50 Must-Read Canadian Young Adult Books: Recommended by the CCBC in Celebration of our 50th Anniversary
This list was developed by the CCBC staff team based on various considerations. We selected books that have a history with the CCBC (they may have been reviewed or recommended, the author or illustrator might have toured for Book Week, perhaps the book was a finalist for one of our awards or appeared in one of book lists).
We also thought about lots of other things, like geographical representation, including stories that are important to Canadian identity in all its many forms, diverse experiences, body of work and so much more. Ultimately, we had to love them. These are just 50 must-read YA books, there are lots and lots of other must-read Canadian books!
As you read our list, we invite your to think "what about ...?"
We want to know what books YOU would include on the list!
Nominate your picks for Canada’s 50 Favourite Kids’ Books through our anniversary FUNdraising campaign.
Throughout the coming months, we will gather votes and in January 2027 we will announce Canada’s 50 Favourite Kids’ Books—a list of beloved books, compiled by the CCBC, but created by all of you!
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Age 16
written and illustrated by Rosena Fung
Annick Press, 2024
for ages 12 and up
Guangdong, 1954: Sixteen-year-old Mei Laan longs for a future of freedom, and her beauty may be the key to getting it. Can an arranged marriage in Hong Kong be the answer to all her problems?
Hong Kong, 1972: Sixteen-year-old Lydia wants nothing more than to dance and to gain approval from her mother, who is largely absent and sharply critical, especially about the way she looks. Maybe her way to happiness is starting over in Toronto?
Toronto, 2000: Sixteen-year-old Roz is grappling with who she wants to be in the world. The only thing she is certain of is that if she were thinner, things would be better. How can she start living her life, instead of just photographing it?
When Roz’s estranged por por abruptly arrives for a seemingly indefinite visit, three generations are now under one roof. Delicate relationships are suddenly upended, and long-suppressed family secrets begin to surface. A poignant story about how every generation is affected by those who came before and affects those who come after. It’s always complicated being 16.
Age 16 won the 2025 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award, and was a finalist for the 2025 Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People.
written by Heather Smith
Penguin Teen Canada, 2017
for ages 12 and up
It's Newfoundland, 1986. Fourteen-year-old Bun O'Keefe has lived a solitary life in an unsafe, unsanitary house. Her mother is a compulsive hoarder, and Bun has had little contact with the outside world. What she's learned about life comes from the random books and old VHS tapes that she finds in the boxes and bags her mother brings home. Bun and her mother rarely talk, so when Bun's mother tells Bun to leave one day, she does. Hitchhiking out of town, Bun ends up on the streets of St. John's, Newfoundland. Fortunately, the first person she meets is Busker Boy, a street musician who senses her naivety and takes her in. Together they live in a house with an eclectic cast of characters: Chef, a hotel dishwasher with culinary dreams; Cher, a drag queen with a tragic past; Big Eyes, a Catholic school girl desperately trying to reinvent herself; and The Landlord, a man who Bun is told to avoid at all cost. Through her experiences with her new roommates, and their sometimes tragic revelations, Bun learns that the world extends beyond the walls of her mother's house and discovers the joy of being part of a new family—a family of friends who care.
A finalist for the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People in 2018.
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2022
for 14 and up
Eighteen-year-old Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria. She still had her parents and her big brother; she still had her home. She had a normal teenager’s life.
Now Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors daily. Secretly, though, she is desperate to find a way out of her beloved country before her sister-in-law, Layla, gives birth. So desperate, that she has manifested a physical embodiment of her fear in the form of her imagined companion, Khawf, who haunts her every move in an effort to keep her safe.
But even with Khawf pressing her to leave, Salama is torn between her loyalty to her country and her conviction to survive. Salama must contend with bullets and bombs, military assaults, and her shifting sense of morality before she might finally breathe free. And when she crosses paths with the boy she was supposed to meet one fateful day, she starts to doubt her resolve in leaving home at all.
Soon, Salama must learn to see the events around her for what they truly are—not a war, but a revolution—and decide how she, too, will cry for Syria’s freedom.
Winner of the 2023 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award.
written by Richard Van Camp
Douglas & McIntyre, 2024
for ages 14 and up
For as long as Lawson can remember, his life in a small Northwest Territories town has revolved around “the Treaty” between the Dogrib and the Chipewyan, set down centuries ago to prevent the return of bloody warfare between the two peoples.
On the Dogrib side, Lawson and his family have done their best to keep the pact alive with the neighbouring Cranes, a family with ancestral ties to a revered Chipewyan war chief. But even as Lawson and his father dutifully tidy the Cranes’ property as an act of respect, their counterparts offer little more than scowls and derision in return, despite the fact that both families are responsible for protecting the treaty.
Worse still, it seems that one of the Cranes’ boys is doing all he can to revive the old conflict: Silver, fresh out of jail, has placed himself in the service of a cruel, ghoulish spirit bent on destroying the peace. Now it’s up to Isaiah Valentine, a Cree Grass Dancer, Shari Burns, a Métis psychic, and Lawson Sauron, a Dogrib Yabati—or protector—to face what Silver Cranes has called back.
