PAUL COCCIA
Self-Proclaimed Author of Glitterature, Paul Coccia has a specialist in English Lit from the University of Toronto and a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. He lives in Toronto and can often be found baking in his kitchen accompanied by his three dogs and a little grey parrot. Despite writing about hockey and basketball, Paul cannot skate and nearly broke his nose trying to spin a basketball on his finger. But, he can bake, play video games, and knows a lot about Cher. Find out more about his books below.
Leon Levels Up
2024
In the real world, Leon isn’t built to be a hero, but he must become one when he gets trapped in a cutting-edge virtual-reality game.
Twelve-year-old Leon loves video games. When he plays, he feels confident and amazing for just a little while. The rest of the time he feels like a loser. So Leon is shocked when Nico, the coolest kid ever and the son of a video-game developer, invites him over to test out the newest game at his dad’s high-tech lab.
To play, they must submerge themselves in giant tanks filled with nanobots, which are programmed to interact with the players and form the physical gaming world. It sounds perfectly safe. But a glitch causes the tiny robots to start behaving oddly, putting the boys in real-life danger. Now it's up to Leon to slay a dragon, to beat the game and save Nico and himself... before the timer runs out.
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Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
2024 Forest of Reading Red Maple Summer Reading List Selection
New Glitterature
I GOT YOU BABE
2023
This year’s fun fair will have a Pride Carnival theme and twelve-year-old Mac couldn’t be more excited. Mac convinces his best friend, Amy, to do a Sonny and Cher drag number. He has their outfits all planned out, right down to the bellbottoms and fur vests. And he wants their performance to be perfect too so he pushes Amy to rehearse every day. Every step, every wave of the hand, every lyric has to be spot on. But Amy has had enough—days before the event, she reveals that she never wanted to be Sonny. Why can’t she be Cher? Mac refuses to even consider it. There can only be one diva! With no time to recast, Mac plans to go solo. But he's miserable without his best friend. Can the two of them patch things up in time?
2023 Forest of Reading Red Maple Summer Reading List Selection
Canadian Children's Book Centre 2023 STARRED Review
Canadian Children's Book Centre 2023 Best Book
ON THE LINE
co-authored with Eric Walters - 2022
Thirteen-year-old basketball star Jordan Ryker feels like his life is falling apart. All Jordie wanted was for his parents to stop fighting. Soon, he gets his wish. His parents separate and then his dad announces he’s gay. Shocked, Jordie struggles with how to process all this. His dad taught him everything he knows about basketball, and there’s an important championship game coming up. He needs him more than ever. But Jordie feels like his dad has abandoned his family. He doesn’t want anything to do with him now and he definitely doesn't want to meet his dad’s new boyfriend. It takes a new girl with wicked basketball skills and a revelation from his best friend to help Jordie realize that while some things change, other things never do.
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Richard Allen Chase Memorial Award Winner
2023 Forest of Reading Red Maple Award Nominee
2023 Rocky Mountain Book Award Finalist
Canadian Children's Book Centre 2022 STARRED Best Book
2022 Forest of Reading Red Maple Summer Reading List Selection
CBC 25 Canadian MG To Watch For in Spring 2022
CBC Kids 7-Kid Approved Road Trip Reads
CBC 12 Books for Kids and Teens to Read During Pride Month 2022
THE PLAYER
2021
Set in the traditionally homophobic world of amateur hockey, this book follows gay goalie Cooper in his struggle with his feelings for a teammate and coming out to his team. Cooper has been hooking up with teammate Pesh in secret, and has to play along when Pesh dates a girl and even tolerate locker-room homophobic talk. When Pesh outs Cooper online, trying to better his own chances at playing pro, Cooper chooses self-esteem and honesty over sex. With a strong and relatable main character, this book is a realistic, positive look at teen relationships — gay or straight.
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2021 Forest of Reading Red Maple Summer Reading List Selection
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CUB
2019
In the gay community, a young, husky man is known as a "cub" Seventeen-year-old Theo fits the definition perfectly, but he is very self-conscious about his body. So when his best friend signs him up for a cooking competition at Heat, the city's newest trendy restaurant, Theo is nervous. He's confident in his baking ability, and dreams of opening his own bakery one day, but he's not a chef, and he hates being in the spotlight.
As Theo survives round after round, he gains the admiration of both the audience and the restaurant owner, a sexy celebrity chef known as KCC. When the owner makes it clear he is more interested in what Theo might do outside the kitchen, Theo has to decide how far he is willing to go to launch his career.
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Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
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