Loan Stars is the readers’ advisory tool that allows libraries across Canada to indicate popular upcoming titles. Using LibraryData, the library data aggregation service, the forthcoming titles with the most orders become Loan Stars top picks!

The January 2025 Loan Stars Junior Canadian top 10 list features ten books that have at least one author, illustrator, translator, or editor (in the case of an edited collection of material) who is a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada.

You can see each book and find out a bit more about them in the list below, or you can download our poster if you want to display it, say in your library or on social media. (Tag us: @LoanStarsCA!) You can also view these titles on CataList in this catalogue.

January 2025 Junior Canadian List

Loan Stars top pick:

Dot the Ladybug: The Perfect Spot

by Kallie George 🍁, Illus. by Stephanie Fizer Coleman

9780063137530 | Readers

Description:

Dot the Ladybug is a charming sleuth in this endearing My First I Can Read series filled with sweet art and simple wordplay.

Jots the mouse is looking for the perfect spot. But finding a spot is not as easy as it looks. When is a spot not a dot? When it’s the perfect spot for a picnic! Dot is on the case to help out her friend in this latest adventure of Dot the Ladybug.

Kallie George’s fun yet simple wordplay, including synonyms and homonyms, will prompt lots of discussions. The text pairs perfectly with Stephanie Fizer Coleman’s vibrant illustrations in this My First I Can Read adventure for beginning readers.

The Eidi Bag

by Shazia Afzal 🍁, Illus. by Shiva Delsooz 🍁

9781771475426 | Holidays & Celebrations

Description:

A little girl adapts to the Eid traditions of her new home. Today is Sarah’s first Eid Ul Fitr in her new country. She’s excited to celebrate the breaking of the fast with her loved ones, and collect enough money in her Eidi bag to buy goodies for her friends, and a new set of markers for herself. In Pakistan, after the Eid prayer at the masjid, Sarah’s friends and family would fill her bag with coins. But in her new country, no one pays any attention to her waiting Eidi bag. Sarah is disappointed—this year’s Eid celebration is nothing like she thought it would be.

Later that evening, friends and family arrive at Sarah’s house to celebrate Eid. She greets them at the door, wearing her Eidi bag just in case. But instead of money, the guests come bearing other gifts: baklava, candies, flowers, and a new set of markers! Sarah still misses Pakistan, but she’s delighted by the gift-giving traditions of her new home.

Raven’s Ribbons

by Tasha Spillett 🍁, Illus. by Daniel Ramirez

9781771475662 | Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island

Description:

Raven loves round dances. The drums sing to the people, and the people dance to their songs. Raven especially loves dancing with his grandma, sidestepping to the rhythm of the drums. His favourite part of all is watching the ribbon skirts swirl like rainbows.

“Nohkum, do you think a boy could wear a ribbon skirt?” Raven asks his grandmother one day. She tells him she has lived for a long time, but she has never seen it. That evening, she sews late into the night, and Raven awakes to a rainbow skirt of his own. “I’ve lived for a long time,” his grandma says, “and I’m lucky to see beautiful things that I’ve never seen before.” At the next dance, Raven wears the swirl of unique ribbons with pride.

With illustrations infused with joy and colour, this moving intergenerational story celebrates self-expression, honouring traditions, and finding room for reinvention.

Money for Adulting

by Michelle Hung 🍁

9798886503838 | Personal Finance

Description:

It's never too early to make your money work for you! Discover how with this teen guide to financial health.

You don't have to work on Wall Street to know that money is important. Learn to handle it responsibly with this teen guide to money skills that makes managing money more fun! It dives into the essentials of saving, investing, and more, with tips on getting the most out of everything you earn. Before you know it, you'll be throwing around terms like dividend and liquidity like a finance professional.

Breath of the Dragon

by Shannon Lee & Fonda Lee 🍁

9781250902672 | Fantasy

Description:

Sixteen-year-old Jun dreams of proving his worth as a warrior in the elite Guardian’s Tournament, held every six years to entrust the magical Scroll of Heaven to a new protector. Eager to prove his skills, Jun hopes that a win will restore his father’s pride—righting a horrible mistake that caused their banishment from his home, mother, and twin brother.

