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LANGLEY BOOK OF THE YEAR SELECTIONS - 2010/2011


NEW IN THE LIBRARY

This page contains annotated lists of some of the new books found in our fiction collection.

Literature for All Ages (Grades 6-12) Literature for Senior Students (Grades 10-12)

Literature for All Ages (Grades 6-12)

Sandry's Book (Book #1 - Circle of Magic Series) by Tamora Pierce

Four young misfits find themselves living in a strictly disciplined temple community where they become friends while also learning to do crafts and to use their powers, especially magic.

Tris's Book (Book #2 - Circle of Magic Series) by Tamora Pierce

Sequel to: Sandry's book. With the defenses of Winding Circle Temple seriously weakened by an earthquake, Tris and her fellow mages-in-training try to join their different magic powers to protect the Winding Circle community from a pirate attack.

Daja's Book (Book #3 - Circle of Magic Series) by Tamora Pierce

Sequel to: Tris's book. While at Gold Ridge castle to the north of Winding Circle, Daja and the three other mages-in-training who have become her friends develop their unique magical talents as they try to prevent a devastating forest fire from consuming everything in its path.

Briar's Book (Book #4 - Circle of Magic Series) by Tamora Pierce

Sequel to: Daja's book. Briar, a young mage-in-training, and his teacher Rosethorn must use their magic to fight a deadly plague that is ravaging Summersea.

Magic Steps (Book #1 - Circle Opens Series) by Tamora Pierce

Lady Sandrilene Fa Toren must combine her magic with that of her young student Pesco in order to reveal a mysterious murderer who has the power to reduce essence to nothingness.

Street Magic (Book #2 - Circle Opens Series) by Tamora Pierce

Former "street rat" Briar Moss must face his past when he discovers a young mage in need of a mentor.

Cold Fire (Book #3 - Circle Opens Series) by Tamora Pierce

While studying with her teacher Frostpine in the northern land of Namorn, Daja helps the twin daughters of her host family discover their own magic and uses her powers to track a deadly arsonist.

Shatterglass (Book #4 - Circle Opens Series) by Tamora Pierce

Tris and her mage-student, a young man whose glassmaking magic has been amplified and mixed with lightning, team up to track a killer who may be nearer than they suspect.

City of Bones (Book #1 - Mortal Instruments Series) by Cassandra Clare

Suddenly able to see demons and the Darkhunters who are dedicated to returning them to their own dimension, fifteen-year-old Clary Fray is drawn into this bizzare world when her mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a monster.

City of Ashes (Book #2 - Mortal Instruments Series) by Cassandra Clare

Sixteen-year-old Clary continues trying to make sense of the swiftly changing events and relationships in her life as she becomes further involved with the Shadowhunters and their pursuit of demons and discovers some terrifying truths about her parents, her brother Jace, and her boyfriend Simon.

City of Glass (Book #3 - Mortal Instruments Series) by Cassandra Clare

Still pursuing a cure for her mother's enchantment, Clary uses all her powers and ingenuity to get into Idris, the forbidden country of the secretive Shadowhunters, and to its capital, the City of Glass, where with the help of a newfound friend, Sebastian, she uncovers important truths about her family's past that will not only help save her mother but all those that she holds most dear.

Revelations: a blue bloods novel (Book #3) by Melissa De la Cruz

Schuyler van Alen, imprisoned in the Force household while her legacy is being questioned and dealing with living with Mimi and her crush Jack, is called to help the Blue Bloods when the Silver Bloods breach the gates of Hell in Rio de Janeiro.

Dragonsong (Book #1) by Anne McCaffrey

Forbidden by her father to indulge in music in any way, a girl on the planet Pern runs away, taking shelter with the planet's fire lizards who, along with her music, open a new life for her.

Dragonsinger (Book #2) by Anne McCaffrey

Pursuing her dream to be a Harper of Pern, Menolly studies under the Masterharper and learns that more is required than a facility with music and a clever way with words.

Dragondrums(Book #3) by Anne McCaffrey

When his boy soprano voice begins to change, Piemur is drafted by Masterharper Robinton to help with political work and is sent on missions that lead him into unusual and sometimes dangerous adventures.

Teen Idol by Meg Cabot

High school junior and columnist for the school newspaper, Jenny Greenley is good at dispensing advice to others, but when nineteen-year-old film heartthrob Luke Striker pays a visit to research a role, he creates such havoc that not even Jenny is sure she can fix it.

Forever Princess by Meg Cabot

Mia, who is finally a senior at Albert Einstein High, faces difficult choices about boys and her status as princess while her future, and Genovia's, hang in the balance.

Avalon High by Meg Cabot

Having moved to Annapolis, Maryland, with her medievalist parents, high school junior Ellie enrolls at Avalon High School where several students may or may not be reincarnations of King Arthur and his court.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace of killing and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.

Black and White by Eric Walters

Thomas and Denyse have a lot in common. They both love basketball and sugar on their popcorn, but they have one major difference: Thomas is white and Denyse is black. Some people start making racist remarks when they go out, and their parents warn them of the hardships ahead. They can’t understand what the big deal is, but will the pressure of this relationship break them apart?

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: a fable by John Boyne

Bored and lonely after his family moves from Berlin to a place called "Out-With" in 1942, Bruno, the son of a Nazi officer, befriends a boy in striped pajamas who lives behind a wire fence.

3 Willows: the Sisterhood Grows by Ann Brashares

Ama, Jo, and Polly, three close friends from Bethesda, Maryland, are looking forward to high school, but wonder if their relationship will survive the challenges that each girl faces over the summer break.

Red Sea by Diane Tullson

Fourteen-year-old Libby is left alone on a crippled boat with her seriously injured mother after pirates attack them and kill her step-father.

Toad Away by Morris Gleitzman

Sequel to: Toad heaven.;"A Yearling book." In his third adventure, Limpy the cane toad goes to the Amazon to learn the secret of living in harmony with humans.

Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata

After twelve-year-old Sumiko and her Japanese-American family are relocated from their flower farm in southern California to an internment camp on a Mojave Indian reservation in Arizona, she helps her family and neighbors, becomes friends with a local Indian boy, and tries to hold on to her dream of owning a flower shop.

What happened to Cass McBride?: a novel by Gail Giles

After his younger brother commits suicide, Kyle Kirby decides to exact revenge on the person he holds responsible.

