International Holocaust Memorial Day: Book List I

During World War II, the Nazis persecuted and killed millions of people belonging to groups they deemed inferior or dangerous.  Six million victims of the Holocaust were Jews and an additional eleven million victims were Poles, Russians, Ukrainians, Romas, the mentally and physically disabled, homosexuals and transexuals, and religious dissidents.

In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly designated January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.  January 27 coincides with the liberation of the concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945. To help enlighten young Canadian readers to the nature of the Holocaust, for the sole purpose of preventing such bigotry and hatred from ever occurring again, I offer two book lists to support the teaching of the tragedy of the Holocaust.

As we often note on Remembrance Day (November 11), let us support this very simple but profound intent:

   Never again.   

Picture Books

The Secret of the Village Fool
Written by Rebecca Upjohn
Illustrated by Renée Benoit
Second Story Press
32 pp.
Ages 8-10
2012

Poland, kindness, hiding, courage

Juvenile Fiction

After the War
Written by Carol Matas
Scholastic Canada
144 pp.
Ages 12-14
1996

Post-war migration

Clara's War (A Holocaust Remembrance Book for Young Readers)
Written by Kathy Kacer
Second Story Press
198 pp.
Ages 12-14
2001 

Terezin

Daniel's Story
Written by Carol Matas
Scholastic Canada
144 pp.
Ages 9-12
1993

Germany, Poland, resistance

The Diary of Laura's Twin (A Holocaust Remembrance Book for Young Readers)
Written by Kathy Kacer
Second Story Press
202 pp.
Ages 11-14
2008

Poland, bat mitzvah, memories

Goodbye, Marianne: A Story of Growing Up in Nazi Germany
Written by Irene Watts
Tundra Books
105 pp.
Ages 9-12
1998 

Berlin, Kindertransport, Hitler Youth

Goodbye, Marianne
Written by Irene N. Watts
Illustrated by Kathryn E. Shoemaker
Tundra Books
128 pp.
Ages 9-12
2008

Graphic novel, Berlin, Kindertransport, Hitler Youth

Greater than Angels
Written by Carol Matas
Scholastic Canada
144 pp.
Ages 11-14
1998

France, deportation, refugee camp

Guardian Angel House
Written by Kathy Clark
Second Story Press
228 pp.
Ages 10-14
2009

Budapest, refugees

Hero
Written by Martha Attema
Orca Book Publishers
131 pp.
Ages 7-10
2003

Netherlands, refugees

Honey Cake
Written by Joan Betty Stuchner
Illustrated by Cynthia Nugent
Tradewind Books
92 pp.
Ages 8-10
2007

Denmark, resistance, Underground

In My Enemy's House
Written by Carol Matas
Scholastic Canada
168 pp.
Ages 11-14
1999

Poland, disguise

The Night Spies (A Holocaust Remembrance Book for Young Readers)
Written by Kathy Kacer
Second Story Press
197 pp.
Ages 10-13
2003

Czechoslovakia, resistance 

The Old Brown Suitcase: A Teenager's Story of War and Peace
Written by Lillian Boraks-Nemetz
Ben-Simon Publication
148 pp.
Ages 10-15
1994

Poland, post-war migration to Canada

The Orphan Rescue
Written by Anne Dublin
Illustrated by Qin Leng
Second Story Press
124 pp.
Ages 9-12
2010

Poland, orphans, factory work


Pieces of the Past : The Holocaust Diary of Rose Rabinowitz, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1948 (Dear Canada)
Written by Carol Matas 
Scholastic Canada
168 pp.
Ages 9-12
Feb 01, 2013 

Memories, refugees, Poland

Remember Me
Written by Irene Watts
Tundra Books
184 pp.
Ages 10-15
2000 

Kindertransport, England

The Righteous Smuggler (A Holocaust Remembrance Book for Young Readers)
Written by Debbie Spring
Second Story Press
160 pp.
Ages 10-12
2005

Netherlands, deportation, smuggling, resistance

The Secret of Gabi's Dresser
Written by Kathy Kacer
Second Story Press
128 pp.
Ages 9-12
1999 

Czechoslovakia, memories, hiding

Stolen Child
Written by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Scholastic Canada
154 pp.
Ages 8-12
2010

Ukrainians, Lebensborn, memories

Making Bombs for Hitler
Written by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch 

Scholastic Canada

186 pp.

Ages 8-12

2012

Ukrainians, Ostarbeiter, persecution

Tell No One Who You Are: The Hidden Childhood of Régine Miller
Written by Walter Buchignami
Tundra Books 
185 pp.
Ages 9-13
2008

Belgium

Turned Away: The World War 11 Diary of Devorah Bernstein, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1941 (Dear Canada)
Written by Carol Matas
Scholastic Canada
199 pp.
Ages 10-14
2005

Escape, immigration to Canada

We Are Their Voice: Young People Respond to the Holocaust (A Holocaust Remembrance Book for Young Readers)
Edited by Kathy Kacer
Second Story Press
232 pp.
Ages 10-13
2012


 

Young Adult

Kanada
Written by Eva Wiseman
Tundra Books
264 pp.
Ages 13 +
2006

Auschwitz

My Canary Yellow Star
Written by Eva Wiseman
Tundra Books
232 pp.
Ages 14+
2001

Hungary, Raoul Wallenberg

Flames of the Tiger
Written by John Wilson
Kids Can Press
176 pp.
Ages 11-17
2003

Germany, Hitler Youth, propaganda

The Thought of High Windows
Written by Lynne Kositsky
Kids Can Press
175 pp.
Ages 11-14
2004

Germany, escape, Underground



A second book list  for International Holocaust Memorial Day will be posted tomorrow.

