March 31, 2016

Will to Survive: The Rule of 3, Book 3

by Eric Walters
Razorbill
978-0-670-06707-7
310 pp.
Ages 12+
January 2016

If you thought the darkness and powerlessness of Eric Walters’ first two books in his apocalyptic The Rule of 3 series (The Rule of Three, Razorbill, 2014; Fight for Power, Razorbill, 2015) were staggering, then Will to Survive will seem enervating.   But, as is said, it's always darkest before the dawn, and Eric Walters is nothing but hopeful in all his writing and definitely in Will to Survive.

The neighbourhood in which sixteen-year-old Adam Daley and his family, friends and others–about sixteen hundred individuals–have created in the aftermath of a power outage of epic proportions is establishing all the right stuff on which civilizations have been founded: government by committee, citizenship, security, food sharing, social welfare, medical care, etc.  But it's been a hard road, with tough decisions regarding security versus social responsibility, survival versus humanity, and life or death.
I know that our neighborhood was a small sliver of civilization in a land where civility had been lost.  Here we were surrounded by twenty-foot walls, protected by armed guards on all sides; we had food, shelter and a layer of order and fairness.  In here was safe.  Beyond was uncertain.  No, not uncertain–wild and dangerous and dog-eat-dog. (pg. 83-84)
Unfortunately that danger encroached on Adam’s feelings of safety at the conclusion of Fight for Power, and Will to Survive begins in the aftermath of Adam's killing of two men, in self-defense, after he was kidnapped by former ally Brett who'd joined with the bandits of the Division.  Even after the neighbourhood sends teams to destroy the compound of the Division, Adam is haunted by what he had to do and is plagued by Brett’s suggestion that he too has become a monster.

But Adam doesn’t have many opportunities to talk to counsellor Maureen about the trauma or spend more time with girlfriend Lori before the neighbourhood is hit by sniper fire that kills three guards.  Pinpointing the origin of the shots as the condo tower outside of the community, and concerned that Brett and his men are behind the attack, the neighbourhood committee, based on Adam’s suggestion, decide to extend the wall outward to engulf the condo community, offering them both services and training to keep them safer.

After more aerial reconnaissance that is both beneficial and terrifying in what they discover, the neighbourhood begins efforts to join with other communities, including one based at the island airport, one at an oil refinery and another at a hospital.
We can stop being a simple star and start to become a constellation of stars, the center of a series of connected neighborhoods. (pg. 110)
But you know sociopathic Brett is going to raise his evil head again and he does, targeting the neighbourhood physically and Adam psychologically, playing their compassion as a weakness.  Unfortunately for him, Brett doesn’t recognize that kindness can be very fortifying too.

Will to Survive is definitely an action-packed adventure, a highly plot-driven story, but the power of Eric Walters’ characters kept me most interested.  The astute strategist, Herb, is one of my favourites.  Knowing that the world might never get back to normal (“There is a very long end game here”; pg. 202), Herb lends his wise guidance to the neighbourhood and its new allies and mentors Adam in becoming a new leader.  His wealth of knowledge and astounding understanding of the human psyche makes Herb the ideal person to spearhead efforts in a crisis. But Herb is the real thing, not a superhero; he is a man with vulnerabilities, who can help make Adam realize what he himself has to offer.  Will to Survive is a coming-of-age story about Adam, just as it is for a post-apocalypse world that needs to recognize its weaknesses and play to its strengths in order for growth to happen.  Growing up can be scary but it can also be heartfelt and ultimately advancing.

March 24, 2016

Buddy and Earl Go Exploring

by Maureen Fergus
Illustrated by Carey Sookocheff
Groundwood Books
978-1-55498-714-6
32 pp.
Ages 4-7
March, 2016

Buddy the dog and Earl the hedgehog from Buddy and Earl (Groundwood Books, 2015) are back and this time the fast friends are on the move.  Okay, they stay in the house but there’s so much to explore in their home, especially when everyone is asleep. And it all starts with Earl declaring a simple “Bon voyage” when they should be settling down to sleep.

Earl is essentially a Zen-kind of traveller, going “Wherever the road leads me” and “However long it takes” (pg. 8), but he’s surprised when his fast and furious running leads him nowhere, having never left the wheel in his cage.  Everything changes when somehow Earl gets Buddy to go exploring with him.