Ender's Shadow by Orson Card

Bean must overcome his past and prove to the recruiters at the Battle School that he can help save the planet from an alien invasion.

Cairo by Willow G. Wilson and M.K. Perker  (Graphic Novel)

Journalist G. Willow Wilson brings an extraordinary fable to Vertigo in October with CAIRO, an original graphic novel illustrated by Turkish artist M.K. Perker, himself a contributor to The New York Times and The New Yorker. Set in bustling modern-day Cairo, this magical-realism thriller interweaves the lives of a drug runner, a down-on-his-luck journalist, an American expatriate, a young activist, an Israeli soldier, and a genie as they navigate the city's streets and spiritual underworld to find a stolen hookah sought by a wrathful gangster-magician.

Eggs by Jerry Spinelli

Eggs is a quirky and moving novel about two very complicated, damaged children. David has recently lost his mother to a freak accident, his salesman father is constantly on the road, and he is letting his anger out on his grandmother. Primrose lives with her unstable, childlike, fortuneteller mother, and the only evidence of the father she never knew is a framed picture. Despite their age difference (David is 9, Primrose is 13), they forge a tight yet tumultuous friendship, eventually helping each other deal with what is missing in their lives.

Amazing Grace by Megan Shull

Grace Ace Kincaid has it all. She's a teen sports sensation. Her face and body are on the cover of every magazine. She's front and center on the red carpet. She has the world at her feet, as long as she toes the line. But then she says three little words. Three words that take her out of the spotlight to Medicine Hat, Alaska. Population 272. Grace has the chance to start all over again. Its something she wanted so much. Now the question is: Who will she be?

I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier

Imagine discovering that your whole life has been a fiction, your identity altered, and a new family history created. Suddenly nothing is as it once seemed; you can trust no one, maybe not even yourself. It is exactly this revelation that turns 14-year-old Adam Farmer's life upside down. As he tries to ascertain who he really is, Adam encounters a past, present, and future too horrible to contemplate. Suspense builds as the fragments of the story are assembled--a missing father, government corruption, espionage--until the shocking conclusion shatters the fragile mosaic. Young adult readers will easily relate to the shy and confused Adam, whose desperate searching for self resembles a disturbingly exaggerated version of the identity crisis common to the teenage years.

Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce

Call it fate, call it intuition, or just call it common sense, but somehow young Alanna knows she isn't meant to become some proper lady cloistered in a convent. Instead, she wants to be a great warrior maiden--a female knight. But in the land of Tortall, women aren't allowed to train as warriors. So Alanna finds a way to switch places with her twin, Thom, and take his place as a knight in training at the palace of King Roald. Disguising herself as a boy, Alanna begins her training as a page in the royal court. Soon, she is garnering the admiration of all around her, including the crown prince, with her strong work ethic and her thirst for knowledge. But all the while, she is haunted by the recurring vision of a black stone city that emanates evil... somehow she knows it is her fate to purge that place of its wickedness. But how will she find it? And can she fulfill her destiny while keeping her gender a secret?

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery... Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.  This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

It’s 1895, and after the suicide of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma’s reception there is a chilly one. To make things worse, she’s been followed by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence’s most powerful girls—and their foray into the spiritual world—lead to?

Necropolis: Book 4 of the Gatekeepers by Anthony Horowitz

As the fourth novel in the spellbinding Gatekeepers series begins, the world is under the greatest threat it’s ever known. The evil corporation Nightrise has amassed an immense amount of power and the devastating force of the Old Ones is about to be unleashed around the globe. To stop this from happening, Matt and three of the Gatekeepers head to Hong Kong not just the modern city of skyscrapers and wealth, but the secretive underworld beneath. In Hong Kong they will meet the final Gatekeeper, a girl named Scarlet, whose fate is inextricably joined to their own....

Being Nikki: An Airhead Novel by Meg Cabot

It’s not easy being Nikki. Ever since former tomboy Emerson Watts’s accident at the SoHo Stark Megastore—and subsequent brain transplant into the body of teen supermodel Nikki Howard—her life has changed dramatically. Em’s trying to handle the demands of school, modeling, fending off Nikki’s creepy ex-boyfriends, and living with celebutante Lulu Collins. She’s also trying to figure out what the Stark Corporation is really up to, and why she can’t stop thinking about her former best friend Christopher—AND British heartthrob Gabriel Luna. Will this former tomboy be able to make it in the world of high fashion? And…what will happen if she can’t?

Marcello and the Real World by Francisco X Stork

This summer, Arturo Sandoval declares, his son Marcelo will learn about the real world. He will work in the mailroom of Arturo’s law firm. He will interact with everyone in the office. He will be normal, as Arturo has always said he is, and not have a highly functioning form of Asperger’s Syndrome, as Marcelo knows he does. And Marcelo, reluctantly, must agree to his father’s terms. He soon learns reality isn’t easy. Wendell, the son of Arturo’s partner, offers friendship to further his own ends. The law firm hides an injustice that will transform Marcelo’s world. But through it all, there is Jasmine, his beautiful and tenacious coworker, his true friend…and perhaps more. Reminiscent of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in the intensity and purity of its voice, this extraordinary novel encompasses a legal battle, a subtle love story, and the primal coming-of-age narrative: discovering the truth of one’s own capabilities.

Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman

Strange things are happening in Skeleton Creek . . . and Ryan and Sarah are trying to get to the heart of it. But after an eerie accident leaves Ryan housebound and forbidden to see Sarah, their investigation takes two tracks: Ryan records everything in his journal, while Sarah uses her videocam to search things out. . .and then email the clips for Ryan to see. In a new, groundbreaking format, the story is broken into two parts -- Ryan's text in the book, and Sarah's videos on a special website, with links and passwords given throughout the book.

Skim by Mariko Tamaki (Graphic Novel)

The time is the early 1990s, the setting a girls' academy in Toronto. Enter "Skim," aka Kimberly Keiko Cameron, a not-slim, would-be Wiccan goth. When her classmate Katie Matthews is dumped by her boyfriend, who then kills himself, the entire school goes into mourning overdrive. It's a weird time to fall in love, but Skim does just that after secret meetings with her neo-hippie English teacher, Ms. Archer. When Ms. Archer abruptly leaves the school, Skim has to cope with her confusion and isolation, as her best friend, Lisa, tries to pull her into "real" life by setting up a hilarious double date for the school's semi-formal. Skim finds an unexpected ally in Katie. Suicide, depression, love, being gay or not, crushes, cliques of popular, manipulative peers — the whole gamut of tortured teen life is explored in this masterful graphic novel by cousins Mariko and Jillian Tamaki.

