Tag: The Big Sting

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Holiday Spotlight: Tundra Books Early Reader + Middle-Grade 2023

Here at Penguin Random House Canada, we’re lucky to work with so many different imprints and children’s book lists. This holiday season, we’ll be highlighting each one with a dedicated post to help you find the perfect gift (or your next read). Today’s post is all about early reader and middle-grade books from Tundra Books, our very own Canadian publisher!

A Green Velvet Secret
By Vicki Grant
256 Pages | Ages 10+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735270121 | Tundra Books
It’s always hard to lose a friend, but for Yardley O’Hanlon it’s devastating. Her best friend is her wild and wonderful grandmother Gidge. They’re two fashionable peas in a quirky little pod. They spend all their time together sewing and crafting and creating beautiful things – until Gidge dies, and Yardley loses her for good. Or does she? Yardley isn’t convinced. Gidge was a big believer in reincarnation. She promised she’d never leave Yardley, and Gidge always kept her promises. So when a stylish older woman walks into the Over Easy Vintage Emporium where Yardley is helping out, Yardley is sure it’s her grandmother, back from the dead. But her happiness doesn’t last long, as the woman runs away in terror and no one else believes she was Gidge reincarnated. It’s only with the help of a beautiful green velvet dress, a series of letters from “the other side” and an irritating twelve-year-old buttinsky named Harris that Yardley discovers there’s more to the mystery woman – and Gidge – than she ever imagined.

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?

Billy and the Giant Adventure
By Jamie Oliver
Illustrated by Mónica Armiño
336 Pages | Ages 8-12 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774884140 | Tundra Books
One pinch of adventure, a dash of friendship, a sprinkle of mystery and a HUGE spoonful of magic . . . Jamie Oliver, bestselling author and internationally renowned chef, delivers the perfect recipe for a page-turning children’s fiction debut! Billy and his friends know that Waterfall Woods is out of bounds; strange things are rumored to have happened there and no one in their village has ventured past its walls for decades . . . But when they discover a secret way in, Billy and his best friends, Anna, Jimmy and Andy, can’t resist the temptation to explore! Only to quickly discover that the woods are brimming with magic and inhabited by all sorts of unusual creatures, including a whole community of sprites who need the children’s help! With magical battles, a long-lost mythical city, fantastical flying machines, epic feasts and one GIANT rescue – not to mention some mouth-watering recipes at the back – get ready for an adventure you’ll never forget!

Champions of the Fox: Thieves of Shadow #3
By Kevin Sands
464 Pages | Ages 10+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774882405 | Puffin Canada
Commanded by the magical artifact known as the Dragon’s Eye, junior con artist Callan and his friends are eagerly reaching the end of the epic quest that will finally free him from the Eye’s sinister hold. But their final task is their most ambitious: sneaking into the emperor’s private island prison and rescuing a man from a jail cell that has been locked tight for nearly a century. This impossible heist will strain the gang’s unique abilities to thieve and deceive everyone from the guards, the city elite, the warden, and even the nefarious local crime boss who warns them to stay away. As the friends plan out their last and most difficult con job, Callan begins to question what they’re helping the Eye to achieve. Aided by magical hints and fitful dreams, Callan slowly uncovers the Eye’s true desires. To his horror, he realizes that he may be the one being conned all this time . . . and his mistake could cost the world’s entire existence.

Don’t Want to Be Your Monster
By Deke Moulton
304 Pages | Ages 10-14 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774880494 | Tundra Books
Adam and Victor are brothers who have the usual fights over the remote, which movie to watch and whether or not it’s morally acceptable to eat people. Well, not so much eat . . . just drink a little blood. They’re vampires, hiding in plain sight with their eclectic yet loving family. Ten-year-old Adam knows he has a better purpose in his life (well, immortal life) than just drinking blood, but fourteen-year-old Victor wants to accept his own self-image of vampirism. Everything changes when bodies start to appear all over town, and it becomes clear that a vampire hunter may be on the lookout for the family. Can Adam and Victor reconcile their differences and work together to stop the killer before it’s too late?

