Second Story Press

01/01/2026

🎉 Happy New Year!!! 🎉
Lots of great books coming your way in 2026...

12/24/2025

Happy holidays from all of us at Second Story Press! Wishing you cozy days filled with great books.

Featured here is art by Christine Wei for EVERY LITTLE BIT OLIVE TRAN written by Phuong Truong

12/21/2025

Happy winter solstice to all our readers! On the shortest day of the year we hope you can curl up with a good book and look towards brighter beginnings 🌟

Featured here is art by Marley Berot for I, TOO, AM HERE written by Morgan Christie

12/18/2025

December is AIDS Awareness Month—a time to reflect on the impact of HIV/AIDS, educate communities and fight stigma, and remember lives lost due to the illness. Today, we’re centering two q***r stories that honour the communities touched by AIDS.

Marie-Claire Blais’s novel, NIGHTS TOO SHORT TO DANCE, translated by Katia Grubisic, follows René as he reminisces about pivotal moments in the ongoing fight for q***r rights, including the AIDS epidemic. Through Katia Grubisic’s award-winning English translation, the story of René captures moments of community, hope, and justice amidst periods of loss.

[NON]DISCLOSURE by Renée D. Bondy is a story of healing and resilience as a young abuse survivor finds community when she begins working in an underground hospice caring for men dying of HIV/AIDS during the AIDS epidemic.

12/16/2025

Exciting news… SHY CAT AND THE STUFF-THE-BUS CHALLENGE is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection 🏅

Thank you Junior Library Guild and congratulations to Dian Day and Amanda White!

Publishing on March 3, 2026, SHY CAT AND THE STUFF-THE-BUS CHALLENGE follows best friends Mila and Kit as their school challenges students to bring in donations for a food drive. In this heartwarming story about friendship and food insecurity, Mila realizes she may have missed something important about Kit when he has a meltdown over a “best before” date, a bag of apples, and a dented can.

Pre-order your copy now!

12/15/2025

As Hanukkah begins, celebrate Jewish stories with THE LIGHT KEEPER — winner of the 2025 Canadian Jewish Literary Award 🕎 Written by Sheila Baslaw and Karen Levine, illustrated by Alice Priestley - Web Design and Illustration

💡 THE LIGHT KEEPER follows a young boy with a fear of heights named Shmuel, who is tasked with fixing a lamp in his shtetl. Find out if Shmuel can bring light back to his village in this warm picture book story of bravery, empowerment, and community. For ages 6-8.

Praise for THE LIGHT KEEPER:
“A welcome tale about persistence and optimism in the face of hardship.” —SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

“This gentle story of perseverance and kindness is a cozy read… Accompanied by beautiful illustrations, The Light Keeper would be a great addition to any family, school, or library bookshelf.” —HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY

“Priestley’s gentle illustrations evoke both the traditional shtetl lifestyle and the wonders of electric light. A luminous tale!” —BOOKLIST

“Baslaw’s storytelling draws from a rich wellspring of life experience…The Light Keeper is a huge accomplishment.” —OTTAWA LIFE MAGAZINE

12/12/2025

Thank you Open Book for sharing this excerpt from CAN POSTERS KILL? ANTISEMITIC PROPAGANDA AND WORLD WAR II, written by Jerry Faivish with Kathryn Cole 📖

Using historical posters, CAN POSTERS KILL? explores anti-Jewish artwork from the medieval period to the second world war. This nonfiction title shows how propaganda can be a powerful tool for spreading hate, and YA readers will understand how to identify and resist hateful language and imagery.

Propaganda shapes people’s beliefs in ways that are often hard to see until long after the damage is done. The featured book today, Can Posters Kill? (Second ...

12/11/2025

SHIRLEY: AN INDIAN RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL STORY is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection 🌟

Congratulations to authors Joanne Robertson (Joanne Robertson Studio) and Shirley (Fletcher) Horn!

Thank you to Junior Library Guild for including the brave true story of Shirley (Fletcher) Horn’s survival at Shingwauk Residential School, the boarding school where she was taken to live when she was just five years old. Featuring historical photos overlaid with original illustrations by Joanne Robertson. For ages 9-12.

Available for pre-order now ✨

12/10/2025

Human Rights Day 2025: This year’s theme is “Human Rights as Everyday Essentials.” Today let’s think about how human rights shape our daily lives, especially in ways we may not immediately recognize. Human rights, in this year’s UN campaign, are positive, essential, and attainable 🌎

On this day, we want to highlight I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AT SCHOOL, written by the children of Maré and edited by Ananda Luz and Isabel Malzoni. This picture book details life in Maré, an area of low-income neighbourhoods in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where communities experience daily police raids and children live under the constant threat of violence. The children of Maré wrote letters to their government explaining what life is like when police raids occur—they cannot play, attend school, and have to hide when they hear gunfire. Their words serve as a call to action to ensure the right of every child to live without fear of violence.

“The book is aimed at children aged 6-8, but its poignant, sophisticated content can also be used to educate children aged 8 and up about the state of the world.” —Winnipeg Free Press

12/09/2025

Second Story Press presents… our Winter/Spring 2026 preview! ❄️

Learn more about our exciting lineup of books (with some French editions!) releasing in the new year, including the sixth book in Swampy Cree author Michael Hutchinson’s Mighty Muskrats Mystery series, a brand new middle grade graphic novel that provides a nuanced look at food insecurity, and a true story of resilience and survival at the Shingwauk Residential School.

🌷ELLIS ON GUARD by Sal Sawler illustrated by Nandita Ratan (also publishing in French)
🌷SHIRLEY: AN INDIAN RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL STORY written and illustrated by Joanne Robertson (Joanne Robertson Studio) with Shirley (Fletcher) Horn (also publishing in French)
🌷SHY CAT AND THE STUFF-THE-BUS CHALLENGE by Dian Day and Amanda White
🌷THE CASE OF THE MOVIE MAYHEM by Michael Hutchinson
🌷LAST KNOWN ADDRESS: THE STUMBLING STONES OF EUROPE by Kathy Kacer

12/08/2025

New review for HIDDEN LIVES: STORIES FROM CHILD SURVIVORS OF THE HOLOCAUST (edited by Rachelle L. Goldstein) from the Jewish Book Council: https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/book/hidden-lives-stories-from-child-survivors-of-the-holocaust

"A moving, well-executed, and important compilation of their stories that will only become more valuable to scholars and lay people as time progresses." —Jewish Book Council

One and a half million Jewish children were murdered in the Holocaust.

12/06/2025

On December 6, 1989, at the École Polytechnique de Montréal in Montréal, Quebec, 14 women were killed in an act of misogyny and gender-based violence. Beginning in 1991, Canada has recognized this day as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

To commemorate this day, Second Story Press is offering a free digital download of BECAUSE THEY WERE WOMEN: THE MONTREAL MASSACRE by Josée Boileau, a book that provides more insight into the lives of the fourteen women who were tragically killed, and details how the events of December 6 shifted public perception of gender-based violence within Canada.

Use code DEC6 to download BECAUSE THEY WERE WOMEN: THE MONTREAL MASSACRE for free. Available until December 11, 2025, coinciding with the end of the 16 Days of Activism to End Gender-based Violence.

As a symbol of remembrance and to memorialize the victims of the Montreal Massacre, you can wear a white ribbon, which symbolizes a call to end men’s violence against women. A moment of silence at 11:00 AM is also held in memorial.