This latest feat of storytelling magic by celebrated author Richard Van Camp blends sharply observed realism and hair-raising horror as it plays out against a 1980s-era backdrop replete with Platinum Blonde songs and episodes of Degrassi Junior High. Unfolding in the fictional town of Fort Simmer—the setting of previous Van Camp stories—Beast delivers a gripping, spirited tale that pits the powers of tradition against the pull of a vengeful past.
After years of waiting for her Calling—a trial every witch must pass to come into their powers—the one thing Voya Thomas didn’t expect was to fail. When Voya’s ancestor gives her an unprecedented second chance to complete her Calling, she agrees—and then is horrified when her task is to kill her first love. And this time, failure means every Thomas witch will be stripped of their magic.
Voya is determined to save her family’s magic no matter the cost. The problem is, Voya has never been in love, so for her to succeed, she’ll first have to find the perfect guy—and fast. Fortunately, a genetic matchmaking program has just hit the market. Her plan is to join the program, fall in love, and complete her task before the deadline. What she doesn’t count on is being paired with the infuriating Luc—how can she fall in love with a guy who seemingly wants nothing to do with her?
With mounting pressure from her family, Voya is caught between her morality and her duty to her bloodline. If she wants to save their heritage and Luc, she’ll have to find something her ancestor wants more than blood. And in witchcraft, blood is everything.
A finalist for both the Amy Mathers Teen Book Award and Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy in 2022.
Blood Scionwritten by Deborah Falaye
for ages 13 and up
This is what they deserve... They wanted me to be a monster... I will be the worst monster they ever created.
Fifteen-year-old Sloane can incinerate an enemy at will—she is a Scion, a descendant of the ancient Orisha gods.
Under the Lucis’ brutal rule, her identity means her death if her powers are discovered. But when she is forcibly conscripted into the Lucis army on her fifteenth birthday, Sloane sees a new opportunity: to overcome the bloody challenges of Lucis training, and destroy them from within.
Falaye's debut novel won the 2023 Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy.
(Bones of Ruin Trilogy, Book 1)
written by Sarah Raughley
for ages 14 and up
As an African tightrope dancer in Victorian London, Iris is used to being strange. She is certainly an unusual sight for leering British audiences always eager for the spectacle of colonial curiosity. But Iris also has a secret that even “strange” doesn’t capture… She cannot die.
Haunted by her unnatural power and with no memories of her past, Iris is obsessed with discovering who she is. But that mission gets more complicated when she meets the dark and alluring Adam Temple, a member of a mysterious order called the Enlightenment Committee. Adam seems to know much more about her than he lets on, and he shares with her a terrifying revelation: the world is ending, and the Committee will decide who lives… and who doesn’t.
To help them choose a leader for the upcoming apocalypse, the Committee is holding the Tournament of Freaks, a macabre competition made up of vicious fighters with fantastical abilities. Adam wants Iris to be his champion, and in return he promises her the one thing she wants most: the truth about who she really is.
If Iris wants to learn about her shadowy past, she has no choice but to fight. But the further she gets in the grisly tournament, the more she begins to remember—and the more she wonders if the truth is something best left forgotten.
Branded by the Pink Trianglewritten by Ken Setterington
A time when gay rights were nonexistent, and your sexuality could be your death sentence.
When the Nazis came to power in Europe, the lives of homosexuals came to be ruled by fear as raids, arrests, prison sentences and expulsions became the daily reality. When the concentration camps were built, homosexuals were imprisoned along with Jews. The pink triangle, sewn onto prison uniforms, became the symbol of their persecution. This book combines historical research with first-person accounts and individual stories to bring this time to life for readers. From the first chapter, with its story of a young Jewish girl who was rescued from the depths of despair and starvation in the camps by a fellow prisoner who wore the pink triangle, to the last, entitled It Gets Better, which outlines the strides forward in gay rights made in the decades since the war, the feeling of bravery and perseverance in the face of inhuman cruelty shines through.
A finalist for both the 2014 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction and the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award.
Child of Dandelionswritten by Shenaaz Nanji
Second Story Press, 2008
for ages 13 and up
It is 1972, and 15-year-old Sabine enjoys a comfortable life as the daughter of Indian parents living in Uganda. But her world is turned upside down when the country’s military President, General Idi Amin, declares Indians must be “weeded out” of the country in 90 days.
At first, Sabine does not believe that as Indians born in Uganda they will be forced to leave their beloved home. It all seems so unfair. But as the countdown continues, Sabine’s eyes are opened to the poverty and hostility around her. She begins to realize that she has lived a life of privilege compared to most Ugandans. Even her best friend, Zena, turns away from her and tells her she does not belong. When Sabine’s beloved Uncle goes missing and soldiers raid the family home, her father and mother are forced to flee. Sabine is left to take charge of her and her brother’s fate, using all her strength and resilience to find a way to escape the Uganda that used to be her home.
A finalist for the 2019 Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People.
