Each year, the Canada Council for the Arts honours the best books in Canadian literature with the Governor General’s Literary Awards. This year, we have two finalists in the Young People’s Literature categories, one in text and one in illustrated books. Congratulations to our authors and illustrators!
Young People’s Literature – Text
Fire on Headless Mountain By Iain Lawrence 256 Pages | Ages 9-12 | Paperback ISBN 9780823454631 | Margaret Ferguson Books Virgil is making his older siblings trek to a mountain lake on a trip unlike any they’ve have taken before. They carry precious cargo: the ashes of their beloved mother, who asked that her remains be scattered at her favorite spot. But when a forest fire is sparked by a bolt of lightning at the exact moment when their van breaks down, the journey quickly turns to disaster. While the oldest, Josh, is gone to find help, Virgil and his sister, Kaitlyn, spot fleeing animals and soon see flames flickering above the tree line. Once the sky begins to darken with the haze of burning timber, Virgil finds himself separated from his sister and left alone in the wilderness. He isn’t sure he can make it, but with the memory of his late mother, a science teacher, and all her lessons to guide him, he quickly learns that not everything has a perfect explanation and survival starts with letting go. Fire on Headless Mountain showcases not only the overwhelming beauty and terrifying power of nature, but also the gift of memory when facing great emotional and physical trials. Lessons on ecosystems and fire safety are also seamlessly interwoven into this thrilling adventure tale.
Special thanks to the peer assessment committee: Cheryl Foggo, June Hur and Tom Ryan.
Young People’s Literature – Illustrated Books
The Skull By Jon Klassen 112 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Hardcover ISBN 9781536223361 | Candlewick Jon Klassen’s signature wry humor takes a turn for the ghostly in this thrilling retelling of a traditional Tyrolean folktale. In a big abandoned house, on a barren hill, lives a skull. A brave girl named Otilla has escaped from terrible danger and run away, and when she finds herself lost in the dark forest, the lonely house beckons. Her host, the skull, is afraid of something too, something that comes every night. Can brave Otilla save them both? Steeped in shadows and threaded with subtle wit – with rich, monochromatic artwork and an illuminating author’s note – The Skull is as empowering as it is mysterious and foreboding.
Special thanks to the peer assessment committee: Marianne Ferrer, Lee Edward Födi and Mahak Jain.
Follow the conversation on Twitter/X through @CanadaCouncil and by using the hashtag #GGbooks2023 on all social platforms. The winners of the 2023 Governor General Literary Awards will be announced on Wednesday, November 8, 2023.
Tuesdays with Tundra is an ongoing series featuring our new releases. These titles are now available in stores and online!
Freddie the Flyer By Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail and Fred Carmichael Illustrated by Audrea Loreen-Wulf 32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9781774880807 | Tundra Books When Freddie was young, he saw a plane up close for the first time when it dropped off supplies at his family’s remote bush camp. He was instantly hooked. Freddie has flown for nearly seventy years, doing everything from supply runs to search and rescue to transporting dog teams to far-flung areas. This book celebrates Freddie’s early dreams of flying and his later achievements. Readers move with Freddie through the year, hearing about his journey as a pilot and leader, while learning the names of the months in Gwich’in and Inuvialuktun at the same time. Art from Inuvialuit painter Audrea Loreen-Wulf perfectly captures the incredible Western Arctic as well as Freddie’s love for aviation.
Pluto Rocket: Joe Pidge Flips a Lid (Pluto Rocket #2) By Paul Gilligan 88 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735271937 | Tundra Books Joe Pidge, king of the neighborhood, and Pluto Rocket, an alien who’s new in town, have become fast friends, with Joe acting as Pluto’s guide on her secret mission to discover what life in the neighborhood is really like. But on Joe’s tour (where he shows Pluto the best fire escape and the best garbage can in the world!), it becomes clear that Joe has never actually left his tiny slice of the planet . . . Pluto encourages Joe to get out of his comfort zone, but Joe delays by creating an outlandish list of supplies they’ll need to get before they go! Is Joe Pidge afraid of leaving his safe little neighborhood? And if that’s tough, imagine how Joe feels when his hat, his trademark super-flavio look that helps him stand out from the other pigeons, goes missing. Thankfully, Pluto is here to help save the day in the second book of this hilarious graphic novel series from Paul Gilligan, creator of the syndicated comic strip Pooch Cafe!
