The Friday Society

by Adrienne Kress

Dial Books (Penguin Group)

978-0-8037-3761-7

440 pp.

Ages 12+

2012

The Friday Society ushers in a new world of steampunk, in which three young ladies from very different backgrounds join their non-traditional forces to defeat evil machinations in very traditional turn-of-the-century London.  And if I read Adrienne Kress' ending correctly, The Friday Society is just the first in a series of books that will star these new heroes.

Our three heroes, all about 17-years-of-age, are Cora Bell, the personal and lab assistant to parliamentarian-inventor Lord White; the overwhelmingly beautiful Nellie Harrison, magician's assistant to the Great Raheem, a caring and wise surrogate father; and Michiko Takeda, former samurai student and current fight and self-defense instructor under the abusive Sir Callum Fielding-Shaw.  After a gala attended by Cora and Lord White at which the Great Raheem and Nellie perform, and Callum and Michiko demonstrate, the three girls finally cross paths.  Nellie and Cora, sharing a carriage home, come across Michiko who has been knocked unconscious after discovering the deserted carriage and decapitated head of another performer at the gala.  Dr. Welland had demonstrated the power of a new gravity-defying metal called cavorite in a mechanical bird that flew about the hall.  Now he has been murdered, the cavorite is gone and Michiko is determined to find the man, who she calls Fog, and fight him again to restore her honour.

Although now acquainted, the three young women still seek answers on their own.  Michiko seeks Fog, while teaching a young boy, Hayao, to be a samurai in return for his teaching her to run and jump across wide chasms.  Nellie is determined to discover  more about a poisoned man who died in the home she shares with Raheem.  Her inquiries take her to the Medical and Scientific Institute where she makes the acquaintance of the creepy Dr. Mantis and learns of the Society of Heroes, a secret group of scientists. Meanwhile, Cora is dealing with the amorous Mr. Andrew Harris, the handsome new lab assistant, toiling over a complicated new device, and mourning the death of a former friend, one of several flower sellers murdered recently.

Without obvious contrivance, Adrienne Kress knits the network of story-lines and mysteries into a powerful plot enriched with vivid characters (no matter how incidental they may appear to be), atmospheric settings, and complicated encounters, both emotional and physical.  And the humour in The Friday Society!

Dr. Mantis took a step toward her. "Do you know the difference between you and me?" he asked in that quiet voice of his.
"Aside from the fact that I have hair?" (pg. 392)

Adrienne Kress subtly blends contemporary language with the formalities of Victorian England with rousing success, effecting wit and levity in dramatic and tragic circumstances.

"Sir," she said, turning around abruptly and aiming her small pistol between his legs, "I am not the police.  I am not here to make a scene, nor to report any activity to anyone.  I am merely here to find my boss and bring him home so he can prepare for an event this evening for which it would be best if he were sober.  You have been most unhelpful, and if you don't let me take care of my business, I can assure you I will do away with yours." (pg. 17)

Even her recently uploaded trailer for The Friday Society (posted on our book trailers page here) ends with this playful wit.

Humour, mystery, action, strong female heroes, weird and wonderful contraptions, and the promise of romance - The Friday Society has all the right components for a highly-effective and sure-to-trend debut of a series.

The Friday Society Gala: Book Launch

Readers of all ages are invited
by 

hosts Penguin Books, Small Print Toronto, and the Gladstone Hotel

to attend

a gala of modernity and lively entertainments 

(their words, not mine)
 

in honour of Adrienne Kress' new steampunk book,

THE FRIDAY SOCIETY
 

on Friday, December 7, 2012
Doors open at 7:00 p.m., with the reading at 7:30p.m.

at
The Gladstone Hotel 

1214 Queen St. West
Toronto, ON

The evening will include:

• A reading by Adrienne Kress
• A demonstration of Bartitsu, the latest technique is self defense, by the Riot A.C.T.
• Displays of the latest in modern technologies by Messrs Smith and Bodine
• A screening of the book trailer

For an interesting touch, guests are invited to feel free to wear Steampunk! For ideas on how to put together a steampunk outfit from your own closet, visit Adrienne Kress' website here.

