The Forest of Reading is a Canada-wide program designed to promote a love of reading and promote books by Canadian authors.
The "forest" is made up of several different "trees" (book lists) for different grades and ages. Each tree features 10 books nominated as "the best" of Canadian literature. Visit the program website to learn more about the Forest of Reading.
The trees for our Middle School students are Red Maple (fiction) and Yellow Cedar (nonfiction).
Scroll down on this page to find links to Red Maple and Yellow Cedar books in our library catalogue (Destiny Discover). Scroll down further to watch book talk videos prepared by our book ambassadors.
Students choose which they'd like books to read from a "tree." If you read at least 5 of the books listed on the tree, you are eligible to vote for your favourite in April 23rd, 2025. In May 14th, 2025, the Festival of Trees will be held, where the winners of each Forest of Reading program will be announced. Students participating in the program can go!
To get started, visit the library circulation desk to grab a Reading Passport so you can document the books you've read from each tree. All of the Red Maple and Yellow Cedar titles are available in the MS/SS Library's print collection, with eBook editions also available on Sora. Once you've finished a book, check in with its book ambassador to get their signature before Voting Day.
Our MS Voting Day at The York School will be held on April 23rd, 2025. Make sure that you have all of your books read by then, and that they are signed off by our book ambassadors so that you're ready to vote. We will be holding a Book Ambassador Signing event one week before Voting Day at lunch so you can meet all ambassadors in one place.
Kate doesn’t want to spend one minute in the “Hicksville” her mother moved them to, much less the entire year she’s stuck here in the decaying house they inherited from her grandparents. She misses her boyfriend and sneaking out at night to make urban exploration videos for her growing YouTube channel.
Zach, the boy who lives next door, tries to befriend Kate even though she ignores him. But when Kate discovers her estranged grandfather lives nearby, she wants to meet him despite the small-town rumours of his violent past, and takes Zach with her.
That’s when they find the crevasse on her grandfather’s property and the skeletons hidden inside. That’s the day they find out Kate’s uncle and his friend went missing as teenagers.
Instead of counting down the days until she can leave Hicksville, Kate and Zach start working together to solve the cold case that has silenced her mother for thirty-five years.
Book Ambassador: Beth Wolfe
Tanya is a huge fan of horror author Joel Southland… AND he’s coming to visit her school!
Even though she is his biggest fan, she barely gets a chance to say hello. But he does give her a signed bookmark: For Tanya. Stay Scared! Reading later that night, she figures it’s just her eyes playing tricks on her when she sees the ink on the bookmark move a little. But when the ink slithers toward her, it’s too late…
As Tanya tries to get to the bottom of Southland’s nefarious schemes, the book is broken up by nine other creepy tales, including one about middle-school horror movie fans who track down the scariest horror movie of all time, another about a kid whose “baby eye” is beginning to fall out, and yet another about a vampire suffering due to a virus that is keeping people indoors. A mix of squirmy, funny and downright terrifying, these tales will leave readers thinking twice about the things that go bump in the night.
Book Ambassadors: Erin Porter
Ali is an eighth-grade kid with a lot going on. Between the pressure from his immigrant parents to ace every class, his crush on Melissa, who lives in the rich area of town while he and his family live in a shabby apartment complex, and trying his best to fit in with his friends, he feels like he’s being pulled in too many different directions. But harder still, Ali is becoming increasingly aware of the racism around him. Comments from his friends about Pakistani food or his skin colour are passed off as jokes, but he doesn’t find them funny. And when Ramadan starts, Ali doesn’t tell anyone he’s fasting because it just seems easier. Luckily he finds solace in putting his feelings into words―and poems. But his father is dead set against him using art as a distraction when he’s got schoolwork and a future career as a doctor to focus on. Ali’s world changes when he, his mom and his little brother are assaulted by some racist teens. Ali must come to terms with his roiling feelings about his place in the world, as a Pakistani immigrant, a Muslim and a teenager with his whole life ahead of him. With help from his grandfather, an inspiring teacher and his friend, Ali leans on his words for strength. And eventually he finds his true voice.