Pluto Rocket: Joe Pidge Flips a Lid is also available today in Paperback!
The Three Little Mittens By Linda Bailey Illustrated by Natalia Shaloshvili 32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9781774880111 | Tundra Books Dotty and Other Dotty are a matching set of mittens. When another mitten, Stripes, loses her partner and becomes a single mitten, they don’t feel the need to include her. She doesn’t “match” them, so she is banished to the dark, lonely pocket of the Little Girl who owns them. Before long, however, Dotty loses her partner, and now she doesn’t match the reunited pair of Stripes and Other Stripes, who in turn banish her to the pocket. “YOU don’t match!” they tell her. When the Little Girl, who has been listening to their conversations, weighs in with a huge question (“Why do you have to match?”), the mittens are shocked. Then comes their realization that “matching” often means leaving someone out. This prompts the Little Girl to break a fundamental rule of fashion so that individual mittens (and maybe even socks! or shoes!) can be themselves – and everyone can belong. A warm and fuzzy story with lots of laughs, this latest picture book from Linda Bailey explores what it feels like to be excluded and included and celebrates one-of-a-kindness!
The Tragically Hip ABC By The Tragically Hip With Drew Macklin Illustrated by Clayton Hanmer, Julia Breckenreid, Monika Melnychuk and Bridget George 32 Pages | Ages 5-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9781774881248 | Tundra Books A love letter to The Tragically Hip, one of Canada’s most beloved bands, this ABC picture book features illustrations from four renowned Canadian illustrators. The Tragically Hip, fronted by the late Gord Downie, is a legendary, bestselling Canadian band. And now, almost forty years of music can be appreciated in a brand-new way: an ABC picture book! From “A is for Ahead by a Century” to “N is for New Orleans is Sinking” all the way to “Z is for Frozen in My Tracks,” this illustrated ode to the band will be enjoyed by readers of all ages. Featuring art from Canadian illustrators Clayton Hanmer, Julia Breckenreid, Bridget George and Monika Melnychuk, this is the perfect gift for Hip fans old and new!
New in Paperback:
Alis the Aviator By Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail Illustrated by Kalpna Patel 40 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Paperback ISBN 9781774883648 | Tundra Books Come along on an aviation journey with Alis! This spunky female guide will take you through an ABC of planes featuring gorgeous cut-paper art. An A to Z of planes past and present, this book has stunning cut-paper art and a cute-as-a-button guide named Alis. Named for Dr. Alis Kennedy, likely one of the first Indigenous women to obtain a commercial pilot licence in Canada, Alis will take you on an aviation tour from the Avro Arrow to the Zeppelin and everything in between. Meticulously researched and uniquely crafted, this is a one-of-a-kind book that will delight aviation fans big and little.
We can’t wait to see you reading these titles! If you share these books online, remember to use #ReadTundra in your hashtags so that we can re-post.
Tundra is very excited to be publishing The Gulf on March 5, 2024! Written and illustrated by Adam de Souza, The Gulf is a graphic novel for YA readers that follows a group of friends in their final days of high school who run away from home in order to join a commune.
Scroll down for the full cover plus a Q&A with Adam de Souza!
The Gulf By Adam de Souza 240 Pages | Ages 14+ | Hardcover and Paperback ISBN 9781774880739 | Tundra Books Release Date: March 5, 2024 Ever since Oli found a pamphlet for a remote island commune as a kid, it’s all she can think about. Now that she’s nearing the end of high school, feeling frustrated with the mounting pressure to choose a career and follow a path she has no interest in, the desire to escape it all has been steadily increasing.