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

"What do you want from me?" he asks. What I want from every person in my life, I want to tell him. More.  Abandoned by her mother on Jellicoe Road when she was eleven, Taylor Markham, now seventeen, is finally being confronted with her past. But as the reluctant leader of her boarding school dorm, there isn't a lot of time for introspection. And while Hannah, the closest adult Taylor has to family, has disappeared, Jonah Griggs is back in town, moody stares and all. In this absorbing story by Melina Marchetta, nothing is as it seems and every clue leads to more questions as Taylor tries to work out the connection between her mother dumping her, Hannah finding her then and her sudden departure now, a mysterious stranger who once whispered something in her ear, a boy in her dreams, five kids who lived on Jellicoe Road eighteen years ago, and the maddening and magnetic Jonah Griggs, who knows her better than she thinks he does. If Taylor can put together the pieces of her past, she might just be able to change her future.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the other districts in line by forcing them to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight-to-the-death on live TV. One boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and sixteen are selected by lottery to play. The winner brings riches and favor tohis or her district. But that is nothing compared to what the Capitol wins: one more year of fearful compliance with its rule. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her impoverished district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. Acclaimed writer Suzanne Collins, author of the New York Times bestselling Underland Chronicles, delivers equal parts suspense and philosophy, adventure and romance, in this stunning novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present.

Airman by Eoin Colfer

Conor Broekhart was born to fly. In fact, legend has it that he was born flying in a hot air balloon at the world's fair. In the 1890's Conor and his family live on the sovereign Saltee Islands, off the Irish coast. Conor spends his days studying the science of flight with his tutor and exploring the castle with the king's daughter, Princess Isabella. But the boy's idyllic life changes forever the day he discovers a conspiracy to overthrow the king. When Conor tries to expose the plot, he is branded a traitor and thrown into jail on the prison island of Little Saltee. There, he has to fight for his life as he and the other prisoners are forced to mine for diamonds in inhumane conditions. There is only one way to escape Little Saltee, and that is to fly. So he passes the solitary months by scratching drawings of flying machines into the prison walls. The months turn into years, but eventually the day comes when Conor must find the courage to trust his revolutionary designs and take to the skies.

Daughter of War by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

Teenagers Kevork and his betrothed Marta are the lucky ones. They have managed so far to survive the Armenian genocide in Turkey, and both are disguised as Muslims. But Marta is still in Turkey, pregnant with another man's child. And Kevork is living as an Arab in Syria. Kevork yearns to get back into Turkey and search for Marta, but with the war raging and the genocide still in progress, the journey will be impossibly dangerous. Meanwhile, Marta worries that even if Kevork has survived and they are reunited, will he be able to accept what she has become? And what has happened to her sister, Mariam, who was sold as a slave to the highest bidder?
Daughter of War
is a gripping story of enduring love and loyalty set against the horrors of Turkey during World War I.

Power Plays by Maureen Ulrich

Fourteen-year-old Jessie moves to a new city and learns teamwork, self-reliance and a new kind of friendship when she joins the girls' hockey team. Jessie has left the close friendships she's had since her childhood and isn't having an easy time fitting into her new Grade Nine class. An older girl, Kim, takes a disliking to her, pushing her around and setting her up to be attacked by a group of really rough kids who land her in jail. It looks like life is going to be downhill from now on. Then, because she used to play ringette, Jessie is invited to try out for the girls hockey team. She doesn't expect to like it, but as her skills grow, she makes new friends - girls who respect each other and rely on each other's strength and hard work. Some even help her resist the bullies, until she can stand up for herself - stand up to Kim, who's a pretty good hockey player herself, although not as good as she thinks she is. A fast-paced story about hockey, peer pressure and finding yourself.

Run Like Jäger by Karen Bass

Kurt's opa--or grandfather--has never been willing to talk about his time as a German soldier and Kurt has a deep feeling of anxiety about what he might have done during the war. He thinks of films he's seen, like Schindler's List, and hopes his grandfather couldn't have been involved in atrocities. Spending a year in Germany seems like a good chance to find out more, or at least to improve his German. One day he visits the graveyard in the town he's living in (just outside Berlin) and an old man speaks to him, calling him by his grandfather's name, which was also Kurt Schreiber. In time Kurt gets to know this man, who is the only one who can tell him all about his grandfather's time in the war--because he was there. Kurt learns about his grandfather's childhood in the Hitler Youth and his time in the German army on the Eastern Front. Herr Brandt doesn't try to minimize the horror of those times or to absolve himself of responsibility as a soldier, but through his story, Kurt comes to understand how as children and later as young men the two were drawn into participation in a war based on lies. This wonderfully written and carefully researched novel tells a story that illuminates history and fills in the texture and complexity that lie behind the bare facts.

 

The Broken Thread by Linda Smith

Destroying a deadly prince, in a violent court far from her home, was not what Alina expected when she was chosen to serve on the Isle of the Weavers. Fifteen-year-old Alina comes from a long line of women who have gone to serve on the Isle of the Weavers, and she has always dreamed of doing the same. Her older sister is going to inherit the farm. She hasn't found any boy in the village that she's attracted to, like her other sister. And she loves her 10-year-old brother, but he's getting to be a pain to look after all the time. Still, a girl must be chosen to be a weaver, and Alina's already older than others were when they were called. Then the weavers come. Her dreams come true, and she's taken to the Isle of Weaving, where the destiny of the world is born. Alina enters a long period of mental/spiritual training to prepare her to be a weaver. But she struggles with her trademark impatience. To the amusement of her trainers, she's anxious to begin weaving after only a few months training. Then Alina is asked to take spools of thread to the weaving room, and she gets her first glimpse of the awesome tapestry, with its multitude of threads, and colours, and shifting patterns. Left alone for a minute, she discovers a red thread - red like her own hair - which is short and broken, and she impulsively takes a strand of her hair and ties the red thread to a tawny thread nearby. Immediately, thousands of other threads in the tapestry break. What has she done? The tapestry reflects what goes on in the world, as well as affecting events. By reconnecting a thread that was meant to be broken, she has caused the end of thousands of other threads/lives. She must undo what she has done and the story begins. Get lost in a magical time where adventure and danger abound and the strength of our heroine, Alina, is put to the test.

