War Brothers: The Graphic Novel by Sharon E. McKay, illustrated by Daniel Lafrance
Summary: Jacob and a couple of his friends are taken captive by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda. Some are forced to be soldiers; all are threatened with death if they do not obey Commander Opiro. Holding on to the hope that their parents will find a way to save them, they form a brotherhood to take care of each other until that happens. When rescue isn’t possible, they decide to try and find a way to save themselves, and a girl named Hannah they meet at the camp. Number of Pages: 176 Age Range: 13-14 Review: I liked the visual cues of the black and white pages –...
Read MoreLight the Way Home by Nancy L.M. Russell
Summary: Christine is not thrilled when her dad loses his job and her parents decide to move cross-country from Toronto, Ontario to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Looking forward to starting high school with her best friends, Allie and Brittany, Christine instead finds herself in a intermediate school for her grade nine year. While she is referred to as a CFA (come from away) and others are skeptical of her city attitudes, Christine manages to make new friends and becomes involved in a project to save a local lighthouse that will change her life and the lives of others. Number of...
Read MoreThe Last Wild Boy by Hugh MacDonald
Summary: In a world where women (the Insiders) rule society and men (the Outsiders) are practically an endangered species, hetrosexual love and traditional conception are a thing of the past. Babies are raised to childhood by a care centre to prevent women from bonding too deeply with their daughters, and women have partnerships with other women to provide stable homes to raise their daughters in. When Nora, partner of Alice, comes across a male baby named Adam one day, she is forever changed. Nora makes the choice to tunnel outside the city’s walls to keep Adam from the Insiders....
Read MoreThe Manager by Caroline Stellings
Summary: Angry and feisty, Tina is a short person who hates terms like “dwarf” or “little person.” She’s been saving up for an operation to make her taller for a long time, and when the opportunity presents itself for her to have the procedure done for free she jumps at it. Tina and her sister Ellie begin a journey down to Boston from Cape Breton Island, but are side-tracked along the way when they encounter a potential Mi’kmaw boxing champion named Jesse Mankiller. When trouble arises with Jesse’s manager, Tina is determined to step in, having...
Read MoreFriends With Boys by Faith Erin Hicks
Summary: Maggie has been homeschooled for years and is starting her first day in a traditional high school. The youngest in her family and the only girl since her mother’s recent disappearance, Maggie is used to hanging out with her older brothers and her father and needs time to adjust to high school life. Fortunately she is immediately befriended by Lucy and her brother Alistair and while they are considered the freaks of the school Maggie fits right in with them. Haunted by a widow whose husband and three sons died at sea, Maggie is a bit of a freak herself. When connections are...
Read MoreThe View From a Kite by Maureen Hull
Summary: Living in a sanatorium in the 1970s to treat her tuberculosis, Gwen is supposed to spend her days resting and taking medications. But tuberculosis in the 1970s is not the same dire, fatal, wasting disease that it was for writers and composers of the past, and Gwen finds herself getting into mischief with the friends she has made despite the rules her doctors have set out for her. Driven by personal tragedy in her family, Gwen is determined to unlock the secret of curing her disease, seeking control over another uncontrollable situation in her life. Number of Pages: 338 Age Range:...
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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