The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci
Summary: After Jane is caught in terrorist attack on Metro City, she can’t go back to being the person she was before. Her parents move her out of the city and she draws inspiration from a sketchbook she picked up from a man in a coma after the attack. With a new haircut and a new perspective, Jane seeks out other outcasts in her new school even when the popular crowd approaches her to join them. Together they perform random acts of art around town, stirring things up and encouraging people to take a closer look at their surroundings. Number of Pages: 147 Age Range: 13-15 Review: I...
Read MorePieces of Me by Charlotte Gingras
Summary: Mirabelle is nearly fifteen and living with her mother since her father left. Dealing with her mother’s social anxiety and paranoia on her own, Mira (as she prefers to be called) is isolated and lonely until she makes a friend in her art class at school. Mira is used to being letdown by the people she loves, and her quest for the security she missed out in her father/daughter relationship leads her to make some poor choices. When tragedy strikes, her fragile hold on her life is greatly shaken. Fortunately, Mira now has people in her life who won’t let her down and are...
Read MoreMillions for a Song by Andre Vanasse
Summary: Alex and his garage band Nexxtep grow quickly in popularity in their neighbourhood until they have their own concert. After the concert, a man named Tom Paradis approaches the band to offer to be their manager, and they sign a contract with him that appears to be legitimate, but the truth is they are minors that don’t know what they are doing. Their lack of knowledge leads them to get burned badly by Mr. Paradis, but the band is determined to fight back for what is rightfully theirs. Number of Pages: 93 Age Range: 13-14 Review: Millions for a Song is a fun read if you...
Read MoreLily and Taylor by Elise Moser
Summary: Taylor and her nephew Mason move in with Taylor’s grandmother after her sister is killed by her partner Bracken. In an abusive relationship herself, Taylor is anxious about moving away from her boyfriend Devon and how upset he will be over their now limited contact. Taylor makes friends with a girl named Lily at school, and that friendship gives her a glimpse into what it is like to be loved and appreciated. When Devon shows up unexpectedly with a friend to take Taylor out, Lily can sense the danger behind his intentions and insists on going with them. They wind up in an...
Read MoreThe King’s Daughter by Suzanne Martel
Summary: Jeanne Chatel is an orphan taken in by nuns after her grandfather dies. Not suited for a life in the church, Jeanne is thrilled when she is accepted as a King’s Daughter to go across the ocean and marry a settler in New France. When she gets there, she takes the place of her friend Marie in an arranged marriage to Marie’s cousin after his first wife dies. Suddenly Jeanne is living in the wilds of the Canadian bush with two kids, discovering that a King’s Daughter is capable of more things than she ever dreamed. Number of Pages: 211 Age Range: 13-15 Review: Jeanne...
Read MoreJane, the Fox & Me by Fanny Britt & Isabelle Arsenault
Summary: Hélène is an outsider at school. Abandoned by her so-called friends and mercilessly teased by them, Hélène finds some solace in reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. She is dreading attending a class camping trip when she has no friends, yet she has to go. While Hélène is there she is so lonely she tries to befriend a fox, but it is a girl named Geraldine who manages to bring the outcasts of Hélène’s tent together to create new friendships. Hélène realises that plain girls like Jane Eyre deserve love too, and perhaps she doesn’t need to believe what the mean girls have...
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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