 

Darkest Light

by Hiromi Goto

Illustrated by Jillian Tamaki

Razorbill (Penguin Group) 

978-0-670-06527-1 

327 pp.

Ages 12-15

2012

The oxymoron of darkest light (the words, not the book) seems less of a conundrum when seen as extremes on the same scale:  evil-good, dark-light, selfish-sympathetic and, for Darkest Light's main character Gee, human-monster.  Although he doesn't really know much about himself, he is concerned about his beginnings. Now sixteen and still living with Popo, his grandmother, while attending school where his white skin and black eyes mark him, Gee knows little about himself, except that he must not get into trouble as Popo does not have official adoption papers for him.  But when Popo, who always defers sharing his history with him, is taken ill and the White Cat appears and insists he read The Book of the Realms, to face the coming Darkness, Gee begins to understand the dark voice within that encourages, berates and humiliates him to act less honourably.  

Gee learns that Older Sister (a.k.a. Melanie from Half World, Puffin, 2009) brought him as an infant from Half World, the domain where the dead go after the Realm of Flesh to endure their suffering before moving onto the Realm of Spirit.  Learning that he was once a monster further explains the dark voice that conflicts him, as well as explaining the terrifyingly elastic quality of his skin, which can slip from him like mucilage, a dexterity he uncovers when assaulting a bully.   

Though Older Sister had helped reestablish the balance between the three realms by ensuring their separation, there are some in Half World who are not pleased with this.  Ilanna, the Half Worlder with eels for arms and tongue, with Karu, a bird-headed young man, pursue Gee, knowing him as Mr. Glueskin, the powerful Half Worlder who taught them to circumvent their endless cycles of suffering by eating other creatures.  But Gee, accompanied by White Cat and Cracker, the Neo Goth teen with whom he miraculously feels no discomfort (his pervasive emotion), must return them to Half World and face his past, if he is to prevent leading them back to those he loves.

The grotesqueness of the Half Worlders who hunger for flesh and the painful cycling of suffering sustained by memory create the darkness of Hiromi Goto's Darkest Light.  Half World is a domain of raw emotions, evoking the senses with nauseating odours, sounds of squelching, writhing and quivering, spongy flesh and gooey decay, and colourless greys.  The motes of illumination that are Cracker, her amber eyes the only colour visible, and Gee, when not conflicting about right and wrong, light their journey through Half World with stops at Mr. Glueskin's penthouse, Cracker's home where her sister died, and the home of Gee's parents.  Hiromi Goto is relentless in immersing the reader in the horror of Half World (which regularly leaves Cracker "nervousing") while still gently presenting the notion that everyone has the propensity to be monsters but that our pasts need not control our futures.  Darkest Light is as mesmerizing and as illuminating as a fireball, both dazzling and frightening.

***

On Wednesday March 21, 2012, Hiromi Goto shared details about her writing process in an article in Canada's National Post newspaper. Select the following link to read that article, A brief description of how I write a novel.

***

The book trailer for Darkest Light, uploaded by PenguinCanada to YouTube on February 8, 2012, can be viewed on my Book Trailers page here: Darkest Light book trailer

The Friday Society: Cover revealed

Adrienne Kress, author of Alex and the Ironic Gentleman (Scholastic Canada, 2007) and Timothy and the Dragon's Gate (Scholastic Canada, 2009), revealed on her blog today the cover for her upcoming steampunk novel, The Friday Society, due out in November, 2012 from Dial, Penguin.

Voilà!

The blurb on the back cover of The Friday Society will intrigue any lover of strong female characters, adventure, mystery and danger, all within a steampunk milieu.

Be Your Own Hero . . .

Set in London at the turn of the last century, the novel follows the stories of three intelligent and very talented young women, all of whom are assistants to very powerful men: Cora, lab assistant to a member of parliament; Michiko, Japanese fight assistant to a martial arts guru; and Nellie, a magician's assistant. The three young women’s lives become inexorably intertwined after a chance meeting at a ball that ends with the discovery of a murdered mystery man.