Hans Christian Andersen Lives Next Door
By Cary Fagan
160 Pages | Ages 9-12 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774880159 | Tundra Books
Andie Gladman is your typical kid – she lives in a small town, doesn’t have many friends and quietly puts up with taunts from the school bully, Myrtle Klinghoffer. But one day, a new neighbor moves into the house next to Andie’s family . . . and he looks awfully familiar. Could he be famous author Hans Christian Andersen? Andie sure thinks so, and the arrival of this well-known writer inspires Andie to write her own poems (with a feminist twist) based on his classic fairy tales. Her newfound hobby leads her to make a friend and finally feel some excitement about her previously quiet life . . . but will a shocking revelation change everything for Andie?

Happy Narwhalidays: A Narwhal and Jelly Book #5
By Ben Clanton
76 Pages | Ages 6-9  | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735262515 | Tundra Books
Dive into three new stories about Narwhal’s favorite time of the year! It’s the festive season in the world wide waters, and Narwhal is looking forward to cozying up with a good book, singing and partying with his pod pals and enjoying some warm waffle pudding. But most of all he’s excited about the arrival of the Merry Mermicorn! According to Narwhal, she’s part mermaid, part unicorn and completely mer-aculous! Jelly is of course skeptical about the existence of the “Mira-Miny-What-A Corn” . . . even when he receives a mysterious present. It must be from Narwhal. Now Jelly has to get the perfect gift, but finding a present for someone as unique as Narwhal is no easy feat, even when you have six tentacles. How will Jelly ever come up with a whaley great gift for a best pal who spreads cheer all through the year?

Megabat Megastar
By Anna Humphrey
Illustrated by Kris Easler
192 Pages | Ages 7-10 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735271661 | Tundra Books
Daniel’s allowance is not going to cover the cost to fix his dad’s phone screen, which he and Megabat broke. And he is out of ideas. Megabat has a GREAT idea: become famous! Famous people have lots of money. Daniel is also grounded, and being stuck inside is pretty boring. Megabat has no time to spend with bored Daniel, he’s too busy learning the skill that will make him famous and rich. Daniel really doesn’t like Megabat’s new catchphrase, or his fancy new hairdo. Megabat will show him! When Megabat takes things too far and ruins Daniel’s mom’s dinner party with his “magic show,” chaos ensues . . . and Daniel is not too happy. And Megabat learns there are some things that are more important than fame and riches. Kris Easler’s adorable illustrations paired with Anna Humphrey’s hilarious text make for another unforgettable Megabat adventure, one that will appeal to Megabat fans and newcomers!

Mine for Keeps
By Jean Little
232 Pages | Ages 8-12 | Paperback
ISBN 9781774882948 | Puffin Canada 
Away at school, Sally Copeland has always dreamed of going home, but now that she’s there, she feels frightened and unsure of herself. Will her brother and sister accept her? Will she be able to do things for herself? And what will it be like to go to a regular school and be the only one with cerebral palsy?

Pine Island Visitors
By Polly Horvath
288 Pages | Ages 9-12 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774881859 | Puffin Canada
By Newbery Honor author Polly Horvath, comes a sequel to her popular middle-grade novel Pine Island Home about orphaned sisters who find a way to make a new family.
Fiona, Marlin, Natasha and Charlie McCready have been adopted by their unlikely guardian, Al, and finally settled into their new home on Pine Island in British Columbia. Fiona is struggling under the weight of trying to keep everything together, not to mention worrying about expenses, while Marlin tries to adjust to her new high school and faces rejections for her cookbook, Thirty Meals a Twelve-Year-Old Could Make and Did!. Natasha is still keeping to herself, but a new interest in the violin reveals hidden talents, while Charlie is dreaming of what kind of dog she would like. It’s been an adjustment, but they are loving being with each other and having Al next door. Then they receive a letter from Mrs. Weatherspoon, who took care of them after their parents died, and she is coming to visit for three months – an inordinate amount of time for a houseguest. Accommodating a fifth person in the tiny house is hard enough, but to their horror, Mrs. Weatherspoon arrives with a companion: her childhood friend, Jo. Jo has opinions about everything – what they should eat, how they should behave – and she doesn’t hesitate to express them. And sweet Mrs. Weatherspoon seems to have fallen under her spell. When she and Jo announce that they are going to extend their stay even longer, Fiona and Marlin are beside themselves. Fiona hates rocking the boat, but she is going to have to find the courage to stand up to these grown-up bullies so she and her sisters can have the life they wish to lead.

