Author |
Title |
Comment |
Category |
|
Allende, Isabel |
City of the Beasts |
An adventure story that takes place during a treacherous trip down the Amazon river. Ghosts, snakes, an adventurer grandmother … there’s a lot going on in these 400 pages! |
translated from the Spanish; YA |
|
Almond, David |
*Clay |
Two young, mischievous altar boys befriend another boy who can bring clay creations to life. |
YA, British 2005 |
|
Alvarez, Julia |
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents |
A good read about the four Garcia girls and their trials and tribulations. Somewhat like a series of connected short stories. Some sexual content but not too explicit. Interesting chronology: goes continually backward in time; immigrant experience (Caribbean; Spanish-speaking); family dynamics; “literature of exile”. |
American, born in the Dominican Republic (SWC) |
|
Anderson, Laurie Halse |
Speak |
Tough, tender, darkly funny story of a teenage outcast. Gripping plot, powerful characters. Melinda’s sarcastic wit, honesty & courage make her a memorable protagonist. Highly recommended. |
YA (SWC) |
|
Anderson, Laurie Halse |
Fever 1793 |
Fictional account of the yellow fever epidemic that killed thousands in Philadelphia in, you guessed it, 1793. Good historical detail, and a compelling story of the events that befall an independent-minded young girl. |
YA 2000 |
|
Anderson-Dargatz, G. |
A Cure for Death by Lightning |
Farming life and family dynamics through the life of a teenage girl. |
Western Cdn |
|
Atwood, Margaret |
The Handmaid’s Tale
Alias Grace |
Set in a futuristic society where women are oppressed and society is strictly controlled. Interesting issues surrounding the relationship between men and women and reproductive rights.
Based on a true crime story; point of view changes as crime is described through different perspectives. |
Cdn (SWC) |
|
Austen, Jane |
Pride and Prejudice |
The Bennet family and their romantic trials and tribulations in England in the early 1800s. And, of course, the love story of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. |
British |
|
Aw, Tash |
The Harmony Silk Factory |
Story of a Malaysian Chinese family told through 3 different perspectives. Set in 1940 before the Japanese occupation. Excellent study of how perspective can change the reading experience; outsiders; complexity of relationships. |
Malaysian/British 2005 |
|
Baird, Alison |
The Hidden World |
A girl is sent to Newfoundland for the summer and discovers a secret world of Celtic myths and legend. |
YA, Cdn (SWC) |
|
Baldwin, Shauna Singh |
The Tiger Claw
What the Body Remembers |
Love, espionage, war, clash of religious faiths … this has it all. Historical fiction.
Set in the late 1930s, deals with the romantic and political strife experienced by a Sikh family as the departing British prepare to divide the land into India and Pakistan. |
Cdn 2004 |
|
Bell, William |
Crabbe |
An 18 yr.-old boy learns important lessons about life in Algonquin Park. |
YA, Cdn (SWC) |
|
Bell, William |
Stones |
Boy in his last year of high school meets mysterious girl. Together they learn about prejudice and persecution in their community. |
YA, Cdn |
|
Boyden, Joseph |
Three Day Road |
Narrative alternates between the story of a young aboriginal man and his experiences on the battlefield in WWI and a parallel story involving his grandmother who lives in the bush. Loosely based on the true story of a famous aboriginal sharpshooter. |
Cdn/Métis 2005 |
|
Bronte, Charlotte |
Jane Eyre |
Classic gothic romance. |
British |
|
Brooks, Martha |
True Confessions of a Heartless Girl |
Set in a little Manitoba town, a 17 yr. old girl is on the run, and she's pregnant too. Fiercely independent and stubborn, she is taken under the wing of the owner of the local café, and Del, a bachelor farmer and poet. A novel full of startlingly insights into the rich inner lives of ordinary, yet always extraordinary, people. Winner of 2002 GG award. (adapted from an Amazon.ca review) |
YA (SWC) |
|
Card, Orson Scott |
Ender’s Game |
classic science fiction; written in the 70s but doesn’t seem dated at all; very readable (war games, personal clashes) |
Amer (SWC) |
|
Cather, Willa |
My Antonia |
Beautiful novel about immigrants settling in the American West (prairies) in the mid-1800s. |
Amer (SWC) |
|
Choy, Wayson |
The Jade Peony |
"A lyrical tale of growing up in Vancouver's early Chinatown." Witty and intelligent. |
Cdn |
|
Cormier, Robert |
Heroes |
After World War II, an 18 yr old boy returns without a face to murder his childhood hero. |
YA (SWC) |
|
Crew, Linda |
Children of the River |
A Cambodian girl whose family has recently immigrated to Oregon faces cultural conflicts. Excellent! |
YA (SWC) |
|
Dallaire, Roméo |
Shake Hands with the Devil (Non-fiction) |
