And Then the Sky Exploded by
When Christian learns his great-grandfather helped build the A-bombs dropped on Japan, he wants to make amends... somehow.
While attending the funeral of his great-grandfather, ninth-grader Christian Larkin learns that the man he loved and respected was a member of the Manhattan Project, the team that designed and created the atomic bombs dropped on Japan during the Second World War. On a school trip to Japan, Chris meets eighty-one-year-old Yuko, who was eleven when the first bomb exploded over Hiroshima, horribly injuring her. Christian is determined to do something to make up for what his great-grandfather did. But after all this time, what can one teenager really do? His friends tell him it's a stupid idea, that there's nothing he can do. And maybe they're right. But maybe, just maybe... they're wrong.
Bent Not Broken by
Meet Madeline and Justin. Before Madeline's bike accident left her with a traumatic brain injury, she and her twin sister were inseparable. So were her parents. But now, Madeline's parents are divorced and Becky has become rebellious, angry, and sneaky. Even worse, she doesn't seem to want Madeline around anymore. At least Madeline knows she can always rely on the miniature therapy horses she visits every week. Justin is a senior and the president of his school's Best Buddies club. Before his sister with autism died, he used to take her to the barn to visit her beloved therapy horses. Now, with Madeline, he goes there to escape the gloom of his mother's grief at home and the pressures of his final year in high school. Together, Justin and Madeline help each other to reconnect with the important people in their lives - and with the lives that they thought they'd lost.
Hawk by
When a First Nations teen rescues a fish-hawk from a tailings pond in Alberta's oil sands, he has no idea that soon they will both be fighting for their lives.
As a cross-country runner, Adam aims to win gold in the upcoming provincial championship. But when he is diagnosed with leukemia, he finds himself in a different race, one that he can't afford to lose. He reclaims the name Hawk, given to him by his grandfather, and begins to fight, for his life and for the land of his ancestors and the creatures that inhabit it. With a little help from his grandfather and his friends, he might just succeed.
Laura Monster Crusher by
"Laura Ledwick is... well... large. The kids at school don't let her forget it, and call her by various names: Laura Largebottom, Laura Lardo, Lots of Laura--you get the idea. When Laura's family moves to the next town over before eighth grade, she expects more of the same. What she doesn't expect are the snake-like yellow eyes watching her from the forest. Or the mysterious rattling in her closet. Or finally making friends for the first time. Or handsome uber-nerd Liam R. Kelp, who might just be the cutest boy to ever wear a Science Is Cool t-shirt. But when Laura finally discovers the source of the rattling, things take on a whole new level of weird. It turns out Laura has just been given the most important job in the world: Monster Crusher. Her role is simple: protect the earth from the horrors beneath her feet. Eighth grade is about to get a lot more interesting." - Publisher's website
Run by
Overweight and bullied, Lionel tries to attract as little attention as possible. Then he discovers something about himself: he's a fast runner. He joins the running group and is recruited for the school track team. But being on the track team and getting more attention brings Lionel closer to the bullies he's been avoiding and makes him a target.
Secret Path by
Secret Path is a ten song digital download album by Gord Downie with a graphic novel by illustrator Jeff Lemire that tells the story of Chanie "Charlie" Wenjack, a twelve-year-old boy who died in flight from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School fifty years ago. Secret Path is a ten song digital download album by Gord Downie with a graphic novel by illustrator Jeff Lemire that tells the story of Chanie "Charlie" Wenjack, a twelve-year-old boy who died in flight from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School fifty years ago. Chanie, misnamed Charlie by his teachers, was a young boy who died on October 22, 1966, walking the railroad tracks, trying to escape from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School to return home. Chanie's home was 400 miles away. He didn't know that. He didn't know where it was, nor how to find it, but, like so many kids--more than anyone will be able to imagine--he tried. Chanie's story is Canada's story. We are not the country we thought we were. History will be rewritten. We are all accountable. Secret Path acknowledges a dark part of Canada's history--the long suppressed mistreatment of Indigenous children and families by the residential school system--with the hope of starting our country on a road to reconciliation. Every year as we remember Chanie Wenjack, the hope for Secret Path is that it educates all Canadians young and old on this omitted part of our history, urging our entire nation to play an active role in the preservation of Indigenous lives and culture in Canada. The next hundred years are going to be painful as we come to know Chanie Wenjack and thousands like him--as we find out about ourselves, about all of us--but only when we do can we truly call ourselves, "Canada."