Book Ambassadors: Chris Deighton
It’s 1980, and 11-year-old Tho Pham lives with his family in South Vietnam. He spends his afternoons playing soccer and cricket fighting with his friends, but life is slowly changing under the Communists. His parents are worried, and Tho knows the Communist army will soon knock on their door to make his brother, and then him, join them. Still, it shocks him when his father says that arrangements have been made for him to leave Vietnam by boat, immediately. Tho tries to be brave as he sets out on a harrowing journey toward the unknown.
Co-authors Tho Pham and Sandra McTavish, childhood friends, have loosely based this historical fiction novel on Tho’s real-life experience as one of the Vietnamese Boat People, and includes many factual details from his journey on the South China Sea and in a Philippine refugee camp. Depictions of pirate attacks, hunger, and loneliness make for a riveting survival story, sure to elicit empathy for refugees. Eventually adopted by a Canadian elementary school teacher, Tho’s story is ultimately one of hope, courage, and resilience. It’s a valuable resource for social studies lessons on Asian culture and history and on immigration.
Book Ambassadors: Sherry Pielsticker and Chris Deighton
Fourteen-year-old Bec learned a lesson that day. Be careful whom you rob.
A slave on the run from his vicious master, Bec is desperate for money. But when he mugs Tien Nu, he gets more than he bargained for. Tien Nu isn’t just a superb acrobat and kung fu wizard. He’s also killed his father – or so he thinks. As the paths of the two boys become intertwined with the journey of a mysterious knight, mayhem ensues when they head cross-country toward the safety of Ponti, with Bec’s slave master in hot pursuit.
A medieval, historical adventure in the Kingdom of Italia.
Book Ambassador: Nicholas Regner
We live in a hopeless old house on an almost-deserted dead-end street in a middle-of-nowhere town named Hope. This is the oldest part of Hope; eventually it will all be torn down and rebuilt into perfect homes for perfect people. Until then, we live imperfect people on an imperfect street that everyone forgets about.
For Eva Brown, life feels lonely and small. Her mother, Shirley, drinks and yells all the time. She’s the target of the popular mean girl, and her only friend doesn’t want to talk to her anymore. All of it would be unbearable if it weren’t for her cat, Toofie, her beloved Nohkum, and her writing, which no one will ever see.
When Nohkum is hospitalized, Shirley struggles to keep things together for Eva and her younger brother, Marcus. After Marcus is found wandering the neighbourhood alone, he is sent to live with a foster family, and Eva finds herself in a group home.
Furious at her mother, Eva struggles to adjust—and being reunited with her family seems less and less likely. During a visit to the hospital, Nohkum gives Eva Shirley’s diary. Will the truths it holds help Eva understand her mother?
Heartbreaking and humorous, Hopeless in Hope is a compelling story of family and forgiveness.
Book Ambassadors: Kate Walker
Suspended from school and prone to rages, twelve-year-old Kate finds her own way to get on with her life, despite the messed-up adults around her. Her gran, for one, is stubborn and aloof — not unlike Kate herself, who has no friends, and who’s been expelled for “behavioral issues,” like the meltdowns she has had ever since her mom dumped her with her grandmother three years ago. Kate dreams that one day her mother will return for her. When that happens, they’ll need money, so Kate sets out to make some.
Book Ambassadors: Michael Black, Beth Wolfe and Erin Porter
A new heartwarming middle-grade story from the critically acclaimed author Heather Smith featuring Tig, a young girl struggling to find peace within herself and in her new family. For fans of Rebecca Stead, Wendy Mass and Lynda Mullaly Hunt.
After months of living without electricity or parents, Tig and Peter are forced to move in with their Uncle Scott and his partner, Manny. The transition from down-and-out to picture-perfect isn’t easy, especially in pristine Wensleydale with the idyllic couple and their beautiful home.
Tig, with Peter’s support, decides to make their new life messy, starting with daily arguments and her plans to become a competitive cheese racer. She’ll run circles around her new guardians, outrun a wheel of cheese, and leave her past buried in her dust.
But things don’t always go as planned, and Tig must decide what to truly leave behind in order to move forward.
Book Ambassador: Jesse Grosman
In this timely, thought-provoking, funny and heartbreaking collection, ten acclaimed BIPOC authors explore the theme and concept of home. From awkward family dinners to moving to a new town, each of these stories provides a unique perspective on the theme of belonging through characters tasked with navigating and finding their place in this world.
