FALL IN LOVE WITH NEW BOOKS – YOUNG READERS

September is upon us, school is back in session, and it's good to be a book lover! To celebrate the season, we’ve curated a collection of new and forthcoming books to fill out your list this fall. Use the "Shop Local" button to pick up or pre-order these titles at your nearest indie bookstore. 

This page includes recommendations for young readers. To see our list of books for adults, click here.

Happy reading!

Love from Mecca to Medina
By S.K. Ali
Simon & Schuster Canada (October 18)

Adam and Zayneb. Perfectly matched. Painfully apart. On the trip of a lifetime, Adam and Zayneb must find their way back to each other in this surprising and romantic sequel to the beloved and bighearted YA novel, Love from A to Z.

S. K. Ali is the author of Saints and Misfits, a finalist for the American Library Association’s 2018 William C. Morris Award and the winner of the APALA Honor Award and Middle East Book Honor Award; and Love from A to Z, a Today show Read with Jenna Book Club selection.

It’s My Body!
By Elise Gravel
Scholastic Canada (September 6) 

There are all kinds of bodies. They come in different shapes and colours. They can do different things. Your body is your best friend! But EVERY body needs to be respected and celebrated. This important message of body positivity will both empower and entertain. The best body is the one that belongs to you!

Elise Gravel is one of the most popular children’s book creators in Quebec. She has written and illustrated over 20 titles. Elise has been drawing since she was in kindergarten and, after studying graphic design at CEGEP, she decided to become an illustrator and writer.

The Late, Great Endlings: Stories of the Last Survivors
Written by Deborah Kerbel and illustrated by Aimée van Drimmelen
Orca Book Publishers (October 18)

Over the past 500 years, thousands of species of plants and animals have become extinct. The Late, Great Endlings pays homage to some of the more well-known endlings of the past century with rhyming stanzas that accompany watercolor illustrations and factual descriptions of each animal, along with the circumstances that led to their species' extinction.

Deborah Kerbel is the critically acclaimed, award-winning author of fifteen books for young people of all ages. Her books have been shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award, the Canadian Library Association's YA Book Award and the Forest of Reading Blue Spruce Award, among others.

Aimée van Drimmelen is an artist, designer and musician based on the W̱SÁNEĆ Traditional Territories (Thetis Island, British Columbia). Her illustrations have been featured in a variety of publications, including The Walrus, Reader’s Digest, and POETRY Magazine.

A Place for Pauline
Written by Anouk Mahiout and illustrated by Marjolaine Perreten
House of Anansi Press (September 6)

As the eldest child in a large family, Pauline struggles to find her niche, and she longs for peace and quiet. Funny and touching, this story in graphic novel style highlights the importance of finding our place, while gently exploring feelings about solitude, freedom, independence and the comforts of home.

Anouk Mahiout is an author and TV screenwriter living in Montreal. She obtained a master's degree in literature in 2002 then turned to television, where she worked as a producer and screenwriter for various broadcasts. In 2020, after a year of studying humorous writing, she created the Pauline series. Pauline, une petite place pour moi, the French edition of A Place for Pauline, won the Prix des libraires du Québec in 2021. 

Marjolaine Perreten studied design and multimedia at ERACOM in Lausanne, Switzerland, and taught herself animation. She has worked for various production companies and studied directing at La Poudrière in Bourg-lès-Valence, France. She founded an animation film festival in Savigny, Switzerland, and currently works as a director, illustrator, and multimedia designer.

Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove
By Rati Mehrotra
Macmillan Publishers (October 18)

Bonds can be broken, but debts must be repaid. In Rati Mehrotra's YA fantasy novel a young guardswoman struggles with her unwitting role as a major pawn in the deadly games between two kingdoms in a monster-infested alternate medieval India.

Rati Mehrotra is the author of the Asiana duology: Markswoman and its sequel Mahimata. Her short fiction has been shortlisted for The Sunburst Award and has appeared in multiple venues including The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Lightspeed Magazine, Apex Magazine, and Podcastle.