Short for Chameleon by
"Embarrassed by your brother? Estranged from your uncle? Then you might need some help from Almost Family Surrogate Agency. Cam Redden and his dad are rent-a-relatives, available for hire to anyone looking to upgrade.
Cam's job is all about being whoever other people want him to be. Then two new clients come along. Albertina is an old lady with a big mouth, a bigger wig, and a serious mission. Raylene is a beautiful girl with a nose right, a wonky eye and a painful secret. Now to get to the bottom of the tragic mysteries that fuel them both, Cam may finally have to be himself." - Publisher's website.
Summer's End by
"It's the last summer before high school. Four friends, Jacob, Ichiro, Hannah and Hayden, vow to make it epic -- one to remember. But when they discover an abandoned house on a forgotten island, their fun takes a dark turn. Terrified by what they learn about the house called Summer's End, but unable to resist its call, they decide to camp out on the island... and their summer to remember turns into a nightmare they won't soon forget." - Publisher's website
The Way Back Home by
"Zoe Bird is going nowhere fast. She's angry and lonely, and her only true friend is her granny, whose Alzheimer's is worsening.
When her parents put Granny in a home, Zoe decides now is the time to break free. She smuggles Granny out and together they hit the road on a trip to find Zoe's long lost uncle. But there will be some home truths along the way..." - Publisher's website
The Winnowing by
"Marivic Stone lives in a small world and that's just fine with her. Home is with her beloved grandfather (Gumps) in Darby, New Mexico, a small town that just happens to be famous for a medical discovery that saved humankind -- though not without significant repurcussions. Marivic loves her best friend, Saren, and the two of them promise to stick together, through thick and thin, and especially through the uncertain winnowing procedure, a now inevitable -- but dangerous -- part of adolescence. But when news of Saren's death thrusts Marivic into a world of conspiracy, rebellion and revolution, for the first time in her life, Marivic is forced to think and act big. If she is going to avenge Saren and right a decade of wrongs, she will need to trust her own frightening new abilities, even when it means turning her back on everything, and everyone, she's known and loved. A gripping exploration of love and loss, The Winnowing is a page-turning adventure that will have readers rooting for their new hero, Marivic Stone, as they unravel the horror and intrigue of a world at-once familiar but with a chilling strangeness not far beneath the everyday."-- Provided by publisher.
The Winnowing by
"Marivic Stone lives in a small world and that's just fine with her. Home is with her beloved grandfather (Gumps) in Darby, New Mexico, a small town that just happens to be famous for a medical discovery that saved humankind -- though not without significant repurcussions. Marivic loves her best friend, Saren, and the two of them promise to stick together, through thick and thin, and especially through the uncertain winnowing procedure, a now inevitable -- but dangerous -- part of adolescence. But when news of Saren's death thrusts Marivic into a world of conspiracy, rebellion and revolution, for the first time in her life, Marivic is forced to think and act big. If she is going to avenge Saren and right a decade of wrongs, she will need to trust her own frightening new abilities, even when it means turning her back on everything, and everyone, she's known and loved. A gripping exploration of love and loss, The Winnowing is a page-turning adventure that will have readers rooting for their new hero, Marivic Stone, as they unravel the horror and intrigue of a world at-once familiar but with a chilling strangeness not far beneath the everyday."-- Provided by publisher.