Tundra Book Group

October 7, 2022May 7, 2025

Teen Top Ten: September 2022

Wanna know what everyone else has been reading and loving lately? Every month we’ll post our list of top ten bestselling YA books that we publish and sell in Canada. Here are the Teen Top Ten titles for the month of September 2022 – how many have you read?

1. A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
By Holly Jackson
400 Pages | Ages 14+ | Paperback
ISBN 9781984896391 | Ember
Everyone in Fairview knows the story. Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town. But she can’t shake the feeling that there was more to what happened that day. She knew Sal when she was a child, and he was always so kind to her. How could he possibly have been a killer? Now a senior herself, Pip decides to re-examine the closed case for her final project, at first just to cast doubt on the original investigation. But soon she discovers a trail of dark secrets that might actually prove Sal innocent . . . and the line between past and present begins to blur. Someone in Fairview doesn’t want Pip digging around for answers, and now her own life might be in danger.

2. Girl in Pieces
By Kathleen Glasgow
448 Pages | Ages 14+ | Paperback
ISBN 9781101934746 | Ember
Charlotte Davis is in pieces. At seventeen she’s already lost more than most people do in a lifetime. But she’s learned how to forget. The broken glass washes away the sorrow until there is nothing but calm. You don’t have to think about your father and the river. Your best friend, who is gone forever. Or your mother, who has nothing left to give you. Every new scar hardens Charlie’s heart just a little more, yet it still hurts so much. It hurts enough to not care anymore, which is sometimes what has to happen before you can find your way back from the edge. A deeply moving portrait of a girl in a world that owes her nothing, and has taken so much, and the journey she undergoes to put herself back together. Kathleen Glasgow’s debut is heartbreakingly real and unflinchingly honest. It’s a story you won’t be able to look away from.

3. Good Girl, Bad Blood
By Holly Jackson
416 Pages | Ages 14+ | Paperback
ISBN 9781984896438 | Ember
Pip is not a detective anymore. With the help of Ravi Singh, she released a true-crime podcast about the murder case they solved together last year. The podcast has gone viral, yet Pip insists her investigating days are behind her. But she will have to break that promise when someone she knows goes missing. Jamie Reynolds has disappeared, on the very same night the town hosted a memorial for the sixth-year anniversary of the deaths of Andie Bell and Sal Singh. The police won’t do anything about it. And if they won’t look for Jamie then Pip will, uncovering more of her town’s dark secrets along the way . . . and this time everyone is listening. But will she find him before it’s too late?

4. Nothing More to Tell
By Karen M. McManus
368 Pages | Ages 14+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593175903 | Delacorte Press
Four years ago, Brynn left Saint Ambrose School following the shocking murder of her favorite teacher – a story that made headlines after the teacher’s body was found by three Saint Ambrose students in the woods behind their school. The case was never solved. Now that Brynn is moving home and starting her dream internship at a true-crime show, she’s determined to find out what really happened. The kids who found Mr. Larkin are her way in, and her ex-best friend, Tripp Talbot, was one of them. Without his account of events, the other two kids might have gone down for Mr. Larkin’s murder – but instead, thanks to Tripp, they’re now at the top of the Saint Ambrose social pyramid. Tripp’s friends have never forgotten what Tripp did for them that day, and neither has he. Just like he hasn’t forgotten that everything he told the police was a lie. Digging into the past is bound to shake up the present, and when Brynn begins to investigate what happened in the woods that day, she uncovers secrets that might change everything – about Saint Ambrose, about Mr. Larkin, and about her ex-best friend, Tripp Talbot. Four years ago someone got away with murder. More terrifying is that they might be closer than anyone thinks.

5. The Outsiders
By S. E. Hinton
224 Pages | Ages 12+ | Paperback
ISBN 9780140385724 | Viking BFYR
The 45th anniversary of a landmark work of teen fiction. Ponyboy can count on his brothers and his friends, but not on much else besides trouble with the Socs, a vicious gang of rich kids who get away with everything, including beating up greasers like Ponyboy. At least he knows what to expect – until the night someone takes things too far. Written forty-five years ago, S. E. Hinton’s classic story of a boy who finds himself on the outskirts of regular society remains as powerful today as it was the day it was written.

6. One of Us Is Lying
By Karen M. McManus
416 Pages | Ages 14+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9781524714680 | Delacorte Press
Pay close attention and you might solve this. On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention. Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing. Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher. And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app. Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon’s dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who is still on the loose? Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.

