EASY

Water Boy By David McPhail

When a little boy overcomes his fear of water, fantastic things begin to happen: The birds that live by the sea bring him treasures, the waves sing to him, and suddenly, he is able to perform incredible tricks, like parting or purifying water. He uses his special powers to transform not only himself, but also the world around him.

Isabella: Girl on the Go By Jennifer Fosberry

Isabella is a girl who knows how to make the ordinary extraordinary. A day in the backyard takes Isabella all around the world, from the Great Wall to the Great Pyramids. Join Isabella on her adventure and discover that the far corners of the world are closer than you think, and being anything you want to be is all about dreaming what’s possible.

FUN FACTS

A Stick is an Excellent Thing: Poems Celebrating Outdoor Play By Marilyn Singer

Here you will find poetry that perfectly captures the mood of favourite childhood activities in the summertime. What could be better than blowing bubbles under the hot afternoon sun and catching fireflies under the light of the moon!

No Shelter Here: Making the World a Kinder Place for Dogs By Rob Laidlaw

Millions of dogs around the world don’t have safe houses, good food, or the loving care of an owner. The author and animal activist describes the best way to find a new pet and provides terrific advice about how to adopt your future companion.

JUNIOR

Rebel McKenzie By Candice Ransom

When feisty twelve-year-old Rebel McKenzie, an aspiring paleontologist, goes to spend the summer taking care of her older sister's seven-year-old son at the mobile home park in Frog Level, Virginia, she never expects to enter a beauty pageant. Rebel may not be a typical pageant contestant, but how hard can it be?

Ruby Redfort: Look into my Eyes By Lauren Child

This genius code-cracker secret agent, along with her sidekick butler, works for a secret crime-busting organization called Spectrum. Ruby gets into lots of scrapes with evil villains, like being trapped in a giant hourglass or held over a flaming volcano, but she’s always ice-cool in a crisis. The most difficult part? Rule #1: Keep it zipped!

YOUNG ADULT

I am a Magical Teenage Princess By Luke Geddes

A helpless surfer girl drifts through time, tormented by the bizarre clichés of B-movies. A reluctant teenage astronaut idles away her post-apocalyptic adolescence huffing gasoline and fooling around with her five brutish shipmates. Two sisters go hunting for real-deal rebels in a desert town overrun with phony nostalgia. Don’t miss this unique collection of short stories that examines American pop culture from the 1950s to the 1980s.

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece By Annabel Pitcher

Jamie hasn't cried since it happened. He knows he should have. Everyone kept saying it would get better with time, but that's just one of those lies that grown-ups tell in awkward situations. Five years on, it's worse than ever: Dad drinks, Mom is gone and Jamie's left with questions that he must answer for himself.

ADULT

Tigers in Red Weather By Liza Klaussmann

Hang onto our short Alberta summer with a delightful, Gatsby-esque summer read filled with midnight gin parties on Martha's Vineyard in an old family estate called Tiger House. Follow cousins Nick and Helena and three other interesting characters from post-war into the 1980s.

Rome: A Cultural, Visual and Personal History By Robert Hughes

We lost some giants this summer, including art critic and historian Robert Hughes and author Gore Vidal. Hughes was Australian but was a citizen of the world, at home wherever great art and great talk could be found. His final book is a deeply personal history of Rome, a city he first visited at 21 in 1959.