The Solstice Cup by Rachel Dunstan Muller

Timothy and the Dragon's Gate by Adrienne Kress

Eleven-year-old Timothy Freshwater has been expelled from every school in his city. With nowhere else to go, he joins his father at the Tall and Imposing Tower of Doom and lands himself an (unpaid) internship with Evans Bore, a hopelessly awkward CEO who hasn’t been invited to single fancy party in his entire life. When his father is called away on business, his real education begins. Left in the care of an eccentric neighbour named Mr. Bazalgette, Timothy learns some curious facts about Mr. Bore and his unusually loyal mail clerk, Mr. Shen—facts that lead to unbelievable revelations: about dragons, servants, and the laws that bind them. With time running out, Timothy takes it upon himself to change one dragon’s fate, and begins an adventure that will not end until he is relentlessly pursued by a pack of blood-thirsty black cabs, a crazed ninja and the most feared pirate in the South China Sea! This stand-alone read is the perfect introduction to Adrienne Kress’ wild imagination. Those readers who loved her first book, Alex and the Ironic Gentleman, will rejoice in the reappearance of Alex, Captain Magnanimous and the peculiar Jack Scratch.

Whispers from the Ghettos by Kathy Kacer & Sharon McKay - COMING SOON

The stories in this book come from behind the walls and barbed wire of Europe’s ghettos during the Nazi regime. We hear the voices of young boys and girls as they live with the fear that they might be deported to the death camps at any moment. Theirs are stories of courage and determination, of struggle and resistance. They speak for those who, like them, managed to survive the war. And they speak for those who did not.

Candy on the Edge by Don Kerr - COMING SOON

Straight-laced Candy McFarlane encounters life on the edge when she starts hanging out with some cool older kids and finds herself in over her head. Candy is thirteen, living in Saskatoon with her parents, her little brother "Carboy," and Murphy the dog. She is tired of waiting for Grade 8 to end, her mom's constant nagging, and Gerald the geek hurling insults from across the street. She starts hanging out with some new and exciting friends - friends her mother wouldn't approve of.

Mud Girl by Alison Acheson - COMING SOON

Aba Zytka Jones (Abi) doesn't expect to get anything from anybody. Her dad's stuck in his chair and her mom's taken off, but she's going to work out what to do on her own. At least that's what she thinks. Sixteen, almost seventeen, Abi Jones hasn't got cool clothes, friends, or, since last year, a mother. What she has is a lot of questions. And a need to make a life of her own. Abi lives with her dad in an odd little house by the Fraser River. Over it, actually. Sometimes the water flowing under the house makes her think they'll both be swept away some day. The summer before her last year of high school, Abi's solitary life begins to change. A woman she calls Ernestine - because she's so earnest - becomes her Big Sister. The cute guy from the paint shop, Jude, starts to take an interest. And a girl called Amanda offers Abi a summer job cleaning houses, work Abi enjoys more than she could have imagined. Jude and his two-year-old son, Dyl, present some urgent new questions and Abi has to find the answers fast - what Jude wants from her and how she feels about it; what Dyl might need from her. The life of Abi Jones, the Mud Girl, might be the last thing any teenager would choose. But it's her life, and Abi has to find out whether she's got the courage and intelligence to live it well.

 

Shadow Boxing by Sherie Posesorski - COMING SOON

Sixteen year old Alice is living in the shadows: the shadow of her mother's death, continued rejection by her father and her aunt's coldness. Will she ever know happiness again? Can she get past her secret torture? Alice is struggling to cope with the death of her mother, after a long depilating illness. Her father has shut her out of her life and her aunt is only worried about her next spa appointment and the two are conspiring to send her away. Her angst is so deep it cuts like knife, will she ever feel whole again? Chloe is the only person that truly understands and when she becomes pregnant, Alice must look inside to find the strength to get them both out of their downward spiral. With the help of John, the caring bookstore owner that provides Alice's escape, the girls devise a plan to live a life that excludes their self-absorbed parents. When they meet Caleb, a struggling artist, he introduces them to the creative and inspiring world of shadowboxes. Filled with heart-wrenching scenes and characters you will never forget, Sherie Posesorski creates a story of loss and love. Alice and Chloe each have a story of teenage struggle and finding their place in the world. The ultimate triumph of these two determined teens is an inspiration. Set in the High Park neighbourhood of Toronto, the authentic and edgy dialogue will resonate with teens and their unique struggle to adulthood.

Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor - COMING SOON

Addie is waiting for normal. But Addie's mom has an all-or-nothing approach to life: a food fiesta or an empty pantry, jubilation or gloom, her way or no way. All or nothing never adds up to normal. All or nothing can't bring you all to home, which is exactly where Addie longs to be, with her half sisters, every day. In spite of life's twists and turns, Addie remains optimistic. Someday, maybe, she'll find normal.

       

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Literature for Senior Students (Grades 10-12)

City of Thieves by David Benioff

A writer visits his retired grandparents in Florida to document their experience during the infamous siege of Leningrad. His grandmother won't talk about it, but his grandfather reluctantly consents. The result is the captivating odyssey of two young men trying to survive against desperate odds. Lev Beniov considers himself "built for deprivation." He's small, smart, and insecure, a Jewish virgin too young for the army, who spends his nights working as a volunteer firefighter with friends from his building. When a dead German paratrooper lands in his street, Lev is caught looting the body and dragged to jail, fearing for his life. He shares his cell with the charismatic and grandiose Kolya, a handsome young soldier arrested on desertion charges. Instead of the standard bullet in the back of the head, Lev and Kolya are given a shot at saving their own lives by complying with an outrageous directive: secure a dozen eggs for a powerful colonel to use in his daughter's wedding cake. In a city cut off from all supplies and suffering unbelievable deprivation, Lev and Kolya embark on a hunt to find the impossible. A search that takes them through the dire lawlessness of Leningrad and the devastated surrounding countryside creates an unlikely bond between this earnest, lust-filled teenager and an endearing lothario with the gifts of a conman. Set within the monumental events of history, City of Thieves is an intimate coming-of-age tale with an utterly contemporary feel for how boys become men.