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!

Scaredy Squirrel Gets Festive
By Melanie Watt
88 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735269613 | Tundra Books
In his third NUTTY ADVENTURE, Scaredy is getting ready for Christmas ahead of time . . . WAY ahead of time (June). When December finally rolls around, Scaredy has everything in place: perfect red-and-green decorations, a perfect get-together planned (no parties!), perfectly personalized gifts for each of his friends, all the required permits for gingerbread-house construction (perfectly filled out) and, of course, a perfectly secured premises with a perfect spot for Santa. Yup, nothing can possibly go wrong . . . until friends Rash and Tim break the decorations! But Scaredy is filled with the spirit of the holiday and happy to help his friends finish their Christmas shopping. (Unless they’re shopping for Gary the germ?!) Prepare to get festive this Christmas with Scaredy and friends!

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.

The Pancake Problem (Weenie Featuring Frank and Beans Book #2)
By Maureen Fergus
Illustrated by Alexandra Bye
48 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735267947 | Tundra Books
Fans of Narwhal and Jelly will love this laugh-out-loud graphic novel: a pancake adventure with Weenie, Frank and Beans featuring wiener dog smooches, a huge pile of stinky brussels sprouts and a whole lot of syrup. Weenie loves his human, Bob. He loves his guinea pig friend Beans and his cat friend Frank. He loves naps, adventures and sharing. In fact, Weenie loves pretty much everything (except brussels sprouts). And Weenie SUPER LOVES pancakes. Maybe too much. When the SuperSonic Pancake Maker malfunctions, Weenie knows exactly what to do! Sort of . . .

The Portal Keeper: The Misewa Saga #4
By David A. Robertson
256 Pages | Ages 10+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9781774880258 | Tundra Books
Eli and Morgan experience life-changing revelations in this new adventure in the award-winning, Narnia-inspired Indigenous middle-grade fantasy series.
While exploring World’s End, an area in Aski they’ve just discovered, Morgan and Emily delight in their developing relationship, while Eli struggles to understand his new-found power: the ability to locate a portal. A shocking turn of events leads them to a new village, Ministik, where the animal beings who live there are going missing. Horrified to discover who is responsible, the children vow to help and turn to friends, old and new. But it’s getting harder and harder to keep the two worlds separate, especially when details of a traditional legend change everything. Forever.

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The 2024 Forest of Reading® Nominees

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 Award™️ 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®️ 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 Award™️ 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 Award™️ 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?

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National Siblings Day

Every year on April 10th we celebrate National Siblings Day. It is a day to remind us how special all kinds of siblings can be to our families and our lives. In recognition of this day, we have created a list of books all about those special sibling bonds.

Picture Books

Good Night, Sister
By Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt
Illustrated by Lucy Fleming
32 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593385814 | Penguin Workshop
Kat is excited to sleep in her own room – the big girl room – for the very first time. But her younger sister, Tina, is nervous to sleep in their old room without her. So Kat comes up with a plan: she’ll give all of her stuffed animals to her younger sister, and every time Tina gets scared, she should hold them close and be reminded of all the wonderful things each animal represents: bravery, creativity, love, and imagination. But that night, as a storm thunders outside their windows, it turns out that the big girl room can feel a bit lonely. And Kat might be the one who needs the extra support.  With simple, gentle prose, Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratt shares a comforting bedtime story, illuminating the bonds sisters share, and the many ways they are there for one another.

Harry and Clare’s Amazing Staycation
By Ted Staunton
Illustrated by Mika Song
32 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Ebook
ISBN 9781770498280 | Tundra Books
Harry and Clare are stuck at home for their spring break. No exotic locations, no plane trips, no exciting plans. So they make their own fun: the living room becomes Mars, the diving board at the pool becomes a pirate’s plank and the local playground where the man-eating octopus lives. The trouble is, older sister Clare is the one making all the rules, and that means deciding on the game AND eating all the food. But Harry has a plan to turn the tables… if he can just keep his snacks out of the Abominable Snowman’s clutches!