But Jun’s father strictly forbids him from participating. He believes there is no future in Jun honing his skills as a warrior, especially considering Jun is not breathmarked, born with a patch of dragon scales and blessed with special abilities like his twin. Determined to be the next Guardian, Jun stows away in the wagon of Chang and his daughter, Ren, performers on their way to the capital where the tournament will take place.

As Jun competes, he quickly realizes he may be fighting for not just a better life, but the fate of the country itself and the very survival of everyone he cares about.

PAWS: Hazel Has Her Hands Full

by Nathan Fairbairn 🍁, Illus. by Michele Assarasakorn 🍁

9780593695784 | Comics & Graphic Novels

Description:

The dog days of summer are just around the corner! Hazel is looking forward to a break from school—as is the rest of the PAWS team! Gabby’s schedule is packed with too many camps to count, plus having to play host to her mysterious cousin from out of town. And Mindy is set to fly off to visit her dad for a whole month.

Meanwhile, Hazel has her sights set on cat-sitting for new clients. Their cats are adorable, and their house is even wheelchair accessible! The only problem is her friends' schedules are so hectic that Hazel would have to do the job by herself. She knows her overprotective mother would never approve. But what if Hazel never told her?

Hazel soon learns that keeping such a big secret while also juggling her PAWS responsibilities and staying on top of her physical therapy is no easy task. When disaster strikes, will she be able to hold it all together and prove to everyone, including herself, that she can handle whatever comes her way?

Kidnapped from Ukraine: Under Attack

by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch 🍁

9781546104537 | Places

Description:

This gripping, accessible novel by celebrated Ukrainian Canadian author Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch follows two sisters as they struggle to survive the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

12-year-old twin sisters Rada and Dariia Popkova couldn’t be more different. Rada is outgoing and chatty while Dariia 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 — Rada is with her mom and Dariia with her dad. Rada and her mother are then separated by Russian officials and Rada is sent to live with a Russian family. As the war rages around them, Rada and her family must overcome unimaginable hardships. But they will learn how powerful hope is in the face of disaster.

I Am Connected

by Kung Jaadee 🍁, Illus. by Carla Joseph 🍁

9781778540639 | Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island

Description:

We are all connected. Whether it is with your family, the mossy earth beneath your feet, the warm guidance of your ancestors, you belong in connection with all around you.

Along the backdrop of Haida Gwaii's breathtaking landscapes, Indigenous storyteller, Ḵung Jaadee, invites you to witness the many threads of relationship that connect us across time and space. What makes you feel connected?

No Purchase Necessary

by Maria Marianayagam 🍁

9781443472616 | Humorous Stories

Description:

Ajay Anthonipillai has a million-dollar problem. 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!

Faced with an extreme dilemma, Ajay will have to bear the weight of his actions and battle his conscience in deciding whether to claim the prize that may change the life of his family forever.

The Queen’s Spade

by Sarah Raughley 🍁

9780063344389 | African American & Black

Description:

In this riveting historical thriller inspired by true-life events, Belladonna meets Bridgerton as revenge, romance, and twisted secrets take center stage in Victorian England’s royal court when Sally, a kidnapped African princess and goddaughter to Queen Victoria, plots her way to take down the monarchy that stole her from her homeland.

A young lady can take only so many injuries before humiliation and insult forge a vow of revenge. . . .

The year is 1862 and murderous desires are simmering in England. Nineteen-year-old Sarah Bonetta Forbes (Sally), once a princess of the Egbado Clan, desires one thing above all else: revenge against the British Crown and its system of colonial "humanitarianism," which stole her dignity and transformed her into royal property. From military men to political leaders, she’s vowed to ruin all who’ve had a hand in her afflictions. The top of her list? Her godmother, Britain’s mighty monarch, Queen Victoria herself.

Taking down the Crown means entering into a twisted game of court politics and manipulating the Queen’s inner circle—even if that means aligning with a dangerous yet alluring crime lord in London’s underworld and exploiting the affections of Queen Victoria’s own son, Prince Albert, as a means to an end. But when Queen Victoria begins to suspect Sally’s true intentions, she plays the only card in Victorian society that could possibly cage Sally once again: marriage. Because if there’s one thing Sally desires more than revenge, it’s her freedom. With time running out and her wedding day looming, Sally’s vengeful game of cat and mouse turns deadly as she’s faced with the striking revelation that the price for vengeance isn’t just paid in blood. It means sacrificing your heart.

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