The Seven Prequels: coming September!

Once upon a time, 

seven outstanding authors of youngCanLit 

Eric Walters

Sigmund Brouwer

Norah McClintock

Shane Peacock

Richard Scrimger

Ted Staunton

John Wilson

came together and formulated a series like no other. 

It is called Seven (the series) 

from Orca Book Publishers, 

and all seven books were simultaneously published in October, 2012.

The seven linked books, which can be read in any order, 

focus on the 7 grandsons of David McLean 

and the 7 journeys his death sends them on.

Between Heaven and Earth by Eric Walters

Close to the Heel by Norah McClintock

Devil's Pass by Sigmund Brouwer

Ink Me by Richard Scrimger

Jump Cut by Ted Staunton

Last Message by Shane Peacock

Lost Cause by John Wilson

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Two years later, the Seven Sequels were born.

The seven cousins from Seven 

come together at their grandfather's cottage 

and discover evidence of David McLean's mysterious past, 

sending the seven out on a new set of adventures.

Broken Arrow by John Wilson

Coda by Ted Staunton

Double You by Shane Peacock

From the Dead by Norah McClintock

Sleeper by Eric Walters

Tin Soldier by Sigmund Brouwer

The Wolf and Me by Richard Scrimger

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Next month the Seven Prequels arrive!

This time the seven books emphasize the origin stories of the seven grandsons and their relationships with their grandfather and tell...

How It All Began

Weerdest Day Ever 

by Richard Scrimger

Barracuda 

by Sigmund Brouwer

Separated 

by Shane Peacock

Jungle Land 

by Eric Walters

The Missing Skull 

by John Wilson

Slide 

by Norah McClintock

Speed 

by Ted Staunton

Look for the books on September 20 2016 

and 

enjoy more news and extras (including the Seven teachers' guide) 

at Orca Book Publishers at

www.thesevenprequels.com

The Seven Sequels: They're coming!

The Countdown Begins!

On October 1, 2014, The Seven Sequels, the seven sequels to The Seven Series, will be launching officially.  

When The Seven Series hit the shelves in October of 2012, no one could have anticipated its popularity with young readers.  I saw boys at school who rarely pick up a library book waiting for the return of a particular volume.  I had an intermediate teacher reading an advanced reading copy I had of Ink Me (Richard Scrimger, 2012) and then students relentlessly pestering me about the ETA of the books.  And last year, three of the ten nominees for the Red Maple award of the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading were volumes in The Seven Series!

The Seven Sequels will bring seven new titles from the same seven authors who brought us The Seven Series, with the seven grandsons of adventurer David McLean, newly passed, undertaking new adventures that will take them from Cambridge to Uruguay.

The books are:

• Sleeper by Eric Walters
• Broken Arrow by John Wilson
• Coda by Ted Staunton
• The Wolf and Me by Richard Scrimger
• From the Dead by Norah McClintock
• Tin Soldier by Sigmund Brouwer
• Double You by Shane Peacock

For more about The Seven Sequels, visit www.thesevensequels.com

But listen to this!

Here's something else for readers to get excited about: not only will there be digital editions with the classic paper copies, Orca Book Publishers is offering the unabridged audiobooks (i.e., the entire book is read) of the series! (In fact, it's possible to pre-order the complete Seven Series or Seven Sequels as an audiobook collection.) For audiovisual learners, audiobooks are an amazing way for students who learn best by listening to get into books. Personally, I prefer audiobooks as an alternative to the radio while I drive.

Freebies!

To help promote the upcoming series and the audiobooks, Orca Book Publishers is giving away free audio samples from The Seven Sequels--one each week until October 1, 2014. The first audio sample is Chapter 1 of Eric Walters' Sleeper and can be downloaded here.  New samples can be downloaded at http://www.thesevensequels.com/audio.php each week until the books are out.

Let the anticipation begin!

Look for reviews of the books in The Seven Sequels in the upcoming weeks here at CanLit for LittleCanadians.

SEVEN: Orca's upcoming series

Today's release of the following book trailer launches the hype for Orca's upcoming series, Seven. Watch the trailer to discover why the books of Seven will be much anticipated.

Uploaded by OrcaBookPublishers on Feb 7, 2012

As obvious as it may seem, the number seven is the key to the whole series.  In his will, adventurer and grandfather David McLean leaves seven letters for his seven teen-aged grandsons: D.J., Steve, Spencer, Bunny (a.k.a. Bernard), Rennie, Jim (a.k.a. Webb) and Adam.  In the letters, each boy is asked to undertake a specific task that will lead him on an adventure to Iceland, Spain, France, Tanzania or somewhere in Canada. Each book will tell the adventure of one grandson.

The series will be authored by seven of Canada's exceptional writers for young people.  As of today, the Seven website lists the following titles and authors as the books in the series:

• Between Heaven and Earth by Eric Walters;
• Lost Cause by John Wilson;
• Jump Cut by Ted Staunton;
• Ink Me by Richard Scrimger;
• Close to the Heel by Norah McClintock;
• Devil's Pass by Sigmund Brouwer;
• The Last Message by Shane Peacock.

Seven, unlike any other series, will have all seven books released on the same day: October 10, 2012.  Judging by the quality of these authors' writing, this is definitely a date to mark on your calendar.  I anticipate much thrilling action, vibrant settings and convincing characters, with each author bringing their own strengths to the books.  Readers can undoubtedly look forward to Richard Scrimger's sense of humour, Norah McClintock's sense of mystery, John Wilson's take on history, Shane Peacock's dark plotting, Eric Walters' character-building challenges, Ted Staunton's musicality, and Sigmund Brouwer's problem-solving strategies to enrich the tales. Definitely a series for all readers.

Details about the books (plus a countdown widget) are available at the Seven website.

I AM CANADA series

Scholastic Canada introduced the series I AM CANADA in 2010 for readers of ages 9-12.  The following compelling invitation (from www.scholastic.ca/iamcanada/videos) suggests why young readers have chosen to follow this series:

The following titles have been published in the series:

Prisoner of Dieppe: World War II, 
Alistair Morrison, Occupied France, 1942 
by Hugh Brewster
978-0-545-98594-9
2010

Blood and Iron: Building the Railway, 
Lee Heen-gwong, British Columbia, 1882 
by Paul Yee
978-0-545-98593-2
2010

Shot at Dawn: World War I, 
Allan McBride, France, 1917 
by John Wilson
978-0-545-98595-6
2011

Deadly Voyage: RMS Titanic,
Jamie Laidlaw, April 14, 1912  
by Hugh Brewster
978-1-4431-0465-4
2011

Behind Enemy Lines: World War II, 
Sam Frederiksen, Nazi-Occupied Europe, 1944 
by Carol Matas
978-0-545-99066-0
Feb, 2012



Additional information about the series, including relevant videos, discussion guides and activities can be found at the I AM CANADA website

N.B. I plan to review Deadly Voyage: RMS Titanic (Hugh Brewster, 2011) and the Dear Canada book, That Fatal Night: The Titanic Diary of Dorothy Wilton (Sarah Ellis, 2011) in April, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.