2017 MYRCA Nominees

Use the Powerpoint with the annotations to promote the list!

2017 MYRCA nominees

 

A Pocket Full of Murder

R.J. Anderson

Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2015

ISBN 978-1481437714

Interest level: Grades 5+

In a world where magic is used for everything, only the wealthy and the upper classes can afford it. Isaveth and her family are so poor they can barely afford to feed themselves. When her father is wrongfully accused of murdering a high ranking official, Isaveth must use only her natural gifts of curiosity and intellect, and some help from her friend Quiz, to try to prove her father’s innocence before it’s too late.

A Pocket Full of Murder – ELibraries Manitoba

 

Fragile Bones

Lorna Schultz Nicholson

Clockwise Press, 2015

ISBN 978-0993935107

Interest Level: Grades 5+

Is it possible for two very different people to become friends? Meet Anna, an ambitious high achieving senior in high school and fifteen year old Harrison, who has high functioning autism and a fixation on human bones that helps him get through the day. They first meet through the Best Buddies Club, where Anna starts off by helping Harrison to learn how to relate to others. In the process, Harrison teaches Anna a lot about herself.

 

Ghost Most Foul

Patti Grayson

Coteau Books, 2015

ISBN 978-1-55050-614-3

Interest level: Grades 5+

 

Fourteen-year-old Summer is devastated when her basketball coach is killed in a plane crash. Coping with her mentor’s death is hard enough, but Summer also has to deal with a new coach who plays favourites and a team that’s falling apart. When Summer starts seeing Coach Nola’s ghost whenever she’s on the court, she has to figure out why.  Can Summer find the strength to pull the team back together? Can Coach Nola help her?

Ghost Most Foul – ELibraries Manitoba

 

Last Shot

David Skuy.

Scholastic Canada, 2015

ISBN 978-1-4431-4669-2

Interest level: Grades 5+

 

 Bryan ‘Rocket’ Rockwood has been drafted into the OHL for his skills, not his size. He’s the smallest player on the team, and his teammates and coaches don’t ever let him forget it. Rocket has the determination and the skills to make it in the NHL, but can he earn the respect of the coaches and the other players? Or should he give up his dreams for good?

Last Shot – ELibraries Manitoba

 

MiNRS

Kevin Sylvester

Margaret K. McElderry Books, Simon & Schuster , 2015

ISBN 978-1-4814-4039-4

Interest Level: Grade 5+

 

Christopher Nichols and his parents are amongst the first wave of inhabitants to move to Perses, a planetoid that supplies Earth with metals and raw ore. As a two month communication blackout with Earth looms, the colonists are prepared with food and supplies. What they aren’t ready for is an alien attack that devastates the settlement. Christopher and his friends survive the initial invasion, but can they stay alive until the blackout is over?

MiNRS – ELIbraries Manitoba

Prison Boy

Sharon E. McKay

Annick Press, 2015

9781554517312

Interest level: Grades 5+

 

Seven year old Paxton lives in a filthy slum in an orphanage called Pink House. When an abandoned baby comes to live in Pink House, Paxton names the baby Kai and takes on the role of an older brother. After discovering that the owner of the orphanage plans to send the boys to different homes, Pax is so determined to stay with Kai that they run away to live out on the streets, alone.

Prison Boy – ELibraries Manitoba

 

Scenes from the Epic Life of a Total Genius

Stacey Matson

Scholastic Canada, 2015

ISBN 978-1-4431-3389-0

Interest Level: Grade 5+

 

Arthur Bean, eighth grade student and screen writer extraordinaire, has had an EPIC summer! After a stay at Arts Camp with his buddy Robbie, Arthur is determined to make the best zombie movie ever.  All while juggling the AV Club, two potential girlfriends, an annoying third wheel on his movie project, a missing video camera, an English Teacher with high expectations and an editor who continually tones down Arthur’s creative voice. Could life possibly get any more complicated?

Scenes from the Epic Life – ELibraries Manitoba

 

Seven Dead Pirates

Linda Bailey

Tundra Books, Penguin Random House, 2015

ISBN 9781770498174

Interest level: Grades 5+

 

Shy eleven year old Lewis Dearborn is not thrilled when he is forced to move into a creepy old house by the sea that belonged to his grandfather. Lewis soon realizes that the old house has many secrets, including some long dead pirates who need his help.  After 200 years in the house, can Lewis help the ghostly crew locate their old ship and find their way to the lost pirate colony of Libertalia?

Seven Dead Pirates – ELibraries Manitoba

 

Speechless

Jennifer Mook-Sang

Scholastic Canada, 2015

ISBN 978-1-443-14267-0

Interest level: Grades 5+

 

 

Can Jelly (aka Joe Alton Miles) defy everyone’s expectations and win the ultimate prize at the sixth grade speech contest? He’s sure going to try. Never mind that he hates being in the spotlight or that the odds, and the school bully, are against him. With a little help from his old friends, and some new friends he never knew he had, Jelly is determined to follow his path of acquisition by destruction.