Everything comes to a head when Oli’s relationship with her best friend goes south and she claps back at a school bully with more than just words. Oli flees to find the commune on a Gulf Island off the coast of Vancouver, taking with her Milo, who can’t help but hide his feelings behind the safety of a video camera, and Alvin, a shy teen who sees more than he lets on. Behind them trails Liam, Oli’s ex-best-friend and sometimes love interest, who wants to apologize for the way things went down. All four are grappling with a world that cannot be changed . . . and simply trying to find their place in it.
This YA anti-coming-of-age road trip adventure, by talented up-and-coming comic artist Adam de Souza, captures at once the angst and humor of being a teen during a time of great transition.
Q&A with Adam de Souza
Where did the initial inspiration for The Gulf come from?
The story came from reflecting on my own aimlessness during the final years of high school, as well as my interest in alternative lifestyles. A decade removed from high school while writing this story, I felt I could finally put a name to what that aimless feeling was a symptom of, and that’s what I was inspired to write about.
Why did you choose the Gulf Islands as the main setting for this story?
I have spent a lot of time exploring the various Gulf Islands on the Salish Sea throughout my life and they’re among my favorite places to spend idle days. They’re wild in this unique and distinctly West Coast way and I hoped to capture that visually. Their seclusive nature seems to attract people that make a living in the precarious cracks of what we deem normal; the islands are places where I find it easy to imagine a different way of living.
What is one thing that makes Oli’s “coming-of-age” story unique?
I wanted to write a story about a character who reflected the experience I had when I “came-of-age.” You expect some grand epiphany or that the things that don’t make sense will snap into some understandable order, but that moment never came. Oli’s story is meant to be an anti-coming-of-age story that rallies against the notion that “it will all make sense when you’re older” because it’s okay if it doesn’t – and it frankly makes sense that it won’t – but at least we can try and untangle it together into something more equitable.
You are both the writer and illustrator; how did you go about creating the book? Does art or dialog come first to you?
The whole story of The Gulf came from a specific wordless sequence at the climax of the book. There were a few other scenes that I drew out after that, but generally it’s a bit of a push and pull between visuals and writing. After I draw out a key sequence, there’s a lot of scaffolding outward that has to happen via writing. While scripting, I try to make sure that I am writing around an absent image instead of leaning directly into prose.
Were you influenced/inspired by other media such as movies, books, art, etc.?
Most of my inspiration for writing comes from reading books and watching movies. Knowing how to express a lot of what The Gulf is on a thematic level came from reading about communes and what those societies were grounded in philosophically and politically.
How many cover drafts did you do before this one was finalized?
I submitted around ten different designs for the cover alongside what became the final design. Picturing the book sitting on a bookshelf in a store made it hard for me to choose so I was happy to defer to the team at Tundra.
How did you create the cover? What tools or programs do you use?
The covers started as small “thumbnails” in my sketchbook. I scan those drawings onto my computer and then I do a more solid sketch on my iPad in color. After a cover is chosen, I ink it on paper with a pen and I color most of my work digitally in Clip Studio, Procreate, or Photoshop.
How is working on this book different from your other projects, like your comic strip “Blind Alley”?
There’s a sort of laissez-faire quality to writing a comic strip that comes from the four-panel form; you can’t rush anything as you have only the smallest little bites of story. I have a plan for my comic strips, but there’s nothing formalized and no maximum page count. For better or worse, the weekly structure allows me to follow any whims that catch my fancy. I am definitely a writer who loves to chase down a tangent and I find those character, setting, or “vibe” building moments incredibly important.
Writing The Gulf was almost the opposite in terms of process. The story was outlined, scripted, and then drawn out before being committed to ink. It involved a lot of collaboration and was a rewarding process. By the time I actually started to ink the book, I felt like I knew the story and characters inside and out, which made me feel more confident in my decisions. The process of working this way has encouraged me not to shy away from actually spending time scripting.
What books have you been reading lately?
