Watch the Canada Reads 2025 book trailers

CBC

13-03-2025

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Canada Reads 2025 will take place March 17-20. This year, the great Canadian book debate is looking for one book to change the narrative.
The 2025 contenders are:
The debates will take place live at 10:05 a.m. ET. You can tune in live or catch a replay on the platform of your choice. You can see all the broadcast details here.
If you'd like the Canada Reads books in an accessible format, both CELA and NNELS provide books in audio, braille, print braille and text formats. You can find out which formats are available for each of the books here for CELA and here for NNELS.
The Canada Reads books are available in print, e-book and audiobook format at your local bookstore or library of choice. You can use this link to find an independent bookstore near you.
Four of the five trailers are voiced by the same narrator as the audiobook version. New this year, audiobooks from Audible are now included on Amazon Music Unlimited — and all the Canada Reads titles are available here.
The books chosen for Canada Reads deal with difficult topics, such as trauma and abuse. These stories may be shared during the broadcast and in the trailers. Click this link to find publicly available resources for support.
Watch the book trailers and get to know the creators behind them:
Watch Out for Her by Samantha M. Bailey
Watch Out for Her by Samantha M. Bailey | Canada Reads 2025 trailer
1 day ago
Duration 1:04
Watch Out for Her is about a young mother named Sarah who thinks her problems are solved when she hires a young babysitter, Holly, for her six-year-old son. Her son adores Holly and Holly adores Sarah, who is like the mother she never had. But when Sarah sees something that she can't unsee, she uproots her family to start over. Her past follows her to this new life, raising paranoid questions of who is watching her now? And what do they want?
Watch Out for Her will be championed by Olympic gold-medal swimmer Maggie Mac Neil.
Olympic gold medallist Maggie Mac Neil makes a splash with the first thriller on Canada Reads
The trailer for Watch Out for Her was created by Sydnie Baynes.
Baynes is a visual artist and animator known for her art that explores Black history and empowers Black femininity and self-love. Her most recent short film African American Express was screened at festivals including the Dumbo Film Festival, the Dublin Animation Film Festival and the Fantasia International Film Festival.
Watch Out for Her 's trailer was narrated by Hilary Huber, who also narrated the audiobook version.
Huber is a voice actor who has recorded more than 800 audiobooks over her nearly 30-year career. She has won multiple SOVA, Earphone, Audiofile Best of and Audie finalist awards for her work. Huber splits her time between Santa Monica and New York.
The sound design was done by Alex Redekop and the script was written by Ryan B. Patrick.
A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby, with Mary Louisa Plummer
A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby, with Mary Louisa Plummer | Canada Reads 2025 trailer
4 days ago
Duration 1:13
In A Two-Spirit Journey, Ma-Nee Chacaby, an Ojibwa-Cree lesbian who grew up in a remote northern Ontario community, tells the story of how she overcame experiences with abuse and alcohol addiction to become a counsellor and lead Thunder Bay's first gay pride parade.
A Two-Spirit Journey will be championed by podcaster and wellness advocate Shayla Stonechild.
The trailer for A Two-Spirit Journey was created by Alina Pete.
Pete is a nehiyaw (Cree) artist and writer from Little Pine First nation in western Saskatchewan. As a creator, they have worked in comics, animation, VFX and VR. They won the 2023 Imagining Indigenous Futurisms Award for their writing and have edited all-Indigenous comic anthologies including Indiginerds and The Woman In the Woods and Other North American Stories.
Shayla Stonechild brings an Ojibwa-Cree elder's message of hope and healing to Canada Reads
A Two-Spirit Journey 's trailer was narrated by Marsha Knight, who also narrated the audiobook.
Knight is an actor and storyteller involved with theatre and film since the mid-90s. Her recent projects include playing the role of Maggie in the play Secret to Good Tea and creating the documentary film Winnipeg's North End – A Food Desert. Knight, who is of Metis Ojibwe ancestry, is from Winnipeg.
The trailer's sound design was done by Alex Redekop and the script was written by Bridget Raymundo.
Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper
Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper | Canada Reads 2025 trailer