7. We Were Liars
By E. Lockhart
320 Pages | Ages 12+ | Paperback
ISBN 9780385741279 | Ember
A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends – the Liars – whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.
Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

8. As Good As Dead
By Holly Jackson
464 Pages | Ages 14+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593379851 | Delacorte Press
Pip is about to head to college, but she is still haunted by the way her last investigation ended. She’s used to online death threats in the wake of her viral true-crime podcast, but she can’t help noticing an anonymous person who keeps asking her: Who will look for you when you’re the one who disappears? Soon the threats escalate and Pip realizes that someone is following her in real life. When she starts to find connections between her stalker and a local serial killer caught six years ago, she wonders if maybe the wrong man is behind bars. Police refuse to act, so Pip has only one choice: find the suspect herself – or be the next victim. As the deadly game plays out, Pip discovers that everything in her small town is coming full circle . . . and if she doesn’t find the answers, this time she will be the one who disappears . . . .

9. Family of Liars
By E. Lockhart
320 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593485859 | Delacorte Press
The thrilling prequel to the TikTok phenomenon and New York Times bestseller We Were Liars takes readers back to the story of another summer, another generation, and the secrets that will haunt them for decades to come.
A windswept private island off the coast of Massachusetts.
A hungry ocean, churning with secrets and sorrow.
A fiery, addicted heiress. An irresistible, unpredictable boy.
A summer of unforgivable betrayal and terrible mistakes.
Welcome back to the Sinclair family.
They were always liars . . . .

10. The Dragon’s Promise
By Elizabeth Lim
496 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593300954 | Knopf BFYR
Princess Shiori made a deathbed promise to return the dragon’s pearl to its rightful owner, but keeping that promise is more dangerous than she ever imagined. She must journey to the kingdom of dragons, navigate political intrigue among humans and dragons alike, fend off thieves who covet the pearl for themselves and will go to any lengths to get it, all while cultivating the appearance of a perfect princess to dissuade those who would see her burned at the stake for the magic that runs in her blood. The pearl itself is no ordinary cargo; it thrums with malevolent power, jumping to Shiori’s aid one minute, and betraying her the next – threatening to shatter her family and sever the thread of fate that binds her to her true love. It will take every ounce of strength Shiori can muster to defend the life and the love she’s fought so hard to win.

October 6, 2022May 7, 2025

Tundra Telegram: Books For Your Moment of Zen

Hello, and thanks for joining us at Tundra Telegram, the column where we talk about the subjects on readers’ minds daily, the hot news topics, and recommend some good books for young readers to continue their investigative reporting and uncover the actual facts.

Last week, on September 29, Trevor Noah announced that after seven years as the host of The Daily Show, he would step down to focus on his stand-up career. Since 2015, Noah has interviewed everyone from astronauts who were currently in space and American Vice President Kamala Harris to climate activist Greta Thunberg and noted crystal flute player Lizzo.

This week, we feature some excellent picture books, middle-grade novels, and YA from (and about) some of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah‘s best guests and interviews – and, of course, we include the young readers’ edition of Noah’s memoir, Born a Crime.

PICTURE BOOKS

Noah spoke with Chelsea Clinton and her notable mother Hillary, on Halloween 2019. Among other things, you may know Clinton for her She Persisted book series, like She Persisted Around the World: 13 Women Who Changed History, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger, which features the stories of history-making women like Marie Curie, Viola Desmond, and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.

Misty Copeland, the first Black principal dance of the American Ballet Theatre, was on The Daily Show (on September 29, 2020) to speak with Noah about her picture book Bunheads. The picture book, illustrated by Setor Fiadzigbey and partially based on Misty’s own life, tells the story of a young girl who discovers dance through the ballet Coppélia, and is inspired by its heroine Swanilda to overcome her nerve and audition though she’s never danced ballet before.

Representing the ballet of fists that takes place in the squared circle is wrestler-turned-actor John Cena, who appeared on The Daily Show back on October 1, 2020 to talk about his picture book, Elbow Grease (illustrated by Howard McWilliam). Elbow Grease is a little monster truck who is smaller than his monster truck brothers, but – through hard work and moxie – proves he has the grit it takes to crush cars and stuff.

Shortly after wowing the United States at the inauguration of President Joe Biden, poet Amanda Gorman appeared on The Daily Show (on January 27, 2021) to speak about her poem “The Hill We Climb.” Later that year, Gorman published the picture book Change Sings, illustrated by Loren Long, a poetic picture book that depicts a young girl leading a diverse group of people on a musical journey – a journey during which they make big and small changes to their world, their communities, and their selves.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has appeared on The Daily Show a few times – most recently September 16, 2019 – and has also written a few children’s books! Our favorite is Just Ask!, illustrated by Rafael López, which encourages kids to embrace their individuality by asking each other questions about those differences. Much like different kinds of plants and flowers make a garden more beautiful and healthy, different kinds of people make the world more wonderful.

