2027 Forest of Reading Nominees: Nonfiction and Teen Fiction Picks

The 2027 Forest of Reading® nominees bring together books for young readers across nonfiction and two tiers of fiction. The Ontario Library Association’s latest grouping covers Yellow Cedar, for nonfiction aimed at Grades 4 to 8; Red Maple, for fiction for Grades 7 and 8; and White Pine, for fiction for Grades 9 to 12. The lists offer librarians, educators and families a broad set of titles to browse by age range and reading interest.

There’s a clear range of subjects in Yellow Cedar, from bats, bees and insects to sculpture, handedness, education and soccer. The Red Maple and White Pine lists, meanwhile, gather novels and graphic works for older readers. The nominations provide a useful starting point for readers choosing their next book and for groups planning shared reading around a particular age band.

Yellow Cedar: nonfiction for Grades 4 to 8

Animal life and the natural world appear in several Yellow Cedar titles. Neil Griffin’s Bat Planet: The Mysterious Life of the Creatures of the Night, from Orca Book Publishers, turns attention to bats. Kira Vermond’s The Buzz on Wild Bees: The Little-Known Pollinators that Keep Our Planet Humming, illustrated by June Steube and published by Owlkids Books, takes wild bees as its subject. Anjali Joshi’s Built Like a Bug: How Insects Inspire Everyday Inventions, illustrated by Kathleen Ng, connects insects with invention; Annick Press publishes the book.

Other nominations invite readers to look closely at ideas and objects they encounter in everyday life. Left-Handed: Getting a Grip on Handedness is written by Maria Birmingham, illustrated by Catherine Chan and published by Owlkids Books. Diane Borsato’s What Is A Sculpture?, illustrated by Laura Carlin, comes from Tundra Books. Erica Fyvie’s The Sustainable School: A Journey Through Time and Energy, with illustrations by Scot Ritchie, is published by Kids Can Press.

History, culture and human curiosity round out the selection. Brett D. Huson (Hetxw’ms Gyetxw) writes The Cedar Mother, the eighth book in Mothers of Xsan, with illustrations by Natasha Donovan; HighWater Press publishes it. Rachel Kehoe’s Cracking the Code: The Human Quest to Uncover Secrets, illustrated by Meegan Lim, and Susan Hughes’s The Dream of an Education: How Phymean Noun Built a School, illustrated by Tida Kheav, are both from Orca Book Publishers. The list also includes Kevin Sylvester’s written and illustrated Soccerology: Unbelievable Facts and Stories About the Beautiful Game, published by Annick Press.

For readers choosing among these nonfiction nominees, the subjects make a natural first guide: animal behaviour, the built world, personal differences, art, sport and the story of education all have a place on the list. Several titles are also linked to reviews on CanLit for Little Canadians.

Red Maple: fiction for Grades 7 and 8

The Red Maple™ nominees bring together a mix of novels and graphic storytelling. The list includes Absolutely No Body Parts by Valerie Sherrard, from DCB Young Readers, and Among Ghosts by Rachel Hartman, published by Penguin Teen Canada. Robin Stevenson’s The Book of Jupiter comes from Kids Can Press, while Deborah Ellis’s Go is published by Groundwood Books.

Graphic works have a place alongside the prose titles: Faith Erin Hicks wrote and illustrated The Inbetweens, published by First Second Books. Other nominees include Meaghan McIsaac’s Lydia Cooper Is a Lie from Aladdin Books, Eric Walters’s Sam from DCB Young Readers, and Bronwyn Fairchild’s Skygull Calamity from Annick Press.

The remaining titles broaden the list’s range of voices and publishers: Matteo L. Cerilli’s Something’s Up with Arlo, from HarperCollins, and Chad Lucas’s The Vanished Ones, from Amulet Books. The source provides titles, creators and publishers rather than plot descriptions, so readers can use the linked listings and reviews to decide which books best suit their interests.

White Pine: fiction for Grades 9 to 12

White Pine™ is aimed at readers in Grades 9 to 12 and features novels alongside a graphic title. Kenneth Oppel’s Best of All Worlds is published by Penguin Teen Canada. Delali Adjoa’s The Free Verse Society comes from Peachtree Teen, and Corey Liu’s He’s So Possessed with Me is published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

The nominees also include Our Little Secret, written by Edward Kay and Mikhael Klassen-Kay and published by DCB Young Readers; Ahmad Saber’s Ramin Abbas Has MAJOR Questions, from Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books; and Jordyn Taylor’s The Rebel Girls of Rome, published by HarperCollins. Kyle Edwards’s Small Ceremonies comes from McClelland & Stewart.

Graphic storytelling is represented by This Place Kills Me, written by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Nicole Goux and published by Abrams. The list continues with E. Kennedy’s Thornbird, from Delacorte Press, and Lily Chu’s The Vacation Shift, published by Quill Tree Books.

Readers looking for the other 2027 Forest of Reading nominee groupings can follow the linked lists for Blue Spruce, Silver Birch Express, Silver Birch Fiction, Le prix Peuplier, Le prix Mézèle and Le prix Tamarac. Together, the age-banded categories make it easier to find a starting point; the individual titles then offer a wide range of subjects and formats to explore.