(The Dark Missions of Edgar Brimm, Book 1)
written by Shane Peacock
Tundra Books, 2016
for ages 12 and up
Edgar Brim is a sensitive orphan who, exposed to horror stories from his father as a young child, is afraid of almost everything and suffers from nightly terrors. His stern new guardian, Mr. Thorne, sends the boy to a gloomy school in Scotland where his dark demons only seem to worsen and he is bullied and ridiculed for his fears. But years later, when 16-year-old Edgar finds a journal belonging to his novelist father, he becomes determined to confront his nightmares and the bullies who taunt him. After the horrific death of a schoolmate, Edgar becomes involved with an eccentric society at the urging of a mysterious professor who believes that monsters from famous works of literature are real and whose mandate is to find and destroy these creatures.
With the aid of a rag-tag crew of friends, the fear-addled teen sets about on his dark mission, one that begins in the cemetery on the bleak Scottish moors and ends in a spine-chilling climax on the stage of the Royal Lyceum Theatre in London with Henry Irving, the infamous and magnetic actor, and his manager, Bram Stoker, the author of the most frightening and sensational novel of the day, Dracula. Can Edgar Brim truly face his terror and conquer his fears?
A finalist for the 2017 John Spray Mystery Award.
Exit, Pursued by a Bearwritten by E.K. Johnston
Dutton Books, 2016
for ages 14 and up
Hermione Winters is captain of her cheerleading team, and in tiny Palermo Heights, this doesn’t mean what you think it means. At PHHS, the cheerleaders don't cheer for the sports teams; they are the sports team—the pride and joy of a small town. The team's summer training camp is Hermione's last and marks the beginning of the end of… she’s not sure what. She does know this season could make her a legend. But during a camp party, someone slips something in her drink. And it all goes black.
In every class, there's a star cheerleader and a pariah pregnant girl. They're never supposed to be the same person. Hermione struggles to regain the control she's always had and faces a wrenching decision about how to move on. The rape wasn't the beginning of Hermione Winter's story and she's not going to let it be the end. She won’t be anyone’s cautionary tale.
Winner of the 2017 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award.
Genocide: Revised and Expanded Edition(Groundwork Guides)
written by Jane Springer
Groundwood Books, 2024
for ages 14 and up
What is genocide? Why does it happen? What can be done to prevent it from happening again?
At the end of the Second World War, with the establishment of the United Nations, the holding of the Nuremberg Trials and the adoption of the Genocide Convention, the international community assured itself that genocide would never happen again. But never again has become a meaningless phrase.
This book asks why. It also asks, what is genocide? Where has it happened in the past? Who is being threatened by genocide today? And what can we do to prevent this terrible crime from recurring?
Providing an overview of the history of genocide worldwide, this revised, expanded edition helps readers answer these questions. It brings them up to date with recent events—the killing of the Rohingya in Myanmar, the persecution of the Uyghurs in China, the broader recognition of the genocide of Indigenous Peoples, the resurgence of fighting in Darfur, and the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. It examines and elucidates the debates and controversies surrounding the use of the term genocide as well as the reasons for the common response by individuals, governments and the United Nations—denial.
(A Girl Called Echo)
written by Katherena Vermette
illustrated by Scott B. Henderson
coloured by Donovan Yaciuk
HighWater Press, 2023
Métis teenager Echo Desjardins is struggling to adjust to a new school and a new home. When an ordinary history class turns extraordinary, Echo is pulled into a time-travelling adventure. Follow Echo as she experiences pivotal events from Métis history and imagines what the future might hold. This omnibus edition includes all four volumes in the A Girl Called Echo:
In Pemmican Wars, Echo finds herself transported to the prairies of 1814. She witnesses a bison hunt, visits a Métis camp, and travels the fur-trade routes. Experience the perilous era of the Pemmican Wars and the events that lead to the Battle of Seven Oaks.
In Red River Resistance, we join Echo on the banks of the Red River in the summer of 1869. Canadian surveyors have arrived and Métis families, who have lived there for generations, are losing their land. As the Resistance takes hold, Echo fears for the future of her people in Red River.
In Northwest Resistance, Echo travels to 1885. The bison are gone and settlers from the East are arriving in droves. The Métis face starvation and uncertainty as both their survival and traditional way of life are threatened. The Canadian government has ignored their petitions, but hope rises with the return of Louis Riel.
In Road Allowance Era, Echo returns to 1885. Louis Riel is standing trial, and the government has not fulfilled its promise of land for the Métis. Burnt out of their home in Ste. Madeleine, Echo’s people make their way to Rooster Town, a shanty community on the southwest edges of Winnipeg. In this final instalment, Echo is reminded of the strength and perseverance of the Métis.
written by Michel Noël
translated by Shelley Tanaka
Groundwood Books, 2004
for ages 13 and up
The year is 1959, and 15-year-old Nipishish returns to his reserve in northern Quebec after being kicked out of residential school, where the principal tells him he's a good-for-nothing who, like all Indians, can look forward to a life of drunkenness, prison and despair.
The reserve, however, offers nothing to Nipishish. He remembers little of his late mother and father. In fact, he seems to know less about himself than the people at the band office. He must try to rediscover the old ways, face the officials who find him a threat, and learn the truth about his father's death.
Winner of the 2005 Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People, this title is a compilation of the following novels, originally published in French by Éditions Hurtubise: Journal d’un bon à rien (1999), Le cœur sur la braisse (2000) and Hiver indien (2001).
written by Caroline Pignat
Red Deer Press, 2014
Award-winning author Caroline Pignat's historical novel recreates the world of a Virginia tobacco plantation in 1858. Through the different points of view of slaves, their masters and a visiting bird-watcher the world of the plantation comes to live in this verse novel.
