National Network for Equitable Library Service

When Jack develops an interest in something, he puts his all into it, making lists, doing research and learning all he can. When his best friend Leah decides to have plastic surgery for her sixteenth birthday, Jack is horrified, and then determined to stop her. Researching the surgery and the results, he finds that there are unscrupulous surgeons operating on the very young, and no one does anything about it. Jack organizes a protest and becomes an instant celebrity. But when someone else takes up the cause and the protest turns violent, Jack is forced to make some tough decisions.

Piano tuner Frank Ryan is paid in kind by an aging music teacher with an old manuscript that turns out to be Beethoven’s Tenth Symphony. Launched into a world of intrigue and violence, Ryan, an unlikely sleuth, realizes he must use his wits to conquer his enemies and solve the mystery of the manuscript. In the process Ryan discovers whom he can trust and what he is made of. The first in a series featuring Frank Ryan, Beethoven’s Tenth is a smart page-turner.

Charlotte and her brother, Jacob, are thrilled to head off on an adventure in their grandpa's boat, The Seawind. As they set sail for Pirate Island, they look forward to a day of beachcombing, playing pirates and storytelling. There are plenty of great treasures to be found, but Charlotte, who can be very bossy, is having trouble sharing with Jacob. When Charlotte accidentally loses one of Jacob's best finds, a piece of driftwood that looks just like a pirate's cutlass, it's the final straw. Feeling horrible for upsetting her brother, Charlotte is determined to set things right.

In the depths of winter, a woman wanders off in the snow. She is a popular former teacher and wife of a local policeman. A full-blown search begins. Meanwhile, Derek is staying with his new girlfriend and her parents while his family is out of town. He can’t believe his luck, Jordie is the hottest girl in school, and he’s going out with her. When Ronan, school bad boy and Jordie’s ex-boyfriend, shows up, Jordie decides that maybe Derek isn’t the one after all. But before she can end it with him, Derek disappears. Did he run away? Or did something happen to him?

In trouble at home and at school, Chris is struggling to do the right thing. When he finds a wallet on the street, he tries to return it to its owner. However, as circumstances slowly start unraveling and his whole life appears headed down the drain, Chris realizes that the person who owns the wallet looks a lot like him and has a life he would do almost anything for. What if he switched identities? What if he became someone else?

Craig likes his chances of making it as a pro hockey player, but a string of recent “accidents” threatens to knock his team out of the playoffs. Craig wonders how many “accidents” can happen. It’s not a good time for questions. Not when the team needs him most. But unless the questions are answered, the team’s season and his promising career will surely end.

When Junior Canadian Rangers, Colly and Jaz, visit Colly's uncle on Canada's Arctic coast, they are quick to discover something is amiss. Someone has been hunting gyrfalcons, the official bird of the Northwest Territories. Could it be poachers? During a pretend emergency, Colly and Jaz put two and five together and end up in a terrifying race for their lives!

Tessa McPhail has a bad habit--tagging--that lands her at New Directions, an alternative school in Montreal's toughest neighborhood. The school is far from Tessa's home and full of troubled kids. To make matters worse, half of every school day is devoted to boxing. The other students think boxing is cool. Not Tessa, who cannot handle violence of any kind. But when a neighbor starts a petition to have New Directions closed down, Tessa discovers something worth fighting for, both in and out of the ring.

Canada's relationship with its Indigenous people has suffered as a result of both the residential school system and the lack of understanding of the historical and current impact of those schools. Healing and repairing that relationship requires education, awareness and increased understanding of the legacy and the impacts still being felt by survivors and their families. Guided by acclaimed Indigenous author Monique Gray Smith, readers will learn about the lives of Survivors and listen to allies who are putting the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into action.

Meet Justine McKeen, the Queen of Green. She talks a little too much, bosses a little too much and tells the truth, just not all at once. She's trying to save the planet, one person at a time, and when she decides to get something done, it's a lot of fun. In Justine McKeen, Eat Your Beets, the fourth book in the Justine McKeen series, Justine has another brilliant idea to help the planet. When she learns a stray cat and her kittens are living off the food in their school Dumpster, Justine sets out to reduce waste and help save animals in need.