Coop For Keeps
by Larry Verstraete
Yellow Dog, 2024
978-1-77337-113-9
For Coop, adjusting to a new home is hard enough, but it’s even harder when your home is a financially unstable guesthouse. Worse still, the unhappy teenager in charge
of Coop is steaming mad much of the time. On top of that, Lucinda, the annoying cat, likes to tease and torment. Enter a murder of crows, a stranger with a mysterious past, two bullies bent on making Zach’s life miserable, and a vicious dog with a grudge against Coop. Will he ever find the forever home he so desperately wants?
The Curse of the Eelgrass Bog
by Mary Averling
Razorbill, 2024
978-1-45982-226-8
Nothing about Kess Pedrock’s life is normal. Not her home, not her interests, and not her best friend. Then Kess meets Lilou Starling and asks for help breaking a mysterious curse and the only clue she has leads straight into the centre of Eelgrass Bog. Everyone knows the bog is full of witches, demons, and possibly worse. As they investigate the mystery and uncover long-buried secrets, Kess begins to realize that the curse might hit closer to home than she’d ever expected, and she’ll have to summon all her courage to find a way to break it before it’s too late
The Kodiaks: Home Ice Advantage
by David A Robertson
Highwater Press, 2024
978-1-77492-101-2
Everything is changing for 11-year-old Alex Robinson. After his father accepts a new job, Alex and his family move from their community to the city. For the first time in his life, he doesn’t fit in. Things begin to look up after Alex tries out for a local hockey team. Playing for the Kodiaks, Alex proves himself as one of the best, but he becomes a target because he’s Indigenous. Can Alex trust his teammates and stand up to the bullies on other teams? Can he find a way to fit in and still be who he’s meant to be?
Lost At Windy River
by Trina Rathgeber
Alina Pete and Jillian Dolan
Orca Book Publishers, 2024
978-1-45983-226-8
In 1944, thirteen-year-old Ilse Schweder got lost in a snowstorm while checking her family’s trapline in northern Canada. This is the harrowing story of how a young Indigenous girl defies the odds and endures nine days alone in the unforgiving barrens. Ilse faces many challenges, including freezing temperatures, wild animals, snow blindness and frostbite. With no food or supplies, she relies on Traditional Indigenous Knowledge passed down from her family. Ilse uses her connection to the land and animals, wilderness skills and resilience to find her way home.
Maya Plays the Part
by Calyssa Erb
Annick Press, 2024
978-1-77321-851-9
Maya lives and breathes musicals. When her chance to finally be a part of the summer music program at the community theater comes up, Maya is convinces she will get the lead. Things don’t turn out the way Maya’s planned when summer turns out to be packed with problems: dealing with her best friend’s move, her parent’s busy jobs, and – since her autism diagnosis – the on going puzzle of how to be Maya in Public. Maya has to figure out how to play the part that truly feels like her own.
Misadventures in Ghost Hunting
by Melissa Yue
HarperCollins Canada, 2024
978-1-44347-091-9
When a mysterious figure sets Emma’s family altar on fire, that’s one more secret to add to her list. There’s also the spectral ghosthunter named Henry; Leon, a mild -mannered ghost guardian who is as flighty as the pigeon he often turns into; and Michelle, Emma’s bestie, whose curiosity about ghosts often eclipses her instinct for survival. The most stunning secret, however, is that Emma’s sweet, plant-loving grandmother has the power to shank ghosts!
Mortified
By Kristy Jackson. Rhael McGregor
HarperCollins Canada. 2024
978-1-44347-220-3
It’s nothing short of a catastrophe when someone secretly signs up Belinda Houle, the school’s shyest kid, to audition for a play. Belinda turns to her best friend help. Belinda doesn’t believe in magic, but if Sally says she has a spell for confidence… well, it couldn’t hurt to try it. Could it? What follows is a series of disasters so disastrous they would have been funny, if only they weren’t happening to Belinda!
Noah Frye Gets Crushed
by Maggie Horne
HarperCollins Publishers, 2024
978-0-06328-519-4
Noah Frye just had the Best Summer Ever – since camp was epic, and her new friend Jessa is even starting at her school in the fall. Noah can’t wait to introduce her to her besties, Zoey and Luna. But something’s changed: Zoey and Luna are now obsessed with boys, and Noah suddenly feels like the odd one out. Caught in a lie about having a crush, she’s determined to fit in again – even if it means applying the scientific method to love…
Reasons to Look at the Night Sky
by Danielle Daniel
Tundra Books, 2024
978-1-77488-353-2
Luna has always loved the night sky, and dreams of one day becoming an astronaut. The first step in her plan is to ace the space unit in her science class and secure a spot in NASA’s summer space camp. But when Luna’s teacher is unexpectedly replaced with a substitute who is looking to shake up science class by bringing in art, Luna’s carefully laid plans are crushed. What on Planet Earth is happening
Waking the Dead
by Casey Lyall
HarperCollins Canada, 2024
978-0-06323-987-6
Twelve-year-old Kimmy Jones wants to excel at the unique (and secret) aspect of her family’s funeral home business. Under the watchful eye of Grandma Bev, Kimmy learns how to raise the recently deceased, request their last wish, and break the connection
to send them on. But when Grandma unexpectedly dies herself, Kimmy can’t reach her spirit, and nothing seems like it’s ever going to be right again.