collection development
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The Pain Eater by Beth Goobie
The Pain Eater by Beth Goobie My rating: 4 of 5 stars Maddy is gang-raped by her masked classmates when she is alone and vulnerable but she knows another person was witness to it. At first, she is only able to calm her traumatic thoughts through self-harm. Going to school each day everyone notices the…
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Subject to Change by Karen Nesbitt
Subject to Change by Karen Nesbitt My rating: 4 of 5 stars Declan’s family is falling apart as his single mother works beyond her limits to keep the family together, and his brother struggles with addiction as a way to avoid confronting responsibility. Declan battles with which of his family’s secrets to keep and which…
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The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline My rating: 4 of 5 stars I chose this book as it is nominated by the Ontario Library Association’s Forest of Reading program in the White Pine selection this year. …and I think it is a strong contender for the winner, but teachers aren’t allowed to vote. I’m not…
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Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden My rating: 4 of 5 stars Like many settler Canadians, I am on a remarkable journey started just this year to connect with a past that was hidden from me about the atrocities towards First Nations people. I didn’t know what I didn’t know. Having read and enjoyed Boyden’s…
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Code in Every Class by Kevin Brookhauser and Ria Megnin
Code in Every Class by Kevin Brookhouser My rating: 4 of 5 stars A powerful little read that zips by. Although I’m personally working on my entry-level Lightbot skills, I really like how Kevin Brookhouser opens up with pseudo-coding activities to create a coding mindset and then works towards more and more challenging materials. The…
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A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout
A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout My rating: 4 of 5 stars I had one of those friends at university who lived really close to the edge of always going too far. She abused alcohol, had a variety of sexual partners and walked home alone in the dark. I was always confused by…
threadbare beauty 