CHAPTER BOOKS & MIDDLE GRADE

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor also adapted her memoir into a book for young readers: The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor. Within, she chronicles the difficult challenges of her childhood, growing up in the rough housing projects of the South Bronx with parents who fought and had difficulties with money, and her inspiring rise through the legal system with help along the way from mentors and the love of her extended Puerto Rican family.

Comedian Kevin Hart was literally Trevor Noah’s first guest on The Daily Show (back on September 28, 2015). Hart is known for films like Central Intelligence and Jumanji, but young readers know him best as the author of Marcus Makes a Movie, the very funny book about a boy who is determined to make a blockbuster superhero film with some help from his friends, his teachers . . . and even his enemies.

The late Congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis sat down with Trevor Noah on August 8, 2016, to speak about his graphic novel series, March, illustrated by Nate Powell and co-written with Andrew Aydin. The graphic novels are a powerful memoir of Lewis’s involvement in the American civil rights struggle, moving from his youth in rural Alabama and his student activism to his work with the Freedom Riders campaign and culminating with the march from Selma to Montgomery.

Ruby Bridges was a guest on The Daily Show on November 9, 2020 some sixty years after making history as the first Black child to desegregate her all-white elementary school in Louisiana. Bridges also wrote This Is Your Time, a heavily illustrated book written to inspire readers to effect change and continue the struggle for liberty and justice.

And on January 7, 2019, Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai spoke to Trevor Noah about the challenges of refugee girls. The Extraordinary Life of Malala Yousafzai by Hiba Noor Khan introduces young readers to Yousafzai, her story and her campaign for girls’ education in the Taliban-controlled area of Pakistan, as well as her more recent activism.

YOUNG ADULT

Indigenous climate activist and youth director of Earth Guardians Xiuhtezcatl Martinez appeared on The Daily Show on September 5, 2017, before writing a book that was part of the Pocket Change Collective series, Imaginary Borders, but his passion and advocacy for environmental activism was as evident in the interview as it is in this inspiring personal essay about how art and activism are forever connected in a push for change.

Though author Akwaeke Emezi was on The Daily Show back on June 1, 2022, to talk about their book You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty, you’d be the fool if you didn’t check out their YA novels – especially Pet. Named a best book of the year by multiple media outlets, it’s a genre-bending story about Jam, who discovers the monsters she was told had all disappeared are real, and one of them – Pet – has emerged from her mother’s painting. Soon Jam begins to question who the monsters are and why no one will admit they exist.

Award-winning chef Kwame Onwuachi was on The Daily Show on June 11, 2019, to promote his memoir, Notes from a Young Black Chef. The book, later adapted for young readers, follows Onwuachi from his troubled youth, for which he’s sent by his parents to his father’s home in Nigeria, then later to cook with his mom in Louisiana. He soon becomes a well-known young chef, attaining fame by the age of 27, but nevertheless is forced to grapple with just how unwelcoming the haute cuisine world can be for people of colour.

The February 10, 2020 episode of The Daily Show had Trevor Noah trading sci-fi and fantasy talk with author Tochi Onyebuchi. And if you liked his chat about dystopias, you’ll love War Girls, his YA novel about two sisters in the futuristic, war-torn Nigeria of 2172 (where people fight in flying mech suits – take note, Iron Widow lovers) who are willing to fight their way to a better future.

Finally, we have to mention the young readers adaptation of Trevor Noah‘s own memoir, It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime, about growing up in Apartheid South Africa with a Black mother and white father – where it was literally against the law for a child of mixed race like him to exist.

Happy reading, news-lovers!

October 5, 2022May 7, 2025

2022 BC and Yukon Book Prize Winner

The BC and Yukon Book Prizes, established in 1985, recognize and promote the achievements of the book community in BC and Yukon through the prizes and related programs. The prizes are administered and awarded by members of the non-profit West Coast Book Prize Society, who represent all facets of the publishing and writing community, and are presented annually at the Society’s gala. For more information and to see this year’s complete list of winners, click here.

We would like to congratulate Julie Morstad on winning the Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize for Time Is a Flower, edited by Tara Walker with assistance from Margot Blankier!

Time Is a Flower
By Julie Morstad
56 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735267541 | Tundra Books
What is time? Is it the tick tick tock of a clock, numbers and words on a calendar? It’s that, but so much more. Time is a seed waiting to grow, a flower blooming, a sunbeam moving across a room. Time is slow like a spider spinning her web or fast like a wave at the beach. Time is a wiggly tooth, or waiting for the school bell to ring, or reading a story . . . or three! But time is also morning for some and night for others, a fading sunset and a memory captured in a photo taken long ago. In this magical meditation on the nature of time, Julie Morstad shines a joyful light on a difficult-to-grasp concept for young readers and reminds older readers to see the wonders of our world, including children themselves, through the lens of time.

