Looking 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 MoreHalf Brother by Kenneth Oppel
Summary: When his mother comes home with a baby chimpanzee for his father’s university experiment, Ben has his doubts. Hoping to determine if chimpanzees are able to be taught language through using American Sign Language, Zan moves in with them and everyone except Ben’s father find themselves growing attached to him. The problem is while Zan is being raised like a human, he is still a chimp, and after they lose an opportunity for a major grant the whole project is in jeopardy. Ben and his mother struggle to keep Zan with them no matter what, but since he is owned by the...
Read MoreThe Bone Collector’s Son by Paul Yee
Summary: Forced to accompany his father on one of his bone collecting assignments, Bing is fearful of the ghosts that may haunt them while his Ba is skeptical they exist. When the body they dig up doesn’t have a skull though and Ba’s health begins to deteriorate, Bing knows the bones are haunting them. Determined to help his father out since he is unable to work and to get away from collecting bones himself, Bing takes a job as a houseboy in a wealthy Vancouver household. Living in 1907 Bing faces the mounting prejudice against Asian people, but his cultural knowledge of ghosts...
Read MoreThe Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen by Susin Nielsen
Summary: Starting over in Vancouver, British Columbia after a horrific tragedy in their family, Henry K. Larsen is using a journal to explore his feelings and try to adjust to his new normal. His mother is in Ontario trying to put herself back together, and living with his father in an apartment that used to be a crystal meth lab means the house is pretty dirty and they eat a lot of take out. But while they were driven out of Port Salish because of Henry’s brother Jesse’s actions, the people they meet in their new place are different. Henry and his father find themselves...
Read MoreMorven and the Horse Clan by Luanne Armstrong
Summary: A years-long drought in the land of Morven’s people forces them to leave their home to find a new place to live with water. But leaving begins an unforeseen chain of events that will change their tribe forever. Morven, who has always been a bit of an outsider in her clan finds her place outside gender norms and among wild horses who live near by. Able to tame a black stallion, Morven introduces her people to a new way of life that involves caring for animals and letting horses do work that the women used to do. While searching for a new home they encounter other peoples with...
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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