Everything is new and, in the imaginative mind of the little hedgehog, something to be investigated.  Their first stop is “a silvery lake in the shadow of a great mountain” (pg. 15) a.k.a. Buddy’s water bowl and the garbage pail, where Earl enjoys a lazy soak while Buddy discovers some tasty leftovers in the can he upturned.  But spotting a hairbrush in Mom’s purse, Earl sees a lady hedgehog in the jaws of a monster and enlists Buddy’s largesse to save his sweetie from being devoured. Reciprocating, because that’s what friends do, Earl stands up to a monster of Buddy’s world, the vacuum cleaner.

With declarations of friendship and heroism, the two finally settle down amidst the mayhem of their night’s exploration with a resounding “Bon soir.”

Maureen Fergus again offers up the unlikely friends as a story of contrasts: the little hedgehog with the massive imagination and courage to see outside his box, and the tall dog with the staid attitude of familiarity who understands more about the real world and still goes along with his prickly friend.  Buddy and Earl Go Exploring is  a sweet tale of travels to new worlds without ever leaving home.  The simplicity of their friendship and endeavours are balanced with the unfussy illustrations of Carey Sookocheff who also provided the artwork for Buddy and Earl.  Carey Sookocheff has created the ideal representations of the two animals in their physical appearances and their manners–petite and large, bold and cautious–and completed Maureen Fergus’ textual characters in such a way that the two will always be recognizable.  There’s Stella and Sam, Max and Ruby, and Frog and Toad, and now there’s Buddy and Earl.
From Buddy and Earl Go Exploring
by Maureen Fergus, illus. by Carey Sookocheff (pg. 30)

Nota Bene: More adventures to come, starting with Buddy and Earl and the Great Big Baby in August, 2016.

March 21, 2016

Mission Mumbai: A Novel of Sacred Cows, Snakes, and Stolen Toilets

by Mahtab Narsimhan
Scholastic Press
978-0-545-74651-9
272 pp.
Ages 9-12
March 2016
Reviewed from advance reading copy

Dylan Moore, 12, has gone a long way to get away from the worries of his parents’ impending breakup in New York City after finagling an invitation to go to India for three weeks with best friend, Rohit Lal.  For Dylan, it’s all about the adventure, the new experiences, especially the food, and taking photographs, determined to win a National Geographic contest and show his dad that his hobby is a worthwhile endeavour.  Problem is that Rohit isn’t that keen on going back to India, having accustomed himself to the amenities of life in New York City, and his displeasure is evident in every interaction he has, most notably with his mother and his Bua (father’s sister) whom Dylan dubs Boa for her venomous attitude.  Sadly Rohit’s rudeness has Boa deciding that, since she has financed the family’s stay in the U.S. including Rohit’s schooling, Rohit needs some discipline and will remain to go to school in Mumbai.

Even with the boys’ worries, everything is thrilling, flavourful and photogenic for Dylan.
My life in New York was so predictable, and this was so exciting! It was almost like starring in my own Bollywood adventure. (pg. 28)
But Dylan is trying to balance being a good guest and being a supportive friend, while navigating a culture with which he is totally unfamiliar.   Not surprising, Dylan gets himself into quite a few scraps, not including a scandalous shooing of a sacred cow, a swim in sewage-polluted water, a bladder-stressed train ride, and getting them banned from a restaurant.  And Rohit, desperate for his mother to take him back to NYC asap, resents Dylan’s wanting to stay on and takes advantage of Dylan’s ignorance time and time again.

