Music gets us through the bad days. It connects us with the people around us. It helps us explore the deeper parts of ourselves. These books from Canadian creators explore the many ways music enriches our lives.
Picture Books
IL: Ages 4-7 RL: Grades 1-2
The buzz is constant and distracting, but no one else seems to hear it. It’s as if a bee has chosen the girl’s ear as its home. She tries to make it go away, but the buzzing is relentless—and the more it buzzes, the lonelier she feels. When a doctor diagnoses the girl with tinnitus, a condition that’s incurable, it seems all hope is lost.
Then, the girl discovers an old music box in her attic. Magically, listening to the music quiets the buzz and helps her to cope with her condition. With music as her constant companion, she’s able to stay resilient, even on the toughest days.
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Levi’s Gift Levi's violin tells stories. It quietly sings the tragic song of how Levi lost his home and family to war. It also celebrates happy times, as Levi plays a lullaby for his newborn son. From the moment Levi buys his violin with his hard-earned money, he is rarely apart from it.
As the years pass, Levi's hands grow stiff and his violin gathers dust on a shelf. One day, he hears that a local school is looking for donations of instruments. Can he bear to part from his beloved violin?
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The One About the Blackbird A young boy learns to play guitar from his grandfather, and the one about the blackbird is their favourite song. Years later, the boy visits his grandfather, and while his grandfather doesn't recognize him, now grown-up, he does still remember how to hold a guitar.
A beautiful full circle moment ensues when the boy plays his grandfather their favourite song.
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Ra! Ta! Ma! Cue!
Months have passed since the Grown-Ups were taken captive, forced to brush the teeth and scratch the backs of the Growlies. One day the children make a decision: Ratamacue! It means “no more waiting.” It means it’s time for a rescue mission! They set off on a wild and uncertain journey, forming a drumline to overcome the many obstacles in their way. In the end, the Growlies’ meanness is no match for the children’s magic: their collective music.
Junior and Middle Fiction
After the Wallpaper Music Celebrated author Jean Mills utilizes her musical talents in this uplifting novel that showcases the joys of music, and the power it has to bring people together.
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The Club
Jax has big plans for Grade 8: seeing if his maybe-girlfriend, Samantha, will become his actual girlfriend, and being first trumpet in the school band. Enter Liv, the new girl Jax meets at band auditions. Liv’s a star on the trumpet too. In fact, she might be better than Jax.
When Jax and Liv start rehearsing together, they go from duet partners to fast friends. Soon, they learn that they share something more than a love of music—something that will change their whole world and make them rethink what it means to be “family.”
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Free Piano (Not Haunted)
On the sleepy streets of Cascade Cove, lonely Margot knows that when she stumbles across a discarded synthesizer with a “not haunted” sign, she’s discovered the key to realizing her dreams. Determined to become a real songwriter and earn her absent father’s admiration, Margot dives headfirst into trying to gain followers and fans online. But her musical journey takes an unexpected turn when she realizes the (not haunted) piano is very much… haunted.
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(Tegan and Sara, Book 2)
Tegan and Sara may have survived seventh grade, but their junior high jams are just beginning. Offstage, school is officially back in session. Between Sara’s growing feelings for her dream girl and Tegan’s falling out with her former BFF, eighth grade might prove to be even messier than last year. Onstage, the twins are swept up in a battle-of-the-bands contest to open for their favourite musical artist, landing them with a new manager, new opportunities, and new challenges, too. But stepping into the spotlight—and into their true selves—means colliding over fame, family, and finding their sound.
Young Adult Fiction
Fierce Voice Fierce Voice is the sequel to the White Pine Award-nominee Iz the Apocaylpse.
Iz has everything she's ever wanted: she’s found the foster home of her dreams and is attending the prestigious music school she moved heaven and earth to get into. But secrets from her past keep threatening to spill into the present, and Iz is sure that her newfound loved ones will abandon her if they learn of her terrible history.
