Big Guy by Robin Stevenson
Summary: Since Derek’s mother left his father, life has been a challenge. Uninterested in school, Derek drops out to get a job instead, but living with his father alone is only made bearable with the support of his best friend Gabi, and his online boyfriend, Ethan. When Ethan asks for a picture though, Derek sends one from before his substantial weight gain, thinking it won’t matter because Ethan will never know the difference. Ethan has plans to come to a wedding in town and meet Derek while he is there, and Derek must decide whether to come clean about his appearance for the...
Read MoreWhat is Real by Karen Rivers
Summary: Dex is a seventeen year-old disillusioned by life. With a step-brother who died of a heroin overdose, a father paralyzed by a botched suicide attempt, a mother who favours his step-father over him and a girlfriend who was abused as a child, Dex numbs his pain with liberal doses of the marijuana his father decided to grow. As the lines between reality and fantasy blur considerably, Dex’s filmmaker’s eye frames the story of his life as he sees fit, but eventually he reaches a point where even he can’t tell the difference anymore. Number of Pages: 295 Age Range: 15-17...
Read MoreThe Whole Truth by Kit Pearson
Summary: Sent to live with their grandmother on the coast of British Columbia after their father drowns, Maud and Polly are newly orphaned with secrets between them. It’s 1931 and taking care of one’s family in the midst of the Depression is a daunting task, but after living in poverty with their father, Maud and Polly are suddenly well taken care of with ample educational opportunities. In this new environment Maud flourishes, making friends and developing her own beliefs, while Polly has a great deal of trouble living with the secrets she has been encouraged to keep. When the...
Read MoreLooking at the Moon by Kit Pearson
Summary: Living as a guest of war in Canada with her little brother Gavin during World War II, Norah Stoakes is a thirteen year-old girl on the cusp of womanhood. Gairloch, a Muskoka cottage, is their home for the summer, and along with guardians Aunt Florence and Aunt Mary, Gavin and Norah are absorbed into the Drummond clan. But after three years away from her home in England and her family, Norah is now a teenager dealing with a changing body and emotions. This summer marks her departure from childhood, her first experience with romantic love and her realisation that in the face of war,...
Read MoreLeap by Jodi Lundgren
Summary: Natalie is a newly fifteen year-old girl who is about to have a life-changing summer. With plans to take an intensive summer dance course with her friends, those plans go askew when attentions from Kevin, her best friend Sasha’s older brother, alienate Natalie from her friends. Before she knows it, Natalie is involved in a relationship she doesn’t fully understand, crossing physical boundaries in the moment she later regrets. Unable to take the flak from her dance class friends and drawn to a different type of dance anyway, Natalie finds herself taking more chances with...
Read MoreFinding Cassidy by Laura Langston
Summary: When her father is diagnosed with Huntington’s Chorea, Cassidy learns from her research that it’s a degenerative genetic illness she stands a 50% chance of inheriting herself. But when she expresses this concern to her parents, Cassidy learns good news and bad news. The good news is she has no chance of inheriting her father’s disease. The bad news is her biological father is actually an anonymous sperm donor, and her parents have been keeping the true nature of her conception a secret for her whole life. Plunged into self-doubt, questioning who she is and...
Read MoreAbout Amy
Amy Mathers has been passionate about reading from a very young age, and hopes others will share her enthusiasm for funding a teen book award. Read more Follow Amy
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