Brought together by curator and contributor Jael Richardson, Today I Am will make readers laugh and cry while opening their hearts and minds to the world around them, validating how it feels to be young today. Today I Am includes stories by acclaimed authors Marty Chan, Rosena Fung, Michael Hutchinson, Chad Lucas, Angela Misri, Mahtab Narsimhan, Danny Ramadan, Liselle Sambury and Brandon Wint.
Book Ambassador: Khadijah Rhemtulla
In a thrilling journey of self-discovery and magical intrigue, Thea finds herself transported to a house for the children of gods, where she must retrieve lost keys while navigating secrets, rival schools, and her own doubts, all before the shadow creatures catch up to her.
Embark on a spellbinding odyssey of self-discovery, where Thea’s extraordinary journey unfolds within a realm of enchantment and peril. Desperate to escape encroaching darkness, Thea is propelled through a mystical well by her mother and grandmother, left only with a cryptic mission to “retrieve the keys.”
However, her destination defies all expectations as she arrives at an extraordinary haven—a house known as Malachite. Within the hallowed halls of Malachite, Thea unveils a world far beyond her wildest imagination. Amidst an intricate tapestry of training and elusive artifacts, she discovers a mysterious box safeguarded by the students’ within the home.
Book Ambassador: Cindy Scott
The Halifax Explosion is a poem written by Halifax’s seventh poet laureate, Dr. Afua Cooper. It reveals dramatically what happened on 6 December 1917 at 9:05 when two ships carrying munitions and war supplies collided in the Halifax Harbour. The poem shows the tragic toll the resulting explosion and fire took on the residents of Halifax and the surrounding area, which stretched all the way north to Africville. Dr. Cooper commemorates the Halifax Explosion through verse and highlights the experiences of the Black Haligonians in this disaster. Her powerful words are magnified in this book with dramatic historical photographs and poignant art.
Book Ambassador: Fabio Biagiarelli
Four unique artists breathe ghastly life into the scariest tales adapted from the bestselling series!
A corpse that haunts a crossroads . . .
A creepy doll with a mind of its own . . .
An island that is no vacation destination . . .
A neighbour with a scary reputation . . .
Perfect for those who love graphic novels and fans of the original series, these four stories have it all: creepy settings, hair-raising history and super-scary storytelling by award-winning author, Joel A. Sutherland. Illustrated in full-colour, these blood-curdling tales are sure to keep any reader turning the pages — and awake at night.
Book Ambassador: Nicholas Regner
Michael might be young, but he’s got a big heart and a strong sense of right and wrong. He knows it’s right to help people when they need it—but what can he do when so many people need help?
When Michael finds out about an upcoming youth conference, he sees his chance to learn more about helping others. But when he gets to the conference, he’s the youngest person there! And the speaker on stage is saying things about his community that aren’t true. Will Michael be brave enough to use his voice to stand up for what he knows is right?
Little by Little is a beautifully illustrated graphic novel about how one Indigenous child sparked change and inspired others.
Book Ambassador:
Larry Kwong became the first player of Asian descent in the NHL when he played one shift with the New York Rangers in 1948.
Even though Larry’s achievement happened more than 70 years ago, his contribution to hockey is only now being recognized. He broke hockey’s color barrier and fought racism and discrimination at every step of his career. From his humble beginnings on the outdoor rinks in Vernon, British Columbia’s Chinatown all the way to playing at Madison Square Garden and in the NHL, this inspiring hero has a timeless story for young readers.
Book Ambassador:
They can see in the dimmest light, hear the faintest of sounds, fly silently and rotate their heads to look straight backward. Most owls are nocturnal, more often heard than seen. Even those that are active during the day stay largely out of sight.
Owls: Who Gives a Hoot? reveals the secrets of these mysterious birds and the important role they play in our lives and their ecosystems. Learn about the 19 species that live in Canada and the United States—from the tiny elf owl to the hefty great horned owl. And meet the scientists, activists and young people who are working to keep these iconic birds in flight and turning heads for years to come.
Book Ambassadors:
An essential resource for young readers that details the people, events and places that have shaped queer history in North America.