I have been reading The Half-Life by Jonathan Raymond as well as The Social Instinct by Nicola Raihani. I’ve also slowly been reading through the Moomin comics, which are delightful and always make me feel like drawing.
Tuesdays with Tundra is an ongoing series featuring our new releases. These titles are now available in stores and online!
Anne Dares By Kallie George Illustrated by Abigail Halpin 72 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735272101 | Tundra Books Anne is excited to be a guest at a party at Orchard Slope, the home of her kindred spirit, Diana Barry. But when the dares start and mean Josie Pye makes the others feel bad, Anne can’t stop herself from challenging Josie to a dare . . . which leads to Anne being dared to climb the house and walk along the ridgepole! Anne’s dangerous dare ends in injury . . . and teaches her an important lesson. But Anne must pluck up her courage again when she is chosen to recite at a Christmas concert! How can Anne perform in front of so many people? And what is shy Matthew Cuthbert hiding from the family?
The Little Books of the Little Brontës By Sara O’Leary Illustrated by Briony May Smith 40 Pages | Ages 5-9 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735263697 | Tundra Books Many years ago, the four motherless children of the Brontë family – Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne – lived in a windswept house by the moors with their father. Although their lives were often filled with sadness and their world was only as large as the distance they could walk, their INNER worlds were bound only by their imaginations. Hungry for stories, these children devoured novels and poetry, history and fables. And with the gift of a group of toy soldiers, they were inspired to make their own stories, and their own tiny books . . . a passion that would last them a lifetime. A moving and atmospheric story about the power of imagination, the joy of storytelling and the love of books, The Little Books of the Little Brontës will enchant both those who love these literary sisters and those who are learning about them for the first time. Includes an author’s note, timeline of the Brontës’ lives and a fun craft with instructions on creating your own little book.
New in Paperback:
Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen: The Seaside Corpse By Marthe Jocelyn Illustrated by Isabelle Follath 368 Pages | Ages 10+ | Paperback ISBN 9780735270848 | Tundra Books After an invigorating but not exactly restful trip to a Yorkshire spa during which she survived a near brush with death and foiled a murderer, aspiring writer Aggie Morton and her friend Hector are thrilled to have the opportunity to stay at a camp by the sea and watch real paleontologists at work. The famed husband and wife team of the Blenningham-Crewes are about to become even more famous with the recovery of the fossilized bones of an ichthyosaur from the sea by Lyme Regis. This news has already caught the attention of an American millionaire, a British museum and a travelling circus owner, who each want the bones for their own collections. Tensions are running high throughout the camp, from the cook, to the collectors, to the Blenningham-Crewes themselves, and become downright dangerous after Aggie and Hector make a discovery of their own: a body on the beach. Not a fossil, but a human body.
We can’t wait to see you reading these titles! If you share these books online, remember to use #ReadTundra in your hashtags so that we can re-post.
The Forest of Reading® is Canada’s largest recreational reading program. This initiative of the Ontario Library Association offers seven reading programs to encourage a love of reading in people of all ages. The Forest helps celebrate Canadian books, publishers, authors, and illustrators. Here at Tundra Book Group and Friends, we’d like to congratulate our nominated authors and illustrators.
2024 Blue Spruce Awardâ„¢ï¸ Nominee
My Fade Is Fresh By Shauntay Grant Illustrated by Kitt Thomas 32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover ISBN 9780593387085 | Penguin Workshop When a little girl walks into her local barbershop, she knows she wants the flyest, freshest fade on the block! But there are so many beautiful hairstyles to choose from, and the clients and her mother suggest them all: parts, perms, frizzy fros, dye jobs, locs, and even cornrows! But this little girl stays true to herself and makes sure she leaves the shop feeling on top with the look she picks! Author Shauntay Grant’s sweet, rhyming story encourages young girls to be self-confident and celebrates the many shapes and forms Black hair can take. Through their stunning illustrations, Kitt Thomas is able to bring life and movement to the versatile styles featured in this book.
