Here are the 5 Canada Reads Contenders and their Champions
This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
The 15 books longlisted for Canada Reads have been narrowed down to 5 contenders, each backed by a champion to defend them. The debates will start March 28-31, and every week, they will debate to decide one book to vote off. The last book standing will be the winner.
The contenders are:
- Five Little Indians by Michelle Good, defended by Ojibway author and Vogue fashion writer Christian Allaire
- Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez, defended by activist and actor Malia Baker (she’s Mary Anne in The Baby-Sitters Club!)
- What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad, defended by entrepreneur and former Syrian refugee Tareq Hadhad
- Life In the City of Dirty Water by Clayton Thomas-Müller, defended by author and ecologist Suzanne Simard
- Washington Black by Esi Edugyan, defended by LGBTQ activist and Olympic athlete Mark Tewksbury
The debates will be hosted by comedian Ali Hassan and will be aired on CBC radio and television channels.
For more information on the books and the panelists, check out the CBC website.
Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
More breaking news here
- The New York Times Readers’ Picks for the Best Books of 2024
- The Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week
- Here are Barack Obama’s Favorite Books of 2024
- The National Book Critics Circle Awards’ First Longlist for Poetry
- New York City’s Most Popular Library Checkouts of 2024
- TIME’s Most-Anticipated Books of 2025
- The Most Anticipated Books of 2025, According to Goodreads
- The Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week
- The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to All the Lists
- Innovative Study by UPenn and NYPL Finds That Public Libraries Positively Impact Community Health and Well-Being
