Canadian Middle Grade Releases - Winter/Spring 2025
Canadian Middle Grade Books - Winter/Spring 2025
I’m playing catch-up on 2025! There have been so many awesome Canadian books for kids ages 8-12 released this year, all of which would make great gifts! I decided to split my 2025 list, so here are the wonderful titles that were released the first half of the year. Ranging from serious issues of today, to spooky, to historical, to heartwarming, there’s something here for everyone.
Under Attack by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
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12-year-old twin sisters Rada and Dariia Popkova couldn’t be more different. Dariia is outgoing and chatty while Rada is a quieter and artsy. But what they have in common is their love for each other and their home. The family lives in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which is attacked by the Russians on Feb 24th, 2022.
The attack separates the family—Dariia is with her mom and Rada with her dad. Dariia and her mother are then separated by Russian officials and Dariia is sent to live with a Russian family. As the war rages around them, the sisters and their family must overcome unimaginable hardships. But they will learn how powerful hope is in the face of disaster.
No Purchase Necessary by Maria Marianayagam
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Ajay has lived his life dutifully following the rules set by his Tamil parents. Rules like, “straight A’s only” (rule #3), “no such thing as a no-homework day” (rule #5), and “never watch scary movies” (rules #10). But moving to a new school gives Ajay a new rule to follow: get on seventh grade all-star Jacob Underson’s good side.
When Jacob asks him to steal a Mercury bar from Scary Al’s convenience store, Ajay feels this is his chance to finally “get cool” and gain real friends. Maybe even stop eating lunch alone. But Jacob rejects the stolen chocolate bar, leaving Ajay to unwrap it and discover that it contains Mercury’s Twenty-fifth Anniversary Grand Prize: one million dollars!
Bea Mullins Takes a Shot by Emily Deibert
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When PE is suddenly canceled, Bea is forced to join an after-school activity...which is how she ends up as a member of the Glenwood Geese, her middle school's first all-girls hockey team. Bea would be happy sitting on the bench, but she doesn't want to let down her best friend, Celia. Plus, the more time Bea spends on the rinks, the more she comes to enjoy her teammates, especially the incredibly talented—and incredibly cool—co-captain Gabi. But when low funding puts the Geese in danger of never playing again, Bea realizes she may lose everything she didn't know she wanted.
Year of the Carrot by Madeleine Hart
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Leonie MacGregor is sick of carrots. Who wouldn’t be if you grew up on a carrot farm? But Leo’s dad is obsessed with them. He breeds carrots the way some people breed prized poodles.
A series of events leads Leo to suspect someone is after her dad’s one-of-a-kind carrot seeds. With the help of her best friend Sara, Leo begins to narrow down the suspects. Is it their organic farmer neighbor who everyone calls “the Hippie”? Or maybe spies sent by the government who think her dad’s special carrots might really be worth something!
Even though Leo has lots of things to do on the farm—like fixing her super awesome dirt bike—it’s up to her to save her dad’s carrots!
Something’s Up With Arlo by Matteo Cerilli
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Twelve-year-old Emily Nero’s best friend is a ghost.
For as long as Nero can remember, she’s been “haunted” by Arlo. Nero’s been caught too many times looking at “nothing” and talking to “no one,” which officially made her “the weird girl.” So when she has the chance to start over as “normal” at a prestigious private school, Nero is hopeful that things will change for the better. Maybe her parents will finally see her—and she’ll stop feeling like a ghost too.
But on Nero’s first day at her new school, something’s up with Arlo, something very wrong: her best friend has suddenly turned on her. Glitching electronics, flickering lights, bad smells and cold drafts are only the beginning. Arlo is changing into something scary …
Summer of Rocks by Jenna Greene
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It’s the summer of 1990, and Amy (age 11), Beth (age 9), and Marion (age 6) are in for the family vacation of a lifetime. No, they’re not going Disneyland, Hawaii, or on a Caribbean cruise. No, they’re not flying to Germany to collect pieces of the Berlin Wall.
They will be looking at rocks, though. Lots of rocks. So many rocks.
You see, when your father is a geologist, that’s what you do on your summer vacation. It’s no luxury trip, but it has its highlights―from camping under the stars to wading in natural hot springs to flying a helicopter! And for Amy, Beth, and Marion, the memories they make along the way will last a lifetime. At least that’s what their parents tell them…
Rhapsody Smith Ice Angel by Lorna Schultz Nicholson
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Rhapsody "Rap" Queen Smith plays for the Ice Angels hockey team. Her focus is on improving her power plays and crossovers until she meets Marion, an older woman who spends her days sitting on a bench outside the arena. Nobody seems to know who she is, but there are two mysterious things about her: she has an in-depth knowledge of hockey strategy and she wears a 1990 Women's World Cup ring.
When Marion's ring goes missing, Rap and her friends are determined to find it. Who is Marion, and why does she know so much about hockey?
Benny on the Case by Wesley King
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Benny isn’t your average boy from Newfoundland. He lives in a retirement home that his mother runs, he has an eighty-six-year-old best friend named Mr. Tom, he knows more about fixing boats than video games, and he has Mosaic Down syndrome. When Benny transitions to a mainstream classroom for the first time, the other students tease him for his differences…except for Salma. She’s new, too, and not your typical Newfoundland girl: she’s tech savvy, speaks Arabic, plays basketball, and isn’t afraid to eat lunch with Benny.
When Salma’s grandmother and several other residents in the retirement home are robbed, Benny asks Salma to help him catch the thief. Time is not on their side as an inspector threatens to close the home. And to make matters worse, Benny and Salma must crack the case while working on a class assignment with their bullies.
Spirit Service by Sarena and Sasha Nanua
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All Raveena wants is to bring back her school’s beloved arts program. It’s been six months since her music-loving grandmother passed, and four since Hollows’ Peak Middle School cut its entire arts budget.
But Raveena’s world turns on its head when she and her friends stumble upon an otherworldly discovery: an old-fashioned telephone with the ability to contact ghosts! With her newfound possession, Raveena devises the perfect plan to raise funds for the arts program: Spirit Service, an agency that guides deceased townspeople to the afterlife by reconnecting them with their living loved ones.
But not all spirits are interested in peacefully moving on…
Joe and the Wreck of the Tribune by Jacqueline Halsey
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It's 1797. Joe has lived with Gram ever since the crusty old midwife found him on her doorstep thirteen years ago. He must now earn his keep working as a fisher boy for her bad-tempered bully of a son, Eli.
The battered, abandoned rowboat he finds could be his chance to break free from his miserable life. But mysteries surround the boat. The local carpenter is upset at the sight of it, and the initials carved on the boat match those on an old sea chest hidden in the back of Eli's shed.
On a cold, stormy November day a frigate wrecks at the mouth of the harbour. Joe's neighbours don’t dare launch their boats into the raging storm to save the survivors. Can Joe stand by and listen to the desperate cries of the exhausted sailors, or should he brave the wild Atlantic in his patched-up rowboat and attempt to rescue them?