Summer Reading Lists of the Forest Kid and Teen Committees

On May 22 and 29, 2020, selected young readers who'd applied to participate on the fourth annual Forest Kid Committee (for ages 9-13) and the third Forest Teen Committee (for ages 14+) came together online to talk books.  From their discussions, which were interspersed with visits from award-winning Canadian authors (Kenneth Oppel, Zetta Elliott, Kelley Armstrong, Natasha Deen, Wesley King, S. K. Ali, Heather T. Smith and Alex Light), these young people produced three extraordinary lists of recommended titles to keep everyone reading Canadian over the summer.  These are their recommendations for their peers in the Silver Birch, Red Maple and White Pine reading programs of the Forest of Reading.

Happy summertime reading!

•••

Silver Birch Readers 
(Ages 8-12, Grades 3-6)

The Case of the Missing Auntie (A Mighty Muskrats Mystery)
Written by Michael Hutchinson
Second Story Press
168 pp. 
Ages 9-12
2020

The Dragon Thief 
Written by Zetta Elliott
Random House Books for Young Readers
176 pp. 
Ages 8-12
2019

Jinxed   
Written by Amy McCulloch
Sourcebooks Young Readers
336 pp.
Ages 8-12
2020

The Journey of Little Charlie  
Written by Christopher Paul Curtis
Scholastic Canada
234 pp. 
Ages 8-13
2018

The Magpie's Library 
Written by Kate Blair
DCB
240 pp.
Ages 9-12
2019

Me and Banksy  
Written by Tanya Lloyd Kyi
Puffin Canada
272 pp. 
Ages 10+
2020

Megabat and Fancy Cat  
Written by Anna Humphrey
Tundra
176 pp.
Ages 7-10
2019

Music for Tigers  
Written by Michelle Kadarusman
Pajama Press
192 pp.
Ages 8-12
2020

Notorious   
Written by Gordon Korman
Scholastic Canada
312 pp.
Ages 9-12
2020

Phantom of Fire (A Dylan Maples Adventure, Book 5)
Written by Shane Peacock
Nimbus
264 pp.
Ages 9-13
2019

The Secret of White Stone Gate (Order of Black Hollow Lane, Book 2)
Written by Julia Nobel
Sourcebooks Young Readers
304 pp.
Ages 8-12
2020

The Sound of Freedom 
Written by Kathy Kacer
Annick
256 pp.
Ages 9-12
2018

Stand on the Sky   
Written by Erin Bow
Scholastic Canada
320 pp.
Ages 9-12
2019

The Taste of Rain  
Written by Monique Polak
Orca
224 pp.
Ages 10-15
2019

Wings of Olympus: The Colt of the Clouds  
Written by Kallie George
HarperCollins
256 pp.
Ages 8-11
2020







Red Maple Readers
(Ages 12-14, Grades 7-8)

Bloom
Written by Kenneth Oppel
HarperCollins
312 pp.
Ages 10-14
2020

Broken Strings
Written by Eric Walters and Kathy Kacer
Puffin
288 pp.
Ages 10-14
2019



 

Don’t Call the Wolf
Written by Aleksandra Ross
HarperTeen
512 pp.
Ages 13+
2020

Just Lucky
Written by Melanie Florence
Second Story Press
248 pp.
Ages 13-18
2019

The Justice Project
Written by Michael Betcherman
Orca
256 pp.
Ages 12+
2019

Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens
Written by Tanya Boteju
Simon & Schuster
384 pp.
Ages 12+
2019

Messenger 93
Written by Barbara Radecki
DCB
240 pp.
Ages 14+
2020

No One Here is Lonely
Written by Sarah Everett
Alfred A. Knopf
352 pp.
Ages 12+
2020

Once Upon An Eid: Stories of Hope and Joy by 15 Muslim Voices
Edited by S.K. Ali and Aisha Saeed
Amulet Books
272 pp.
All ages
2020

Safe Harbour
Written by Christina Kilbourne
Dundurn
264 pp.
Ages 12-15
2019

Sara and the Search for Normal
Written by Wesley King
Simon & Schuster
272 pp.
Ages 8-12
2020

Shadow Frost (Shadow Frost #1)
Written by Coco Ma
Blackstone Publishing
400 pp.
Ages 12-17
2019

The Silence of Bones
Written by June Hur
Feiwel & Friends
336 pp.
Ages 13+
2020

The Sound of Drowning
Written by Katherine Fleet
Page Street Publishing
384 pp.
Ages 14-18
2019

Thicker than Water
Written by Natasha Deen
Orca
144 pp.
Ages 12+
2019







White Pine Readers
(Ages 14-18, Grades 9-12)

Aftermath
Written by Kelley Armstrong
Penguin Teen
384 pp.
Ages 12-18
2018

Ayesha at Last
Written by Uzma Jalaluddin
Harper Avenue
352 pp.
Ages 13+
2018

Be My Love
Written by Kit Pearson
HarperCollins Canada
224 pp.
Ages 10-14
2019

Break in Case of Emergency
Written by Brian Francis
HarperCollins Canada
368 pp.
Ages 14+
2019

The Center of the Universe
Written by Ria Voros
KCP Loft
512 pp.
Ages 14-18
2019

Fight Like a Girl
Written by Sheena Kamal
Penguin Teen
272 pp.
Ages 14+
2020

My Story Starts Here: Voices of Young Offenders
Written by Deborah Ellis
Groundwood Books
224 pp.
Ages 13+
2019

Spin
Written by Colleen Nelson
Dundurn
296 pp.
Ages 12-15
2019

The Starlight Claim
Written by Tim Wynne-Jones
Candlewick Press
240 pp.
Ages 13+
2019

This Pace: 150 Years Retold
Written by Katherena Vermette, Sonny Assu, Jen Storm, David A. Robertson, Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley, Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, Richard Van Camp, Brandon Mitchell, Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair, Chelsea Vowel
Illustrated by Scott B. Henderson, Kyle Charles, Natasha Donovan, GMB Chomichuk, Ryan Howe, Jen Storm, Tara Audibert, Andrew Lodwick
HighWater Press
274 pp.
Ages 13+
2019

Until Niagara Falls
Written by Jennifer Maruno
Dundurn
168 pp.
Ages 9-12
2020

The Upside of Falling
Written by Alex Light
Wattpad
288 pp.
Ages 14+
2020

The Woo Woo: How I Survived Ice Hockey, Drug Raids, Demons, and My Crazy Chinese Family
Written by Lindsay Wong
Arsenal Pulp Press
316 pp.
Ages 15+
2018

You Owe Me a Murder
Written by Eileen Cook
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
359 pp.
Ages 13+
2019






The book lists are posted on the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading website:
For Silver Birch readers: http://accessola.org/WEB/Documents/OLA/Forest/Resources/2020/Kid-Committee-List-2020-Silver-Birch.pdf
For Red Maple readers: http://accessola.org/WEB/Documents/OLA/Forest/Resources/2020/Kid-Committee-List-2020-Red-Maple.pdf
For White Pine readers: http://accessola.org/WEB/Documents/OLA/Forest/Resources/2020/Teen-Committee-List-2020.pdf