The Song That Called Them Home
By David A. Robertson
Illustrated by Maya McKibbin
52 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735266704 | Tundra Books
One summer day, Lauren and her little brother, James, go on a trip to the land with their Moshom (grandfather). After they’ve arrived, the children decide to fish for dinner while Moshom naps. They are in their canoe in the middle of the lake when the water around them begins to swirl and crash. They are thrown overboard and when Lauren surfaces she sees her brother being pulled away by the Memekwesewak — creatures who live in and around water and like to interfere with humans. Lauren must follow the Memekwesewak through a portal and along a watery path to find and bring back James. But when she finally comes upon her brother, she too feels the lure of the Memekwesewak’s song. Something even stronger must pull them back home.  

Ten Little Dumplings
By Larissa Fan
Illustrated by Cindy Wume
48 Pages | Ages 4-8 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735266193 | Tundra Books
In the city of Tainan, there lives a very special family – special because they have ten sons who do everything together. Their parents call them their ten little dumplings, as both sons and dumplings are auspicious. But if you look closely, you’ll see that someone else is there, listening, studying, learning and discovering her own talent – a sister. As this little girl grows up in the shadow of her brothers, her determination and persistence help her to create her own path in the world . . . and becomes the wisdom she passes on to her own daughter, her own little dumpling. 

What Are You Doing, Benny?
Written by Cary Fagan
Illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton
36 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9781770498570 | Tundra Books
Benny’s little brother is really good at a lot of things — making potions and paper airplanes, building forts, putting on puppet shows, even petting the neighbor’s cat (he has a special way of scratching her just behind the ears). But whenever he tries to join in Benny’s activities, all Benny ever says is “No.” Maybe his little brother can watch him do cool stuff, if he’s lucky. What is a little fox to do, except give Benny a taste of his own medicine?

Graphic Novels

Sweet Valley Twins: Best Friends
By Francine Pascal
Illustrated by Claudia Aguirre
Adapted by Nicole Andelfinger
224 Pages | Ages 8–12 | Paperback
ISBN 9780593376461 | Random House Graphic
Jessica and Elizabeth have always been inseparable twins, but starting middle school means a chance for new beginnings! Elizabeth is excited to organize a school newspaper, but Jessica is more interested in joining the exclusive Unicorn Club. What will happen when the twins realize they might not be as alike as they thought? Middle school is hard enough, but with these twins each dealing with becoming their own person – will they be able to stay friends at the same time?

Stepping Stones
By Lucy Knisley
224 Pages | Ages 8–12 | Paperback
ISBN 9781984896841 | Random House Graphic
Jen did not want to leave the city. She did not want to move to a farm with her mom and her mom’s new boyfriend, Walter. She did not want to leave her friends and her dad. Most of all, Jen did not want to get new “sisters,” Andy and Reese. As if learning new chores on Peapod Farm wasn’t hard enough, having to deal with perfect-at-everything Andy might be the last straw for Jen. Besides cleaning the chicken coop, trying to keep up with the customers at the local farmers’ market, and missing her old life, Jen has to deal with her own insecurities about this new family . . . and where she fits in.

The Montague Twins #2: The Devil’s Music
By Nathan Page
Illustrated by Drew Shannon
320 Pages | Ages 12+ | Paperback
ISBN 9780525646815 | Knopf BFYR
Alastair, Pete, Charlie, and Rachel aren’t just magical teen detectives in their coastal town of Port Howl – they are also members of a local teen rock band. Before a show one night, Charlie and Rachel meet a famous rockstar, Gideon, and invite him to their show. He’ll never come, but why not try, right? Little do they know, Gideon does show up, and he brings the threads of his dark past with him. In fact, he might even be the source of the rumored Devil’s Music, a limited-release song that entrances all of its listeners in a deadly hypnosis. When Pete quickly gets drawn into Gideon’s web, it’s up to his brother and friends to save him. But Pete might not be the only Montague Twin at risk for Gideon’s spell . . . .

Middle Grade

A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying
By Kelley Armstrong
288 Pages | Ages 10-14 | Paperback
ISBN 9780735265370 | Puffin Canada
Twelve-year-old Rowan is destined to be Queen; her twin brother, Rhydd, to be Royal Monster Hunter. Rowan would give anything to switch places, but the oldest child is always next in line, even if she is only older by two minutes. She resigns herself to admiring her monster hunting aunt’s glorious sword and joining her queen mother for boring diplomatic teas. But tragedy shatters the longstanding rule, and Rowan finds herself hunting the most dangerous monster of all: a gryphon.

