National Network for Equitable Library Service

Since his girlfriend dumped him, Jayden has been avoiding school, and life in general. When his eccentric uncle Mel invites him to help with his biology research at an Australian university, he figures he has nothing to lose. Unfortunately, this means an expedition into the scorching desert heat of the Australian outback…with the increasingly paranoid Mel and an unfriendly biology student named Natalie.

It's the summer of Connor Trent's sixteenth birthday, and the stakes for him have never been so high. Connor's summer job at the Bytowne Tennis Club allows him to train at a historic facility. It also throws him into confrontation with his rich-kid rival, Rex Hunter, whom he will battle for a berth in the National Junior Tournament. After a series of fundraisers is sabotaged, Connor suspects that someone wants to bankrupt the club and take over its valuable riverfront property. A fabled trophy, rumored to contain hidden cash, might solve all of Connor's problems, if he can win it.

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.

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?

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.

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.

Fourteen-year-old Libby didn't want to go on a year long sailing adventure with her mother and her stepfather, Duncan, and she isn't about to let them forget it. Traveling through the Red Sea, Libby causes them to be late and make a dangerous crossing alone. When modern-day pirates attack, Duncan is killed and Libby's mother is left seriously injured and unconscious. Libby is left alone on a crippled boat to find safety and help for her mother. Libby must call on all her strength and face some hard truths about herself if she is to survive and reach land.

When it comes to cross-country running, Jake does everything right. He eats all the right foods, trains like crazy and reads articles about running in his spare time. There's nothing easy about running, but the hardest part for Jake is that, at the end of the day, Spencer Solomon always wins first place. Determined to take the lead for once, Jake continues to push himself even more. His rigorous training schedule leaves no time for friends, family, pizza or joking around. When Jake is invited to join the Diamond Running Club, he thinks he's found an opportunity to train harder.

Sixteen-year-old Kat and her mom haven't seen much of each other since Kat's father died last year. Her mom has taken over the family trucking business and has been away a lot. She promised that Kat could join her on her next run, a journey across the frozen Manitoba lake known as the "winter road." But at the last minute she changes her mind. Kat, who has recently been diagnosed with diabetes, stows away in the back of the semi instead. By the time her mother discovers her, it's too late to turn back.