It’s up to these three, in their own charming but bold way, to solve the murder—and the crimes they believe may be connected to it‐‐without calling too much attention to themselves.

Told with Adrienne Kress's sharp wit and a great deal of irreverence, this Steampunk whodunit introduces three unforgettable and very ladylike--well, relatively ladylike--heroines poised for more dangerous adventures.

(Retrieved from http://ididntchoosethis.blogspot.ca/2012/04/cover-reveal-for-friday-society.html?m=1 on April 3, 2012)

 In Her Words

Reading Adrienne Kress' blog (http://ididntchoosethis.blogspot.ca), I was especially curious about her take on the cover and what she especially loved about it.  With her permission, I share her words with you here:

What I love about this cover:

1.  The three girls.  Let's meet them shall we?  From left to right - Nellie Harrison (magician's assistant), Cora Bell (personal assistant/lab assistant to a member of Parliament), Michiko Takeda (fight assistant to a self defense guru).

I've already talked about what I like about how the girls look (though I should add I also adore their outfits . . . and weapons).  What's also fantastic about them, is the way they are posing.  They look tough.  They look like they have agency, that they can take care of themselves. Which is good.  Because they do and can. :)

2. The pinwheel effect.  Okay, note to self, adding a pinwheel automatically makes stuff look awesome.  It's subtle, but present.  It both draws the eye into the middle of the page, and explodes out in fantastic fun times.  It adds a wonderful sense of energy.  Love it.

3. The London skyline.  Because it's the London skyline.

4. The grainy effect.  Look up close, the picture has been made to look slightly weathered. Cool?  Yes, yes it is.

5. The font(s).  Font, to me, is often far more important than any other element on a cover.  It can make the difference between whether a cover is seen as professional or not.  And it can dictate the intended audience for the book.  I love both the fonts on this cover.  I love the title, I love how strong it looks, how cool, both contemporary and classic.  And I love my name.  I mean, I love seeing my name on a cover of a book in any font really (it's kind of overwhelming every time when you do see it - and maybe just maybe I got choked up seeing it on this cover for the first time), but this font is also just plain cool. I don't know why, but I love that the A isn't pointy.  Yeah, I know, but I do.

6. The border.  Now I have had the honour of being bordered by many a great object.  With ALEX we had octopus tentacles.  TIMOTHY we had a dragon:

And this time, well this time we get a supremely kick-ass Steampunk mechanical piece.

That border might be just about my favourite part of the cover.  Not quite my fav, we'll get to that at 7.  But still.  Yes it is all kinds of Steampunk amazing, but what I love about it the most is that it really looks mechanical, like a real machine where one piece influences the other, and not just like there are some random gears hanging out together 'cause, you know, they're gears and they've got that in common.  I also love how the border makes the whole cover have a kind of movie poster vibe.  And as a fan of movies, you can understand why this would make me happy.

Lastly I love the accidental continuity.  That I get to be border girl!  All my books have borders (despite being published by different publishers and being different genres), and I love borders, and I love my books.  So it's like such a love fest man.

7.  And my number 1 (which I guess is number 7 for some reason) thing I love about this cover is . . . wait for it . . .

This:

??

This is a screw.

There are four of them, one in each corner of the cover.  Making the cover look like it's been screwed onto the book.  It might not be grand, it might hardly be noticeable at first glance, but it's this kind of small detail I absolutely adore.  It demonstrates care, and I think wit as well.  The cherry on top of the sundae. 

 * * *

November seems like a long time from now, doesn't it?

Cross Katie Kross

by Donna Morrissey
Illustrated by Bridgette Morrissey
Penguin Canada
978-0-670-06479-3
32 pp.
Ages 4+
2012

Katie Kross is the mean woman that every child on any street knows to avoid.  She's always cross and unhappy. Often what makes someone mean is a mystery, except for Katie Kross.  She doesn't "like most anything" except Love Valley: a wondrous place from her dreams with soft grass, sweet air, and kindly animals, and where Katie is very happy.