It’s adventure after adventure for the two boys, as they bicker their way through their holiday in India, each resenting their own family dynamics and envious of the other’s, not realizing how much they both have.  Their friendship is so honest and complex and simple and real that every reader will understand the ups and downs of it, all against the unique backdrop that is India.  Mahtab Narsimhan has demonstrated her ability to capture the essence of other cultures in multi-layered plots in her previous books which include the 2009 Silver Birch Fiction award-winning The Third Eye (Dundurn, 2007) and The Tiffin (Dancing Cat Books, 2011), reviewed here, but Mission Mumbai takes her writing into more humourous realms.  Think of the lightness of Gordon Korman’s books with the flavours of Rohinton Mistry for middle-grade readers.  It’s a dazzling combination of characters, atmosphere, plot and humour.
Kerosene lamps smoked, a temple bell at a roadside shrine tinkled, and the air was thick with smells–some good, some gross.  Rohit swore softly under his breath as the cab inched forward.  After being in the air-conditioned flat, the heat was borderline torture.  It was like being in a malfunctioning steam room with the temperature stuck on “cook”.  My face was burning witht the heat and probably beet red. (pg. 48)
Whether a young reader is like Dylan, new to Indian culture, or Rohit, for whom the culture is familiar, Mission Mumbai will engage, enthrall and entertain.  And I haven’t even mentioned the monsoon, the wedding, the fire at the theatre, the wise old woman who gives them shelter, the heat, the scooties, and the glorious food!  So much to delve into and it’s all sweet and savoury and spicy and wholesome.

March 17, 2016

Finding Hope: Blog tour and online book launch

by Colleen Nelson
Dundurn Press
978-1-45973-245-2
224 pp.
Ages 14+
March 2016

I am so pleased to be part of Dundurn's blog tour for Colleen Nelson's newest young adult book, Finding Hope.  If you've followed CanLit for LittleCanadians, you'll know that I've previously reviewed her The Fall (Great Plains Teen Fiction, 2013) and 250 Hours (Coteau, 2015) and appreciated her compelling reads about tough issues like death, guilt, bullying and discrimination.  Finding Hope is no less than what I would expect from Colleen Nelson: a gripping novel about the tragedy of shame and the faith that somehow, some way things will right themselves.

Told in the alternating voices of fifteen-year-old Hope and her older brother Eric, Finding Hope examines the sibling relationship and the direction it takes when Eric becomes addicted to meth.  But the story is so much more than that because of a monumental concept called shame and all it entails for both young people.

The story starts in late August just as Hope learns she’ll be leaving their small town of Lumsville and heading to a private school named Ravenhurst School for Girls.  This is something her mother really wants for Hope; in fact, she wanted it for Eric too, pushing him to succeed in hockey, hopeful that it would be his ticket out of Lumsville.  He was good at hockey.  Very good.  So good that he became a “special” mentee for his coach, a relationship that leads to the shame that sets Eric on the meth-addled path to “make it all go away.” (pg. 10)
Shame isn’t a weight or something that gets worn.  It’s elastic, stretching and strangling anything in its reach. (pg. 222)
After Eric's progression through drugs leads him to stop going to school and start doing meth, his mom and step-dad, Hope’s father, kick him out of the house.  But that doesn’t stop Hope from leaving him money and food and whatever else he needs.  Sadly, because of his drug use and the paranoia and anxiety that results, their relationship becomes one of Hope enabling Eric: she feeling guilt for the life she has and he feeling that drugs is the only way to live with his secret shame of sexual abuse by his coach.

But after Eric breaks into a pharmacy, he’s on the run and heading to the same city where Hope is now going to school.  Both are now looking for the means to survive on their own in new environs where unexpected threats continue to arise and for which they are both unprepared.  For Eric, it’s finding the basics of life, like food and shelter, and feeding his addiction.  For Hope, it’s finding a friend, even a boyfriend, with whom she can be herself.  The saving grace for Eric is a discarded puppy he finds, whom he names Storm, and for Hope it’s her ability to put her feelings into poetry. Neither one really knows how to help themselves or each other but somehow that’s what they manage.

Finding Hope is a tragic story of looking for something better, and Colleen Nelson tells it with such beauty and poetry. For Eric and Hope, hope–the concept–is not wishful thinking.  It is an appropriate expectation that the world should right itself.
Broken,
My brother sits beside me
Twisted and used, both of us.
Tangled together
We will find a way
Jumping over
Remnants of our lives,
Making a new path
Together.

(pg. 219)


Online book launch

Tired of never being able to attend book launches?  
Then enjoy the online book launch for Finding Hope.