Speechless – ELibraries Manitoba

 

 Stones on a Grave

Kathy Kacer

Orca Book Publishers, 2015

ISBN 978-1-4598-0659-7

Interest level: Grades 5+

 

  Sara suddenly finds herself thrown out into the world when the Canadian orphanage which had been her only home practically since birth burns to the ground. After the fire, the matron shares with Sara the only information she has about Sara’s past – that Sara is Jewish and that she was born in Germany just after WWII. Will Sara take the matron’s advice and search for her birth family halfway around the world?

Stones on a Grave – ELibraries Manitoba

 

Tank and Fizz: The Case of the Slime Stampede

Liam O’Donnell and Mike Deas

Orca Book Publishers, 2015

ISBN 978-1-45980-810-2

Interest level: Grades 5+

 

Oh no! The cleaning slimes at Gravelmuck Elementary School have escaped and are leaving destruction in their path! Principal Weaver is sure that Mr. Snag, the beloved school custodian, is to blame.  Tank and Fizz, a goblin detective and his troll friend Tank are equally sure that he is innocent and set out to prove it.  Don’t forget to read the pictures in this very funny and somewhat slimy mystery.

Tank and Fizz – ELibraries Manitoba

 

The Blackthorn Key

Kevin Sands

Aladdin, Simon & Schuster, 2015

ISBN 978-1481446518

Interest level: Grades 5+

 

 Apothecaries, or potion makers, are being murdered under mysterious circumstances in London. Christopher Rowe, who is apprenticed to the Apothecary Benedict Blackthorn, is forced to get involved when disaster strikes and he finds that Blackthorn has also been murdered. Christopher must use all of the skills he has learned to uncover the shocking secrets behind the murders. A great mystery and adventure story, filled with explosions, puzzles, and secret codes.

The Blackthorn Key – ELibraries Manitoba

 

The Choice

Kathy Clark

Second Story Press, 2015

ISBN 978-1-927-58365-4

Interest level: Grades 5+

For 13 yr old Henrick, a Jewish boy living in Budapest during WWII, hiding his identity is key to his survival. But in a moment of misplaced bravery he is exposed, betrayed by a friend, and is thrust into the horrors of the Auschwitz death camp. In Auschwitz he finds solace in the traditions of the Jewish faith. But will his longing for revenge against those that betrayed him help him survive or ultimately destroy him?

The Choice – ELibraries Manitoba

 

The Disappearance of Emily H.

Barrie Summy

Delacorte Books, Penguin Random House 2015

ISBN 978-0-385-73943-6

Interest level: Grades 5+

Moving to a new place and trying to fit in is never easy. But for thirteen-year old Raine there’s an added challenge – hiding her supernatural ability to read memories. Raine discovers that the house she’s living in was home to a girl her age named Emily who recently disappeared. When Raine tries to use her ability to solve the mystery, will it lead her down the same path that led to Emily’s disappearance?

The Disappearance of Emily H. – ELibraries Manitoba

 

The Dogs

Allan Stratton

Scholastic Canada, 2015

9781443128308

Interest level: Grades 5+

 

Cameron and his mother have been on the run for years, never staying in one place for long. When they end up in creepy old farmhouse, Cam discovers a strange mystery about the previous owners. As Cam puts more pieces of the puzzle together he starts seeing the ghost of a little boy on the property. Is the ghost real? How did he die? Or is Cameron just losing his mind?

The Dogs – ELibraries Manitoba

 

The Scorpion Rules

Erin Bow

Margaret K. McElderry Books, Simon and Schuster, 2015

ISBN 978-1-481-44271-8

Interest Level: Grade 7+

 

 The world has changed. Cities have been destroyed and empires have crumbled. The planet is now ruled by a supercomputer who has dictated that all of the ruling families must provide a child to be held as a hostage until their 18th birthday to ensure that the world will remain at peace.  Going to war means the death of a hostage.  Duchess Greta thought she was prepared to die, until she meets Elián….

The Scorpion Rules – ELibraries Manitoba

 

Transferral

Kate Blair

Dancing Cat Books, 2015

ISBN 978-1-770-86454-2

Interest level: Grades 5+

 

In Talia’s world, when rich people get sick they go to the hospital and have the germs taken away.  The germs are then given to convicted criminals as a punishment. The more serious the crime, the more serious the virus. When Talia  learns that it’s not just criminals that are getting the viruses, she has to decide whether to support her father and the lies he’s telling or tell the truth and become a criminal herself.

 

we are all made of molecules

Susin Nielsen

Tundra Books, Penguin Random House, 2015

ISBN 978-0-553-49686-4

Interest Level: 7+

 

Families and friendships take many different, and surprising, forms. Under normal circumstances, Stewart, who is brilliant but odd and Ashley, one of the most popular girls in school, would have nothing to do with each other. Their two worlds collide and ultimately combine when Stewart’s dad and Ashley’s mom decide to move in together. Stewart and Ashley are forced to figure out how to become a family and maybe even, someday, friends.

we are all made of molecules – ELibraries Manitoba