Young Adult Book Suggestions

Chance to Dance for You

Local Author!

By Gail Sidonie Sobat

Sobat, always one of our favourites, has done it again! This is the story of Ian, an openly gay teen living and going to school in small town suburbia. He has dreams of becoming a professional dancer and therefore he knows he's going to get out of his bigoted town eventually, but he's not sure how to survive until then. He's strong enough to be different, but not everyone in his life has the same strength. It's a story about fear and courage. And about real friends and real enemies. This is the funny and heartbreaking story of how being different drives you to lower lows and higher heights than you would've thought possible.

Sidekicks

By Jack D. Ferraiolo

For slightly older kids than Ferraiolo's The Big Splash, Sidekicks tells the story of Scott Hutchinson, aka Bright Boy. He is the sidekick to Phantom Justice and has been living the sidekick life for as long as he can remember. But now he’s getting older, but his costume isn’t. He is still in bright yellow tights that show off just a little too much. And one day, rescuing a damsel in distress in front of the television news cameras, he gets a little too excited about the rescue and his bright tights tell the world a story that would be better off not told. To make matters more confusing, while out fighting crime one night, he and his nemesis accidentally lose their masks and discover their real identities and that they go to the same school.This book has a lot of humour and buttkicking but is essentially about very essential things: a young man trying to discover who he is growing into and how he is supposed to figure out what is right and wrong in a world where the media spins everything he sees.

Page by Paige

By Laura Lee Gulledge

A fabulous graphic novel in much the same vein as Castelluci's Plain Janes, Page by Paige is about a young girl learning how to create art and bring it to the world. Paige moves to a new city with her parents and begins to go through the steps her grandmother gave her in order to become an artist. Her grandmother's sage advice leads the shy Paige to new friends, new observations, and new courage. We loved the way the story flowed through the artwork, how the eye was expertly led one from thought to the next. And the story itself is sweet, realistic and quite inspiring. We were left with the desire to follow Paige's grandmother's advice ourselves just to see where it would take us.

Ten Miles Past Normal

By Frances O'Roark Dowell

Imagine being little and telling your parents that you should all live on a farm and actually having them listen? Amidst the goat poop and smelly clothes, a now teenage Janie isn't so sure she's glad her parents packed up and moved to the farm. This is the beautifully written, funny, endearing and empowering story of a girl who realizes that being "normal" is overrated and that there is awesome funkiness, fabulous music, and great frienship to be found in living the quirky life. There are a lot of "quirky girl realizes her potential" books out there, but we can guarantee this is one of the best.Plus, how many young adult books can claim to have klezmer bands in them? Not too many, let us tell you, and we were pleased as punch by it. A great slice-of-life story!

Where Things Come Back

By John Corey Whaley

Given how many novels are written about the average adult male life, it's interesting that very few writers these days attempt to do a realistic portrayal of a young man's life, and even fewer do it well. John Green is one of the authors at the top of this list, and we're pleased add John Corey Whaley's name to this short list. In a small town in Arkansas, an extinct woodpecker is supposedly spotted and suddenly everything in Cullen Witter's life changes. Woodpecker Mania begins while everyone ignores the fact that Cullen's brother has gone missing. Meanwhile, a young missionary in Africa is searching for what is left of his faith. The two stories tell us one grander story of the mystery and wonder in the small, commonplace aspects of life. Whaley's sarcastic humour and excellent storytelling provide a story that will sit with you long after you've finished reading.

Nobody Cries at Bingo

Canadian!

By Dawn Dumont

First of all, we ask you, is this not the best title? And it's a great book that doesn't shy away from either the humour or the harshness of real life. It's about many things: growing up, racism, religion, books, love, Canada,lawyers, bingo and oddly enough, the devil. It's the story of family life on the Okanese First Nation from the perspective of an absolutely hilarious young female protagonist. This was the best kind of book, one that takes you to unexpected places and down some pretty bumpy roads, and keeps you laughing throughout the entire trip.

Exposure

By Mal Peet

Another rocking sports crime novel from Mal Peet! Both this book and The Keeper and The Penalty have Paul Faustino, an investigative sports journalist working to solve mysteries in the world of soccer. Exposure is a sports mystery that is a play on Shakespeare's Othello and deals with themes of jealousy and betrayal. Otello, a black soccer player who captains the a national soccer team and has to deal with a lot of racism and a white pop star who is the daughter of a politician get married and the media eats their story up. But the paparazzi are too much and soon, a young girl is found murdered as a result of their interference in the couple's private lives. It's up to Paul Faustino to crack the case.