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