Visit Colleen Nelson's website at colleennelsonauthor.com to participate in the online book launch for Finding Hope.  If you purchase a copy of the book today from Amazon.ca, you can redeem bonus 'gifts' (all downloadable) including a $1 donation to Pink Shirt Day, an organization that raises funds to support anti-bullying initiatives and awareness.

March 16, 2016

Willow's Smile: Book launch (Burlington, ON)

Willow is back again!




The amazing girl of

Willow's Whispers
by Lana Button
Illustrated by Tania Howells 
Kids Can Press
32 pp.
Ages 3-7  
2010

and 

Willow Finds a Way
by Lana Button
Illustrated by Tania Howells 
Kids Can Press
32 pp.
Ages 3-7  
2013

is back in her newest

Willow's Smile
by Lana Button
Illustrated by Tania Howells 
Kids Can Press
32 pp.
Ages 3-7  
April 2016


Join

author

Lana Button

for the book launch 

of Willow's Smile

on Sunday, April 3, 2016

at
2:00-4:00 p.m.

at

A Different Drummer Books
513 Locust Street
Burlington, Ontario

March 15, 2016

Skunk on a String

by Thao Lam
Owlkids Books
978-1-77147-131-2
40 pp.
Ages 4-7
March 2016

Wordless picture books have a nuance that takes them beyond texted children’s books.  It’s the distinction of stories told without the clues of text, stories told in whatever way the visual reader chooses to see the tale.  The possibilities are endless.  In this review, I will endeavour to share my own take on Skunk on a String.  It may not be what others see but it’s mine.

Amongst a colourful parade of costumed walkers clinging to massive balloons floats a skunk with a relatively plain red polka-dot balloon string wrapped around its back leg. How he got into this predicament is unknown.  What he sees and the reactions he generates are the basis for Thao Lam’s illustrations, both full page and panelled pages with multiple scenes.

From Skunk on a String by Thao Lam
From the city blocks of apartments with their multitude of residents–cooking, watching TV, doing laundry, reading–to the construction workers on top of unfinished buildings and the animals at the zoo, the skunk sees much, all the while trying to catch something to help bring him down.  Hope seems imminent with a foray on a garbage truck but our little guy is again set aloft and cruising over, and in, an ocean, a desert and finally an amusement park, where a ferris wheel gives him the opportunity to become unstrung.  But, with this new freedom, the little skunk gets a new perspective on his adventure and finds a way to get back the truly free experience of seeing the world.

Thao Lam uses collages of brightly coloured and textured papers to create the amazing worlds that our little skunk visits.  Both minimalist in some scenes (e.g., the zoo) and incredibly detailed in others (e.g., the apartment building), she fashions clever illustrations that depict a full range of landscapes, each with their own touches of life: fish, cacti, elephants, trees, plants, humans.  There’s both a depth and a lightness to her illustrations, not unlike the world that Skunk on a String gets to visit, ultimately cherishing the opportunity for adventure he’s been given.

March 14, 2016

Tokyo Digs a Garden

by Jon-Erik Lappano
Illustrated by Kellen Hatanaka
Groundwood Books
978-1-55498-798-6
32 pp.
Ages 3-7
March 2016

Imagine a small house that was once part of a countryside lush with forests and meadows and wildlife now dwarfed by skyscrapers and hidden among the overdeveloped city buildings and billboards.  This is the house of Tokyo and his parents and his grandfather, the original owner of the country home, and Kevin the cat.

When an elderly woman on a bicycle hands Tokyo three seeds, telling him “…they will grow into whatever you wish”, the boy removes a brick from their yard and plants them in the soil beneath. The next day, there are three small wildflowers. After breakfast, there is moss covering the bricks.  By dinner, there are trees and shrubs and more wildflowers. And by the next day, “the garden had grown up and over the buldings, across the streets, dwon the road, over the cars and into the expressway.” With time, the city is made over into a wild entity of rivers and forests and wildlife and the people adapt to these changes because “Gardens have to grow somewhere, after all.