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.

The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels
By Beth Lincoln
Illustrated by Claire Powell
352 Pages | Ages 8-12 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593533239 | Dutton Books For Young Readers
On the day they are born, every Swift child is brought before the sacred Family Dictionary. They are given a name, and a definition. A definition it is assumed they will grow up to match. Meet Shenanigan Swift: Little sister. Risk-taker. Mischief-maker. Shenanigan is getting ready for the big Swift Family Reunion and plotting her next great scheme: hunting for Grand-Uncle Vile’s long-lost treasure. She’s excited to finally meet her arriving relatives – until one of them gives Arch-Aunt Schadenfreude a deadly shove down the stairs. So what if everyone thinks she’ll never be more than a troublemaker, just because of her name? Shenanigan knows she can become whatever she wants, even a detective. And she’s determined to follow the twisty clues and catch the killer.

Young Adult

American Royals
By Katharine McGee
464 Pages | Ages 14+ | Paperback
ISBN 9781984830203 | Ember
When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne. Like most royal families, the Washingtons have an heir and a spare. A future monarch and a backup battery. Each child knows exactly what is expected of them. But these aren’t just any royals. They’re American. As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America’s first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling. Nobody cares about the spare except when she’s breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn’t care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her. And then there’s Samantha’s twin, Prince Jefferson. If he’d been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart.

Someone Is Always Watching
By Kelley Armstrong
368 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735270923 | Tundra Books
Blythe and her friends — Gabrielle, and brother and sister Tucker and Tanya — have always been a tight friend group, attending a local high school and falling in and out of love with each other. But an act of violence has caused a rift between Blythe and Tucker . . . and unexpected bursts of aggression and disturbing nightmares have started to become more frequent in their lives. The strange happenings culminate in a shocking event at school: Gabrielle is found covered in blood in front of their deceased principal, with no memory of what happened. Cracks in their friendship, as well as in their own memories, start appearing, threatening to expose long-forgotten secrets which could change the group’s lives forever. How can Blythe and her friends trust each other when they can’t even trust their own memories?

The Davenports
By Krystal Marquis
384 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780593463338 | Dial Books
The Davenports are one of the few Black families of immense wealth and status in a changing United States, their fortune made through the entrepreneurship of William Davenport, a formerly enslaved man who founded the Davenport Carriage Company years ago. Now it’s 1910, and the Davenports live surrounded by servants, crystal chandeliers, and endless parties, finding their way and finding love – even where they’re not supposed to. There is Olivia, the beautiful elder Davenport daughter, ready to do her duty by getting married . . . until she meets the charismatic civil rights leader Washington DeWight and sparks fly. The younger daughter, Helen, is more interested in fixing cars than falling in love – unless it’s with her sister’s suitor. Amy-Rose, the childhood friend turned maid to the Davenport sisters, dreams of opening her own business – and marrying the one man she could never be with, Olivia and Helen’s brother, John. But Olivia’s best friend, Ruby, also has her sights set on John Davenport, though she can’t seem to keep his interest . . . until family pressure has her scheming to win his heart, just as someone else wins hers.

The Grey Sisters
By Jo Treggiari
228 Pages | Ages 12+ | Paperback
ISBN 9780735263000 | Penguin Teen Canada
D and Spider have always been close friends, and they are further united in their shared heartbreak: they both lost siblings in a horrific plane crash two years earlier. A chance sighting of a beloved cuddly toy in a photograph of the only survivor spurs D to finally seek closure. She and Spider and their friend, Min, set off on a road trip to the mountainside site of that terrible crash. Ariel has lived on the mountain all her life. She and her extended family are looked down upon by neighboring townsfolk and she has learned to live by her wits, trusting few people outside of her isolated, survivalist community. A terrifying attack sends her down the mountain for help; on her way, she comes upon the three girls — a chance encounter that will have far-reaching consequences for them all.

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Tundra Telegram: Books To Put Some Spring In Your Step

Hello, and thanks for joining us at Tundra Telegram, the column where we dig into the topics germinating in readers’ thoughts, then root around in our library to suggest some books that will leaf you breathless.

