Canadian books we can't wait to read this November
Here are some of the most anticipated titles of the month
November is a great month for Canadian books! Check out some of the titles that we're excited to dive into.
In a Tension of Leaves and Binding by Renée M. Sgroi
Speaking through both the poet and the voices of a garden, In a Tension of Leaves and Binding is a collection of nature poems and conversations. Concluding with an essay on the author's process of exploring this garden, this book imagines the characters of the plants and animals as realized voices exploring language and grief.
When you can read it: Nov. 1, 2024
Renée M. Sgroi holds a PhD in Education from the University of Toronto, a M.Sc. in Creativity and Change Leadership from SUNY Buffalo State, and works as a post-secondary educator. She was a runner up in the U.K.'s 2020 erbacce poetry prize and her poetry has been published in numerous journals and anthologies. Sgroi is also a contributing editor to Arc Poetry Magazine.
Dear Dad by Laura Best
Ever since Sam's dad was diagnosed with ALS three years ago, going about his regular life as a 14-year-old boy has been next to impossible. In Dear Dad, a young adult novel about a father seeking medical assistance in dying, or MAID, Sam is struggling to be supportive of his father's choice. Meanwhile, it's 2014 and everyone is suddenly talking about ALS because of the viral ice bucket challenge. When the pressure comes to be too much for Sam he makes an impulsive decision to run away from home and take a job in the countryside as a farmhand.
Exploring the complex and emotional experiences of disability, death and fatherhood, Dear Dad follows Sam as he searches for his way back home.
When you can read it: Nov. 5, 2024
Laura Best is a Nova Scotia-based writer of books for young people and adults. Her other novels include the 2018 Silver Birch Award winner Cammie Takes Flight and her adult book Good Mothers Don't.
Stranger Skies by Pascale Lacelle
Stranger Skies is the sequel to the dark academia young adult fantasy novel Curious Tides. In Stranger Skies, the students of Aldryn College for Lunar Magics are stuck in different worlds at different times. Emory and Romie follow their dreams to a rotting version of Wychwood where a dark force seeks to destroy other realms. Baz and Kai are lost in a past version of their school, trying to reach the others. All connected by the fictional book Song of the Drowned Gods and its author, Cornus Clover, the paths of these four heroes are destined to meet.
When you can read it: Nov. 5, 2024
Pascale Lacelle is a French Canadian writer of young adult fantasy currently based in Ottawa. Her first novel was Curious Tides.
An Unbalanced Force by Valerie Sherrard
The young adult novel An Unbalanced Force follows Ethan Granger, a teenager who's lived a life of wealth and privilege due to his father's mysterious business. After his dad slips up on a work detail, Ethan begins to worry that his dad is lying about the true and nefarious dealings of his job. So, he hires a private eye and sneakily follows his father in a thrilling adventure to reveal well-kept family secrets.
When you can read it: Nov. 9, 2024
Valerie Sherrard is a writer of books for children and teens born in Saskatchewan. She is the author of over 30 books, including Birdspell and Standing on Neptune, a novel written in verse. Sherrard is currently based in Miramichi, New Brunswick.
Zegaajimo edited by Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler and Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm
Zegaajimo is a collection of short horror fiction from Indigenous writers across Turtle island, including Waubgeshig Rice, Drew Hayden Taylor, Richard Van Camp and D.A. Lockhart. With stories featuring supernatural settings and monsters, they chill, thrill and shed light on your worst nightmares.
When you can read it: Nov. 9, 2024
Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler is the writer of the short story mystery and horror collections Ghost Lake, which won a 2021 Indigenous Voices Award and Wrist. He co-edited Bawaajigan and is an artist and filmmaker. He is two-spirit, Jewish, Anishinaabe and a member of Lac Des Mille Lacs First Nation. He lives in Vancouver.
Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm is a member of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation, on the Saugeen Peninsula in Ontario. She teaches creative writing, Indigenous literature and oral traditions at the University of Toronto's Scarborough campus. Her books include the short story collection The Stone Collection and the poetry collection (Re)Generation: The Poetry of Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm. She is the founder, publisher and art director of Kegedonce Press.
Time and Tide by J.M. Frey
Time and Tide is a time-travelling historical romance. It follows Sam, the only survivor of a catastrophic plane crash over the Atlantic, as she is impossibly rescued by a warship from 1805. Thrown into Regency England, Sam relies on the alluring sea captain to guide her through this unfamiliar world. When she is suddenly betrayed and left at the mercy of the men around her, Sam must rely on the help of the captain's sisters to survive. Eventually moving in with famous author Margaret Goodenough, Sam finds a surprising friend in the rule-breaking writer and maybe something even more.
When you can read it: Nov. 12, 2024
J.M. Frey is a Toronto-based author, screenwriter and actor. Her debut novel Triptych was nominated for a CBC Bookie in 2011 and won the San Francisco Book Festival Award for SF/F.
Hòt'a! Enough! by Wayne K. Spear and Georges Erasmus
Hòt'a! Enough! tells the story of Georges Erasmus, the Dene leader and lifelong Indigenous rights campaigner. It chronicles his experiences as a leading Indigenous figure during many of the hardest challenges in Canada over the last several decades including the Oka Crisis and the Berger Inquiry.
When you can read it: Nov. 12, 2024
Wayne K. Spear is a Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) educator and writer. His other books include Residential Schools, with the Words and Images of Survivors and Full Circle: The Aboriginal Healing Foundation and the Unfinished Work of Hope, Healing, and Reconciliation. Spear is based in Toronto.
Georges Erasmus is the former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, president of the Indian Brotherhood of Northwest Territories and chair of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. He is a recipient of the Order of Canada and is based in Yellowknife.