Phoebe belongs to Master Duncan and works in the plantation kitchen. She sees how the other slaves are treated—the beatings and whippings, the disappearances. She hasn't seen her mother since Master Duncan sold her 10 years ago. But Phoebe is trying to learn words and how to read and when she is asked to show the master's Canadian visitor, Doctor Bergman, where he can find warblers and chickadees, she starts to see things differently. And Doctor Bergman has more in mind that just drawing the local birds.
Phoebe's friend Shad works on the plantation as well—but mostly he worries about his brother Will. His brother is the last member of his family and he is determined to escape from the master and the tobacco plantation. He has already been caught and beaten more than once. And the stories about life in Canada can't be true, can they? How does a man survive without the master there taking care of everything?
A finalist for the 2015 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award, and winner of the 2015 Governor General's Literary Award.
written by Mark Morton
Hold Fast
written by Kevin Major
Tundra Books, 2013 ©1978
for ages 10 and up
Michael turned 14 in May. By June, both his parents are dead, victims of a car crash. And for Michael, who has lived all his life in a small Newfoundland outport community, this means being suddenly uprooted and sent to live with relatives in St. Albert, a city hundreds of miles away.
Hold Fast is the story of Michael's struggle to survive in his new world. In vivid, honest prose, it depicts his fight against those who threaten him—the loud-mouthed Kentson who makes fun of the way he talks at school, and his uncle who tries to rule life at home with an iron hand. It is also the story of the friendship that develops between Michael and Curtis, his cousin, and of his new uncertain feelings for Brenda.
This Governor's General Literary Award-winning novel was adapted for film in 2013.
I, Witness
written by Norah McClintock
illustrated by Mike Deas
Orca Book Publishers, 2012
for ages 12 and up
In a dark back alley, Boone and Andre witness a violent murder, and agree not to mention it. But the killers have different ideas and come after Boone and his friends, killing two of them. Boone is desperate to save himself but realizes to do so he will need to face the violent act in his past that continues to haunt him.
Told in Norah McClintock's trademark suspenseful style and with spare black-and-white illustrations from Mike Deas, this compelling graphic novel looks into the darkness and forces us to face our deepest fears.
(Iron Widow, Book 1)
written by Xiran Jay Zhao
Penguin Teen Canada, 2021
for ages 14 and up
The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn't matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.
When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.
To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.
Winner of both the Amy Mathers Teen Book Award and Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy in 2022.
* * *
Iz the Apocalypse
written by Susan Currie
Common Deer Press, 2023
for ages 12 and up
A fierce voice longs to break free.
A spark ignites inside 14-year-old Iz Beaufort when she hears school music group Manifesto perform. Even though she hasn’t written a song since That Place, she recognizes herself in the moving performance and longs to be part of the group, certain that they might actually understand her. But Manifesto is based at the prestigious Métier School, and Iz has bounced through 26 foster homes. Plus, there’s no way Dominion Children’s Care would ever send a foster kid to a private school when a public option is available. So Iz does what any passionate, broken, off-the-chart wunderkind might and takes matters into her own hands. Iz fakes her way in only to face a new set of challenges: tuition fees, tough classwork, and new classmates she can’t immediately identify as friends or foes. And if she can’t handle all this while keeping how she got into Métier a secret, she could get kicked out of both school and her current home. But a life with music—a life where Iz gets to have a voice—might be worth risking everything.
written by Tom Ryan
Albert Whitman & Company, 2019
for ages 13 and up
It's been a year since the Catalog Killer terrorized the sleepy seaside town of Camera Cove, killing four people before disappearing without a trace. Like everyone else in town, 18-year-old Mac Bell is trying to put that horrible summer behind him—easier said than done since Mac's best friend Connor was the murderer's final victim. But when he finds a cryptic message from Connor, he's drawn back into the search for the killer—who might not have been a random drifter after all. Now nobody—friends, neighbours, or even the sexy stranger with his own connection to the case—is beyond suspicion. Sensing that someone is following his every move, Mac struggles to come to terms with his true feelings towards Connor while scrambling to uncover the truth.
A finalist for both the Amy Mathers Teen Book Award and John Spray Mystery Award in 2020.
written by Vikki VanSickle
illustrated by Laura K. Watson
Tundra Books, 2023
for ages 12 and up
After having her heart broken, 17-year-old Nora Nichols decides to escape her hometown and take a summer job as an arts and crafts counsellor at an all-girls' camp in the mountains of West Virginia. There, she meets girls and women from all walks of life with their own heartaches and triumphs. Immersed in this new camp experience, trying to form bonds with her fellow counsellors while learning to be a trusted adviser for her campers, Nora distracts herself from her feelings, even during the intimate conversations around the nightly campfires. But when a letter from home comes bearing unexpected news, Nora finds inner strength in her devastation with the healing power of female friendship. Presented as Nora's camp journal, including Nora's sketches of camp life, scraps of letters, and spare poems, The Lightning Circle is an intimate coming-of-age portrait.
