☀️ Local books to add to your summer reading list
Check out our collection of reading lists from Atlantic Canadian Publishers Acorn Press, Breakwater Books, Goose Lane Editions and Nimbus Publishing.
List created by Genevieve Loughlin Acorn Press General Manager
Connect to the land with these universal stories that passed on traditions, songs, language the culture of the Mi’kmaq people.
When the Hill Came Down by Susan White
Greed, jealousy, love, loyalty and the fabric of a community, this novel explored how nothing is ever exactly as it seems.
Kira’s Crossing by Orysia Dawydiak
Step into the fantasy world of merrows and Finfolk, this action teen novel set in the ocean has it all.
SNEAK PEAK! Available in August 2021
Skyward by Susan White
A hopeful story about a crumbling dystopia, Skyward is a reminder of what happens when we put money before people, and how love is the best resistance.
List created by Nicole Haldoupis Breakwater Books Marketing Coordinator
For Young Readers
In rewriting the narrative of Cormack’s journey from the perspective of his Mi’kmaw guide, My Indian reclaims Sylvester Joe’s identity.
Muinji'j Becomes a Man by Saqamaw Mi'sel Joe
Muinji’j has been waiting all his life to make this trip with his grandfather – a trip to the city to sell otter, beaver and muskrat pelts, and bring back supplies to the village. It’s a long expedition that tests Muinji’j’s reserves of strength, patience and maturity.
Once Upon an Iceberg: Errol's Twillingate Adventure by Sheilah Roberts Lukins
Errol is off on another adventure! With his new-found friend Gus, Errol travels to Twillingate to help search for Gus’s father. In the course of his search, he finds treasures on the beach, almost floats away with the icebergs, and visits the Long Point Lighthouse. There he meets Olivia and her family, who help him on his quest, showing him around and hunting for clues. But time is running out; they have to head home to Beachy Cove—and there’s still no sign of Gus’s dad!
Queer Monologues: Stories of LGBT Youth by For the Love of Learning
Produced by For the Love of Learning (FTLOL), offers queer youth a safe, creative outlet to share their concerns, hopes, and personal stories with the community-at-large.
Adult Fiction
Even Weirder Than Before by Susie Taylor
A coming-of-age story exploring the weirdness of growing up Gen X, and the freedom found outside the norm.
love, life by Bernardine Ann Teráz Stapleton
A made-up true fable about coming out, going back in, getting fat, Italian food, and stalking the Piazzo Bernardini. It’s a haunting love story, transcending decades, countries, and heartbreak. A Newfoundlander in Italy offers the humour, optimism, and romantic yearning the world needs now.
Melt by Heidi Wicks
Melt explores the life-sustaining anatomy of friendship and the complex relationships we have with our pasts.
Some People's Children by Bridget Canning
A revealing and liberating novel about the way others look at us and the power of self-discovery.
List created by Jeff Arbeau Goose Lane Editions Marketing Manager
Like Rum-Drunk Angels by Tyler Enfield
An offbeat, slightly magical, entirely original retelling of Aladdin as an American western.
The Rest is Silence by Scott Fotheringham
n the backwoods of Nova Scotia, a man has decided to withdraw from the world and live off the land. Meanwhile, news reports begin to trickle in of a global environmental catastrophe. Someone has released a genetically modified strain of bacteria that devours plastic. The world will never again be the same.
The Hunter and the Wild Girl by Pauline Holdstock
Wild and unpredictable, lush and sensually evocative, The Hunter and the Wild Girl courses with mythical life blood, resonant, disquieting, and fathoms deep.
Life on Mars by Lori McNulty
Blending aesthetic styles from high realism to the fable-esque, Life on Mars devours life's numbing tragedies and exhilarating passions with ravenous appetite. These are raw, moving, strange stories — an unforgettable reckoning for our disconnected times.
Reading by Lightning by Joan Thomas
For Lily Piper, life on the prairie is spare, austere, and tucked in. She is restless — not the daughter she feels her mother wants. When puberty hits, an abrupt shift in fate has Lily on her way to England to care for her ageing grandmother. There, she experiences life in all its ambiguity, until she is called home to face a future she thought she had escaped.
The Elephant Talks to God by Dale Estey
An endearing collection of whimsical tales in which a young elephant forages for answers to that age-old existential puzzle: What is the meaning of life? In this new edition of Dale Estey's best-selling book, this pachyderm philosopher asks questions and God answers — sometimes cryptically, sometimes humorously but always with love and patience.
Peace by Chocolate by Jon Tattrie
Peace by Chocolate is the story of one family. It is also the story of the people of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and so many towns across Canada, who welcomed strangers and helped them face the challenges of settling in an unfamiliar land.
My Leaky Body by Julie Devaney
Part memoir, part love story, part revolutionary manifesto, My Leaky Body is politicially astute, gooey like cake batter, and raw like ulcerated bowels. Devaney writes the book that will heal her aching heart and relax her strictured rectum as she weaves stories from professional and public interactions with tales from her gurney.
List created by Olivia Ingraham Nimbus Publisher’s Representative
The Family Way by Laura Best
The Family Way is a thoughtful and engaging exploration of family and of Nova Scotia’s history. A stand-alone middle-grade novel, it also serves as a prequel to the critically acclaimed Cammie novels, Flying With a Broken Wing and Cammie Takes Flight.
The Big Dig by Lisa Harrington
The Big Dig asks big questions of its readers: Are secrets ever okay? What defines a family? And can we ever really know our parents? Lisa Harrington’s light and funny voice blends seamlessly with Lucy’s grief, creating an authentic and riveting emotional landscape.
The Goodbye Girls by Lisa Harrington
Family, friendship, and a budding romance are on the line. Will Lizzie end up saying goodbye to the business for good?
Dusty Dreams and Troubled Waters by Brian Bowman with art by Richard Rudnicki with Susan Tooke
A middle-grade graphic novel exploring the Battle of the Atlantic from a young prairie boy’s perspective.
I'm Finding my Talk by Rebecca Thomas with art by Pauline Young
A response to Rita Joe's iconic poem "I Lost My Talk," and published simultaneously with the new children's book edition illustrated by Pauline Young, comes a companion picture book by award-winning spoken-word artist and Mi'kmaw activist Rebecca Thomas. A second-generation residential school survivor, Thomas writes this response poem openly and honestly, reflecting on the process of working through the destructive effects of colonialism.
Titanic: True Stories of Her Passengers, Crew, and Legacy by Nicola Pierce
A beautiful primer and giftbook on all things Titanic, featuring dozens of photos and vignettes, and suitable for all ages
A Beginner's Guide to Goodbye by Melanie Mosher
A tender meditation on life and loss through the lens of a childhood summer, A Beginner’s Guide to Goodbye will fill readers with warmth and spark important conversations.
Screech! Ghost Stories from Old Newfoundland by Charis Cotter
A spooky, illustrated collection of Atlantic ghost stories for middle-grade readers by the award-winning author of The Ghost Road.