Summer's On! A Fiction Book List

For readers of chapter books, whether they be early readers or middle grade, these summer reads have something for everyone: vacations with family, going to camp, adventures in the wild, pranks, mysteries, melancholy and humour.  But it's all courtesy of time off school and weather that lets you stay outside longer than other times of the year. Enjoy!  

FICTION

Adventures at Camp Lots-O-Fun

by Marilyn Helmer

Illustrated by Mike Deas

Orca Book Publishers

60 pp.

Ages 8-10

2010

After Peaches

by Michelle Mulder

Orca Book Publishers

106 pp.

Ages 9-11

2009

After the Fire

by Becky Citra

Orca Book Publishers

186 pp.

Ages 8-11

2006

Alberta Alibi

by Dayle Campbell Gaetz

Orca Book Publishers

189 pp.

Ages 9-12

2005

The Archaeolojesters
by Andreas Oertel
Lobster Press
192 pp.
Ages 9-12
2010

As Long as the Rivers Flow

by Larry Loyie with Constance Brissenden

Illustrated by Heather D. Holmlund

Groundwood Books

48 pp.

Ages 7-11

2002

Bat Summer

by Sarah Withrow

Groundwood Books

174 pp. 

Ages 10–13

1998

Becca At Sea  

by Deirdre Baker           

Groundwood Books

176 pp.
Ages 9-12

2007          

The Big Swim

by Cary Fagan

Groundwood Books

128 pp.

Ages 9-12

2010

The Big Tree Gang

by Jo Ellen Bogart

Illustrated by Dean Griffiths

Orca Book Publishers

61 pp.

Ages 7-9

2005

Bye-Bye, Evil Eye

by Deborah Kerbel

Dancing Cat Books

168 pp.

Ages 9-12

2014

Reviewed here

Camp Outlook
by Brenda Baker
Second Story Press
245 pp.
Ages 9-13
2014

Days That End in Y

by Vikki VanSickle

Scholastic Canada

194 pp.

Ages 9-12

2013

Reviewed here

Driftwood

by Valerie Sherrard

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

200 pp.

Ages 10+

2013

Reviewed here

The Fossil Hunters

by Marilyn Helmer

Illustrated by Dermot Walshe

Orca Book Publishers

62 pp.

Ages 6-8

2009

Gemini Summer

by Iain Lawrence

Delacorte Press

261 pp.

Ages 10-13

2006

The Green Man

by Michael Bedard

Tundra Books

304 pp.

Ages 11-14

2012

Greysteel’s Ghost

by Robert Sutherland
HarperTrophy Canada
176 pp.
Ages 9-12
2005

A Handful of Time

by Kit Pearson

Puffin Books

186 pp.

Ages 8-12

1987

I Owe You One

by Natalie Hyde
Orca Book Publishers
126 pp.
Ages 8-11
2011

Johnny Kellock Died Today

by Hadley Dyer

HarperCollins

152 pp.

Ages 9-12

2006

Just J.

by Colin Frizzell

Orca Book Publishers

138 pp.

Ages 9-13

2007

Keep Out!

by Hélène Boudreau
Nimbus
82 pp.
Ages 6-9
2010

Losing Joe’s Place

by Gordon Korman

Scholastic

233 pp.

Ages 12-14

1990

Nobody's Dog

by Ria Voros

Scholastic Canada

150 pp.

Ages 8-12

2012

Reviewed here

Off Track (Sports Stories, #62)

by Bill Swan

James Lorimer

106 pp.

Ages 8-13

2003

One Thing That's True

by Cheryl Foggo

Kids Can Press

128 pp.

Ages 10+

1997

On the Road Again! More Travels with My Family

by Marie-Louise Gay and David Homel
Groundwood Books
141 pp.
Ages 7-10
2008

Out of the Box

by Michelle Mulder

Orca Book Publishers

150 pp.

Ages 9+

2011

Reviewed here

      

The Path of Names

by Ari Goelman

Arthur E. Levine/Scholastic
399 pp.
Ages 10-12
2013

Pete's Gold

by Luanne Armstrong

Ronsdale Press

188 pp.

Ages 10-14

2008

Sabotage

by Karen Autio

Sono Nis Press

293 pp.

Ages 10+

2013

Reviewed here

Siena Summer

by Ann Chandler

Tradewind Books

142 pp.