A finalist for the 2025 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award and the 2026 David Booth Award for Children's and Youth Poetry.
LockjawTundra Books, 2024
Chuck Warren died tragically at the old abandoned mill, but Paz Espino knows it was no accident—there's a monster under the town, and she's determined to kill it before anyone else gets hurt. She'll need the help of her crew—inseparable friends, bound by a childhood pact stronger than diamonds, distance or death—to hunt it down. But she's up against a greater force of evil than she ever could have imagined.
With shifting timeframes and multiple perspectives, Lockjaw is a small-town ghost story, where monsters living and dead haunt the streets, the homes and the minds of the inhabitants. This trans YA horror book by an incredible debut author will grab you and never let you go.
A finalist for the 2025 Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy.
Love From A to Z
written by S.K. Ali
Salaam Reads, 2019
for ages 14 and up
A marvel: something you find amazing. Even ordinary-amazing. Like potatoes—because they make French fries happen. Like the perfect fries Adam and his mom used to make together.
An oddity: whatever gives you pause. Like the fact that there are hateful people in the world. Like Zayneb’s teacher, who won’t stop reminding the class how “bad” Muslims are.
But Zayneb, the only Muslim in class, isn’t bad. She’s angry.
When she gets suspended for confronting her teacher, and he begins investigating her activist friends, Zayneb heads to her aunt’s house in Doha, Qatar, for an early start to spring break. Fueled by the guilt of getting her friends in trouble, she resolves to try out a newer, “nicer” version of herself in a place where no one knows her. Then her path crosses with Adam’s.
Since he got diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in November, Adam’s stopped going to classes, intent, instead, on perfecting the making of things. Intent on keeping the memory of his mom alive for his little sister. Adam’s also intent on keeping his diagnosis a secret from his grieving father.
Alone, Adam and Zayneb are playing roles for others, keeping their real thoughts locked away in their journals. Until a marvel and an oddity occurs…
Marvel: Adam and Zayneb meeting.
Oddity: Adam and Zayneb meeting.
A finalist for the 2020 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award.
The Maestrowritten by Tim Wynne-Jones
Groundwood Books, 2004 ©1995
for ages 12 and up
Burl Crow hasn't had many breaks in his young life. His father is a manipulative lout with a dangerous temper; his mother, worn down by years of abuse, now resorts to her little helpers to get her through the days. Then he meets Nathaniel Orlando Gow, the Maestro, and in just one day, this eccentric genius changes Burl's life forever.
Winner of the Governor's General Literary Award and the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Canadian Book Award.
The Marrow Thieves
written by Cherie Dimaline
DCB Young Readers, 2017
for ages 13 and up
Just when you think you have nothing left to lose, they come for your dreams.
Humanity has nearly destroyed its world through global warming, but now an even greater evil lurks. The Indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream. In this dark world, Frenchie and his companions struggle to survive as they make their way up north to the old lands. For now, survival means staying hidden—but what they don't know is that one of them holds the secret to defeating the marrow thieves.
Money Boy
written by Paul Yee
Groundwood Books, 2011
for ages 14 and up
Ray Liu knows he should be happy. He lives in a big suburban house with all the latest electronic gadgets, and even finds plenty of time to indulge in his love of gaming. He needs the escape. It’s tough getting grades that will please his army veteran father, when speaking English is still a struggle. And he can’t quite connect with his peers at high school—Chinese immigrants like himself but who seem to have adjusted to North American life more easily.
Then comes the fateful day when his father accesses Ray’s internet account, and discovers Ray has been cruising gay websites. Before Ray knows what has hit him, his belongings have been thrown on the front lawn, and he has been kicked out.
Angry, defiant, Ray heads to downtown Toronto. In short order he is robbed, beaten up and seduced, and he learns the hard realities of life on the street. Could he really sell himself for sex? Lots of people use their bodies to make money—athletes, actors, models, pop singers. If no one gets hurt, why should anyone care?
Only This Beautiful Moment
written by Abdi Nazemian
Balzer + Bray, 2023
for ages 13 and up
2019. Moud is an out gay teen living in Los Angeles with his distant father, Saeed. When Moud gets the news that his grandfather in Iran is dying, he accompanies his dad to Tehran, where the revelation of family secrets will force Moud into a new understanding of his history, his culture, and himself.
1978. Saeed is an engineering student with a promising future ahead of him in Tehran. But when his parents discover his involvement in the country’s burgeoning revolution, they send him to safety in America, a country Saeed despises. And even worse—he’s forced to live with the American grandmother he never knew existed.
1939. Bobby, the son of a calculating Hollywood stage mother, lands a coveted MGM studio contract. But the fairy-tale world of glamour he’s thrust into has a dark side.
Set against the backdrop of Tehran and Los Angeles, this tale of intergenerational trauma and love is an ode to the fragile bonds of family, the hidden secrets of history, and all the beautiful moments that make us who we are today.
Winner of the 2024 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award.
written by Eldon Yellowhorn and Kathy Lowinger
For too long, stories and artistic expressions from Indigenous people have been written and recorded by others, not by the individuals who have experienced the events.