 

The Writing on my Forehead by Nafisa Haji

From childhood, willful, intelligent Saira Qader broke the boundaries between her family's traditions and her desire for independence.  A free-spirited and rebellious Muslim-American of Indo-Pakistani descent, she rejected the constricting notions of family, duty, obligation, and fate, choosing instead to become a journalist, the world her home.  Five years later, tragedy strikes, throwing Saira's life into turmoil. Now the woman who chased the world to uncover the details of other lives must confront the truths of her own.  In need of understanding, she looks to the stories of those who came before - her grandparents, a beloved aunt, her mother and father.  As Saira discovers the hope, pain, joy and passion that defined their lives, she begins to face what she never wanted to admit - that choice is not always our own, and that faith is not just an intellectual preference.

 

The Known World by Edward Jones

In one of the most acclaimed novels in recent memory, Edward P. Jones, two-time National Book Award finalist, tells the story of Henry Townsend, a black farmer and former slave who falls under the tutelage of William Robbins, the most powerful man in Manchester County, Virginia. Making certain he never circumvents the law, Townsend runs his affairs with unusual discipline. But when death takes him unexpectedly, his widow, Caldonia, can't uphold the estate's order and chaos ensues. In a daring and ambitious novel, Jones has woven a footnote of history into an epic that takes an unflinching look at slavery in all of its moral complexities.

 

Any Known Blood by Lawrence Hill

Langston Cane V is 38, divorced and working as a government speech writer, until he's fired for sabotaging the minister's speech. It now seems like the perfect time for Langston ­ the eldest son of a white mother and prominent black father ­ to embark on a quest for his family's past ­ and his own sense of self.

 

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

Abducted as an 11-year-old child from her village in West Africa and forced to walk for months to the sea in a coffle - a string of slaves - Aminata Diallo is sent to live as a slave in South Carolina. But years later, she forges her way to freedom, serving the British in the Revolutionary War and registering her name in the historic "Book of Negroes". This book, an actual document, provides a short but immensely revealing record of freed Loyalist slaves who requested permission to leave the US for resettlement in Nova Scotia, only to find that the haven they sought was steeped in an oppression all of its own. Aminata's eventual return to Sierra Leone - passing ships carrying thousands of slaves bound for America - is an engrossing account of an obscure but important chapter in history that saw 1,200 former slaves embark on a harrowing back-to-Africa odyssey.

 

Shantaram: a novel by Gregory Roberts

"It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured." So begins this epic, mesmerizing first novel set in the underworld of contemporary Bombay. Shantaram is narrated by Lin, an escaped convict with a false passport who flees maximum security prison in Australia for the teeming streets of a city where he can disappear. Accompanied by his guide and faithful friend, Prabaker, the two enter Bombay's hidden society of beggars and gangsters, prostitutes and holy men, soldiers and actors, and Indians and exiles from other countries, who seek in this remarkable place what they cannot find elsewhere. As a hunted man without a home, family, or identity, Lin searches for love and meaning while running a clinic in one of the city's poorest slums, and serving his apprenticeship in the dark arts of the Bombay mafia. The search leads him to war, prison torture, murder, and a series of enigmatic and bloody betrayals. The keys to unlock the mysteries and intrigues that bind Lin are held by two people. The first is Khader Khan: mafia godfather, criminal-philosopher-saint, and mentor to Lin in the underworld of the Golden City. The second is Karla: elusive, dangerous, and beautiful, whose passions are driven by secrets that torment her and yet give her a terrible power. Burning slums and five-star hotels, romantic love and prison agonies, criminal wars and Bollywood films, spiritual gurus and mujaheddin guerrillas---this huge novel has the world of human experience in its reach, and a passionate love for India at its heart. Based on the life of the author, it is by any measure the debut of an extraordinary voice in literature.

 

The Witch of Portobello: a novel by Paulo Coelho

How do we find the courage to always be true to ourselves—even if we are unsure of who we are?

That is the central question of international bestselling author Paulo Coelho's profound new work, The Witch of Portobello. It is the story of a mysterious woman named Athena, told by the many who knew her well—or hardly at all. Like The Alchemist, The Witch of Portobello is the kind of story that will transform the way readers think about love, passion, joy, and sacrifice.

 

The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway

This brilliant novel with universal resonance tells the story of three people trying to survive in a city rife with the extreme fear of desperate times, and of the sorrowing cellist who plays undaunted in their midst. One day a shell lands in a bread line and kills twenty-two people as the cellist watches from a window in his flat. He vows to sit in the hollow where the mortar fell and play Albinoni’s Adagio once a day for each of the twenty-two victims. The Adagio had been re-created from a fragment after the only extant score was firebombed in the Dresden Music Library, but the fact that it had been rebuilt by a different composer into something new and worthwhile gives the cellist hope. Meanwhile, Kenan steels himself for his weekly walk through the dangerous streets to collect water for his family on the other side of town, and Dragan, a man Kenan doesn’t know, tries to make his way towards the source of the free meal he knows is waiting. Both men are almost paralyzed with fear, uncertain when the next shot will land on the bridges or streets they must cross, unwilling to talk to their old friends of what life was once like before divisions were unleashed on their city. Then there is “Arrow,” the pseudonymous name of a gifted female sniper, who is asked to protect the cellist from a hidden shooter who is out to kill him as he plays his memorial to the victims. In this beautiful and unforgettable novel, Steven Galloway has taken an extraordinary, imaginative leap to create a story that speaks powerfully to the dignity and generosity of the human spirit under extraordinary duress.

 

Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton

Cry, the Beloved Country is a beautifully told and profoundly compassionate story of the Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and his son Absalom, set in the troubled and changing South Africa of the 1940s.

The book is written with such keen empathy and understanding that to read it is to share fully in the gravity of the characters' situations. It both touches your heart deeply and inspires a renewed faith in the dignity of mankind. Cry, the Beloved Country is a classic tale, passionately African, timeless and universal, and beyond all, selfless.

 

Keeping Faith: a novel by Jodi Picoult

When the marriage of Mariah White and her cheating husband, Colin, turns ugly and disintegrates, their seven-year-old daughter, Faith, is there to witness it all. In the aftermath of a rapid divorce, Mariah falls into a deep depression—and suddenly Faith, a child with no religious background whatsoever, hears divine voices, starts reciting biblical passages, and develops stigmata. And when the miraculous healings begin, mother and daughter are thrust into the volatile center of controversy and into the heat of a custody battle—trapped in a mad media circus that threatens what little stability the family has left.

In Keeping Faith, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult—one of the most powerful writers in contemporary fiction—brilliantly examines belief, miracles, and the complex core of family.