Grandfather of the Treaties by Daniel Coleman
Grandfather of the Treaties dives into the founding Wampum covenants between the first European settlers and the Haudenosaunee nation. It explores how revisiting the covenants could provide insight into healing and reconciliation.
When you can read it: Nov. 12, 2024
Daniel Coleman is a writer and professor based in the traditional territories of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe in what is called Hamilton. He teaches English at McMaster University and studies Canadian literature, Indigeneity, diaspora and whiteness. His book Yardwork: A Biography of an Urban Place was shortlisted for the 2017 RBC Taylor Prize.
The Squad by Christina Soontornvat, illustrated by Joanna Cacao
In The Squad, Christina and her best friends Megan and Leanne are preparing for another brutal set of cheerleading tryouts. Christina is finally coming into her own, but as they worry about making the team, Christina finds out her parents' marriage is coming to an end. Can she keep her composure long enough to keep her cheerleading dreams alive?
When you can read it: Nov. 12, 2024
Christina Soontornvat is an award-winning author of over a dozen books for kids of all ages.
Joanna Cacao is a Canadian Filipino author and illustrator based in Winnipeg.
A Wild and Ruined Song by Ashley Shuttleworth
In the epic urban fantasy conclusion to the young adult Hollow Star Saga, five friends are up against the powers of good and evil that threaten the balance between human and faerie worlds. In A Wild and Ruined Song, Arlo Jarsdel has literally lost herself, forced to share a body with Ruin. While Arlo fights to get back to herself, Celadon, Vehan and Aurelian are plotting against the crown and Nausicaä is fighting to save her girlfriend. Tested to the limit, can the fae of Toronto unite one final time?
When you can read it: Nov. 12, 2024
Ashley Shuttleworth is a YA author originally from British Columbia and now based in Ontario. A Dark and Hollow Star was their debut book.
Dreams of the Epoch & the Rock by Jaspreet Singh
Through dreamscapes and perceptions of our world today, Dream of the Epoch & the Rock is a collection of meditative and urgent poems. Centred on themes of climate, decolonization and language, this book intermingles personal histories and the abstract dreams of ancient gods and ancestors.
When you can read it: Nov. 15, 2024
Jaspreet Singh is the author of the poetry collections November and How to Hold a Pebble, the novels Helium, Chef and Face, the story collection Seventeen Tomatoes, and the memoir My Mother, My Translator. He lives in Calgary.
The Loom by Andy Weaver
The Loom is a collection of lyric poems about the author's experiences after becoming a father of two young boys at age 42. Andy Weaver's life now is filled with restlessness, noise and stickiness with two small children and so this book reflects on his unique journey to parenthood with humour and hard truths.
When you can read it: Nov. 15, 2024
Andy Weaver's poetry collections include Were the Bees, Gangson and This. Weaver is an associate professor of creative writing, contemporary poetry, and poetics at York University in Toronto.
Elvis, Me, and the Postcard Winter by Leslie Gentile
In the follow-up to Elvis, Me, and the Lemonade Stand Summer, it's 1979 in Vancouver Island and 12-year-old Truly is living in Eagle Shores Trailer Park with Andy El, the Salish Elder who took her in after she was abandoned by her mother. Truly's pen pal, Elvis, gives her a secondhand guitar, which she loves. However, one day Truly's mother shows up asking for a second chance, leaving Truly unsure what to do next.
Elvis, Me, and the Postcard Winter is for ages 9-12.
When you can read it: Nov. 16, 2024
Leslie Gentile is an author and singer-songwriter of Northern Salish, Tuscarora and Scottish heritage. Based on Vancouver Island, she performs with her children in The Leslie Gentile Band. She is also the author of Elvis, Me, and the Lemonade Stand Summer and Shamus the Urban Rez Dog, P.I.
The Forgotten Frontier by Tristan Jones, illustrated by Alexander Bumbulut
The Forgotten Frontier is a critical retelling of the often misrepresented story of the Western Frontier from an Indigenous perspective, which has been historically missing.
When you can read it: Nov. 21, 2024
Tristan Jones is a Toronto-based writer of Black Mi'kmaq heritage and Anishinaabe ancestry. The Forgotten Frontier is his debut book.
Alexander Bumbulut is an illustrator, graphic designer and painter based in Germany.
Tale of the Heart Queen by Nisha J. Tuli
Tale of the Heart Queen concludes the Artefacts of Ouranos series. It finds Lor running from the tyrannical Aurora King and desperate to fight for Nadir. Suddenly facing a new enemy, Lor must face the reality that she is the key to saving Ouranos. Terrified that her choices are sending her spiralling down her grandmother's doomed path, Lor is forced to reckon with the person she is turning into. When she finally finds herself face to face with the Aurora King, Lor is forced to face yet another deadly test, but this time the fate of the continent rests on her success. As she fights to overcome the trials before her, Lor realizes that maybe she was never meant to escape.
When you can read it: Nov. 26, 2024
Nisha J. Tuli is a Winnipeg-based author. Tale of the Heart Queen is the fourth and final instalment in the Artefacts of Ouranos series which includes Trial of the Sun Queen, Rule of the Aurora King and Fate of the Sun King.
Curb Angels Vol. 2 by Nyala Ali, illustrated by Lisa Mendis
In the follow up to Curb Angels Vol. 1, Curb Angels Vol. 2 sees the all female vigilante group continues their mission to free human trafficking victims and bring the people responsible to justice.
When you can read it: Nov. 28, 2024
Nyala Ali is a Winnipeg writer, editor, and comics journalist. Her graphic novel Curb Angels Vol. 1 received a Doug Wright Award nomination for Best First Book.
Lisa Mendis is a Winnipeg illustrator, print maker and graphic designer. Her previous book Curb Angels Vol. 1 received a Doug Wright Award nomination for Best First Book.
