Read Northern Ontario
Your Region. Your Authors. Your Books.
Read Local with the Northern Ontario Lit List
Discover local authors. Explore the themes, history, and relationships that make us who we are.
Life is different in Northern Ontario, and so is the literature we produce. Find your next great read in this selection of exciting local books, all published by independent Ontario publishers.
Browse by Children's and Young Adult, Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Poetry!
Children’s/Young Adult
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Rabbit Chase Northern Ontario authors! A coming-of-age graphic novel that explores Indigenous and gender issues. |
She Holds Up the Stars Northern Ontario author! A young Indigenous girl searching for a sense of home finds strength and courage. |
Snowhook Sudbury author! Hannah must rely on her survival instincts to endure a brutal ice storm and save her family. |
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Skating Wild on an Inland Sea Thunder Bay author! Experience the magic of skating on wild ice. |
Sometimes I Feel Like a River Manitoulin Island author! A celebration of our relationship to the natural world. |
Mnoomin maan'gowing / The Gift of Mnoomin Northern creators! An Anishinaabe child explores the story of a precious mnoomin seed and the circle of life mnoomin sustains. |
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When I Listen to Silence Thunder Bay author! An opportunity for imagination and creativity to flourish. |
Mii maanda ezhi-gkendmaanh / This Is How I Know Northern creators! An Anishinaabe child and her grandmother explore the natural wonders of each season. |
I Found Hope in a Cherry Tree Thunder Bay author! A lyrical meditation on nature and hope. |
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Me and You and the Red Canoe Thunder Bay author! In the stillness of a summer dawn, two siblings push a red canoe into the lake. |
Once Upon a Northern Night Thunder Bay author! Celebrate the magic of a northern winter night.
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The Red Sash Thunder Bay author! The story of a young Métis boy who lives near a fur trading post. |
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Once In a Blue Moon Manitoulin Island author! Connect more deeply with the natural world. |
Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox Manitoulin Island author! An award-winning introduction to the Anishinaabe tradition of totem animals. |
Keeshig and the Ojibwe Pterodactyls On a hot summer day, a young Anishinabe boy visits the shores of Gitchee Gumee (Lake Superior) with his mother.
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No Dragons for Tea: Thunder Bay author! Dragons for Tea shows kids that learning about fire safety doesn’t have to be scary. |
Bernice and the Georgian Bay Gold Eight-year-old Bernice lives with her family in a lighthouse on Georgian Bay. One day Bernice wakes up to find a stranger named Tom Thomson sleeping in their living room. |
Phoenix Gets Greater Sudbury authors! A powerful story about the importance of family acceptance. |
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Runs With the Stars As they await the birth of a new foal, a man teaches his grandchild about the Ojibwe Horses that used to roam the forests of northwestern Ontario. |
The Water Walker The story of a Josephine-ba Mandamin, who was from Timmins/Wikwemikong First Nation, and her great love for Nibi (water). |
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Fiction
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And Miles To Go Before I Sleep A mysterious narrator documents disappearing Northlander trains, eager to learn what happened to elderly Gladys and her daughter, and why. |
Written in Stone Set in Northern Ontario! The story of one man’s commitment to the land of his birth. |
Wabanang, An Anishinaabe In the winter of 1876, a baby is born to Anishinaabe parents along the trapline in the northern Ontario wilderness. |
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Robert's Hill (or The Time I Pooped Sudbury author! This humorous and heartfelt collection of Christmas tales reflects on the best of the holiday: family, tradition, binge drinking, divorce, and poop. |
Moon of the Crusted Snow Sudbury author! An award-winning post-apocalyptic novel from a powerful rising literary voice. |
Mason's Jar Set in Northern Ontario. An electrifying mash-up of the western, sci-fi, and horror genres set against a backdrop of the housing, mental health, opioid, and climate crises. |
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Making Up the Gods Marion Agnew’s debut novel is a love letter to northern Ontario. |
Joe Pete Northern Ontario author! Sandy Mecowatch falls through the ice leaving behind his wife and daughter, who risks searching for her father. |
Pine Bugs and .303s After World War II has ended, two soldiers united by conflict return to their small northern Ontario town to try and restart their lives. |
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Sisu's Winter War Sudbury author! A story of love and connection in times of war and separation. |
Grin Reaping North Bay author! The humorous foibles of the fictional Boyle family. |
The Undertaking of Billy Buffone Marathon, ON author! A vivid portrait of lives intertwined in the search for redemption. |
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Before the Usual Time Collection of stories and poems curated by a local from Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, Northern Ontario. |
Connection at Newcombe Elliot Lake author! If living in the Canadian wilderness has taught the people of Newcombe anything, it’s how to be resourceful in the face of adversity. |
Midland A traumatized young man steps away from his protective family and embarks on a transformative two-month stint as a tree planter in Northern Ontario. |
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The Umbrella Mender A richly written novel of a young nurse who heads to Moose Factory. |
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Non-Fiction
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Seven Fallen Feathers Tanya Talaga delves into the history of Thunder Bay that has come to manifest Canada’s long struggle with human rights violations against Indigenous communities. |
Cobalt Author and Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus shares the tale of the early-twentieth-century mining rush at Cobalt. |
It Should Be Easy to Fix North Bay's Bonnie Robichaud shares her gruelling eleven-year fight for justice, which was won in the Supreme Court of Canada. |
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Resilience Is Futile: Northern Ontario author! A story of survival, courage and ultimately, hope. |
The Taste of Longing: The story of Manitoulin Island's Ethel Mulvany, and a testament to the often-overlooked strength of women in wartime. |
Enemy Alien: The story of Canada’s first national internment operations through the eyes of John Boychuk, an internee held in Kapuskasing from 1914 to 1917. |
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Leafs 365 Sudbury author! Get your daily Toronto Maple Leafs fix with Leafs 365. |
Sara Angelucci: Photography and essays co-published with Art Gallery Sudbury. |
Talking About Death Won't Kill You Thunder Bay author! A handbook for meaningful conversations about death and dying. |
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North of Superior A beautifully illustrated popular history of Ontario's northwestern region from pre-contact to the present. |
Leading the Pack: This definitive history chronicles over fifty years of Sudbury Wolves history. |
Jerry Lewis Told Me I Was Going To Die A wry look at the obstacles faced while growing up in a small town in Northern Ontario. |
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Uncommon Sense: Sudbury author! A boy grows into a young man while battling the misunderstandings that arise from being on the spectrum. |
Laurentian University: A History The fascinating story of Laurentian University's growth and innovations in post-secondary education. |
Treaty No. 9: The complete story behind the signing of Treaty No. 9 in Northern Ontario. |
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Changing Places: How the people of Porcupine-Iroquois Falls came to define themselves as a community. |
Jackson's Wars: Northern Ontario author! The rise of A.Y. Jackson as a soldier and artist in the First World War. |
Beardmore: How the sensational discovery of a Viking grave in northern Ontario became a major museum controversy when it was exposed as a hoax. |
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Queen of the Hurricanes: Elsie’s work during the Second World War in Thunder Bay on aircraft made her a popular cartoon character called the “Queen of the Hurricanes." |
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Poetry
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Claimings and Other Wild Things Sudbury author! A brave debut poetry collection. |
Treaty #
A major work of poetry from an important, original |
