9 Canadian love stories to read this summer
Looking for your next summer read? Check out one of these heartwarming love stories.
Love from A to Z by S.K. Ali
When Zayneb gets suspended for standing up to a xenophobic teacher, she's sent to her aunt's house in Doha, Qatar for an early spring break. She ends up meeting Adam, a teenager trying to hide his multiple sclerosis diagnosis from his grieving father.
Love from A to Z, a YA novel, is S.K. Ali's second book, following Saints and Misfits.
Kings, Queens and In-Betweens by Tanya Boteju
This YA novel follows a high school student named Nima who is growing tired of sitting on the sidelines — both as the basketball team's equipment manager and in her unrequited crush for her best friend Ginny. When a carnival brings a cast of rowdy, colourful drag kings and queens to town, Nima begins to come out of her shell for the first time.
Kings, Queens and In-Betweens is Vancouver writer Tanya Boteju's first novel.
The Chai Factor by Farah Heron
In The Chai Factor, Farah Heron's debut novel, Amira Khan is dedicated to her career and finishing grad school. But when her grandmother rents out the family's basement apartment to a barbershop quartet, Amira can't focus. And when she begins to clash with the group's leader, Duncan, things only get worse.
The Chai Factor is a romantic comedy about opposites colliding and how little inconveniences can become life-changing if you open up.
Comics Will Break Your Heart by Faith Erin Hicks
Miriam's grandfather co-created the iconic superhero series TomorrowMen, but doesn't get a dime for his work because he sold the rights for a pittance to his co-creator. Now the family's struggling to stay afloat and the future looks grim for Miriam. Things get complicated when heir to the TomorrowMen fortune moves to town — and, worse, he happens to be pretty cute.
Comics Will Break Your Heart is for YA readers and is Faith Erin Hicks' first novel.
The Matchmaker's List by Sonya Lalli
In his romantic comedy, Raina Anand has reluctantly consented to let her grandmother play matchmaker. Anand endures a series of terrible blind dates with "suitable" bachelors, all the while hatching a plan to thwart her tight-knit family's plans.
The Matchmaker's List is Sonya Lalli's first book.
Such a Lonely, Lovely Road by Kagiso Lesego Molope
In Such a Lonely, Lovely Road, Kabelo Mosala is a young man growing up in South Africa. He's an upstanding citizen in every sense of the term and dreams of working at his father's medical practice someday. But Kabelo has a secret: he's in love with his friend, Sediba. They form a strong bond as they grow up, but Kabelo struggles to come out to his community, which is in the grips of an increasingly urgent AIDS crisis.
Starlight by Richard Wagamese
Starlight is the final novel of beloved Indigenous writer Richard Wagamese. The novel was not completed before Wagamese died in 2017, and includes a note from the publisher. Set in 1980 in the B.C.-based interior, Starlight is about an Indigenous farmer named Frank Starlight whose quiet life is dramatically changed by the frantic arrival of a woman named Emmy and her young child. Emmy and her child have escaped an abusive home and end up forming a bond with Frank.
Reproduction by Ian Williams
Reproduction is Brampton, Ont.-raised author Ian Williams's debut novel, following his Griffin Poetry Prize-nominated poetry collection Personals and award-winning short fiction collection Not Anyone's Anything. When Felicia and her teenage son Army move into a basement apartment, they bond with the house's owner and his two children. But strange gifts from Army's wealthy, absent father begin to arrive at their doorstep, inviting new tensions into the makeshift family's lives.
The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan
Rukhsana Ali is 17 years old and balancing the expectations of her conservative Muslim parents with her desire to wear crop tops and date girls. When Rukhsana is caught kissing her girlfriend Ariana, she is sent to Bangladesh where she discovers her grandmother's old diary and is inspired to stand up for herself and her relationship.
The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali is B.C.-based writer Sabina Khan's first novel.