From Tokyo Digs a Garden
by Jon-Erik Lappano, illus. by Kellen Hatanaka
The message is clear.  Mother Nature will not be stopped and, no matter how much humans develop the land into unrecognizable entities, it will grow and become what it should.  Tokyo and his grandfather’s honest acceptance of this phenomenon is both educational and calming.  Jon-Erik Lappano gets the tone just right, never preachy, always intuitive, and even playful. (Kevin’s love of ice cream is quite clear.)  And Kellen Hatanaka, whose artwork first decorated Work: An Occupational ABC (Groundwood, 2014), dignifies that tone with his astute and beautiful illustrations.  Think of a Henri Rousseau jungle but with an art deco flair and you’ll get an idea of the lushness of Kellen Hatanaka’s garden in Tokyo Digs a Garden.  More brilliant in colour and stronger in line, the artwork carries the story from message to revelation.

Tokyo Digs a Garden plants the seeds for discussion of nature and land development and sows the dramatic beauty of transformation.

From Tokyo Digs a Garden by
Jon-Erik Lappano, illus. by Kellen Hatanaka

March 11, 2016

Going for a Sea Bath

by Andrée Poulin
Illustrated by Anne-Claire Delisle
Pajama Press
978-1-927485-92-7
32 pp.
Ages 5-8
March, 2016

What is it with so many kids and baths?  For Leanne, “It’s so boring! It’s annoying! It’s a pain!”  But her father has an idea (or more than several) how to make it more fun and it has him running back and forth to bring the sea in to her bathtub.

There’s one turtle, then two eels, three clown fish, and four seahorses.  At the four seahorses, Leanne is exclaiming, “Taking a bath is exciting! It’s the best!”  But her father, delighted in  making his daughter happy, continues to feed her requests for more or different with five shrimps, six hermit crabs, seven sea urchins, eight anemones, nine starfish and ten octopi.  Needless to say, that bathtub becomes a little crowded and they must find a solution to a new problem.

Taking a bath has never been so much fun!  The repartee between father and daughter is priceless. There is such warmth and affection that it’s easy to see why Leanne’s father would take such delight in his daughter’s joy.  He’s a little goofy, with his paunch, flat feet and receding hairline, but he’s all about being a good dad.  And little Leanne, with her head full of curls and splattering of freckles, is the quintessential inquisitive child with eyes and heart wide open.

Though Andrée Poulin’s text is based on counting, and would be a fun way for parents or teacher to help young children with numbers,  Going for a Sea Bath is so much more than that.  It’s a fun romp at bath time, with a tub full of different sea creatures, while looking at their behaviour and physical characteristics (though I didn’t know octopi knew how to use a toilet or that the hermit crab would enjoy playing with toilet paper!) Andrée Poulin, whose award-winning The Biggest Poutine in the World I recently reviewed here on CanLit for LittleCanadians, is staggerinly effective in her story-telling, whether for the very young or middle-grade.

From Going for a Sea Bath by Andrée Poulin, illus. by Anne-Claire Delisle
But the precious factor for Going for a Sea Bath goes beyond priceless because of Anne-Claire Delisle’s illustrations. The details in all the animals and in the scenes she composes of Leanne and her father amongst the backdrop of the bathroom are so full that I continue to look back on the book and find more and more features that delight.  From the shrimp draped in Leanne’s hair and the reclining turtle to the octopus squeezing shampoo from a bottle, Anne-Claire Delisle’s artwork is charming.

And, if there isn’t enough to love about this book, teachers will love talking synonyms with the adjectives, like magnificent, phenomenal and super-stupendous, that Leanne’s father uses to describe each new idea.  Going for a Sea Bath is  some kind of wonderful!

March 10, 2016

Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend: Book launch (Ottawa and Toronto)

Join 

award-winning author of

Tilt (Groundwood Books, 2011)
All Night (Grass Roots Press, 2013)
The Secret Life of Owen Skye (Groundwood, 2002)
After Sylvia (Groundwood, 2004)
Dear Sylvia (Groundwood, 2008)