Ages 12-14

2008

Sky Lake Summer

by Peggy Dymond Leavey

Napoleon Publishing

178 pp.

Ages 9-11

1999

Somebody Else’s Summer

by Jean Little

Viking Canada

180 pp.

Ages 9-12

2005

Summer Days, Starry Nights

by Vikki VanSickle

Scholastic Canada

221 pp.

Ages 11-14

2013

Reviewed here

Summer in the City

by Marie-Louise Gay and David Hormel

Groundwood

150 pp.

Ages 8-10

2012

Summer of Discovery

by Eric Wilson
HarperTrophy Canada
96 pp.
Ages 9-12

1996

The Summer of Magic Quartet

by Andrea Spalding

Orca Book Publishers

Ages 9-12

The White Horse Talisman (Book One)

192 pp.

2003

Dance of the Stone (Book Two)

196 pp.

2003

Heart of the Hill (Book Three)

182 pp.

2005

Behind the Sorcerer's Cloak (Book Four)

227 pp.

2006

The Summer of Permanent Wants

by Jamieson Findlay

Doubleday Canada

241 pp.

Ages 10-14

2011

Summer of Suspense (Science Squad Adventure Series #1).

by Kristin Butcher

Whitecap Books

159 pp.

Ages 8-12

2002

The Summer of the Spotted Owl (A Dinah Galloway Mystery)

by Melanie Jackson

Orca Book Publishers

180 pp.

Ages 9-12

2005

Summer on the Run

by Nancy Belgue

Orca Book Publishers

139 pp.

Age 8-12

2005

A Taste of Perfection

by Laura Langston

Stoddart Kids (Fitzhenry & Whiteside)

214 pp.

Ages 10-13

2002

Travels with My Family

by Marie-Louise Gay     

Groundwood Books
119 pp.
Ages 7-10

2006

Trouble at Impact Lake (The Archaeolojesters, Book 3)

by Andreas Oertel

Lobster Press

185 pp.

Ages 9-12

2011

The Uncle Duncle Chronicles: Escape from Treasure Island

by Darren Krill

Lobster Press

335 pp.

Ages 14-16

2006

The Way to Schenectady

by Richard Scrimger

Illustrated by Linda Hendry

Tundra Books

163 pp.

Ages 9-13

1998

Wishing Star Summer

by Beryl Young

Raincoast Books

136 pp.

Ages 9-12

2001

Zach & Zoe: Bully and the Beagle

by Kristin Butcher

James Lorimer

117 pp.

Ages 7 -11

2009

Summer's On! A youngCanLit Picture Book list

Time to go on summer holidays, enjoy or endure vacations with or without family, and savour our Canadian summer, whether it be on the coast, in the city, in the north or in the bush, or even away.  Summer's on!

PICTURE BOOKS

Are We There Yet?

by Nancy Crystal

Scholastic

32 pp.
Ages 3-7
1991

Camping

by Nancy Hundal

Illustrated by Brian Deines

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

32 pp.

Ages 8-11

2002        

Checkers and Dot at the Beach
by J. Torres
Illustrated by J. Lum
16 pp.
Ages 0-3
2012

Dippers

by Barbara Nichol

Illustrated by Barry Moser

Tundra Books

32 pp.

Ages 8+

1997

The Fishing Summer

by Teddy Jam

Illustrated by Ange Zhang

Groundwood

32 pp.

Ages 4-9
1997

Goldsworthy and Mort in Summer Fun

by Marcia Vaughan

Illustrated by Linda Hendry

HarperCollins

64 pp.

Ages 5-6
1990

In the Tree House

by Andrew Larson

Illustrated by Dušan Petricic

Kids Can Press

32 pp.

Ages 5-10

2013

Kitten's Summer

by Eugenie Fernandes

Kids Can Press

24 pp.

Ages 1-4
2011

Mayfly

by Marthe Jocelyn

Tundra Books

32 pp.

Ages 2-7
2004

My Family Vacation   

by Dayal Kaur Khalsa

Tundra Books

24 pp.
Ages 6-9
2003

Nana's Summer Surprise

by Heather Hart-Sussman

Illustrated by Georgia Graham

Tundra Books

32 pp.

Ages 5-7
2013

A Prairie Boy's Summer
by William Kurelek
Tundra Books
48 pp.
Ages 8-12
1975

Prairie Summer
by Nancy Hundal
Illustrated by Brian Deines
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
34 pp.
1999

Ready for Summer

by Marthe Jocelyn

Tundra Books

16 pp.