Dallaire’s first-hand account of the Rwanda genocide of the early 1990s. Intense; well worth reading. |
Cdn |
|
Danticat, Edwidge |
The Farming of Bones |
A gritty, haunting story of a young housemaid to a wealthy Spanish family in 1930s Haiti. Wonderfully lyrical prose describes heartbreak, political upheaval and the carnage that follows. The events described are historically accurate. A challenging read, but well worth it. |
Haitian |
|
Davies, Robertson |
Murther and Walking Spirits |
Narrated by main character, who has just been killed! Blend of farce and mystery. Retraces lives of his ancestors, including life in late 1700s to the present. |
Cdn |
|
Dickens, Charles |
A Tale of Two Cities |
The classic story of a family caught in the middle of the conflict during the French Revolution. |
Brit (SWC) |
|
Dinesen, Isak (also known as Karen Blixen) |
Shadows in the Grass Letters from Africa |
A Danish woman tries to manage a coffee farm in Africa. (The movie Out of Africa is based on these two books.) |
Danish |
|
Ellis, Deborah |
Looking for X |
Rebellious young girl, with special needs brothers, seeks to regain her mother’s respect. Governor General’s Award winner. 132 pages. |
YA, Cdn |
|
Flagg, Fannie |
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Café |
Story of racism and strong women told with humour. |
American |
|
Franklin, Miles |
My Brilliant Career |
Life in rural Australia at the beginning of the 20th century, from the perspective of an independent minded young woman. |
Australian |
|
Frazier, Charles |
Cold Mountain |
One soldier’s odyssey while struggling to return home from the American Civil War. |
American |
|
Gaines, Ernest J. |
A Lesson Before Dying |
the relationship between a young black man on death row and a teacher in 1940s Louisiana |
Amer (SWC) |
|
Galloway, Priscilla |
Snake Dreamer |
An exciting mystery combining ancient mythology with modern characters. When Dusa sees two doctors on TV claiming to be able to cure the strange condition called "snake dreaming," she heads off to their special clinic hoping to rid herself of the imaginary snakes haunting her. But there is something strange about the doctors and the island their clinic is on… |
(SWC) YA |
|
Gibb, Camilla |
*Sweetness in the Belly |
A small cast of characters including Lilly, a white Muslim woman who finds herself in Ethiopia and in love in the days before a revolution erupts; and Amina, an Ethiopian woman with two young children who has been forced to leave her husband behind. Now in London, the two women have to learn how to live all over again. A rich and compassionate story that both enlightens and challenges the reader. Giller Prize finalist; Trillium Book Award. |
Cdn (SWC) 2005 |
|
Gibbons, Kaye |
Ellen Foster |
The story of a spunky girl from the American South who overcomes adversity with humour, honesty and determination. First person narrative. |
American |
|
Golden, Arthur |
Memoirs of a Geisha |
A young girl is sent away from her home to become a geisha. She struggles to find love and acceptance; an interesting exploration of some aspects of Japanese culture before the war. |
American |
|
Grenville, Kate |
The Secret River |
When he is caught stealing to feed his family in the slums of London, William Thornhill is sent, along with his wife and child, as a convict to Sydney in New South Wales (Australia). He and Sal struggle in this largely unsettled land and are put to the test as they have to deal with the aboriginal people that were there first. Historical fiction. |
Australian 2005 |
|
Guterson, David |
Snow Falling on Cedars |
A story of three young people during the Japanese-American internment, one of whom ends up accused of murder. |
American |
|
Haddon, Mark |
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time |
told from the point of view of an autistic boy as he tries to unravel a number of mysteries. |
British |
|
Hardy, Thomas |
Far From the Madding Crowd |
A young woman inherits a sheep farm and must learn how to manage it as well as her love life. |
British |
|
Haruf, Kent |
Plainsong |
Story of several members of a tiny prairie community who come together in the face of great personal difficulties. Beautifully written. Deals with some tough issues but is never sentimental. Sort of a grown-up version of Martha Brooks’ True Confessions of a Heartless Girl, where kindness and generosity ultimately triumph. |
American 1999 |
|
Hawthorne, Nathaniel |
The Scarlet Letter |
Set in 1642 Puritan Boston where a young woman becomes a social outcast due to her illegitimate child and her unwillingness to name the father. |
American |
|
Hay, Elizabeth |
*Late Nights on Air |
Story of a group of people who work for a radio station in the Northwest Territories: their dreams, losses, loves. Culminates in a canoe trip to the Far North in which they imitate the voyage of a doomed adventurer. |
Cdn |
|