Alan Cumyn

and

publisher
Simon & Schuster Canada

for the launch of his newest YA novel

Hot Pterodactyl Boyfriend
by Alan Cumyn
Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
978-1481439800
416 pp.
Ages 14+
March 2016

on

March 22, 2016
7 p.m.
Georgetown Sports Pub
1159 Bank St.
Ottawa


and


March 30, 2016
6 p.m.
Dora Keogh Irish Pub
141 Danforth Avenue
Toronto

The book is described on the Simon & Schuster website as follows :
Prepare to be blown away—or rather, carried away on huge muscular wings—by this blissfully outlandish, bracingly-smart, tour de force about a teen who has to come to terms with relinquishing control for the first time as she falls for the hot new…pterodactyl…at school. After all, everybody wants him! 
Shiels is very pleased with her perfectly controlled life (controlling others while she’s at it). She’s smart, powerful, the Student Body Chair, and she even has a loving boyfriend. What more could a girl ask for? 
But everything changes when the first-ever interspecies transfer student, a pterodactyl named Pyke, enrolls at her school. There’s something about him—something primal—that causes the students to lose control whenever he’s around. Even Shiels, the seemingly perfect self-confident girl that she is, can’t keep her mind off of him, despite her doting boyfriend and despite the fact that Pyke immediately starts dating Jocelyn, the school’s fastest runner who Shiels has always discounted as a nobody. 
Pyke, hugely popular in a school whose motto is to embrace differences, is asked to join a band, and when his band plays at the Autumn Whirl dance, his preternatural shrieking music sends everyone into a literal frenzy. No one can remember what happened the next day, but Shiels learns that she danced far too long with Pyke, her nose has turned purple, and she may have done something with her boyfriend that she shouldn’t have. Who’s in control now?

Tell me that doesn't sounding enticing.  I dare you.

March 09, 2016

Flashback

by Simon Rose
Tyche Books
978-1-928025-23-8
155 pp.
Ages 8-12
2015

Max seems like a typical fourteen-year-old boy: he hangs out with his friends; he has to endure parenting, or lack thereof, from his father; and he keeps secrets, especially the one that would make him look like he was going crazy.  You see, Max keeps seeing this boy, about his age, with a thick mop of black hair watching him and then disappearing.  And Max continues getting these bizarre images of being restrained on an operating table and a hypodermic needle and a girl with green hair.  It’s all very weird and frightening.

Since the images began at the cemetery when he’d stood beside the stones of Jonathan Dexter and his son David, Max does a little research.  He meets a man named John Carrington, a retired private investigator, who had been involved in a case twenty years earlier when the fourteen-year-old son, David, of politician Jonathan Dexter went missing.  With the tip from a psychic, the boy’s remains were found a few years later, just prior to Jonathan Dexter’s own death in a fire.  But just when Carrington found a connection to other missing persons’ cases, the whole investigation was shut down.

The next day, Max is shocked to learn that Carrington has been found dead in the park.  Slipping into the private investigator’s office while renovations are being done, Max uncovers documents and photos related to the Dexter case, including a connection to a researcher named Aleksander Kovac. Following the clues revealed within, Max makes the acquaintance of the psychic named Deanna Hastings and the teen bizarrely time slips into David’s life twenty years earlier.  And from there and then, Max tries to solve the mystery of David and Kovac and a weird headache-causing young man named Kane.

Flashback is an action-packed adventure perfect for middle grade readers.  Young readers will enjoy the plot-driven story rife with the supernatural, bad guys, evil experimentation, and time slip. While I found some of the plot progressions to be a little contrived, I think younger readers will appreciate the fast pace and suspenseful thrill of learning what really happened to David Dexter courtesy of a middle-grade sleuth.

March 08, 2016

YoungCanLit for International Women's Day (March 8)


As important as it was for me to put together this list of youngCanLit titles relevant to International Women’s Day,  it was a difficult list to compile.  There are numerous books of youngCanLit in which girls and women are able to achieve extraordinary accomplishments or are strong, determined characters who are great role models for young readers.  Like Dave Whamond’s Oddrey (Owlkids, 2012) or Caroline Pignat’s Phoebe from The Gospel Truth (Red Deer Press, 2014). But, for International Women’s Day, I focused on those books whose characters or biographical emphases are on girls and women who have had to overcome much because of their gender or were able to accomplish much in spite of their gender.  These are their stories and those that need telling.