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Song of Freedom, Song of Dreams is a historical YA novel in verse that centres around a young pianist in East Germany trying to make sense of love, duty, and the pursuit of dreams during the unsettled months of protest that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall in the late 1980s. Written in stunning lyrical verse, Song of Freedom, Song of Dreams is a story of hope, courage, romance, and the power of music not only to change lives, but to save them.
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Under All the Lights
After one of his songs goes viral, Ollie Cheriet gets the opportunity of a lifetime: a cross-country tour, an album deal, and a chance to help his family with their financial struggles. The only problem? Ollie has major stage fright, a symptom of his anxiety disorder. As pressure from performing, social media rumours, and his romantic life rises, his mental health starts to spiral. So he’s surprised at how grounded he feels when he collaborates with his wildly talented—and distractingly cute—touring partner, Jesse. Music has always helped Ollie through hard times, but he’s going to have to be more vulnerable than he ever thought possible to find self-acceptance in the glow of the spotlight.
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Wavelength
Seventeen-year-old pop sensation Sasha may be famous, but they’ve always kept a layer of anonymity by covering their face to perform. Facing pressure to unmask in public, Sasha runs away to a nowhere Midwestern city, planning to finish senior year and come out as nonbinary away from the limelight. But their plan falters from the moment they meet Wavelength, an alt-rock band, and their lead singer...
Lillian is struggling to keep the band together, caught in a mess of lyrics, late-night texts and ill-conceived love notes. She’s torn between feelings for her ex-girlfriend (and ex-bandmember) and her new infatuation with Sasha. Maybe this stranger is the new singer and the new love she’s looking for—even though Sasha’s stories don’t seem to quite add up.
Non-Fiction
The Heartbeat Drum: The Story of Carol Powder, Cree Drummer and Activist
Whenever young Carol Powder sang along to her family’s music, her heart felt light and full of joy. Learning from her grandfather, Moshum, Carol listened closely to the drums’ heartbeat until one day Moshum made her a drum of her very own.
As Carol grew up, she passed down her songs to her children, grandchildren, and many women in her community, just as Moshum taught her—even as women and children became increasingly excluded from sitting at the drum. Despite those who disapproved, she formed her own drumming group called Chubby Cree.
Today, Carol and her group share their music to advocate at climate events, to honour residential school survivors at special ceremonies, and to spread healing for anyone who needs it.
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Kid Musicians: True Tales of Childhood from Entertainers, Songwriters, and Stars
Every superstar musician started out as a kid—and many discovered their love of music early on. Before leaving their mark on the world, these groundbreaking performers, songwriters, and musicians were regular kids. Tune in to the childhood stories of musical legends such as: Beyoncé, Dolly Parton, Louis Armstrong, and Taylor Swift. Featuring kid-friendly text and full-colour illustrations, Kid Musicians will inspire readers to express themselves and march to the beat of their own drum.
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Maakusie Loves Music
Maakusie loves music! But what makes music in the Arctic so special? Join Maakusie as he practises katajjaniq (throat singing) and learns ajaja songs, drumming, and more!
Explore everything from traditional instruments to dances to the origin of the brass bands in the Arctic today. Grab your instruments or sing along. This journey through the history of music in the Arctic is sure to get your toes tapping!
Written by renowned Canadian indie rock duo Jaaji and Chelsey June of Twin Flames, this vibrant and engaging book introduces young readers to the exciting world of traditional and modern music in the North.
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Rise Up and Sing! Power, Protest, and Activism in Music
In Rise Up and Sing!, Andrea Warner explores how music has contributed to the fight for social justice. Across eight areas of activism—the climate emergency, Indigenous rights, civil rights, disability rights, 2SLGBTQIA+ rights, gender equality, the peace/anti-war movement, and human rights—Warner introduces some of the artists, past and present, who have made a difference both on stage and off.
Through ground-breaking artists and iconic moments, Rise Up and Sing! shows us that a song is never just a song, and that music really does have the power to change the world.
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Book list curated by Spencer Miller