In Ours to Tell, 16 Indigenous creators relate traditions, accounts of historical events, and their own lived experiences. Novelists, poets, graphic artists, historians, craftspeople, and mapmakers chronicle stories on the struggles and triumphs lived by Indigenous people, and the impact these stories have had on their culture and history. Some of the profiles included are Indigenous poet E. Pauline Johnson, acclaimed novelist Tommy Orange, brave warrior Standing Bear, and poet and activist Rita Joe.
With each profile accompanied by rich visuals, from archival photos to contemporary art, Ours to Tell brilliantly spotlights Indigenous life, past and present, through an Indigenous lens. Because each profile gives an historical and cultural context, what emerges is a history of Indigenous people.
A finalist for the 2026 Sharon Fitzhenry Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction.
The Paper Girl of Paris
written by Jordyn Taylor
HarperCollins Publishers, 2020
for ages 13 and up
NOW: Sixteen-year-old Alice is spending the summer in Paris, but she isn’t there for pastries and walks along the Seine. When her grandmother passed away two months ago, she left Alice an apartment in France that no one knew existed. An apartment that has been locked for more than 70 years.
Alice is determined to find out why the apartment was abandoned and why her grandmother never once mentioned the family she left behind when she moved to America after World War II. With the help of Paul, a charming Parisian student, she sets out to uncover the truth. However, the more time she spends digging through the mysteries of the past, the more she realizes there are secrets in the present that her family is still refusing to talk about.
THEN: Sixteen-year-old Adalyn doesn’t recognize Paris anymore. Everywhere she looks, there are Nazis, and every day brings a new horror of life under the Occupation. When she meets Luc, the dashing and enigmatic leader of a resistance group, Adalyn feels she finally has a chance to fight back.
But keeping up the appearance of being a much-admired socialite while working to undermine the Nazis is more complicated than she could have imagined. As the war goes on, Adalyn finds herself having to make more and more compromises—to her safety, to her reputation, and to her relationships with the people she loves the most.
Winner of the 2021 Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction of Young People.
The Power of Style: How Fashion and Beauty Are Being Used to Reclaim Cultures
written by Christian Allaire
Annick Press, 2021
for ages 12 and up
Style is not just the clothes on our backs—it is self-expression, representation, and transformation.
As a fashion-obsessed Ojibwe teen, Christian Allaire rarely saw anyone that looked like him in the magazines or movies he sought out for inspiration. Now the Fashion and Style Writer for Vogue, he is working to change that—because clothes are never just clothes. Men’s heels are a statement of pride in the face of LGTBQ+ discrimination, while ribbon shirts honour Indigenous ancestors and keep culture alive. Allaire takes the reader through boldly designed chapters to discuss additional topics like cosplay, make up, hijabs, and hair, probing the connections between fashion and history, culture, politics, and social justice.
Winner of the 2022 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction.
Recommended Readingwritten by Paul Coccia
Zando Young Readers, 2025
Curvaceous, clever, and an avid reader, 17-year-old Bobby Ashton never misses a main character moment. So when it comes to asking out his crush, he plans a romantic gesture grand enough to go down in local history. Unfortunately, though, his extensive knowledge of every rom-com trope ever doesn’t prepare him for how tragically he misreads the situation. Suddenly Bobby’s very public romantic gesture turns into an ordeal so embarrassing it could be a villain origin story.
Having masterfully shattered every plan for his perfect summer before college, Bobby’s last resort is working at his uncle’s sleepy bookstore. Soon, Bobby is expertly recommending books for customers to perfectly cure what ails them. Attempting to rebound after a breakup? There’s a book for that. Trying to tame your crochety coworker? There’s a book for that, too. Then a plot twist Bobby never saw coming walks through the door in the form of Luke, an unfairly attractive and staunchly anti-romantic lifeguard.
Bobby’s blossoming connection with Luke reminds him of some of his favourite tropes: grumpy-sunshine, quippy banter, and even forced proximity. But after his last romantic disaster, should Bobby use all the tricks in his arsenal to turn Luke’s head? Or is he misreading all the signs again? Do grand gestures really need to be so... grand?
* * *
Skimwritten Mariko Tamaki
illustrated by Jillian Tamaki
Groundwood Books, 2008
for ages 14 and up
Skim is Kimberly Keiko Cameron, a not-slim, would-be Wiccan goth stuck in a private girls' school in Toronto. When a classmate's boyfriend kills himself because he was rumoured to be gay, the school goes into mourning overdrive, each clique trying to find something to hold on to and something to believe in. It's a weird time to fall in love, but that's high school, and that's what happens to Skim when she starts to meet in secret with her neo-hippie English teacher, Ms. Archer. But when Ms. Archer abruptly leaves, Skim struggles to cope with her confusion and isolation, armed with her trusty journal and a desire to shed old friendships while cautiously approaching new ones.
Depression, love, sexual identity, crushes, manipulative peers—teen life in all its dramatic complexities is explored in this touching, pitch-perfect, literary graphic masterpiece. Cousins Mariko and Jillian Tamaki collaborate brilliantly in this poignant glimpse into the heartache of being 16.