Searching Beyond the Stars
Nicole Mortillaro and illustrated by Amanda Key
Annick Press (November 1)

Are we alone in the cosmos? Could we one day live on a different planet? How is life formed? What other secrets does the universe hold? Through profiles of seven remarkable women scientists and their achievements in their respective fields, Searching Beyond the Stars takes us deep into space, looking at once to the distant past and the distant future to capture the awe and intrigue of some of the biggest questions we can possibly ask.

Nicola Mortillaro is an author, a science reporter with CBC News, the editor of the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, and an amateur astronomer.

Amanda Key is an illustrator and graphic designer from Vancouver Island. Her work includes marketing, logo creation, and brand design for small businesses in addition to illustration in children’s literature.

Daughters of the Dawn
By Sasha and Sarena Nanua
HarperCollins Canada (September 6)

The powerful Bloodstone is in dangerous hands. And a deadly new threat rises. Twin princesses Ria and Rani journey deep into dangerous new lands to save their home in this propulsive, immersive sequel to Sisters of the Snake, perfect for fans of We Hunt the Flame and The Wrath & the Dawn. 

Sarena Nanua & Sasha Nanua are twin sisters living in Ontario, Canada. Born on Diwali ten minutes apart from each other, they grew up loving stories about twins and magic, and began writing books together when they were nine years old. They are graduates of the English and professional writing programs at the University of Toronto and are also the authors of the Pendant trilogy. 

The Museum of Odd Body Leftovers: A Tour of Your Useless Parts, Flaws, and Other Weird Bits
Written by Rachel Poliquin and illustrated by Clayton Hanmer
Greystone Books (September 27)

Did you know your amazing, incredible body is a walking, talking museum of evolution? In The Museum of Odd Body Leftovers, tour guides Wisdom Tooth and Disappearing Kidney lead readers through a wacky museum dedicated to vestigial structures: body parts that were essential to our ancestors but are no longer useful to us – even though they’re still hanging around. A perfect STEM resources for readers age 7-11.

Rachel Poliquin is a writer engaged in all things orderly and disorderly in the natural world. She is the author of the Superpower Field Guide series, and has also written for Science Friday, The Believer Magazine, and the New York Times.

Clayton Hanmer (aka CTON) has illustrated several children's books, including Trending: How and Why Stuff Gets Popular and Dog vs Ultra Dog. His award-winning comic art has also appeared in, among others, National Geographic Kids, the New York Times, and Today’s Parent.

The Spirit of Denendeh Volume 1: A Blanket of Butterflies
Written by Richard Van Camp and illustrated by Scott B. Henderson, and Donovan Yaciuk
Portage & Main Press (September 6)

No one knows how a suit of samurai armour ended up in the Fort Smith museum. When a mysterious stranger turns up to claim it, Sonny, a young Tłı̨chǫ Dene boy, is eager to help. This Eisner-nominated adventure is now in full-colour!

Richard Van Camp is a proud member of the Tlicho Nation from Fort Smith, NT. He is the author of more than 25 books including The Lesser Blessed. He is a contributor to the ground-breaking graphic novel anthology This Place: 150 Years Retold and the author of five collections of short stories and six baby books, including the award-winning Little You.

Scott B. Henderson is author/artist of the sci-fi/fantasy comic The Chronicles of Era and has illustrated select titles in the Tales From Big Spirit series, as well as the A Girl Called Echo, The Reckoner Rises, and 7 Generations series. 

Donovan Yaciuk has done colouring work on books published by Marvel, DC, Dark Horse comics, and HighWater Press including the A Girl Called Echo and The Reckoner Rises series, as well as select stories in This Place: 150 Years Retold.

Silencing Rebecca
By Nikki Vogel
Thistledown Press (August 31)

In this genre-bending debut YA novel combining elements of horror, magic realism, and realistic fiction, Rebecca Waldmann’s sheltered life as an Orthodox Jewish teen in Toronto is shattered when her father moves them to Edmonton, where she is plunged into the worldly life of a public high school.

Nikki Vogel has had poetry published in Room, filling Station, and The Istanbul Review. Her short stories have appeared in Luna Station Quarterly, Infective Ink, Empty Sink Publications, and in One Throne Magazine. She has had a few stories anthologized, including in “You Can’t Kill Me, I’m Already Dead” and “Behind the Yellow Wallpaper: New Tales of Madness.”