In this exploration of the history of LGBTQ+ activism in North America, middle-grade readers can learn about the key people who led the fight for equality, the events that brought about change and the places where history was made. Presented in an A to Z format, with one topic per letter (“P Is for Pride”), the entries include subjects such as coming out, pride flags, Jazz Jennings and the Stonewall Inn. Young readers will be particularly interested in learning about youth activists such as Gavin Grimm, the history of the first gay-straight alliance and the ongoing issue of banned children’s books in America.
Book Ambassadors: Beth Wolfe
The creators of If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It are back with inspiring profiles on twenty-five diverse careers and individuals.
Young readers are given a lens into the life of an architect, a paleontologist, a pilot, and so many more through detailed job profiles and full-colour photos. How does a comedian write the perfect joke? How does a private investigator crack a mysterious case?
Questions about jobs you know, and don’t know, are answered in a fun and accessible way through pro tips, spin-off job sidebars, and spotlight features about young people already achieving their dreams.
Following the success of If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It: How 25 Inspiring Individuals Found their Dream Jobs, teacher and award-winning author Colleen Nelson, teams up once again with librarian and literacy advocate Kathie MacIsaac to introduce inspiring individuals of many backgrounds, genders, and abilities. Seeing a wide range of representation, in both people and jobs, is the first step to young people discovering their own career possibilities. This information-packed resource shows how education can come in many different forms, such as university, college, trade school, apprenticeship, or specialized training. A wide range of job profiles provides valuable insight into how each individual developed the skills and expertise they needed for their career.
Book Ambassador: Rory Grant
Hoarders. Scavengers. Clever foragers. Bringers of new life.
Ravens have many roles, both for the land and in Gitxsan’s story and song. The sixth book in Hetxw’ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson)’s Mothers of Xsan series transports young readers to Northwestern British Columbia, where they will learn about the traditions of the Gitxsan, the lives of ravens, and why these acrobatic flyers are so important to their ecosystem.
Follow along as Nox Gaak, the raven mother, teaches her chicks what they need to survive with the help of her flock.
Book Ambassadors: Rory Grant
Years before Rosa Parks famously refused to give up a bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama, Viola Desmond took a similar stand against racial segregation in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.
On November 8, 1946, she was arrested for refusing to move from the “whites-only” section of a movie theater. Her heroic act inspired Black community leaders and made her a symbol of courage in the fight against inequality. This story of Viola’s life is based on rare interviews with her sister Wanda Robson, who spent her life championing her sister’s story and was successful in getting Viola a posthumous pardon that recognized she was innocent of any crime. From their childhood in Nova Scotia to Viola’s career as a teacher in a segregated school and, later, her role as a pioneer in Black beauty culture, young readers are introduced to the girl and the woman who went on to become the face of the civil-rights movement in Canada.
Book Ambassador:
The most complete guide to AI for youngsters, covering everything from Ancient Greece to ChatGPT.
In this fun, simple and vibrant non-fiction book, technoscience expert Matthieu Dugal, creator of documentary AI: To Be or Not to Be, shares the epic history of artificial intelligence and gives answers to the biggest head-scratchers:
We can’t see it and yet this technology is everywhere: it’s in computers, cars and virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa. And it’s already making decisions for us, for better and sometimes for worse…
This fascinating guide delves deep into how these decisions are made behind the scenes, putting tricky ideas into easy-to-understand terms. Keep kids’ attention with colourful illustrations and easy-to-understand, well-researched facts to prepare them for an exciting AI-centric future.
Book Ambassador: Tim Cooper
Today I Am: 10 Stories of Belonging Edited by Jael Richardson
Why We Play With Fire by Giselle Vriesen
The Cricket War by Tho Pham and Sandra McTavish
Book of Screams by by Jeff Szpirglas
The Outsmarters by Deborah Ellis
Call Me Al by Wali Shah and Eric Walters
The Cricket War by Tho Pham and Sandra McTavish
Escape to Ponti by Brian Slattery
Haunted Canada: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 (Four Terrifying Tales) by Joel A. Sutherland
Hopeless in Hope by Wanda John-Kehewin
The Outsmarters by Deborah Ellis
Queer History A to Z: 100 Years of LGBTQ+ Activism by Robin Stevenson Illustrated by Vivian Rosas