PICTURE BOOKS

Gift Days
by Kari-Lynn Winters
Illustrated by Stephen Taylor
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
32 pp.
Ages 7+
2012
Reviewed here

The Highest Number in the World
by Roy MacGregor
Illustrated by Geneviève Després
Tundra Books
32 pp.
Ages 4-7
2014

The Paper Bag Princess
by Robert Munsch
Illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Annick Press
28 pp.
Ages 4+
1981

When Mama Goes to Work
by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Illustrated by Jessica Phillips
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
32 pp.
Ages 1-5
2013
Reviewed here



FICTION & YOUNG ADULT

Abby’s Fabulous Season
by Alain M. Bergeron
Translated by Chantel Bilodeau
Second Story Press
300 pp.
Ages 8-11
2014

Born Ugly
by Beth Goobie
Red Deer Press
270 pp.
Ages 14+
2011

The Breadwinner
by Deborah Ellis
Groundwood Books
176 pp.
Ages 10-14
2000/2015

The Farmerettes
by Gisela Tobien Sherman
Second Story Press
348 pp.
Ages 12+
2015

The Girls They Left Behind
by Bernice Thurman Hunter
Fitzhenry & WHIteside
191 pp.
Ages 12-15
2005

Jane, the Fox and Me
by Fanny Britt
Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault
Translated by Christelle Morelli and Susan Ouriou
Groundwood Books
104 pp.
Ages 10-16
2013

Lily and Taylor
by Elise Moser
Groundwood Books
224 pp.
Ages 14+
2013
Reviewed here

Moon at Nine
by Deborah Ellis
Pajama Press
224 pp.
Ages 14+
2014
Reviewed here

My Book of Life by Angel
by Martine Leavitt
Groundwood Books
246 pp.
Ages 14+
2012
Reviewed here
No Ordinary Day
by Deborah Ellis
Groundwood Books160 pp.
Ages 9-12
2011
Reviewed here

The Paper House
by Lois Peterson
Orca Book Publishers
108 pp.
Ages 8-11
2012
Reviewed here

Stained
by Cheryl Rainfield
HMH Books for Young Readers
304 pp.
Ages 14+
2013
Reviewed here 

Straight Punch
by Monique Polak
Orca Book Publishers
256 pp.
Ages 13-16
2014

Susanna's Quill
by Julie Johnston
Tundra Books
327 pp.
Ages 13+
2004

Thunder Over Kandahar 
by Sharon E. McKay
Annick Press
260 pp.
Ages 12+
2010

Wanting Mor
by Rukhasana Khan
Groundwood Books
192 pp.
Ages 10-14
2009





NON-FICTION

Astonishing Women Artists (The Women’s Hall of Fame Series)
by Heather Ball
Second Story Press
120 pp.
Ages 9-13
2007

Because I am a Girl I Can Change the World
by Rosemary McCarney with Plan International
Second Story Press
32 pp.
Ages 7-12
2015

Canadian Girls Who Rocked the World 
by Tanya Lloyd Kyi
Illustrated by Tom Bagley
Walrus/Whitecap Books
120 pp.
Ages 9-11
2009

Courageous Women Rebels (The Women’s Hall of Fame Series)
by Joy Crysdale
Second Story Press
124 pp.
Ages 9-13
2013

Dazzling Women Designers (The Women’s Hall of Fame Series)
by Jill Bryant
Second Story Press
128 pp.
Ages 9-13
2010

Every Day is Malala Day
by Rosemary McCarney with Plan International
Second Story Press
32 pp.
Ages 7-12
2014
Reviewed here

Exceptional Women Environmentalists (The Women’s Hall of Fame Series)
by Frances Rooney
Second Story Press
120 pp.
Ages 9-13
2007

Extraordinary Women Explorers (The Women’s Hall of Fame Series)
by Frances Rooney
Second Story Press
118 pp.
Ages 9-13
2005


Fearless Female Journalists (The Women’s Hall of Fame Series)
by Joy Crysdale
Second Story Press
128 pp.
Ages 9-13
2010

girlSpoken: From Pen, Brush & Tongue
Edited by Jessica Hein. Heather Holland and Carol Kauppi
Second Story Press
201 pp.
Ages 12+
2007

Great Women From Our First Nations (The First Nations Series for Young Readers)
by Kelly Fournel
Second Story Press
84 pp.
Ages 9-13
2007