Heller, Joseph |
Catch 22 |
Classic satire about war. |
American |
|
Hickam, Homer |
October Sky |
A blend of fiction and autobiography; about a boy, his friends, and their rockets. |
American |
|
Holeman, Linda |
Mercy's Birds |
Grade 10 girl's life is spinning out of control. Selected by NY Public Library as one of its 1998 recommended books for teens. Mother has problem with depression and creepy boyfriend. Highly recommended. |
YA |
|
Holeman, Linda |
Raspberry House Blues |
16 yr. old Vancouver girl doesn’t get along with her adoptive mother, stays with her dad and his new family in Winnipeg. Searches for biological mother and discovers what real family love can be like. Lovely story! |
YA, Cdn (SWC) |
|
Holeman, Linda |
Search of the Moon King’s Daughter |
Set in 1830s London and Manchester, a young girl must fend for herself when her mother is injured and her young brother, who is deaf, is sold. Vivid portrayal of the contrasts of Victorian life, with an engaging, determined protagonist. Wonderful supporting characters, drama, suspense, and a hint of romance. |
YA (SWC) |
|
Hughes, Monica |
Blaine's Way |
A young man's World War II experiences and how they have changed him. |
YA, Cdn (SWC) |
|
Hughes, Monica |
Hunter in the Dark |
An 18 yr.-old boy comes to terms with his serious illness during a hunting trip. |
YA, Cdn (SWC) |
|
Hughes, Monica |
Storm Warning |
Sandra Williams seems like an ordinary teenager, on holidays with her family at a northern Ontario resort town. Then she is paired up with Bryan for scuba diving. Only he can help Sandra solve a terrible mystery that links the two families in a tragic history. |
YA (SWC) |
|
Hurston, Zora Neale |
Their Eyes Were Watching God |
Set in the 1930s, about an African-American woman in the South. Challenging to read because of the use of dialect, but worth the effort. On many highly regarded reading lists. |
|
|
Huxley, Aldous |
Brave New World |
About an oppressive society and how it deals with people that don’t fit. |
British |
|
Itani, Frances |
Deafening |
Historical fiction; story of a deaf young woman, set during WWI. Includes the effects of war on the people at home and the soldiers on the front lines, as well as an account of the Spanish Flu epidemic in 1918. |
|
|
Jansen, Hanna |
*Over a Thousand Hills I Walk with You |
The account of a young Rwandan girl’s survival during the 1994 genocide. Retold by her adopted mother; translated from the German. At times painful to read, but authentic and compelling. |
YA, African 2006 |
|
Kesey, Ken |
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest |
Life in a somewhat unusual insane asylum that was made into a very successful movie starring Jack Nicholson. |
American |
|
King, Thomas |
Green Grass Running Water |
Magical realism/fantasy. Includes characters from aboriginal mythology. |
Cdn |
|
Lawson, Mary |
Crow Lake
The Other Side of the Bridge |
Story of the loss suffered by one family and how each individual copes. Set in Northern Ontario.
Two very different brothers, a farm, a small-town doctor and his son, a beautiful young woman and her children are all the ingredients of a deceptively simple tale that is set against the backdrop of World War II in a northern Ontario town. |
Cdn |
|
LeGuin, Ursula |
Tehanu
The Dispossessed
The Left Hand of Darkness |
Sequel (written years later) to the Earthsea trilogy. Fantasy.
Science fiction with a more philosophical bent.
Fantasy about a society where gender changes by the season. Very interesting to read today as the notion of “family” evolves. |
YA,(SWC) |
|
Lohans, Alison |
No Place for Kids |
A story about two girls on the run after the death of their mother and their father's descent into drugs and alcohol. Honest and direct, this story follows the two sisters' journey through enclaves of urban homelessness in Winnipeg and Regina as they travel to their aunt's in Vancouver. |
YA (SWC) |
|
Lynch, Chris |
Inexcusable |
Keir is a high school senior about to graduate. He knows that he’s a good guy but he’s being accused of something that good guys just do not do. A story about truth, lies and responsibility. Not for the faint-hearted but very realistically presented. National Book Award finalist. |
2005 YA |
|
Marsden, John |
So Much to Tell You |
A young girl's journal entries are her "voice" as she struggles to come to terms with personal tragedy. |
YA, Aus (SWC) |
|
Marsden, John |
Winter |
Another great book by Marsden, this time about a girl who returns to her home 12 years after being orphaned at age 4. Very strong-willed and independent, she unravels the mystery of her mother’s death. Suspenseful, and well-written. At only 150 pages in length, a quick but satisfying read. |
YA, Aus 2000 |
|
Marsden, John |
Tomorrow, When the War Began (series) |
A group of teens are caught in the middle of a war. Set in Australia. |
|