Dark events have been happening in this corner of Britain — village children are disappearing without a trace. There are whispers that the malevolent ghost of the White Lady has returned to steal the children away, one by one, and consume their souls. |
Inkling The Rylance family is stuck. Dad’s got writer’s block. Ethan promised to illustrate a group project at school — even though he can’t draw. Sarah’s still pining for a puppy. And they all miss Mom. So much more than they can say. Enter Inkling. Inkling begins life in Mr. Rylance’s sketchbook. But one night the ink of his drawings runs together — and then leaps off the page! This small burst of creativity is about to change everything. It’s not until Inkling goes missing that this family has to face the larger questions of what they — and Inkling — truly need. |
The Lotterys More or Less Sumac Lottery is the fifth of seven kids who share their big house with four parents, one grandfather and five pets. At nine, she’s the keeper of her family’s traditions — from Pow Wow to Holi, Carnival to Hogmanay, Sumac’s on guard to make sure that no Lottery celebration gets forgotten. But this winter all Sumac’s plans go awry when a Brazilian visitor overstays his welcome. A terrible ice storm grounds all flights, so one of her dads and her favourite brother can’t make it home from India. And then the power starts going out across the city . . . |
Megabat Daniel Misumi has just moved to a new house. It’s big and old and far away from his friends and his life before. AND it’s haunted… or is it? Megabat was just napping on a papaya one day when he was stuffed in a box and shipped halfway across the world. Now he’s living in an old house far from home, feeling sorry for himself and accidentally scaring the people who live there. Daniel realizes it’s not a ghost in his new house. It’s a bat. And he can talk. And he’s actually kind of cute. Add some buttermelon, juice boxes, a lightsaber and a common enemy and you’ve got a new friendship in the making! |
No Fixed Address Twelve-and-three-quarter-year-old Felix Knutsson has a knack for trivia. His favourite game show is Who, What, Where, When; he even named his gerbil after the host. Felix’s mom, Astrid, is loving but can’t seem to hold on to a job. So when they get evicted from their latest shabby apartment, they have to move into a van. As their circumstances go from bad to worse, Felix gets a chance to audition for a junior edition of Who, What, Where, When, and he’s determined to earn a spot on the show. Winning the cash prize could make everything okay again. But things don’t turn out the way he expects. . . . |
Penguin Days Lauren and her family drive to a farm in North Dakota to visit relatives and celebrate her Aunt Jossie’s wedding. But Lauren finds to her dismay that she is expected to do more than meet adults who hug her and invade her personal space. Lauren is going to be — horror of all horrors — a flower girl. |
Young Adult Fiction |
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Cinders Seventeen-year-old Ash has been living with her mother in her mother’s boyfriend’s house, along with his daughter Mimi and son Noah. When Ash’s mother dies, Ash stays so she can attend a high school with a top coding program. Using the handle Cinders, Ash starts chatting online with a girl who calls herself Charming. They become close, without ever meeting in person. When Ash finds out that Charming is Char, an aspiring singer who goes to her school, she admires her courage in identifying herself as a lesbian and singing about it. Char helps Ash see her own strength in not letting her situation cause her to be bitter, but instead using it to reach out to help others. For the first time since her mother died, Ash feels like someone sees that she is special and is there for her. |
The House of One Thousand Eyes Life in East Germany in the early 1980s is not easy for most people, but for Lena, it’s particularly hard. After the death of her parents in a factory explosion and time spent in a psychiatric hospital recovering from the trauma, she is sent to live with her stern aunt, a devoted member of the ruling Communist Party. Visits with her beloved Uncle Erich, a best-selling author, are her only respite. But one night, her uncle disappears without a trace. Gone also are all his belongings, his books and even his birth records. Lena is desperate to know what happened to him, but it’s as if he never existed. The worst thing, however, is that she cannot discuss her uncle or her attempts to find him with anyone, not even her best friends. There are government spies everywhere. |
Murder at the St. Alice It’s 1908, and 16-year-old Charlotte O’Dell is forced to move away from her great Aunt Ginny in Victoria, and live and work at the St. Alice Hotel in order to make enough money to finish school. This gives her the opportunity to get to know the rest of the staff, and the guests, at the St. Alice. Between organizing a women’s march in support of the suffragettes, and memorizing all there was to know about her new profession in The Up-to-Date Waitress, Charlotte befriends one of the hot springs regulars, Mr. Doyle, and quickly learns about his tumultuous past with a boy he saw as a son, Henry. Determined to fix their relationship, she is ecstatic when all seems forgiven with a reunion at the St. Alice until she goes to brew her daily healing tea for Mr Doyle… and finds him dead. |
Red River Resistance Echo Desjardins is adjusting to her new home, finding friends and learning about Métis history. She just can’t stop slipping back and forth in time. One ordinary afternoon in class, Echo finds herself transported to the banks of the Red River in the summer of 1869. All is not well in the territory as Canadian surveyors have arrived to change the face of territory, and Métis families, who have lived there for generations, are losing access to their land. As the Resistance takes hold, Echo fears for her friends and the future of her people in the Red River Valley. |
Non-Fiction |
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Earthrise: Apollo 8 and the Photo That Changed the World The year 1968 was a year of unrest: many nations were at war. People marched for peace, fairness and freedom. At the same time, the Apollo 8 crew was about to go farther into space than anyone had gone before — to the moon. |
Go Show the World: A Celebration of Indigenous Heroes Celebrating the stories of Indigenous people throughout time, Wab Kinew has created a powerful rap song, the lyrics of which are the basis for the text in this beautiful picture book, illustrated by the acclaimed Joe Morse. Including figures such as Crazy Horse, Net-no-kwa, former NASA astronaut John Herrington and Canadian NHL goalie Carey Price, Go Show the World showcases a diverse group of Indigenous people in the US and Canada, both the more well known and the not- so-widely recognized. Individually, their stories, though briefly touched on, are inspiring; collectively, they empower the reader with this message: “We are people who matter, yes, it’s true; now let’s show the world what people who matter can do.” |
Mary Who Wrote Frankenstein The inspiring story of the girl behind one of the greatest novels — and monsters — ever, perfectly timed for the 200th anniversary of the publication of Frankenstein. For fans for picture book biographies such as I Dissent or She Persisted. |
The True Tale of a Giantess: The Story of Anna Swan When she was born in Nova Scotia in 1846, people for miles around chattered about Anna Swan. Because even when she was small, Anna was TREMENDOUS. At four years old, she was higher than a rain barrel. At six, she was taller than her mother, and by 10 she towered over her father. Anna grew up feeling like she poked and bulged and jutted out from all sorts of spaces, never quite fitting into her small country life. Then, at age 17, Anna moved to New York City to be part of P. T. Barnum’s Gallery of Wonders — and her life changed forever. Anna Swan lived an inspiring life as big as she was, filled with fame, wealth, world travel and true love. |
