This week, Kate has also taken on the task of planning a book launch for Dunces Anonymous, her recently released novel for ages 9-12. An entertaining story of three tweens under considerable pressure to achieve the (high) expectations set out for them by their parents, Dunces Anonymous is also the name of their club for under-achievers that’s sure to recruit a following. Tim Wynne-Jones, author of The Uninvited, had this to say about the book: “Flunkers of the world unite! The fine art of failure has a new champion. Well, three of them, actually, and never has losing been such laugh-out-loud fun.”

If you happen to be in the Ottawa area this week, please stop by and join Kate at her book launch:

Thursday, November 12 at 7:00 pm
Kaleidoscope Kids Books
1095 Bank Street, Ottawa

Kate will be there to sign books, and she has planned lots of fun activities for readers of all ages in attendance. Hope you can make it!

Walking Backward, a novel for readers ages 9-12, is told from the perspective of Josh, who has recently lost his mother in a phobia-induced car crash – I’m sure you can guess the source of the phobia. For her launch, Catherine prepared a terrific phobia display to show different kinds of phobias accompanied by Kindergarten art on the same theme.

Catherine has reason to celebrate: Walking Backward is getting great reviews! Booklist says that “Austen breaks from the pack with this confident and peculiar debut…[she] is more interested in people’s alternately funny and haunting reactions to grief.” In addition, Kirkus Reviews calls it an “impressive debut novel” and “an elegantly crafted volume of lasting power.”

Curious how a story about grief can be funny? Then you need to check out Walking Backward!

The finalists for the 2009 Governor General’s Literary Awards were announced today.

Sister Wife by North Vancouver resident Shelley Hrdlitschka and A Thousand Shades of Blue by Victoria’s Robin Stevenson were among the five titles nominated in the Children’s Literature – Text category.

The jury’s comments stated that Sister Wife “paints a realistic picture of life inside a polygamist community where women are exploited and power is absolute. The strong cast of characters and close attention to detail make this novel absorbing and riveting right down to its explosive conclusion.”

The jury said of A Thousand Shades of Blue “When Rachel is forced to go on a year-long trip to the Bahamas with her dysfunctional family, she finds out the true meaning of Sartre’s ‘Hell is other people.’ …A humorous and heartfelt story of a family headed toward disaster.”

Shelley Hrdlitschka has written a number of bestselling novels, including Dancing Naked and Gotcha!

A Thousand Shades of Blue is Robin Stevenson’s seventh book with Orca and was also a nominee for the BC Book Prizes.

The winners will be announced on Tuesday, November 17, at 10 AM in Montreal. Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, will present the 2009 Literary Awards on Thursday, November 26, at 6 PM at Rideau Hall.

More info here.

Media Meltdown

This full-colour graphic novel for ages 8–11 educates young readers about media literacy and the power of money over truth.

“At the heart of Media Meltdown is a battle for control of the messages we all see and hear every day,” says O’Donnell, who adds that the book is about “a struggle between young upstarts who want to get the truth out and the power holders who like things just the way they are.”

To promote Orca’s commitment to digital media and to introduce readers to the Graphic Guide Adventure series, Media Meltdown, the fourth and most recent book in the series will be available as a free downloadable pdf for the month of October.

Downloads are available from the interactive website, www.mediameltdown.net, along with games and tips for young readers. The website also includes tools and links to help teachers bring media literacy into their classrooms.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to gauge interest in digital editions as we are in the process of digitizing our entire list,” says publisher Andrew Wooldridge. “Media Meltdown is the right title at the right time because of the book’s focus on media literacy and its appeal to readers. With the dedicated website, it makes perfect sense to bring the print and digital editions together.”

Well I love the little guy and finally last year the timing was right. I decided to make a new story happen and Orca was happy to help. I was off and writing about my favourite little moose once again. Of course that meant doing the pictures too. So, Elliot is definitely coming back out to play in “Elliot’s Fire Truck” in spring 2010. “Whooo hoo!” as Elliot would say.

Most Elliot stories maintain the themes of friendship, courage and fairness. In Elliot’s Fire Truck, everyone wants to ride on the bright red truck and nobody wants to be rescued. Elliot just wants to have fun. Despite mounting frustration he remembers to play fair,  but when Elliot finally puts his foot down disaster ensues. You’ll have to read it to see how things turn out. I think this is my favourite Elliot story ever!

Quid Pro Quo is a high-stakes, fast-moving legal thriller about real people, and funny people at that. Cyril MacIntyre’s mother is a twenty-eight-year-old ex-street kid who drags her son to all her law school classes, then proceeds to get herself kidnapped. That aside, Cyril’s life isn’t too different from that of other thirteen-year-olds. He has all the usual adolescent issues to deal with. He just has legal problems too. And he’s got to solve them if he wants to save his mother’s life.

Res Judicata continues the story as Cyril investigates the death of a millionaire inventor. Long on smarts and short on—well, just plain short, Cyril tangles with deranged criminals, indulges in a little bit of B & E and confronts the scariest person in the world—his mother.

Quid Pro Quo was the winner of the Arthur Ellis Award and the CBC Young Canada Reads 2009 award. It has been nominated for numerous other honours, including the Edgar Allan Poe Award and the Ann Connor Brimer Award. The Globe and Mail said “The narrator of this thoroughly engaging whodunit is the smartest mouth on two legs any of us could expect to meet.”

Yowza Animation’s Executive Producer, Pete Denomme says, “The novels’ characters are so rich, and provide so many opportunities for fresh drama and comedy, that it seemed like a natural for adaptation to a television series. Grant’s characters are so full, so alive, that they’ll adapt brilliantly to all screens. The concept allows today’s tech-savvy kids the opportunity to see themselves reflected on the small screen while offering tweens their very own detective and lawyer combo show.” Stay tuned for information on upcoming production location and dates.