Great Women Leaders (The Women’s Hall of Fame Series)
by Heather Ball
Second Story Press
100 pp.
Ages 9-13
2004

Hyena in Petticoats: The Story of Suffragette Nellie McClung
by Willow Dawson
Puffin Canada
95 pp.
Ages 9-12
2011

In the Bag: Margaret Knight Wraps It Up
by Monica Kulling
Illustrated by David Parkins
Tundra Books
32 pp.
Ages 5-9
2011
Reviewed here

Incredible Women Inventors (The Women's Hall of Fame Series)
by Sandra Braun
Second Story Press
112 pp.
Ages 11+
2006

Kim Campbell: The Keener Who Broke Down Barriers (Canadian Prime Ministers: Warts & All)
by Heather Grace Stewart
Illustrated by Thomas Dannenberg
JackFruit Press
57 pp.
Ages 9-13
2007

Lacey and the African Grandmothers
by Sue Farrell Holler
Second Story Press
164 pp.
Ages 9-13
2009

Locating Alexandra
by Margaret Rodgers
ECW Press
170 pp.
Ages 15+
1995

Magnificent Women in Music (The Women’s Hall of Fame Series)
by Heather Ball
Second Story Press
108 pp.
Ages 9-13
2005

Nobel's Women of Peace (The Women's Hall of Fame Series)
by Michelle Benjamin & Maggie Mooney
Second Story Press
146 pp.
Ages 9-13
2008

No Girls Allowed: Tales of Daring Women Dressed as Men for Love, Freedom and Adventure
by Susan Hughes
Illustrated by Willow Dawson
Kids Can Press
80 pp.
Ages 9-12
2008

Phenomenal Female Entrepreneurs (The Women’s Hall of Fame Series)
by Jill Bryant
Second Story Press
152 pp.
Ages 9-13
2013

Pink Power: The First Women's Hockey Champions (Recordbooks)
by Lorna Schultz Nicholson
James Lorimer
125 pp.
Ages 9-14
2007

Queens of the Ice: They Were Fast, They Were Fierce, They Were Teenage Girls (Recordbooks)
by Carly Adams
James Lorimer
131 pp.
Ages 10-13
2011

Razia’s Ray of Hope: One Girl’s Dream of an Education (CitizenKid)
by Elizabeth Suneby
Illustrated by Suana Verelst
Kids Can Press
36 pp.
Ages 8-10
2013

Remarkable Women Writers (The Women’s Hall of Fame Series)
by Heather Ball
Second Story Press
120 pp.
Ages 10-14
2006

Reporter in Disguise: The Intrepid Vic Steinberg
by Christine Welldon
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
78 pp.
Ages 10-13
2013

Scribbling Women: True Tales from Astonishing Lives
by Marthe Jocelyn
Tundra Books
208 pp.
Ages 10-13
2011

Spectacular Women in Space (The Women’s Hall of Fame Series)
by Sonia Gueldenpfennig
Second Story Press
111 pp.
Ages 9-12
2005

Spic-and-Span!: Lillian Gilbreth's Wonder Kitchen
by Monica Kulling
Illustrated by David Parkins
Tundra Books
32 pp.
Ages 7-10
2014
Reviewed here

Super Women in Science (The Women’s Hall of Fame Series)
by Kelley DiDomenico
Second Story Press
102 pp.
Ages 9-13
2001

Susanna Moodie: A Life
by Michael Peterman
ECW Press
178 pp.
Ages 13+
1999




FILM

Kim Campbell: Through the Looking Glass
Directed by Michel Jones
Produced by Silva Basmajian
National Film Board of Canada
71 min.
Ages 14+
2000



The Petticoat Expeditions Series
Directed by Pepita Ferrari
Produced by Kent Martin
Narrated by Helena Bonham Carter
National Film Board of Canada
Ages 10-14
1997
Part 1: Anna Jameson
23 min., 29 sec.

Part 2: Frances Hopkins
19 min., 32 sec.

Part 3: Countess of Aberdeen
20 min., 1 sec.

Under the Willow Tree: Pioneer Chinese Women in Canada
Directed by Dora Nipp
Produced by Margaret Wong
National Film Board of Canada
52 min.
Ages 14+
1997