Necking With Louise by Rick Book
Summary: A collection of short stories, Necking With Louise follows the experiences of Eric, a teenage boy living in Lashburg, Saskatchewan in 1965. He’s a brother, a boyfriend, a hockey player, a son, a grandson and a hard worker, and each story adds to the portrait of a young man finding his way through the pitfalls of growing up, as well as the experience of loss. With an introspective nature, a sense of wonder and responsibility, Eric meets each experience in a forthright and endearing way. Number of Pages: 151 Age Range: 16-18 Review: Imagine a wall of a stranger’s...
Read MoreWake by Robert J. Sawyer
Summary: Fifteen year-old Caitlin has been blind since birth, but after a move to Waterloo, Ontario for her dad’s job, she receives an email from a Japanese scientist named Dr. Kuroda, who thinks he can restore her sight. The installation of this device has unintended side effects as instead of being able to see the world around her, Caitlin is able to see the World Wide Web. The device interpreting the signals coming through her visual cortex becomes a conduit for a growing web consciousness, and Caitlin is the first to realise there is something out there. Drawing inspiration from...
Read More(You) Set Me On Fire by Mariko Tamaki
Summary: Coming off of a bad relationship that ended with Allison accidently setting herself on fire, Allison starts college with physical and emotional scars. Making new friends is difficult when she’s been burned so badly in the past, but then Allison meets Shar who takes her under her wing and monopolizes her time. Shar’s actions suggest she shares the love Allison is feeling, until what appears to be love turns out to be jealousy, and a need for attention and adoration on Shar’s part. When Allison finds Shar has someone else to love, she reacts with fire, following old...
Read MoreSomewhere in Blue by Gillian Cummings
Summary: After the Sandy’s father dies of cancer, Sandy is left with her mother, the usually absent part of their little family. Drowning in grief and depression, Sandy begins to pull away from school and her friends, isolating herself in her misery until she reaches her breaking point when she finds out some startling news from her mother. Sandy’s best friend Lennie does her best to reach her and support her through the grieving process, but when Lennie’s mother’s brother shows up in town, a lot of family issues come to the surface. Suddenly there’s an...
Read MoreMoney Boy by Paul Yee
Summary: Living with his father and step-family in Canada after moving from China, Ray Liu is an eighteen year-old frustrated with his lot in life. He’s got two years left of high school because he’s an English-as-a-second-language student, and he’s hiding a secret from his strict father. Looking for some respect and acknowledgement that he is an adult, as well as the freedom to be who he really is, everything blows up when his father discovers the websites Ray has been visiting and kicks him out. Now Ray is living on the street, discovering that he may not be as much of an...
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