M.Y.R.C.A. 2015
Chosen from books published in Canada in 2013, written
by an author born or currently living in Canada.
By Robert Paul
Weston
 Juvenile Fiction
 Perfect for a read a-loud.
 Fantasy Genre
 Princess Francesca likes to
settle in nooks, in her
pajamas, to read all her
books.
 But the Kingdom of Spiff will
not let it slide, there are rules
of fashion which she must
abide.
 Then she meets Puggly, the
crown Prince of Spud who
wears paisleys with plaids, he
is clearly a dud.
 This story’s moral, as you
may have guessed…there’s
more to a person that how
they are dressed.
By K L
Armstrong
 Juvenile Fiction
 Fantasy Genre
 Based on Norse Mythology
 First in a series
 Perfect for fans of the Percy
Jackson series
 While Matt knew he was a
modern-day descendent of
Thor, he’s always lived a normal
kid’s life. In fact, most people in
the small town of Blackwell,
South Dakota, are direct
descendants of either Thor or
Loki, including Matt’s
classmates Fen and Laurie
Brekke. No big deal. But now
Ragnarok is coming, and it’s up
to the champions to fight in the
place of the long-dead gods.
Matt, Laurie, and Fen’s lives will
never be the same as they race
to put together an unstoppable
team, find Thor’s hammer and
shield, and prevent the end of
the world.
By Charles
DeLint
 Juvenile Fiction
 Fantasy Genre
 Gorgeous Illustrations by
Charles Vess
 Based on A Circle of Cats
(picture book)
 Lillian, out searching for fairies
in the woods, is bitten by a
venomous snake and she feels
her life beginning to slip away.
Her friends, the cats of the
forest decide to use their most
powerful magic to return her to
life by transforming her into a
kitten. Unhappy in that form,
she must convince the old
Possum-Witch to transform her
back into a girl. Will Lillian learn
that she must accept the
consequences of her choices?
By Rachelle
Delaney
 Juvenile Fiction
 Mystery Genre
 JR is a Jack Russel terrier
whose human is a Canadian
ambassador stationed in
Russia. Their cleaning lady
has a terrible habit of leaving
the living room window open
just enough for a small dog
to get through. JR begins to
escape nightly into the street,
meeting the strays from the
Moscow Metro only to
discover a mystery! Someone
is kidnapping dogs.
By Jessica Scott
Kerrin
 Juvenile Fiction
 Mystery Genre.
 When Derek was very young,
his friend Dennis was killed
by a car after running into
the road to catch a ball. Ever
since, Derek has had
recurring nightmares, and he
is afraid that spending his
volunteer time in the local
cemetery will make it even
harder for him to sleep.
When it rains, the lessons
take place in the nearby
public library. One day, a
book arrives at the library,
Derek and his group mates
find a secret code written on
the inside of the margin. One
code leads to the next, with
the last code leading the
students to a mysterious
secret.
By Bev TerrellDeutsch
 Juvenile Fiction
 Historical Genre
 Sixth-grader Gregory takes
the long way home from
school every day to avoid
passing the Jiffy Mart where
his minister father died in a
car accident. Gregory was in
the car at the time, which
further intensifies his anxiety.
His friends Matt and Teisha
try numerous schemes to
help Gregory face his fears,
but nothing works. Will
Gregory be able to conquer
his paralyzing fear?
By Sam Fisher
 Juvenile Fiction
 Fantasy Genre
 Perfect for boys who are fans
of Goosebumps/Pokemon
 Morton Clay is a huge fan of
a kids magazine called Scare
Scape, and he has a large
collection of plastic figurines
to prove it. But when Morton
and his siblings, James and
Melissa, find an old stone
gargoyle buried in the yard of
the old house they’ve just
moved into, they discover
that the mysterious epitaph
claiming to grant 3 wishes
really do come too. Too bad
Morton wishes for his Scare
Scape figurines to come to
life!
By David
Carroll
 Sports Genre
 Juvenile Fiction
 Was mentioned in the OLA
Most Notable Books for 2013.
 Quinn, 13, is a gifted
distance runner. He enters his
first ultramarathon: a
grueling 100-mile, 24-hourlong race that will push him
to the very limit of his
endurance. Quinn is deeply
determined to finish the race,
struggling up a mountain ,
running through the night
even as his muscles break
down and he begins to
hallucinate. It is then that
Quinn begins to discover the
real reason why he pushes
himself to the limit.
By Eric Murphy
 Juvenile Fiction
 Mystery Genre
 A year after his father’s
death, Will is thirteen and
living with his mother in
Toronto. Heartbroken, Will
runs away to his
grandparents’ in Lunenburg
for solace. When he gets
there, he discovers his
grandparents are on the
verge of losing the family
home and their sail making
business. Exhausted by the
turmoil, Will falls asleep
aboard a hidden schooner
and dreams that his great
grandfather, William ‘The
Real’ McCoy, is hiding a
secret treasure capable of
solving all of his family’s
problems.