 

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

On her way home from school on a snowy December day in 1973, 14-year-old Susie Salmon ("like the fish") is lured into a makeshift underground den in a cornfield and brutally raped and murdered, the latest victim of a serial killer--the man she knew as her neighbor, Mr. Harvey. Alice Sebold's haunting and heartbreaking debut novel, The Lovely Bones, unfolds from heaven, where "life is a perpetual yesterday" and where Susie narrates and keeps watch over her grieving family and friends, as well as her brazen killer and the sad detective working on her case. As Sebold fashions it, everyone has his or her own version of heaven. Susie's resembles the athletic fields and landscape of a suburban high school: a heaven of her "simplest dreams," where "there were no teachers.... We never had to go inside except for art class.... The boys did not pinch our backsides or tell us we smelled; our textbooks were Seventeen and Glamour and Vogue." The Lovely Bones works as an odd yet affecting coming-of-age story. Susie struggles to accept her death while still clinging to the lost world of the living, following her family's dramas over the years like an episode of My So-Called Afterlife. Her family disintegrates in their grief: her father becomes determined to find her killer, her mother withdraws, her little brother Buckley attempts to make sense of the new hole in his family, and her younger sister Lindsey moves through the milestone events of her teenage and young adult years with Susie riding spiritual shotgun. Random acts and missed opportunities run throughout the book--Susie recalls her sole kiss with a boy on Earth as "like an accident--a beautiful gasoline rainbow." Though sentimental at times, The Lovely Bones is a moving exploration of loss and mourning that ultimately puts its faith in the living and that is made even more powerful by a cast of convincing characters. Sebold orchestrates a big finish, and though things tend to wrap up a little too well for everyone in the end, one can only imagine (or hope) that heaven is indeed a place filled with such happy endings.

 

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

Introducing a major literary talent, The White Tiger offers a story of coruscating wit, blistering suspense, and questionable morality, told by the most volatile, captivating, and utterly inimitable narrator that this millennium has yet seen. Balram Halwai is a complicated man. Servant. Philosopher. Entrepreneur. Murderer. Over the course of seven nights, by the scattered light of a preposterous chandelier, Balram tells us the terrible and transfixing story of how he came to be a success in life -- having nothing but his own wits to help him along. Born in the dark heart of India, Balram gets a break when he is hired as a driver for his village's wealthiest man, two house Pomeranians (Puddles and Cuddles), and the rich man's (very unlucky) son. From behind the wheel of their Honda City car, Balram's new world is a revelation. While his peers flip through the pages of Murder Weekly ("Love -- Rape -- Revenge!"), barter for girls, drink liquor (Thunderbolt), and perpetuate the Great Rooster Coop of Indian society, Balram watches his employers bribe foreign ministers for tax breaks, barter for girls, drink liquor (single-malt whiskey), and play their own role in the Rooster Coop. Balram learns how to siphon gas, deal with corrupt mechanics, and refill and resell Johnnie Walker Black Label bottles (all but one). He also finds a way out of the Coop that no one else inside it can perceive. Balram's eyes penetrate India as few outsiders can: the cockroaches and the call centers; the prostitutes and the worshippers; the ancient and Internet cultures; the water buffalo and, trapped in so many kinds of cages that escape is (almost) impossible, the white tiger. And with a charisma as undeniable as it is unexpected, Balram teaches us that religion doesn't create virtue, and money doesn't solve every problem -- but decency can still be found in a corrupt world, and you can get what you want out of life if you eavesdrop on the right conversations.

 

In the Dark: a novel by Mark Billingham

A Deadly Crash: A rainy night in south London. A gun is fired into a car, which swerves onto the pavement and plows into a bus stop. It seems that a chilling gang initiation has cost the life of an innocent victim. But the reality is far more sinister...

A Dangerous Quest: One life is wiped out and three more are changed forever: the young man whose finger was on the trigger, the ageing gangster planning a deadly revenge, and the pregnant woman who struggles desperately to uncover the truth. How will she, two weeks away from giving birth, now cope in a world where death is an occupational hazard?

A Shocking Twist: In a city where violence can be random or meticulously planned, where teenage gangs clash with career criminals and where loyalty is paid for in blood, nothing is possible. Secrets are uncovered as fast as bodies, and the story's final twist is as breathtakingly surprising as they come.

 

Brida: a novel by Paulo Coelho

Brida, a young Irish girl, has long been interested in various aspects of magic but is searching for something more. Her search leads her to people of great wisdom. She meets a wise man who dwells in a forest, who teaches her to trust in the goodness of the world, and a woman who teaches her how to dance to the music of the world. As Brida seeks her destiny, she struggles to find a balance between her relationships and her desire to become a witch.

This enthralling novel incorporates themes that fans of Paulo Coelho will recognize and treasure. It is a tale of love, passion, mystery, and spirituality from the master storyteller.

 

The Zahir: a novel of obsession by Paulo Coelho

The narrator of The Zahir is a bestselling novelist who lives in Paris and enjoys all the privileges money and celebrity bring. His wife of ten years, Esther, is a war correspondent who has disappeared along with a friend, Mikhail, who may or may not be her lover.

Was Esther kidnapped, murdered, or did she simply escape a marriage that left her unfulfilled? The narrator doesn't have any answers, but he has plenty of questions of his own. Then one day Mikhail finds the narrator and promises to reunite him with his wife. In his attempt to recapture a lost love, the narrator discovers something unexpected about himself.

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Fat Charlie Nancy's normal life ended the moment his father dropped dead on a Florida karaoke stage. Charlie didn't know his dad was a god. And he never knew he had a brother. Now brother Spider is on his doorstep—about to make Fat Charlie's life more interesting . . . and a lot more dangerous.

 

 

Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup

How could Ram Mohammed Thomas, an orphan from Asia’s biggest, most filthy slum, possibly win the jackpot on India’s version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Ram has never gone to school. He’s never read a newspaper. There’s no way a waiter from Jimmy’s Bar could win the one billion rupees! Or is there? Ram startles even himself by answering all 12 of the show’s challenging questions correctly. But instead of taking home the biggest jackpot in history, he’s framed for cheating by the show’s unscrupulous producers. Conditioned to believe that his very existence is illegal, Ram ponders whether he has overstepped his position by using his brain, when society has authorized him to use only his hands and legs. Q and A is told in 12 chapters over a single night, as Ram pleads his case by revealing how a lifetime of experience led to his miraculous win. In each chapter, Ram relates the slice of his extraordinary life story that gave him the wisdom—or the luck—to answer each of the show’s 12 questions correctly. Paying homage to Life of Pi’s fable-like narrative, but zapped with a witty twenty first-century sensibility, Q and A is a darkly comic and charming novel that delves beneath its compelling premise to examine life’s profound dilemmas—good vs. evil, rich vs. poor and perception vs. reality. Brilliantly conceived and executed, Q and A paints an enthralling picture of humanity in all its guises.