As with most of us, Katie Kross is determined to recapture that happiness by finding Love Valley.  But the road to Love Valley is not clear.  Katie walks for days and days, only to find herself at the crossroads where a rabbit points her along the "obvious" road.  But, after a long trek, she reaches a dead end.  Cross and achy, Katie attempts to sleep but is kept awake by an irritatingly loud brook.  Jumpins! Nothing seems to be going right for Katie.

Back to the crossroads, Katie returns and chooses a different road, as advised by a preening fox.  Unfortunately, her travels end without finding Love Valley again.  Finally, Katie travels the only crossroad remaining and ventures into dark woods with lovely fountains of sweet pink juice from which Katie drinks and drinks and drinks.  Katie does find Love Valley but the reader will need to enjoy Cross Katie Kross to find its location.

Donna Morrissey, author of award-winning adult fiction including Downhill Chance (Penguin Canada, 2002) and Sylvanus Now (Penguin Canada, 2005), joins her daughter, artist Bridgette Morrissey, in their first picture book collaboration.  Children will recognize quite quickly what makes Katie Kross so mean and that her reaction to disappointment feeds her exasperation.  But it's the great teachable moment that Cross Katie Kross offers, about being "at the crossroads" and the strife most of us perceive when at this point, that will stoke important discussions.

Bridgette Morrissey's whimsical illustrations add the magic to Katie's home and her travels in search of Love Valley.  I needed to know how Bridgette Morrissey (see her website) creates the softness and touchability (I know it's not a word but tactile sensation sounds insensate) to the trees, animals, cakes - everything.  An email query to Bridgette Morrissey revealed her technique:

Everyone thinks the illustrations are colored pencil but they are indeed acrylic on paper.  I tend to paint very thin so the grain of the paper shows through, giving it that slightly textured look.

 (Morrissey, Bridgette. "Re: type of illustration." Email message, March 7, 2012.)

Children may not pick up on the "grass is always greener" allegory but they will pick up on the incongruity of Katie Kross' meanness and the softness of the illustrations and recognize that things are not always as we see them.

***

Below, Donna Morrissey and Bridgette Morrissey discuss their collaboration at a Cross Katie Kross book signing event at The Inside Story bookshop in Greenwood, Nova Scotia. The video was created by Edward Wedler.

Uploaded by Club8104 on Feb 28, 2012 on YouTube.

Darkest Light: coming soon to our blog

Today, Penguin Canada uploaded the book trailer for Darkest Light, the sequel to Hiromi Goto's Half World (Puffin, 2009).  When Half World was released, it won acclaim from all sectors, winning the Carl Brandon Parallax Award (for speculative fiction) and the 2010 Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic (Young Adult category), and was nominated for the White Pine award, the Young Adult Library Services Association (of the ALA) Best Fiction for Young Adults, the British Fantasy Award for Best Novel, and the international IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. (Whew!)

Half World, written by Hiromi Goto and illustrated by Jillian Tamaki, is a dark tale of loss and courage (suggestive to me of a contemporary version of Danté’s Divine Comedy) that bridges different worlds of the flesh and the spirit.  Protagonist Melanie Tamaki is devastated by her mother's death.  As expected, her mother leaves the Realm of the Flesh (our world) to enter Half World (a world of suffering and atonement) until she is welcomed into the Realm of the Spirit.  But the balance of the three worlds has been destroyed and Melanie, a cumbersome girl, must endure the horrors of Half World to re-establish harmony between worlds.

 

In Darkest Light (Razorbill, 2012), many years have passed and Melanie's younger brother, Gee, who was not raised with his sister, enters Half World in search of his past.  Until I have my copy to review, that's about all I can tell you, so I'll let the book trailer entice you instead.

 Uploaded by PenguinCanada to youtube on Feb 8, 2012