2024 Silver Birch Express Award®ï¸ Nominee
Tadpoles By Matt James 40 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover ISBN 9780823450053 | Neal Porter Books One rainy morning, a father and son bond over a walk through a field full of freshly formed ponds teeming with tadpoles. In this tender reflection on the fleeting rhythms of the natural world and the enduring love of family, a boy and his father spend a morning exploring an ephemeral pond, a delicate nursery formed by rainfall, perfect for sheltering tadpoles from predators as they grow. The boy’s father doesn’t live with him anymore, and the ponds may only be temporary, but together they make memories that just might last a lifetime.
The Skull By Jon Klassen 112 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Hardcover ISBN 9781536223378 | Candlewick Jon Klassen’s signature wry humor takes a turn for the ghostly in this thrilling retelling of a traditional Tyrolean folktale. In a big abandoned house, on a barren hill, lives a skull. A brave girl named Otilla has escaped from terrible danger and run away, and when she finds herself lost in the dark forest, the lonely house beckons. Her host, the skull, is afraid of something too, something that comes every night. Can brave Otilla save them both? Steeped in shadows and threaded with subtle wit – with rich, monochromatic artwork and an illuminating author’s note – The Skull is as empowering as it is mysterious and foreboding.
2024 Silver Birch Fiction Award® Nominees
PAWS: Mindy Makes Some Space By Nathan Fairbairn Illustrated by Michele Assarasakorn 176 Pages | Ages 8-12 | Paperback ISBN 9780593351918 | Razorbill Best friends Mindy Park, Gabby Jordan, and Priya Gupta are back in business! After a few ups and downs, their dog-walking business is booming and the girls are closer than ever. It’s a dream come true! But for Mindy, things at home are beginning to feel like a bit of a nightmare. Her mom just started dating someone, which has Mindy feeling like the odd one out. For as long as she can remember, it’s been just the two of them and she doesn’t want that to change. (So what if her mom’s boyfriend has a cute pet cat, and all of Mindy’s friends seem to think he’s pretty cool?) And things only get worse when a new student named Hazel arrives in class and seems totally into joining PAWS. Sharing her mom feels bad enough, so there’s no way Mindy’s is going to share her best friends and her business, too! But when Mindy’s stubbornness starts to hurt everyone around her, will she be able to overcome her fears and learn that change doesn’t have to be a cat-tastrophe?
The Big Sting By Rachelle Delaney 224 Pages | Ages 8-12 | Hardcover ISBN 9780735269309 | Tundra Books Eleven-year-old Leo is an “armchair adventurer.” This, according to Dad, means he’d choose adventures in books or video games over real-life experiences. And while Leo hates the label, he can’t argue with it. Unlike his little sister Lizzie, Leo is not a risk-taker. So when he, Lizzie, Mom and Dad leave the city to visit Grandpa on Heron Island, Leo finds all kinds of dangers to avoid – from the deep, dark ocean to an old barn on the verge of collapse. But nothing on the island is more fearsome than Grandpa himself – Leo has never met anyone so grumpy! According to Mom, Grandpa is still grieving the recent death of his wife, a beekeeper beloved by everyone on the island. Despite Leo’s best efforts to avoid it, adventure finds him anyway when Grandma’s beehives go missing in the dead of night. Infuriated, Grandpa vows to track down the sticky-fingered thieves himself . . . with risk-averse Leo and danger-loving Lizzie (plus a kitten named Mayhem) in tow.
2024 Red Maple Awardâ„¢ï¸ Nominees
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: The Druid’s Call By E.K. Johnston 336 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover ISBN 9780593598184 | Random House Worlds For as long as she can remember, Doric has felt alone. Abandoned by her human parents, she wandered for years before being taken in by a community of Neverwinter Wood elves. But her horns and tail proclaim a tiefling heritage, and even among the kindest of elves, her fledgling druidic abilities mark her as different from the rangers around her. And as humans begin to encroach farther and farther into the once pristine woods, Doric knows she needs to master her druidic capabilities if she is to be any help to her adopted family. With no means of helping Doric themselves, her guardians see no choice but to send her somewhere she can come into her own. Tucked among the ancient pines of the Ardeep Forest hides the Emerald Enclave, an order of warriors tasked with preserving the natural world. They fight to maintain balance between the forces of the wild and civilization, and in doing so, protect the sanctity of each. Among their order, Doric begins to find power in her differences. But not all her fellow initiates are so capable of new growth, and as her training continues, Doric is forced to confront the very beliefs that brought her into the Enclave’s fold. If she’s going to protect her home, she’ll have to reckon with her people, her power, and the walls she’s built to keep herself safe from both.