 

The Sudden Disappearance of Seetha by Andrea Gunraj

This incredible story begins in the first minutes following a mother’s discovery that her three-year-old daughter has been abducted. These early pages launch us into the mother’s story. Headstrong, defiant, and troubled, Neela navigates a bitter relationship with her genius brother, Navi, and her grandmother, and eventually escapes her stultifying village with the bad seed of the town to a new resort development in the heart of the Caribbean country’s rainforest. Jaroon soon comes to embody the corruption that festers in this alienating place. When Neela, now the young mother of Jaroon’s child, grows afraid of his unpredictable brutality and leaves him, she sets into motion a terrifying chain of events that changes all those who know them.

Andrea Gunraj makes an extremely confident and accomplished debut with her sweeping novel of love, rivalry, family, corruption, magic and friendship. This is the start of a dazzling career.

 

Red Dust, Red Sky by Paul Sunga - COMING SOON

The story of a young Southeast Asian girl's life with her eccentric "blended" family in Lesotho, and her search for the truth about her absent father, is a parable for the country's own quest for freedom and maturity. Red Dust, Red Sky is set in southern Africa during the time of official apartheid. A family originally from India lives in exile in the mountainous kingdom of Lesotho, a tiny country entirely surrounded by South Africa itself. The aftermath of the murder of a student activist at the hands of the South African police - betrayal, the struggle for redemption and years of life underground - is the basis for this powerful story. The language is beautiful, the plot riveting, the characters vivid, edgy and humorous, full of life and eccentric energy, sexual and otherwise. The story is told by Kokoanyana, a girl growing up in the small and closed belief system of rural Lesotho. She is obsessed with discovering the story of her lost father, but the many "lies" her mother tells her to avoid the potentially dangerous truth has sensitized "Koko" to the many lies and delusions of the adults around her. This is a world of concealed facts, obscure events, and phenomena only explicable in terms of the ancestors, Shiva, and the South African Defence Force. Kokoanyana's persistent pursuit gradually unearths pieces of the puzzle. But as the family's political history reveals itself, the soldiers advance.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel by Lisa See

In nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, “old same,” in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The laotong, Snow Flower, introduces herself by sending Lily a silk fan on which she’s painted a poem in nu shu, a unique language that Chinese women created in order to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men. As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on fans, compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. Together, they endure the agony of foot-binding, and reflect upon their arranged marriages, shared loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their deep friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.

Eiger Dreams: Ventures Among men and Mountains by Jon Krakauer

No one writes about mountaineering and its attendant victories and hardships more brilliantly than Jon Krakauer. In this collection of his finest essays and reporting, Krakauer writes of mountains from the memorable perspective of one who has himself struggled with solo madness to scale Alaska's notorious Devils Thumb. In Pakistan, the fearsome K2 kills thirteen of the world's most experienced mountain climbers in one horrific summer. In Valdez, Alaska, two men scale a frozen waterfall over a four-hundred-foot drop. In France, a hip international crowd of rock climbers, bungee jumpers, and paragliders figure out new ways to risk their lives on the towering peaks of Mont Blanc. Why do they do it? How do they do it? In this extraordinary book, Krakauer presents an unusual fraternity of daredevils, athletes, and misfits stretching the limits of the possible. From the paranoid confines of a snowbound tent, to the thunderous, suffocating terror of a white-out on Mount McKinley, Eiger Dreams spins tales of driven lives, sudden deaths, and incredible victories. This is a stirring, vivid book about one of the most compelling and dangerous of all human pursuits.

King Dork by Frank Portman

Tom Henderson (a.k.a. King Dork, Chi-mo, Hender-fag, and Sheepie) is a typical American high school loser until he discovers the book, The Catcher in the Rye, that will change the world as he knows it. When Tom discovers his deceased father’s copy of the Salinger classic, he finds himself in the middle of several interlocking conspiracies and at least half a dozen mysteries involving dead people, naked people, fake people, ESP, blood, a secret code, guitars, monks, witchcraft, the Bible, girls, the Crusades, a devil head, and rock and roll. And it all looks like it’s just the tip of a very odd iceberg of clues that may very well unravel the puzzle of his father’s death and–oddly–reveal the secret to attracting semihot girls. Being in a band could possibly be the secret to the girl thing–but good luck finding a drummer who can count to four.

Absolutely Maybe by Lisa Yee

Meet Maybelline Mary Katherine Mary Ann Chestnut, named for two Miss Americas and her mother Chessy's favorite brand of mascara. Chessy teaches the students in her charm school her Seven Select Rules for Young Ladies, but she won't tell Maybe who her real father is -- or protect her from her latest scuzzball boyfriend. So Maybe hitches a ride to California with her friends Hollywood and Thammasat Tantipinichwong Schneider (aka Ted) -- and what she finds there is funny, sad, true, and inspiring . . . vintage Lisa Yee.

The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest by Anatoali Bourkreev & G. Weston Dewalt

As the climbers of the 1996 Mt. Everest disaster vanished into thin air, one man had the courage to bring them down alive.... On May 10, 1996, two commercial expeditions headed by expert leaders attempted to scale the world's largest peak. But things went terribly wrong. Crowded conditions, bad judgment, and a bitter storm stopped many climbers in their tracks. Others were left for dead, or stranded on the frigid mountain. Anatoli Boukreev, head climbing guide for the Mountain Madness expedition, stepped into the heart of the storm and brought three of his clients down alive. Here is his amazing story-of an expedition fated for disaster, of the blind ambition that drives people to attempt such dangerous ventures, and of a modern-day hero, who risked his own life to save others...

High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places by Jon Krakauer & David Breashears

For generations of resolute adventurers, from George Mallory to Sir Edmund Hillary to Jon Krakauer, Mount Everest and the world's other greatest peaks have provided the ultimate testing ground. But the question remains: Why climb? In High Exposure, elite mountaineer and acclaimed Everest filmmaker David Breashears answers with an intimate and captivating look at his life.  For Breashears, climbing has never been a question of risk taking: Rather, it is the pursuit of excellence and a quest for self-knowledge. Danger comes, he argues, when ambition blinds reason. The stories this world-class climber and great adventurer tells will surprise you -- from discussions of competitiveness on the heights to a frank description of the 1996 Everest tragedy.

