Summer Reading 2024
As Seen on CTV Your Morning
Rainy days, lake (or pool) side, in the car, on the patio, in a park- summer is full of reading opportunities. Here are 8 Canadian titles to consider adding to the list this summer, as seen on CTV Your Morning July 12th.
Watch the segment here.
Picture Book, Ages 4-8
The Hidden World of Gnomes is the kind of picture book kids will return to over and over. Written as a sort of guidebook or “gnome-o-pedia,” this 96 page book is warm, earthy and full of enchanting gnome facts. Author-illustrator Lauren Soloy creates a cozy, magical world called The Pocket that may inspire kids to go looking for gnomes in their own backyards and parks.
New Graphic Novel Series, Ages 5-9
Three bunnies decide to reinvent themselves as tough guys in order to deal with raccoons, squirrels and other local menaces. Buns Gone Bad is the first book in a new series serves as the origin story of The Fluffle, a crime-syndicate featuring three adorable (not that I’d tell THEM that) bunnies. Puns and nods to hardboiled detective fiction abound.
Middle Grade, Ages 9-12
The members of the Jones family have a special gift, the ability to wake the recently dead in order to grant their last wishes, a useful skill for a family of funeral home directors. Kimmy is just coming into her gift when the death of a kid her own age draws her into a mystery involving a generations-long grudge with a powerful witch. More sweet than scary, Waking the Dead and Other Fun Activities is a perfect summerween title for tweens.
Teen, Ages 13+
The only thing more suffocating than a hot, Midwestern summer is life in a small town, and this book has both. Notorious liar and misfit Paz has a lot of work to do to convince the people of Bridlington that there are monsters living on the outskirts of town, and that it was the monsters that claimed the life of her friend, Chuck. Seeped in nostalgia, small town lore and featuring fresh takes on familiar horror tropes, Lockjaw will appeal to teens (and adults) who love monster and horror stories.
Adults
I Hope This Finds You Well is a workplace comedy featuring a frustrated employee at a soulless company who is given accidental access to her colleague’s private emails and messages, allowing her unique insight into their lives. This is a funny, at times poignant story of how one woman turns her life and perspective around for fans of cringe-comedy with heart found in TV shows like The Office. In Behind You, a film editor working on a true crime documentary finds herself flashing back to her childhood, growing up in Scarborough in the neighbourhood that was terrorized by the Scarborough Stalker. This an unflinching novel about unpacking trauma and the legacy of violence and- at home and in the streets. The Other Valley takes place in an insular, tightly controlled world where the surrounding towns are actually the same town, only 20 years in the past or the future. Travel between the valleys is strictly controlled by a shadowy group called The Conseil and a promising young candidate must decide between maintaining the rules of her society or saving the life of a loved one. An atmospheric, tragic love story for fans of Never Let Me Go. The Lost Tarot unfolds across two timelines. In the present, an art historian from UofT travels to England after receiving a mysterious tarot card that appears to have been created by an infamous artist. In the past, we delve into the secrets of the tarot card, the artist who created it, and the dangerous cult at the centre of it all.