Seekers of the Fox: Thieves of Shadow #2 By Kevin Sands 416 Pages | Ages 10+ | Paperback ISBN 9780735270466 | Puffin Canada Rule number one: Never mess with magic. Even so, a life-or-death situation calls for Callan and his criminal friends to make a deal with the Eye – the sinister, sentient artifact they stole from a sorcerer. It’s Lachlan’s life in exchange for a future task, and the gang has no choice but to agree. But even as Lachlan is resurrected, it’s not without cost. Through the Eye, Callan can see a tiny purple stain inside Lachlan’s soul, which will eventually consume him. The cure – and their part of the deal – lies with the Dragon’s Teeth, a pair of swords with extraordinary powers, and the search for them leads the thieves on a quest that will unravel the mystery of the Eye. Old friends, new betrayals, and an even more daring break-in than the last culminate in a confrontation that will take all the gang’s skill and power to resist – or they’ll die trying.
2024 White Pine Awardâ„¢ï¸ Nominees
Funeral Songs for Dying Girls By Cherie Dimaline 280 Pages | Ages 14+ | Hardcover ISBN 9780735265639 | Tundra Books Winifred has lived in the apartment above the cemetery office with her father, who works in the crematorium all her life, close to her mother’s grave. With her sixteenth birthday only days away, Winifred has settled into a lazy summer schedule, lugging her obese Chihuahua around the grounds in a squeaky red wagon to visit the neglected gravesides and nursing a serious crush on her best friend, Jack. Her habit of wandering the graveyard at all hours has started a rumor that Winterson Cemetery might be haunted. It’s welcome news since the crematorium is on the verge of closure and her father’s job being outsourced. Now that the ghost tours have started, Winifred just might be able to save her father’s job and the only home she’s ever known, not to mention being able to stay close to where her mother is buried. All she has to do is get help from her con-artist cousin to keep up the rouse and somehow manage to stop her father from believing his wife has returned from the grave. But when Phil, an actual ghost of a teen girl who lived and died in the ravine next to the cemetery, starts showing up, Winifred begins to question everything she believes about life, love and death. Especially love.
Of Light and Shadow By Tanaz Bhathena 448 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover ISBN 9780735271432 | Penguin Teen Canada When they don’t give us our birthright, we steal it. Roshan Chaya is out for justice. Abandoned by her parents at birth and adopted by the kingdom of Jwala’s most notorious bandit before his brutal murder, she is now leader of the Shadow Clan, a gang of farmers-turned-bandits impoverished by the provincial governor’s atrocities and corruption. Roshan’s goal: to avenge her adoptive father and earn back rights and dignity for her people. Prince Navin has always felt like an outcast. Second in line for the throne, he has never been close to his grandmother, Queen Bhairavi of Jwala. When a night out drinking with friends leads to his capture by the infamous Shadow Clan, Navin schemes to befriend Roshan and use her as a means to escape. His ploy, however, brings Navin closer to the corruption and poverty at the heart of Roshan’s province, raising questions about its governor and Navin’s own family. To further complicate things, the closer Roshan and Navin get, the harder it becomes to fight their growing attraction. But how can they trust each other when the world as they know it starts to fall apart? Set in a magical world inspired by the badlands of 17th century India, this standalone epic fantasy novel by Tanaz Bhathena is packed with political tensions, dangerous schemes, and swoon-worthy romance that asks the age old question: can love conquer all?
