The 2013 nominations for the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading were announced yesterday morning... and I was super excited to discover which books had been nominated this year!

If you're not quite aware of what I'm really talking about, the Forest of Reading program celebrates the best of Canadian fiction, especially those for children and teens. All of the nominees are by CANADIAN authors and/or publishers! Those who participate through their schools or libraries simply have to read at least 5 of the 10 nominated novels in a program by the end of April 2013, which then culminates into an event in May called the Festival of Trees which takes place in Toronto. The winners are announced there... and readers can even meet the authors too!

The two programs I pay extra attention to are the Red Maple and White Pine categories, seeing as these novels are YA. So, without further ado, here are the 2013 nominees (links lead to Goodreads): 

• Crush. Candy. Corpse. by Sylvia McNicoll (Lorimer)
• The Dragon Turn (The Boy Sherlock Holmes #5) by Shane Peacock (Tundra Books) **
• End of Days by Eric Walters (Doubleday Canada) 
• First Descent by Pam Withers (Tundra Books) 
• Testify by Valerie Sherrard (Dundurn Press)
• This Dark Endeavor (The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein #1) by Kenneth Oppel (Harper Trophy Canada) **
• The Tiffan by Mahtab Narsimhan (Dancing Cat Books)
• The Town That Drowned by Riel Nason (Goose Lane Editions)
• The Vampire Stalker by Allison van Diepen (Scholastic Point) ~ * my review
• The Vindico by Wesley King (Putnam Juvenile)  **

• All Good Children by Catherine Austen (Orca Book Publishers) 
• Dark Inside (Dark Inside #1) by Jeyn Roberts (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers) **
• First Day on Earth by Cecil Castellucci (Scholastic Press) **
• Getting Over Garrett Delaney by Abby McDonald (Candlewick Press)  ~ * my review
• Karma by Cathy Ostlere (Puffin Canada) 
• The Opposite of Tidy by Carrie Mac (Razorbill Canada) *
• The Taming by Eric Walters and Teresa Toten (Doubleday Canada) *
• Way to Go by Tom Ryan (Orca Book Publishers)  
• The Way We Fall (Fallen World #1) by Megan Crewe (Disney Hyperion)  ~ * my review
• Witchlanders by Lena Coakley (Atheneum Books for Young Readers) ~ * my review

* means I've read the book 
** means I have a copy, but haven't read it

Wow! The White Pine nominees are especially strong this year! Usually, I've maybe only read one or two of the books, but I've read half of them this time around! 
 
What's nice about the program is that it recognizes Canadian novels which I may never have heard about otherwise! There's usually a wide variety in the genres selected, so it's also a nice way to broaden your reading tastes.

To learn more about the Forest of Reading Program or see the rest of the 2013 nominations in the other age groups, you can find it on the Ontario Library Association's website.