We just passed the first day of spring (at least we did in the northern hemisphere), and though – depending on where you live – the weather may be less than spring-like, we’re now in the season when nature begins its rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, and regrowth.

To celebrate, we’re recommending books about gardens, flowers, vegetables, trees – these are books all about growing. And not in that character development way. These are books literally about plant growth, from picture books to YA. Read on and reap what we sow!

PICTURE BOOKS

Where most rainforests are located, it’s actually fall right now, but we’re going to start our list with Zonia’s Rain Forest by Juana Martinez-Neal, anyway. Readers are invited to join Zonia, an Asháninka girl, as she plays in the lush Amazonian rain forest, and one can’t help but be reminded of springtime.

Though cherry blossom season usually isn’t until the end of April, we think Sakura’s Cherry Blossoms by Robert Paul Weston and Misa Saburi is another great inclusion on this list. Ostensibly about a girl missing home but making new friends after she moves from Japan, it’s also about blossoming cherry trees in the spring – famous in Japan, but also found in some neighborhoods of North America, too!

The Golden Glow by Benjamin Flouw indulges in the simple joys of the quest to find a rare and mysterious plant. Fox hikes through hills and mountains, observing many flora (and some fauna) on his way, all in an effort to catch a glimpse of a special flower: the titular golden glow.

Speaking of flowers, Welcome, Flower Child by Brigette Barrager is a picture book for the very youngest readers, as it’s all about the magic of your birth flower. Whether your birth flower is a larkspur or jonquil, this book celebrates the personality traits of individuals born in each month (through their accompanying flower) and demonstrates we need all the flowers together to make a wonderful garden.

For less subjective information about different flowers, young readers should track down Rachel Ignotofsky’s What’s Inside a Flower?, a nonfiction picture book that beautifully illustrates the answers to all your flowering questions, from seeds to roots to blooms.

But if you want your floral facts with a side of strange, Flowers Are Pretty … Weird by Rosemary Mosco and Jacob Souva is for you. Inside the book, a knowledgeable bee reveals just how bizarre flowers can be: some only bloom in the nighttime, some look like ghosts, and some smell like rotting meat. Spring is in the air!

When you’re talking spring, you’re talking trees – especially deciduous ones – and that’s exactly the kind featured in This Is the Tree We Planted by Kate McMullan and Alison Friend. The book, House-That-Jack-Built-style, recounts how one class plants a tree in a playground, then watches it grow and create a home to more and more animals as it does.

Another such tree is the focus of The Forever Tree by Tereasa Surratt and Donna Lukas, illustrated by Nicola Slater. Based on real tree in Wisconsin, the book is about the special connection a tree can have to a community – of people and animals – and how people can work together when that tree’s existence is threatened.

Zee Grows a Tree by Elizabeth Rusch and Will Hillenbrand, on the other hand, is all about an evergreen tree. In fact, it is about a girl (Zee Cooper) and a Douglas fir born on the very same day, and the parallel milestones they reach together as their lives intersect.

The tree in Corinna Luyken’s The Tree in Me is neither deciduous nor coniferous. It’s more metaphorical, as the text describes the tree-like strength within each of us and our connections to nature. That natural connection is strengthened by the illustrations of kids frolicking in the outdoors. (When was the last time you had a good frolic?)

Likewise, Only a Tree Knows How to Be a Tree by Mary Murphy is not as much about a tree as you would think. The book is about trees, as well as birds, and fish, and all sorts of living things, but it is also a book about the concept of self and how every thing (and person) is unique, and are the only ones who really know how to be themselves.

Those books are great if you appreciate tree quality, but what if you’re all about tree quantity? Enter One Million Trees: A True Story by Kristen Balouch. The book is the true story of the author’s family, who planted 1,000,000 trees (!) to fight deforestation in British Columbia. That is a tree-mendous undertaking!

Springtime is also all about planting, so we need to include a few books about gardens. Let’s start with My Baba’s Garden from acclaimed Canadian picture book duo Jordan Scott and Sydney Smith. Inspired by Scott’s childhood, the book follows a kid as he helps his grandmother tend her garden, immersing himself in the sights, sounds, smells – and worms, too!

