An ALA Notable Book and an IRA-CBC Children’s Choice: Losing your sister can mean losing your best friend too Thirteen-year-old Kate is thrilled for her sister, Joss, when Joss finds out she gets to keep a horse for a week as a birthday present. Then in one tragic moment, all of the happiness is gone, and numbness and grief overwhelm the family. Kate cannot imagine how she’ll survive but knows somehow she must come to terms with her loss. In this heart-wrenching story, Kate strives to find a place where joyful memories and painful loss can coexist.

A small boy with a very long name is challenged by his grandmother to find out her real name.

Her name is Al, not Alexandra! Al’s real name is Alexandra, but she hates it. She has always considered herself a nonconformist—she is the only girl in the entire school who wears pigtails, and when all the other girls take the cooking and sewing class, Al wants to take shop. There’s just one problem: Girls aren’t allowed. Al is determined only to learn useful things, like making bookshelves. With the help of her new best friend, a seventh grader who lives down the hall from her, and their building’s kind superintendent, Mr. Richards, she just might get her wish.

This is Thomas King’s first literary novel in 15 years and follows on the success of the award-winning and bestselling The Inconvenient Indian and his beloved Green Grass, Running Water and Truth and Bright Water, both of which continue to be taught in Canadian schools and universities. Green Grass, Running Water is widely considered a contemporary Canadian classic. In The Back of the Turtle, Gabriel returns to Smoke River, the reserve where his mother grew up and to which she returned with Gabriel’s sister. The reserve is deserted after an environmental disaster killed the population, including Gabriel’s family, and the wildlife. Gabriel, a brilliant scientist working for DowSanto, created GreenSweep, and indirectly led to the crisis. Now he has come to see the damage and to kill himself in the sea. But as he prepares to let the water take him, he sees a young girl in the waves. Plunging in, he saves her, and soon is saving others. Who are these people with their long black hair and almond eyes who have fallen from the sky? Filled with brilliant characters, trademark wit, wordplay and a thorough knowledge of native myth and story-telling, this novel is a masterpiece by one of our most important writers.

Grace has two big problems—how will she cope? Grace Schmitt is a bit of a dreamer. In her mind, she’s the most popular girl in school, with flowing golden hair and too many friends to count. And let’s not forget all the boys who admire her perfectly proportioned figure. Everything is, in a word, perfect. Unfortunately, Grace’s life is a bit more complicated than that in reality. Going into tenth grade, her body changes rapidly, leaving her feeling ungainly, awkward, and conspicuous, mostly because of her large bust. It’s become such a problem that she’s begun saving money for breast-reduction surgery. Things come to a head when a circle of cruel classmates, led by Ashley, the actual most popular girl in school, decide to see if Grace’s breasts are real. On the worst day of her life, it takes a miracle (in the form of Ms. Govoni, the gym teacher) to save Grace from life-altering humiliation. Little does she know, the experience will trigger an astounding series of events that test her character, bolster her self-esteem, and turn her life around.