Lore Isle

Peter, the protagonist of Lore Isle, the debut middle grade novel from Newfoundland writer Jiin Kim, does not have an easy life. He and his mother, who suffers from anxiety and the persistent delusion that ... Read More »

July 5, 2023 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

Dreaming Home

By Lucian Childs

Coming out isn’t always easy. And it isn’t always by choice. One encounter on a fateful afternoon leads to a lifetime of alienation and discontent for Kyle Turner, the central character in this debut novel ... Read More »

June 28, 2023 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels, Reviews

The Umbrella House

By Colleen Nelson

In Colleen Nelson’s latest middle grade novel, readers follow aspiring journalist Ruby Markowski and her best friend, Scout Chang-Poulin, as they fight against gentrification in their beloved New York City neighbourhood. Since the death of ... Read More »

June 28, 2023 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

When It All Syncs Up

By Maya Ameyaw

Aisha Bimi is a young dancer brimming with passion and promise; but at her exclusive ballet boarding school, she faces constant anti-Black racism. Denied opportunity after opportunity simply for “not looking the part,” Aisha seeks ... Read More »

June 26, 2023 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

Much Ado About Nada

By Uzma Jalaluddin

Nada Syed, the titular character in Uzma Jalaluddin’s new novel Much Ado About Nada, is nearly 30, not flirty, and certainly not thriving. Nada works a job she hates, lives with her overprotective parents in ... Read More »

June 21, 2023 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels, Reviews

Soldiers, Hunters, Not Cowboys

By Aaron Tucker

The days of the western’s primacy in popular culture may have come and gone, but its underlying value system of an ascendant masculinity has managed to stave off extinction; this is the premise of Aaron ... Read More »

June 21, 2023 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels, Reviews

Of Light and Shadow

By Tanaz Bhathena

Of Light and Shadow by Tanaz Bhathena is a dual-perspective, stand-alone, young adult epic fantasy that tells a propulsive political tale of magic, the attraction of opposites, and chosen family. Roshan Chaya, the Shadow Bandit, ... Read More »

June 21, 2023 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books

★ The Stars

By Jacques Goldstyn and Helen Mixter (trans.)

Even though he has no interest in slides or sandboxes, young Yakov always has to take his three younger sisters to the local playground in Mile End. But while they bicker and play, he keeps ... Read More »

June 19, 2023 | Filed under: Children and YA Fiction, Kids’ Books