A gardening book that many readers might find themselves in is Lola Plants a Garden by Anna McQuinn and Rosalind Beardshaw. Lola is inspired by a book of garden poems to start her own garden, so she and her mommy check out some books from the library, do a little plant research, and start gardening in no time! Libraries and gardens: two great places that go great together.

The book that could have inspired Lola is Behold Our Magical Garden by Allan Wolf and Daniel Duncan, as the book is filled with witty and playful poems about a school garden and the budding young gardeners who keep it growing.

We’ve already told you about a class of kids growing a tree. A different class of kids – these ones in a busy city – start their own rooftop garden in In Our Garden by Pat Zietlow Miller and Melissa Crowton. Inspired by new student Millie, who moved to the city from across the ocean, the entire classroom embarks on a project to develop green thumbs.

The Wild Garden by Cynthia Cliff demonstrates there’s more than one way to garden. While the village of Mirren has a tidy community garden, carefully organized and tended by the townspeople, it also has a wild patch of land the other side of the garden wall – a place full of trees, mushrooms, and wild vegetables. When the townspeople decide they need a bigger garden, they want to expand into the wild place. Jilly and her grandfather develop a plan, inviting the townspeople to discover a new kind of gardening, in this tribute to biodiversity.

Tending plants becomes an endearing substitute to animal companionship in Gwendolyn’s Pet Garden by Anne Renaud and Rashin Kheiriyeh. Gwendolyn really wants a pet, but her parents – unsure of the idea – give her a box of dirt instead. It takes her a while, but soon Gwendolyn is enthusiastically caring for her “pet” garden, which learns a few fancy tricks of its own.

And we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention all of JaNay Brown-Wood and Samara Hardy’s Where in the Garden? series. Across four books, encompassing Amara’s Farm, Miguel’s Community Garden, Logan’s Greenhouse, and Linh’s Rooftop Garden,readers are introduced to young gardeners and the many different ways kids can engage in horticulture – whether you have many acres or just a tiny spot on a roof at your disposal.

But you can’t grow much without seeds. And Seeds by Carme Lemniscates revels in the potential of seeds – whether they are spread by the wind or carried on the back of a few animals to their destination – and how they can grow into all variety of wonderful vegetation. The book also reminds us humans plant non-vegetable seeds, too (in a way), and with care we can cultivate and nurture wonderful things in the world (including actual plants).

For a more in-depth and close-up view of how a seed becomes a plant, you can read A Seed Grows by Antoinette Portis. The book outlines each step of the growth cycle of a sunflower, from tiny seed to big, bold bloom, in lively (and award-winning) illustrations.

Of course, there’s also the bestselling classic Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons, which outlines the growth process from seed to adult plant, and informs young readers where the plants they see at home and the park, as well as the fruit and vegetables they eat, get their start.

CHAPTER BOOKS & MIDDLE GRADE

Older readers interested in all things botanical will gravitate to nature expert Ben Hoare’s The Secret World of Plants. Subtitled Tales of More than 100 Remarkable Flowers, Trees, and Seeds, the treasury includes facts about underwater seagrass, carnivorous Venus flytraps, and expensive tulips, all beautifully illustrated and augmented with information about photosynthesis, pollination, and all the plant essentials.

The lovable Nina Soni tries her hand at horticulture in Kashmira Sheth’s Nina Soni, Master of the Garden. When Nina accompanies her mom, a landscape architect, to work, she picks up a few tips on how to start a garden. But Nina quickly realizes the business potential and turns her (future) vegetable growth into an entrepreneurial enterprise. Many calamities (and hilarities) ensue for the first-time gardener.

Jen, the main character of Stepping Stones, a graphic novel by Lucy Knisley, is not as willing a participant in the vegetable growing business. She’s suddenly living in the country with her step-family, working a farm and selling produce at markets, while having left her city friends behind. Can Jen fit into her new agrarian lifestyle?

Aggie Morton is a girl more about deathstyle than lifestyle. And in Marthe Jocelyn’s Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen: The Dead Man in the Garden, that deathstyle is garden chic. Young detective Aggie and her friend Hector Perot find a body in the garden of a Yorkshire spa, and the two take it upon themselves once again to solve the mystery in this springtime thriller inspired by the life and works of Agatha Christie.