Sophies World by Jostein Gaarder

One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: “Who are you?” and “Where does the world come from?” From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning—but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.

Exodus by Julie Bertagna

It is 2099 - and the world is gradually drowning, as mighty Arctic ice floes melt, the seas rise, and land disappears forever beneath storm-tossed waves. For 15-year-old Mara, her family and community, huddled on the fast-disappearing island of Wing, the new century brings flight. Packed into tiny boats, a terrifying journey begins to a bizarre city that rises into the sky, built on the drowned remains of the ancient city of Glasgow. But even here there is no safety and, shut out of the city, Mara realizes they are asylum-seekers in a world torn between high-tech wizardry and the most primitive injustice. To save her people, Mara must not only find a way into the city but also search for a new land and a new home...

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer

Jon Krakauer’s literary reputation rests on insightful chronicles of lives conducted at the outer limits. He now shifts his focus from extremes of physical adventure to extremes of religious belief within our own borders, taking readers inside isolated American communities where some 40,000 Mormon Fundamentalists still practice polygamy. Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God. At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.

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AWARD WINNING LITERATURE

Langley Book of the Year

2008 / 2009

2009/2010

2010/2011

Young Readers Choice Awards

YRCA 2007

YRCA Past Winners

Stellar Awards: BC's Teen Readers' Choice Awards

2008 / 2009

2007 / 2008

2006 / 2007

2005 / 2006

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LITERATURE RESOURCES

  • Biographies

  • A limited number of biographies, interviews, and links to popular children's and teen's authors and illustrators.

  • Booklists for Young Adults on the Web

  • This index was compiled from the many YA-related web pages created by Librarians, educators and others serving young adults. It is an extensive listing of websites organized by topic.

  • Bookspot

  • An extensive site devoted to recommeneded reads for teens and other related teen sites.

  • Canadian Children's Illustrated Books in English

  • Judith Saltman is a recognized authority on Canadian children's literature. She is a professor in the School of Library Archival and Information Science at the University of British Columbia. She is chair of the Masters in Children's Literature program.

  • The Canadian Literature Archive

  • This site contains links to Canadian's writers' websites. It also links to The Writers Union of Canada.

  • Children's Literature

  • A comprehensive list of Canadian Children's Literature Sites compiled by Reesa Cohen, a Children's Literature instructor at the University of Manitoba.

  • Children's Literature Web Guide (CLWG)

  • Compiled by David Brown at the University of Calgary. Includes news items, discussion boards,and lists of award-winning books and best sellers. Also provides excellent links to journals,book reviews, author websites, and resources for teachers and parents.

  • Database of Award-Winning Children's Literature

  • Compiled by Lisa Bartle, Reference Librarian at California State University at San Bernardino. Allows searcher to create a tailored reading list of quality children's literature. Includes the best-known awards from Canada, US, UK, and Australia.

  • East of the Web: Short Stories

  • This site contains short stories arranged by genre. Both classic short stories and new stories appear on this site. You may submit stories for publication.

  • Guys Read

  • This site was created by a former teacher, now author, who is interested in promoting reading for boys. On a smaller scale, like Novelist, it allows students to search for books like, for favourite authors.

  • How Novel! Canadian Young Adult Literature

  • Kay E. Vandergrift's Young Adult Literature Page

  • Hailing from Rutgers University, Kay E. Vandergrift is an acknowledged specialist in the field of services to youth. This page includes theoretical information as well as a series of bibliographies. See also: Special Interest Page. This page includes children's literature.

  • Locus Index to Science Fiction and Fantasy

  • This index is created from the monthly Books Received column in Locus Magazine. It includes the content of anthologies, single-author collections, and magazines.

  • National Library of Canada: Canadian Children's Literature Services

  • This site contains a well annotated list of links to Canadian Literature Resources.

  • Novelist

  • Novelist organizes books by theme and age level. If you like a particular book, you can find other similar books on this service.
    Click on the Database link and you will be automatically logged in to the databases from any school district computer. From home you must enter the username and password (see your school newsletters for these).

  • Novelist K-8

  • Novelist organizes books by theme and age level (K-Grade 8). If you like a particular book, you can find other similar books on this service.
    Click on the Database link and you will be automatically logged in to the databases from any school district computer. From home you must enter the username and password (see your school newsletters for these).

  • Online Literature Library

  • Try looking here for hard to find titles. You can't remember how a particular Aesop Fable ends? You will find the answer here. The goal of this site is to bring classic literature to a wider audience.

  • Paper Tigers.org

  • This is a Pacific Rim Voices Project and provides book reviews, book lists, educational resources, author interviews, and other resources on children's literature from around the Pacific Rim. There are some excellent links to Australian fiction in particular.

  • Picture Books for Secondary School Libraries
  • Read Up On It

  • From the National LIbrary of Canada. Read Up On It highlights Canadian literature for children. The theme index is particularly useful.

  • Reading Matters: Children's and Teen's Book Reviews

  • This relatively new site is continually adding new reviews. The site contains in excess of 250 reviews of new and classic titles. (United Kingdom site)

  • Reading Rants!

  • Visit this site for out-of-the-ordinary teen booklists.

  • Scholastic.com's Official Harry Potter Site

  • Download the Harry Screensaver or play a trivia game.

  • Stellar Awards

  • For BC teens. The books are Canadian. BC teens vote for their favourite book from a shortlist of nominations. Log on to participate.

  • Teen Link

  • From the New York Public Library. Includes the yearly publication Books for the Teen Age, a Historical Fiction List, and other book lists for teens.

  • The Vancouver Public Library

  • Includes book lists and various resources for teens.

  • Western Australia Young Reader's Book Award

  • Look here for Australian award winners.

  • YA Series and Sequels

  • On the Bettendorf Public Library's Teen Corner, look for books by series title or by author. This site also provides access to the Locus Index to Science Fiction and Fantasy and links to Teen Writers' sites.

  • Young Reader's Choice Awards

  • The Young Reader's Choice Awards are organized by The Pacific Northwest Library Association. Students vote for their favourite books from nomination lists in three categories. (Junior - grade 4 to 6; Middle - grade 7 to 9; Senior - grade 10 to 12)

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