The Knife Sharpener’s Bell by Rhea Tregebov
Summary: Living in Winnipeg, Manitoba in the 1930s, Annette is the daughter of two Russian Jews eager to return home to Joseph Stalin’s communist Russia. Used to living in Canada, Annette is less than enthusiastic about being uprooted, but the hope and optimism Russia harbours for the future under their new regime is contagious. The start of World War II begins to reveal all is not what it seems though, and as Annette grows she is faced with reconciling the propaganda with the truth. Surviving the war is an achievement in itself as it comes at a very high personal cost for Annette,...
Read MoreWhen Everything Feels Like the Movies by Raziel Reid
Summary: Despite facing prejudice on a daily basis for wearing makeup and dressing like a girl, Jude views life in the context of filming a movie in which Jude’s own experiences are the subject matter. Everyone in Jude’s life has a part to play, from the crew to the paparazzi and fans. Jude is in love with Luke, one of the movie stars of the production, and is irrepressible in expressing interest, even when punished for it. As Jude’s movie approaches its’ ending, Jude’s intentions to leave small town life and start over triumphantly in Hollywood are conquered by...
Read MoreHalf World by Hiromi Goto, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki
Summary: A long ago prophecy of a child being born in the Half World to heal the rift between the three realms seems to be coming true when a pregnant woman is banished for fourteen years. Melanie, the unborn child from the incident, is born in the real world and lives fourteen years with a mother who seems to be fading away. Knowing nothing about her parents’ past and with just one picture of her absent father, Melanie is caught off guard when she receives a note from crows to go home only to go there and find her mother missing. Directed by a mysterious phone call to make her way to...
Read MoreHomo by Michael Harris
Summary: When someone overhears Will come out to his best friend Julie at a summer party, the announcement makes its way onto Facebook and Will is forced to start grade twelve outed. Despite the bullying another gay student named Daniel receives at Spencer High on a constant basis, Will finds on the surface his coming out doesn’t make much of difference. Looking closer reveals people are okay with his sexuality as long as he is not like Daniel. Struggling to find a committed, romantic relationship, Will turns to the internet and meets Riley, a slightly older man with a secret who...
Read MoreRabbit Ears by Maggie de Vries
Summary: Sisters Beth and Kaya are inexorably linked by their shared childhoods and the illness and death of their father. But when Kaya starts pulling away, using drugs and becoming a sex worker, Beth is left wondering how she and their mom can reach out to Kaya and get her to come home again. What they don’t know is that Kaya’s childhood also included years of abuse at the hands of a neighbour, and the shame Kaya feels over events she couldn’t control prevents her from telling her family what happened. Determined not to lose Kaya, Beth and her mother hold onto their love...
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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