National Network for Equitable Library Service

CCBC’s Best Books for Kids & Teens (Spring 2016) — Commended After defeating the forces of evil in Eldritch Manor, Willa must rebuild the manor — and her family. Can Willa rally her supernatural friends to defeat an invasion from beyond? After battling and defeating the forces of darkness, Willa is looking forward to a little well-earned peace and quiet. Unfortunately, her recent adventures have given birth to new problems, not the least of which is the task of rebuilding Eldritch Manor, a retirement home for supernatural beings, from the ground up.

CCBC’s Best Books for Kids & Teens (Spring 2016) — Commended Is pretending to be someone else the only way Michiko can fit in? Michiko Minigawa’s life is nothing but a bad game of baseball. The Canadian government swung the bat once, knocking her family away from a Vancouver home base to an old farmhouse in the Kootenay Mountains. But when they move into town, the government swings the bat again, announcing that all Japanese must now move east of the Rockies or else go to Japan. Now in Ontario, Michiko once again has to adjust to a whole new kind of life.

To see teen idol Josh Taylor in concert, Hannah Smart is prepared to face bullies, learn terrible secrets, and discover hidden talents. When thirteen-year-old Hannah Smart finds out that teen idol Josh Taylor (only the most talented singer in the entire world) is coming to her hometown to kick off his first-ever concert tour, she nearly goes into shock. Even more shocking is the fact that her parents one-hundred-percent refuse to buy her a ticket — if Hannah wants to go, she has to figure out a way on her own.

2017 Silver Birch Express Award Honour Book • 2017 Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award — Shortlisted • 2017 Diamond Willow Award — Shortlisted The second instalment in a series of scary tall tales from acclaimed children’s novelist Philippa Dowding. I will never leave this car, the back seat reeks of everything my little brother has ever eaten, and that thing is still out there … Myles and his family have been driving for four days. It’s their final night on the road, but Myles knows they will never arrive at their new house. It will never stop raining.

Peggy is off to a Viking site in North America where she unearths the remains of a brave young warrior. It’s a dream come true for Peggy Henderson when her friend, Dr. Edwina McKay, lets her tag along to the Viking settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows National Park in Newfoundland, where Dr. McKay will be teaching archaeology field school for the summer. Peggy already knows a lot about archaeology — having been on three previous excavations — but does she need to brag about it so much?

This three-book bundle collects the adventures of 12-year-old adventurer and bone expert Peggy Henderson. In Reading the Bones, due to circumstances beyond her control, Peggy has to move to the quiet town of Crescent Beach, B.C., to live with her aunt and uncle. She learns that her home and the entire seaside town were built on top of a 5,000-year-old Coast Salish fishing village. With the help of an elderly archaeologist, Peggy comes to know the ancient storyteller buried in her yard in a way that few others can – by reading the bones.

Can a high-seas, whale-saving adventure repair the hurt between two friends? How do you decide where your heart lies when it’s being tugged at from so many sides? When Robin and Zo-Zo discover that their beloved lake has become a toxic sludge — the result of an algae bloom — they know they have to do something to fix it. But trouble begins when the two friends develop a crush on the same boy during a community meeting to save the lake. To help repair things between the girls, Robin’s grandmother, Griff, suggests a high-seas adventure with a whale-saving old friend of hers.

Both books of Karen Hood-Caddy’s critically acclaimed Wild Place series are now available in this ebook bundle! Join Robin from the very beginning as she opens her secret animal shelter, The Wild Place, and learns to stand up both for herself and the animals she protects.

CCBC's Best Books for Kids & Teens (Fall 2015) - Commended The life story of a painted mustang set against the backdrop of America’s Great Plains in the late 1800s. It’s the late 1800s. A Lakota boy finds an orphaned mustang foal and brings her back to his family’s camp, naming her Paint for her black-and-white markings. Boy and horse soon become inseparable. Together they learn to hunt buffalo, their fear of the massive beasts tempered by a growing trust in each other. When the U.S. Cavalry attacks the camp, the pair is forced onto separate paths.

2016 Young Author's Award — Shortlisted CCBC's Best Books for Kids & Teens (Fall 2015) - Commended Instead of writing in a diary, twelve-year-old Jo Waller secretly edits Wikipedia entries to cope with the worst year of her life. Jo Waller has three brainy friends, two mostly harmless parents, and one deep, dark secret: she edits Wikipedia for fun.