By Tom Earle
 Juvenile Fiction
 Sports Genre
 Great for hockey fans
 Jake is a rising hockey star
and dreams of playing in the
Ontario Hockey League.
However, nothing is ever
good enough for his Dad who
is physically and verbally
abusing him. When his home
life becomes unsafe, Jake
runs away, and seeks shelter
inside the empty Maple Leaf
Gardens. All too soon, he is
terrified to discover that he
isn’t the only one taking
refuge there.
By Jill MacLean
 Juvenile Fiction
 Realistic Genre
 Sigrid Sugden is a Shrike, a
member of one of the toughest
group of girls in school. But one
day, the Shrikes go too far.
Their favourite victim, Prinny
Murphy, is in real danger. Sigrid
makes a decision that will save
Prinny’s life but will turn the
Shrikes anger onto her. For
Sigrid, this is a transformative
moment. She wants to be a
better person. But overcoming
her bad-girl image is a whole lot
harder to do than she originally
thought. No one likes her, no
one trusts her – no one is
willing to give her a second
chance. Should she return to
her old ways or strike out on
her own all alone?
By Karen Autio
 Juvenile Fiction
 Historical Genre
 Sabotage concludes a trilogy of
historical fiction based on a
family of Finnish immigrants
living on the north shore of Lake
Superior. John's Ukrainian friend
Fred has had his father herded
away to an internment camp.
Then a man at the grocery store
calls the Mäki family "enemy
aliens". Even Saara has worries
that she may not progress from
Junior Fourth to Senior Fourth
because she's been away for
months helping her aunt who
has TB. But when their own
actions are misinterpreted as
suspicious, and their father is
accused of attempting to blow
up the grain elevator, John and
Saara must work together and
ask for help of those who
disapprove of them and prove
that all landed immigrants are
not dangerous enemy aliens.
By Luanne
Armstrong
 Juvenile Fiction
 Historical Genre, ancient
Khazikstan
 Strong Female Protagonist
 Morven is caught between
her loyalty to her clan and
the horses she loves that are
merely seen as food by her
tribe mates. She has a strong
will and is quite introverted,
preferring the company of
the horses despite the ridcule
of her human family. As her
clan faces drought and
starvation, they must keep
on the move, making some
friends and terrible enemies
along the way.
By Troon
Harrison
 Teen Fiction. Aboriginal
Resource
 Strong female Metis
protagonist
 Historical Genre, based on
true events in York Factory
and Red River
 When a young orphan named
Amelia first spots a red stallion,
she is convinced he is her spirit
guide, what her tribe calls a
pawakan. But the beautiful
Foxfire's journey is not over-he's headed west to the Red
River valley. But then Amelia
discovers a long-lost letter from
her father--a man she's never
met--asking his family to join
him in the Red River valley.
Should Amelia stay with her
mother's tribe in the only world
she's ever known or follow
Foxfire in the hope that her
father may still be alive?
By Meaghan
McIsaac
 Teen Fiction
 Fantasy Genre
 For fans of Lord of the Flies
and the Hobbit
 Urgle (aka Useless) is living
in a volcanic pit within a
society of wild boys, where
abandoned babies are raised
by a Big Brother. One day, a
wounded man appears,
hunted nearly to death; the
boys begin to wonder what
lies in the world beyond the
pit. Soon they are engulfed in
more danger than they ever
imagined and Useless must
find hid little brother or die
trying.
By Teresa Toten
 Teen Fiction (some strong
language)
 Realistic Genre
 Recommended for fans of The
Fault in Our Stars
 Adam struggles with OCD and
falls instantly in love the day
Robyn joins his support group.
Each member uses a
pseudonym and Adam chooses
to be Batman to his Robyn.
Their love is awkward and
slightly impossible, given the
state of their mental health. Yet
Adam courageously tries
everything to get better even as
he loses control over his life.
By Amy
McCulloch
 Teen Fiction
 Fantasy Genre
 Raim lives in a desert world
where oaths are sealed by
knotting cords together. He
was found with a promise
string on his wrist as a baby,
the oath a mystery. As he
grows to manhood he seeks
to join the Yun, a warrior
class but before being sworn
in, he somehow breaks his
forgotten promise and is cast
out to the desert as an
outcast to die.
By Elizabeth
Wennick
 Teen Fiction – language
warning (swearing)
 Realistic Genre
 Jenna Cooper was only a few
days old when her father was
murdered and her family was
shattered. Now fifteen, she
daydreams of a pictureperfect sitcom family as she
struggles with the gritty
realities of her life. When
Jenna finds out that Travis
Bingham, the man who shot
her father, has been released
from prison, she becomes
obsessed with tracking him
down and confronting him.