Ages 1-3
2008

Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach

by Mélanie Watt

Kids Can Press

32 pp.

Ages 5-10
2008

Scaredy Squirrel Goes Camping

by Mélanie Watt

Kids Can Press

32 pp.

Ages 5-10
2013
Reviewed here

Simon in Summer

by Gilles Tibo

Tundra Books

24 pp.

Ages 3-8
1991

The Summer of the Marco Polo
by Lynn Manuel
Illustrated by Kasia Charko
Orca Book Publishers
32 pp.
2007

Travels for Two: Stories and Lies from My Childhood

by Stephane Poulin

Annick Press

32 pp.

Ages 5-8
1991

The Twelve Days of Summer

by Jan Andrews

Illustrated by Susan Rennick Jolliffe

Orca

32 pp.

Ages 4-8
2005

When We Go Camping

by Margriet Ruurs

Illustrated by Andrew Kiss

Tundra Books

32 pp.

Ages 6-8

2001

Zoe's Sunny Day

by Barbara Reid

Scholastic Canada

10 pp.

Ages 1-3

2001

Raging Star (Dust Lands, Book 3)

Written by Moira Young

Doubleday Canada

978-0385679244

448 pp.

Ages 12+

May, 2014

Proclaimed as "Better than The Hunger Games" (MTV's Hollywood Crush), Moira Young's trilogy Dust Lands embeds the reader in a dystopian world that has the characters struggling first with brutality then survival and finally retribution in this final book, Raging Star.  Set in motion with the abduction of Saba's twin Lugh in Blood Red Road (Doubleday, 2011; reviewed here), Saba has endured life as the cage-fighter known as the Angel of Death, met Jack and the Free Hawks who help her free Lugh, and then part ways as she and Jack attempt to rebuild connections with others, all within the threat of the Pathfinder's establishment of New Eden (Rebel Heart, Doubleday, 2012; reviewed here).

Saba has become the unofficial leader of a motley resistance group that includes Lugh, her younger sister Emmi, the deaf boy Tommo, the raider Creed, Free Hawk Ash, Ike's beautiful Molly and travelling medicine man Slim.  In secret collaboration with Jack who has infiltrated the Tonton, Saba works to sabotage the Pathfinder's (DeMalo's) plans for a new world he has envisioned.  While young teens are paired as Stewards to settle on plots of land in New Eden, babies and children are raised at Eden House to become Stewards, and slaves are used to construct roads and bridges, Saba is unsure of the efficacy of destroying the Pathfinder's work by violent means.  It doesn't help that she is conflicted by her feelings for Jack, who seems less loving to her, and DeMalo, who convincingly suggests that all her friends and family would be safe if she would agree to be his.

Still, encouraged by the very images DeMalo uses to impress others of his vision of a new world, Saba suggests the idea of using non-violence to ensure a New Eden that accepts all, gaining power through bringing families and loved ones together again.  As shrewd as that plan may sound, not everyone believes it to be so.  But Saba has grown as a sister, a leader, and a friend, and she knows to draw on all her skills and experiences to keep those she loves safe while offering hope for a better future. Sadly, as determined as she is, trust is an issue that she still hasn't resolved.

While dystopian literature is hot everywhere, only Moira Young takes readers into a society so unfamiliar in its way of speaking, vocabulary, and way of doing things that it becomes a true representation of life in a post-Wrecker world. We are the Wreckers, those who developed the technology and advances of planes and cars and structures that only exist as ruins or remnants. The Wreckers who dragged the world through global warming, leaving the land a dust bowl of sand storms and infertile soil. And with a crumbling society, education and schooling would have crumbled as well, leaving few characters speaking the English of our Wrecker world. Deciphering their literal and oral vocabulary, from shooters and firesticks to long-lookers and trackways, and spellings such as fer, yer, and git, make it clear that their world has been built on the vestiges of another time and culture. 

With Raging Star, Moira Young has ensured Dust Lands a critical spot on any top ten list of dystopian literature.  Don't be fooled by its lack of film adaptation, not yet any way.  Dust Lands will surpass all other dystopian literature by virtue of its chaotic world, fallible characters, including their relationships, and honest representation of the world we're bringing about through our actions, greed and arrogance.  We can only hope Dust Lands remains a world of literature, not our future.