(Arctic Moon Magick, Book 1)
written by Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley
illustrated by Andrew Trabbold
Inhabit Media, 2014
for ages 12 and up
In this adventurous novel—set in the ancient Arctic, but narrated for modern readers by an inquisitive and entertaining contemporary narrator—a young, wandering Inuit hunter named Kannujaq happens upon a camp in grave peril. The inhabitants of the camp are Tunit, a race of ancient Inuit ancestors known for their shyness and meekness. The tranquility of this Tunit camp has been shaken by a group of murderous, pale, bearded strangers who have arrived on a huge boat shaped like a loon.
As the camp prepares to defend itself against the approaching newcomers, Kannujaq and a Tunit shaman boy named Siku discover that the Vikings may have motivations other than murder and warfare at the heart of their quest.
This lush historical fiction is steeped in Inuit traditional knowledge and concepts of ancient Inuit magic. The unique time and place brought to life in this exciting novel will delight young fans of historical and fantastical fiction alike.
Something More
Tundra Books, 2023
Fifteen-year-old Jessie, a quirky loner obsessed with the nineties, is diagnosed as autistic just weeks before starting high school. Determined to make a fresh start and keep her diagnosis a secret, Jessie creates a list of goals that range from acquiring two distinct eyebrows to getting a magical first kiss and landing a spot in the school play. Within the halls of Holy Trinity High, she finds a world where things are no longer black and white and quickly learns that living in colour is much more fun. But Jessie gets more than she bargained for when two very different boys steal her heart, forcing her to go off-script.
A finalist for the 2024 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award.
Song of Freedom, Song of Dreams
written by Shari Green
Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2023
ages 12 and up
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, this is a story of hope, courage, romance, and the power of music not only to change lives, but to save them.
Winner of the 2025 Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People, and a finalist for the 2026 David Booth Children's and Youth Poetry Award.
The Summer of Bitter and SweetHeartdrum, 2022
Lou has enough confusion in front of her this summer. She’ll be working in her family’s ice-cream shack with her newly ex-boyfriend—whose kisses never made her feel desire, only discomfort—and her former best friend, King, who is back in their Canadian prairie town after disappearing three years ago without a word.
But when she gets a letter from her biological father—a man she hoped would stay behind bars for the rest of his life—Lou immediately knows that she cannot meet him, no matter how much he insists.
While King’s friendship makes Lou feel safer and warmer than she would have thought possible, when her family’s business comes under threat, she soon realizes that she can’t ignore her father forever.
Swimming in the Monsoon SeaThe setting is Sri Lanka, 1980, and it is the season of monsoons. Fourteen-year-old Amrith is caught up in the life of the cheerful, well-to-do household in which he is being raised by his vibrant Auntie Bundle and kindly Uncle Lucky. He tries not to think of his life “before,” when his doting mother was still alive. Amrith’s holiday plans seem unpromising: he wants to appear in his school’s production of Othello and he is learning to type at Uncle Lucky’s tropical fish business. Then, like an unexpected monsoon, his cousin arrives from Canada and Amrith’s ordered life is storm-tossed. He finds himself falling in love with the Canadian boy. Othello, with its powerful theme of disastrous jealousy, is the backdrop to the drama in which Amrith finds himself immersed.
This Dark Endeavour(The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein, Book 1)
written by Kenneth Oppel
HarperCollins Publishers, 2011
for ages 12 and up
Victor Frankenstein leads a charmed life. He and his twin brother, Konrad, and their beautiful cousin Elizabeth take lessons at home and spend their spare time fencing and horseback riding. Along with their friend Henry, they have explored all the hidden passageways and secret rooms of the palatial Frankenstein chateau. Except one.
The Dark Library contains ancient tomes written in strange languages and filled with forbidden knowledge. Their father makes them promise never to visit the library, but when Konrad becomes deathly ill, Victor knows he must find the book that contains the recipe for the legendary Elixir of Life.
The elixir needs only three ingredients. But impossible odds, dangerous alchemy and a bitter love triangle threaten their quest at every turn.
Victor knows he must not fail. Yet his success depends on how far he is willing to push the boundaries of nature, science and love—and how much he is willing to sacrifice.
A finalist for the 2012 Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People.
This Place: 150 Years RetoldExplore the past 150 years through the eyes of Indigenous creators in this groundbreaking graphic novel anthology. Beautifully illustrated, these stories are an emotional and enlightening journey through Indigenous wonderworks, psychic battles, and time travel. See how Indigenous peoples have survived a post-apocalyptic world since Contact.
Each story includes a timeline of related historical events and a personal note from the author. Find cited sources and a select bibliography for further reading in the back of the book. The accompanying teacher guide includes curriculum charts and 12 lesson plans to help educators use the book with their students.
Those Who Run in The SkyA coming-of-age story that follows a young shaman named Pitu as he learns to use his powers and ultimately finds himself lost in the world of the spirits.
After a strange and violent blizzard leaves Pitu stranded on the sea ice, without his dog team or any weapons to defend himself, he soon realizes that he is no longer in the world that he once knew. The storm has carried him into the world of the spirits, a world populated with terrifying creatures—black wolves with red eyes, ravenous and constantly stalking him, and water-dwelling creatures that want nothing more than to snatch him and pull him into the frigid ocean through an ice crack—as well as beings less frightening, but equally as incredible, such as a lone giant who can carry Pitu in the palm of her hand and keeps caribou and polar bears as pets.