3 days ago
Duration 1:00
In the novel Etta and Otto and Russell and James, 82-year-old Etta decides to walk 3,232 kilometres to Halifax from her farm in Saskatchewan with little more than a rusty rifle and a talking coyote named James for company. Her early life with her husband Otto and their friend Russell are revealed in flashbacks to the Great Depression and the Second World War.
Etta and Otto and Russell and James will be championed by Heartland actor Michelle Morgan.
The trailer for Etta and Otto and Russell and James was created by Sima Naseem.
Naseem is an animator, director and artist best know for her work in stop motion, 2D animation and illustration. Her film My Friend in the Jingle is on CBC Gem and won awards from CILECT North America, the Mosaic International Film Festival and the Muslim International Film Festival.
Emma Hooper on the patchwork quilt of people that have inspired her writing
The trailer for Etta and Otto and Russell and James was narrated by Heather Bambrick.
Bambrick is a vocalist, broadcaster and voice actor. As a vocalist, she has been nominated for a Juno and an East Coast Music Association award and has won a Canadian Radio Award and a National Jazz Award for her work with JAZZ.FM91 in Toronto. She sits on the Advisory Council for Music Canada and the Board of Directors for SING! Toronto Vocal Arts Festival and Jazz in Toronto.
The sound design was done by Alex Redekop and the script was written by Julia Okoth.
Jennie's Boy by Wayne Johnston
Jennie's Boy by Wayne Johnston | Canada Reads 2025 trailer
3 days ago
Duration 1:06
Jennie's Boy is a memoir that recounts a six-month period in Wayne Johnston's chaotic childhood, much of which was spent as a frail and sickly boy with a fiercely protective mother. While too sick to attend school, he spent his time with his funny and eccentric grandmother Lucy and picked up some important life lessons along the way.
Jennie's Boy will be championed by thriller writer Linwood Barclay
Linwood Barclay brings a thriller writer's perspective to Canada Reads 2025
The trailer for Jennie's Boy was created by Andy Gomez.
Gomez is a Vancouver-based 2D, experimental and mixed media animator. Their films include The Closing Shift and Twinkle My Soul. They have a degree in 2D and Experimental Animation from Emily Carr University. Gomez loves playing with different mediums and techniques to explore themes of repetition and cycles.
The trailer for Jennie's Boy was narrated by its author, Wayne Johnston.
Johnston is a writer, born and raised in Goulds, N.L. His novels include The Divine Ryans, A World Elsewhere, The Custodian of Paradise, The Navigator of New York and The Colony of Unrequited Dreams. His 1999 memoir, Baltimore's Mansion, won the RBC Taylor Prize. The Colony of Unrequited Dreams was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and was a 2003 Canada Reads finalist, when it was championed by now prime minister Justin Trudeau.
Ashly July wrote the script and did the sound design.
Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew
Dandelion by Jamie Chai Yun Liew | Canada Reads 2025 trailer
3 days ago
Duration 0:58
Dandelion is a novel about family secrets, migration, isolation, motherhood and mental illness. When Lily was a child, her mother, Swee Hua, walked away from the family and was never heard from again. After becoming a new mother herself, Lily is obsessed with discovering what happened to Swee Hua.
She recalls growing up in a British Columbia mining town where there were only a handful of Asian families and how Swee Hua longed to return to Brunei. Eventually, a clue leads Lily to southeast Asia to find out the truth about her mother.
Dandelion will be championed by pastry chef Saïd M'Dahoma.
The trailer for Dandelion was created by Ridaa Khan.
Khan is a South Asian-Canadian artist and animator. She works as a 2D animator at Titmouse and her independent films have been featured at several Canadian film festivals. Her goal is to bring diverse, meaningful stories to life and amplify BIPOC voices in the animation industry. Khan is based in Vancouver.
Dandelion 's trailer was narrated by Jennifer Hui, who also narrated the book.
Hui is a Canadian actress whose work spans television, film and video games. She is best known for her role in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds as "Ensign Christina." Her other credits include appearances on the television series The Spencer Sisters and Heartland and voice acting for the video game For Honor. She began her career as an opera singer.
The sound design was done by Alex Redekop and the script was written by Talia Kliot.