Late Summer Reading or Back-to-School Vibes? Add The Semicolon to your book list either way

 Hey, bookworms!

Are you racing to finish your Summer Reading Challenge goals? Good news – The Semicolon can help you get there! And as it’s already in libraries across Canada and the U.S, you might not have to go far to find it.

Society tends to portray summer as a happy, carefree time, but that’s not always the case. For many people, summer is lonely, disheartening and isolating. Kids and parents alike can struggle without the daily support structure of school. Others might experience the season as a ticking timebomb of anxiety as fall creeps closer. And in countless communities this summer – including in my own home province of Alberta – lives will be turned upside down by wildfire, extreme heat, and other natural disasters.
 
In other words, summer is as good a time to talk about mental health as it is to get lost in the pages of a book! 

You can read The Semicolon FOR FREE at public libraries in Calgary, Dallas, Austin, Baltimore, New Orleans, Buffalo, L.A., Chicago, Edmonton, Toronto, Vancouver, Mississauga, Kitchener, Halifax, Traverse City, Hennepin County, PEI, Santa Cruz, Saskatoon, Cincinnati, Louisville, Cuyahoga County, and more. (If it’s not in your local library, you can ask the librarian to consider it for their collection).

And if you're already in back-to-school mode, here are a few reasons to keep it on your reading list...

School is hard. In fact, studies show that a child's risk of suicide increases on school days. Books like The Semicolon are intended to spark conversations about mental health early and help young people build emotional resilience. But they can't do it alone!

Still in doubt? Well, the book has a few built-in grammar lessons to make English lessons more interesting for the year ahead. 

​Happy reading!