Technically Holler of the Fireflies by David Barclay Moore takes place over the summer, but the book is about Javari, a boy from Brooklyn, who goes to rural Appalachia for a STEM summer camp. Javari, a fish out of water at first, soon learns about the pleasures – both plant-based and otherwise – of the great outdoors.

The Big Sting by Rachelle Delaney is more about insects (bees, to be precise) than plants, but you can’t have many bees without flowers nearby. Eleven-year-old Leo prefers his books and video games to outdoor adventures, but when he visits Grandpa on Heron Island and his late Grandma’s beehives go missing, Leo heads out on an adventure with his little sister to brave the wild and find the missing bees.

YOUNG ADULT

While only some of them actually do any plant growing or gardening, all of the 34 young women in Girls Who Green the World by Diana Kapp are dedicated to fighting for biodiversity and renewed plant growth on planet earth. The book profiles environmental changemakers, social entrepreneurs, visionaries, and activists who want to save the planet and make the world turn green.

A book that explores the darker side of plants is Rory Power’s creepy thriller Burn Our Bodies Down, in which teenage Margot returns to her mother’s small-town homestead to uncover some family secrets and things weirder still. (Spoiler alert: there may be cornfields growing clones.)

Okay, so Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen isn’t really about flowers. Violet is just the name of our morally ambiguous hero, a prophet who misleads the royal court with her carefully worded predictions. But when she’s asked to provide a false prophecy for Prince Cyrus, a nemesis she’s strangely attracted to, and his upcoming wedding, Violet awakens a curse and an epic enemies-to-lovers adventure. (And spring is all about new love, too – so there.)

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Tuesdays with Tundra

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

No No, Baby!
By Anne Hunter
40 Pages | Ages 3-7 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735269118 | Tundra Books
An enthusiastic baby squirrel and some grumpy forest friends collide in this sweet and funny picture book from Geisel Award Honoree Anne Hunter.
It’s morning time! And Baby is wide awake.
Baby is excited to leap.
Baby is excited to eat. 
Baby is excited to see the other animals in the forest . . . But are the other animals excited to see Baby? One day, the owl gets frustrated and says some harsh words that cause Baby to hide away at home. And when Baby doesn’t appear, the animals realize something vital is missing from their morning . . .

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.

The Big Sting is also available today in Audiobook!

New in Paperback:

How to High Tea with a Hyena (And Not Get Eaten)
By Rachel Poliquin
Illustrated by Kathryn Durst
80 Pages | Ages 6-9 | Paperback
ISBN 9781774881668 | Tundra Books
Celeste is a cockroach, and everyone knows that cockroaches are survivors, so who better to give advice on surviving an encounter with a polite predator? High teas are dainty meals with pretty teacups: you nibble tiny cakes, sip milky tea and chit-chat about not-so important things like why doughnuts have holes and if fish have eyebrows. But Ruby the hyena is loud, ferocious and tends to slobber. High-speed gobbling makes good sense in the wild, but it is a definite no-no in the tearoom! And Ruby just happens to be Queen of a very large clan of hungry hyenas. Will high tea be ruined by uninvited guests? Is Ruby peckish for something other than Celeste’s famous cream buns? Using her vast knowledge of hyenas, Celeste comes up with lots of strategies to get through high tea in one piece. Many of her suggestions are dangerous, most are absurd, but all are based on true hyena biology and hunting behavior.

Wrong Side of the Court
By H. N. Khan
312 Pages | Ages 12+ | Paperback
ISBN 9780735270893 | Tundra Books
Fifteen-year-old Fawad Chaudhry loves two things: basketball and his mother’s potato and ground-beef stuffed parathas. Both are round and both help him forget about things like his father, who died two years ago, his mother’s desire to arrange a marriage to his first cousin, Nusrat, back home in Pakistan, and the tiny apartment in Regent Park he shares with his mom and sister. Not to mention his estranged best friend Yousuf, who’s coping with the shooting death of his older brother. But Fawad has plans: like, asking out Ashley, even though she lives on the other, wealthier side of the tracks, and saving his friend Arif from being beaten into a pulp for being the school flirt, and making the school basketball team and dreaming of being the world’s first Pakistani to be drafted into the NBA. All he has to do now is convince his mother to let him try out for the basketball team. And let him date girls from his school. Not to mention somehow get Omar, the neighborhood bully, to leave him alone.

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.