The bestselling Canadian books for the week of May 8-14, 2022

Here are the bestselling Canadian books for May 8-14, 2022.

Bestseller lists are compiled by Bookmanager using weekly sales stats from over 260 Canadian independent stores.

Canadian fiction | Canadian nonfiction | Canadian kids

Canadian fiction

Five Little Indians by Michelle Good is the #1 Canadian fiction book this week.

In Five Little Indians, Kenny, Lucy, Clara, Howie and Maisie were taken from their families and sent to a residential school when they were very small. Barely out of childhood, they leave school with nothing and are dropped into eastside Vancouver to start their adult lives. Fuelled by the trauma of their childhood, the five friends cross paths over the decades and struggle with the weight of their shared past. 

Five Little Indians by Michelle Good, championed by Christian Allaire, won Canada Reads 2022.

Five Little Indians also won the 2020 Governor General's Literary Award for fiction and the 2021 Amazon Canada First Novel Award.

• The authors and books that Canada Reads author Michelle Good loved reading

See the full Canadian fiction list below.

1. Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
2. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
3. Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez
4. The Maid by Nita Prose
5. Framed in Fire by Iona Whishaw
6. The Vanished Days by Susanna Kearsley
7. Mindful of Murder by Susan Juby
8. The Darkness in the Light by Daniel Kalla
9. Pure Colour by Sheila Heti
10. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Canadian nonfiction

21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act by Bob Joseph is the #1 Canadian nonfiction book this week.

Based on a viral article, 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act is the essential guide to understanding the 1876 Indian Act and its repercussions on generations of Indigenous Peoples. It also explores how the legal document's legacy has shaped the lives of Indigenous people from 1876 until now.

• Bob Joseph believes Indigenous reconciliation can be realized sooner rather than later

 See the full Canadian nonfiction list below.

1. 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act by Bob Joseph
2. Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard
3. Run Towards the Danger by Sarah Polley
4. The Little Book by Mykola Matwijczuk
5. Embers by Richard Wagamese
6. This is Assisted Dying by Stefanie Green
7. Generation Dread by Britt Wray
8. Burning Questions by Margaret Atwood
9. Kiss the Red Stairs by Marsha Lederman
10. 305 Lost Buildings of Canada by Raymond Biesinger & Alex Bozikovic

Canadian kids

The Barren Grounds by David A. Robertson is the #1 Canadian kids book this week.

The Barren Grounds is the first book of Robertson's new middle-grade series. It is set in Winnipeg where two Indigenous kids, Morgan and Eli, are placed in a new foster home. The pair feel out of place and disconnected in their new surroundings — until they uncover a secret portal in the attic that opens up to a magical reality. The frozen barren grounds they find set the pair on a mission of survival and self-determination.

• How David A. Robertson manages to write as much as he does

See the full Canadian kids book list below.

1. The Barren Grounds by David A. Robertson
2. The Little Book by Mykola Matwijczuk
3. The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
4. The Great Bear by David A. Robertson
5. Beatrice and Croc Harry by Lawrence Hill
6. You Know, Sex by Cory Silverberg, illustrated by Fiona Smyth
7. Love You Forever by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Sheila McGraw
8. Hunting by Stars by Cherie Dimaline
9. The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko
10. The Bug Club by Elise Gravel