After stumbling upon a fellow shaman who has been trapped in the spirit world for many years, Pitu must master all of his shamanic powers to make his way back to the world of the living, to his family, and to the girl that he loves.
Set in Toronto in the 1920s, this historical novel follows Agnes Maxwell as she sails from Scotland on her 17th birthday to join her older sister in domestic service in Toronto. When her employers’ son returns from university for the summer, Aggie’s quiet life is transformed by the adventures of his friend Rose, a lonely young socialite. Later, Aggie helps a young, affluent Jewish wife to learn English and discovers she’s capable of embarking on adventures of her own.
This wonderful portrayal of a young woman’s coming of age, set against life in Toronto’s jazz era, is poised to capture the hearts of a new generation of teen readers.
Originally published in 1996 by Tuckamore Books, this novel won the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People in 1997.
True Confessions of a Heartless GirlIn the midst of a heaven-rattling summer storm a young stranger blows into a small prairie town. On the run after taking her latest boyfriend's truck, with a pocketful of stolen money and a heart full of pain, 17-year-old Noreen Stall seems to invite trouble. And trouble comes soon enough, as Noreen's new mistakes trigger calamities that shake the lives of the residents of Pembina Lake. Acclaimed novelist Martha Brooks has written an unforgettable and award-winning story about a terribly complex heroine and the effects she has on those around her.
Union
Grace has caught my eye
I stare and stare
at this girl I’ve missed
since we were five
Abuse at the hands of his mother's boyfriend has left 15-year-old Tuck broken and untrusting. But then he falls hard for his childhood friend Grace and starts to imagine a life where he is happy. At the fast-food restaurant where he works, Tuck is asked to explore starting up a union. His new sense of purpose, combined with his growing love for Grace, helps Tuck come to terms with his pain and find the strength to begin the healing process.
The Unlikely Hero of Room 13BWhen Adam meets Robyn at a support group for kids coping with obsessive-compulsive disorder, he is drawn to her almost before he can take a breath. He's determined to protect and defend her—to play Batman to her Robyn—whatever the cost. But when you're 14 and the everyday problems of dealing with divorced parents and step-siblings are supplemented by the challenges of OCD, it's hard to imagine yourself falling in love. How can you have a "normal" relationship when your life is so fraught with problems? And that's not even to mention the small matter of those threatening letters Adam's mother has started to receive...
Teresa Toten sets some tough and topical issues against the backdrop of a traditional whodunit in this engaging new novel that readers will find hard to put down.
Winner of the 2013 Governor's General Literary Award, and a finalist for the 2014 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award.
We Are All Made of MoleculesThirteen-year-old Stewart Inkster is academically brilliant but "ungifted" socially. Fourteen-year-old Ashley Anderson is the undisputed "It" girl of Grade 9, but her marks stink. Their worlds are about to collide when Stewart and his dad move in with Ashley and her mom. "The Brady Bunch" it isn't. Stewart is trying to be 89.9% happy about it, but Ashley is 110% horrified. She already has to hide the truth behind her parents' divorce; "Spewart" could further threaten her position at the top of the social ladder. They are complete opposites. And yet, no matter their differences, they share one thing in common: they—like the rest of us—are all made of molecules.
Written in alternating voices, Susin Nielsen deftly explores family tragedy and family ties; sibling rivalry and union; and adolescent confusion and revelation.
What We HideAmericans Jenny and her brother Tom are off to England. Tom to university to dodge the Vietnam draft, Jenny to be the new girl at Illington Hall, which the students call Ill Hall. This is Jenny's chance to finally be special and stand out, so when she arrives she tells everybody a lie. But in the small world of Ill Hall, everyone has secrets. Jenny pretends she has a boyfriend. Robbie and Luke pretend they don't. Brenda won't tell what happened with the school doctor. Percy won't tell about his famous dad. Oona lies to everyone. Penelope lies only to herself. Deftly told from multiple points of view in various narrative styles, including letters and movie screenplays, What We Hide is a provocative, honest, often funny and always intriguing look at secrets.
Winner of the inaugural Amy Mathers Teen Book Award in 2015.
Young Man with CameraScholastic Canada, 2015
T— is used to getting grief. Grief from his mother, who worries about him constantly; grief from Mr. Lam, who runs the corner store and suspects every kid of stealing; grief from the trio of bullies he calls Joined at the Hip, whose cruelty has left T— so battered he fears even his whole name could be used against him.
But T— has his own strength too: his camera, which he uses to capture the unique way he sees the world. His photos connect him to Ms. Karamath, the kind librarian at school; his friend Sean, whose passion for mysteries is matched only by his love for his dog, Watson; and most of all to Lucy, a homeless woman who shares his admiration for the photographer Diane Arbus. When Lucy is attacked by Joined at the Hip, T— captures the assault on film. But those images lead him into even deeper trouble with the bullies, who threaten to hurt Sean if T— tells.
What’s the right thing to do? Do pictures ever tell the whole truth? And what if the truth isn’t always the right answer?
A finalist for the 2016 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award.