We’d also like to congratulate our other shortlisted authors: Kallie George and Elly MacKay (The Secret Fawn) and David A. Robertson and Julie Flett (On the Trapline), who were nominated for the Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize; as well as Angela Ahn and Julie Kwon (Peter Lee’s Notes from the Field), and Xiran Jay Zhao (Iron Widow) who were nominated for the Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize!

October 4, 2022May 7, 2025

Tuesdays with Tundra

Tuesdays with Tundra is an ongoing series featuring our new releases. The following titles are now available in stores and online!

A Different Kind of Normal: My Real-Life COMPLETELY True Story About Being Unique
By Abigail Balfe
240 Pages | Ages 8-12 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774881637 | Tundra Books
“Hi! My name is Abigail, and I’m autistic. But I didn’t know I was autistic until I was a (kind of) adult. This is my true story of growing up in the confusing ‘normal’ world, all the while missing some Very Important Information about myself. There’ll be scary moments involving toilets and crowded trains, heart-warming tales of cats and pianos, and funny memories including my dad and a mysterious tub of ice cream. Along the way you’ll also find some Very Crucial Information about autism.” Important, funny, and completely unique, this book is for anyone who has ever felt different.

Narwhalicorn and Jelly: A Narwhal and Jelly Book #7
By Ben Clanton
80 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735266728 | Tundra Books
When Jelly wonders what a unicorn is, Narwhal explains that they’re pretty much narwhals of the land (!) – and then gets carried away with a grand plan to see one. With the help of Star, Narwhal’s wish comes true in the wildest, weirdest way: Narwhal gets some land legs and takes their first step ashore. After some wibble-wobbling and a bit of practice, Narwhal is soon galloping along in search of unicorns, though Jelly is a little land sick. Before they know it, Star has the duo blasting off to a magical planet where everyone is a unicorn! But Jelly’s out-of-this-world adventure makes him feel out of his comfort zone, and he wishes he were at home . . . can Narwhal cheer Jelly up and also party down with their new unicorn pals?

On This Airplane
By Lourdes Heuer
Illustrated by Sara Palacios
32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735268609 | Tundra Books
Someone travels solo, two travel as one,
three return, and four set out. In this simple and moving book, a young family takes a plane to their new home. While onboard, they encounter all the people you meet on a plane: a bookworm, a businessperson, tourists, crying babies and daydreamers . . . all with their own stories and all heading somewhere special.

Strum & Drum: A Merry Little Quest
By Jashar Awan
56 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735272392 | Tundra Books
All is quiet in the forest as the Great Star rises in the distance, and two little musicians, Strum and Drum, wake up from a deep slumber and set out to make the most joyous music they can! But as Strum strums his guitar and Drum drums her drum on their way to the North, some mysterious obstacles fill their paths . . . flickering lanterns, bubbles of glass, a silver waterfall, a tiny house, dangerous animals . . . and a wooden man with a toothy grin warns them of a beast with green eyes lying in wait. For this is no ordinary forest – it’s a Christmas tree, on Christmas Eve, and Strum, Drum and all their new friends are ornaments! But when the green-eyed beast strikes and sends them tumbling out of the “forest,” Strum and Drum’s quest to reach the Great Star seems doomed . . . until a little boy setting out milk and cookies for Santa spots them.

New in Paperback:

Walking in Two Worlds
By Wab Kinew
296 Pages | Ages 12+ | Paperback
ISBN 9780735269026 | Penguin Teen Canada
Bugz is caught between two worlds. In the real world, she’s a shy and self-conscious Indigenous teen who faces the stresses of teenage angst and life on the Rez. But in the virtual world, her alter ego is not just confident but dominant in a massively multiplayer video game universe. Feng is a teen boy who has been sent from China to live with his aunt, a doctor on the Rez, after his online activity suggests he may be developing extremist sympathies. Meeting each other in real life, as well as in the virtual world, Bugz and Feng immediately relate to each other as outsiders and as avid gamers. And as their connection is strengthened through their virtual adventures, they find that they have much in common in the real world, too: both must decide what to do in the face of temptations and pitfalls, and both must grapple with the impacts of family challenges and community trauma. But betrayal threatens everything Bugz has built in the virtual world, as well as her relationships in the real world, and it will take all her newfound strength to restore her friendship with Feng and reconcile the parallel aspects of her life: the traditional and the mainstream, the east and the west, the real and the virtual.

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.

October 2, 2022May 7, 2025

2022 Sheila Barry Best Canadian Picturebook of the Year Award Winner

The Sheila Barry Best Canadian Picturebook of the Year Award is named for the late publisher of Groundwood Books, and honors books that follow in the footsteps of its namesake, celebrated for her talent for matching authors and illustrators in the creation of beautiful and resonant picture books. We would like to congratulate Julie Morstad whose gorgeous Time Is a Flower won this year’s award.