Gabby

Written by Joyce Grant

Illustrated by Jan Dolby

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

978-1-55455-250-4

32 pp.

Ages 3-6

January 2013

Look at this little cutie!  Could it be a junior Pippi?  No, this little one is Gabby and she is much more grounded and responsible, although still imaginative.

This sweet little girl is responsibly tidying up her room of its toys and books when a falling book deposits its letters every which way but inside the tome.  Fortunately, the very clever letters find their way to appropriate settings: a C on the carpet, an A on an armchair, a T on the table.  And by using those three letters, Gabby creates a very funky CAT.  Then, by retrieving different letters, Gabby is able to feed the CAT.  But when the letters B-I-R-D come together and mayhem ensues, Gabby puts her letter-building skills to work and makes things P-E-R-F-E-C-T (my word, not hers).

Joyce Grant's light-hearted text may demonstrate the fun to be had with building words but with Jan Dolby's cutie Gabby and the joyous letters, the story is more than an alphabet lesson.  Letters become toys with which to play, bend, imagine, build and delight.  They're fun! I dare any child to read this book and think that they are being taught about the alphabet and vocabulary building. And teachers and parents will love the joy that Gabby exudes putting her letters together.  With the "Fun Gabby Activities" put together by author Joyce Grant and illustrator Jan Dolby at the end of the book, children can learn how to draw Gabby, make ribbon words or play a memory game.  There is even more fun to be had at the author's website http://joycegrantauthor.com/ 

I recommend that young readers open the toy box that is Gabby (the book, not the girl) and play with the action-figures called letters.  By bringing learning into the realm of play, Gabby will more than meet expectations, learning and otherwise.

Viking Tales: A YoungCanLit Book List

On the last Tuesday of January, the largest Viking festival, Up Helly Aa, is held in rural Shetlands.  This festival, known as a fire festival, celebrates the Norse heritage of the Shetland Islands and involves a procession with a full-sized replica of a Viking galley ship, complete with shields and weaponry, that is set ablaze.

Procession at Uyeasound Up Helly Aa

 © Copyright Mike Pennington

What better way to participate in Up Helly Aa from Canada than by immersing oneself in the various fiction and non-fiction that includes elements of Viking history or mythology.  The following thirty-six titles present a varied sampling of such tales from our rich youngCanLit. (And, if you're teacher, these present an excellent way to integrate your social studies lessons with books by Canadians.)



Picture Books

Erik the Viking Sheep
by Elizabeth Creith
Illustrated by Linda Hendry
Scholastic Canada
32 pp.
Ages 2-7
1997

 

My Great-great-great-great-great-grandfather...was a Warrior
by Riccardo Francaviglia
Illustrated by Margherita Sgarlata
Lobster Press
24 pp.
Ages 4-8
2003


Chapter Books

Yikes! Vikings! (Canadian Flyer Adventures #4)
by Frieda Wishinsky
Illustrated by Dean Griffiths
Maple Tree Press
83 pp.
Ages 6-9
2007

The Curse of the Viking Grave
by Farley Mowat
McClelland & Stewart
256 pp.
Ages 9+
1987

Out of the Dark
by Welwyn Wilton Katz
Groundwood Books
176 pp.
Ages 11-14
1995

Betrayed: The Legend of Oak Island
by Christopher Dinsdale
Napoleon
292 pp.
Ages 10+
2009

The Dream Carvers
by Joan Clark
Puffin Canada
240 pp.
Ages 11-15
1997

The Face in the Flames (The Adventures of Wordsy & Jessica series)
by David Boyd
Rubicon Publishing
97 pp.
Ages 11 to 14
1989

Catla and the Vikings
by Mary Elizabeth Nelson
Orca Book Publishers
191 pp.
Ages 9-13
2012

Dragon Seer
by Janet McNaughton
HarperCollins
325 pp.
Ages 11-14
2009

Dragon Seer's Gift
by Janet McNaughton
HarperCollins Canada
282 pp.
Ages 10+
2011

The Feathered Cloak (Trilogy of the Tree, Part 1)
by Sean Dixon
Key Porter
143 pp.
Ages 10-13
2007

The Winter Drey (Trilogy of the Tree, Part II)
Sean Dixon
Key Porter Books
221 pp.
Ages 10-12
2009

Draugr (Northern Fright series, Book 1)
by Arthur Slade
Orca Book Publishers
144 pp.
Ages 10-15
1997 
Teachers can download a free study guide for this book from the author's website
 
The Haunting of Drang Island (Northern Fright series, Book 2)
by Arthur G. Slade
Orca Book Publishers
160 pp.
Ages 10-15
1998
A study guide for this book is available from author Arthur Slade's website
 
The Loki Wolf (Northern Fright series, Book 3)
by Arthur Slade
Orca Book Publishers
192 pp.
Ages 10-15
2000 
A study guide for this book is available from Arthur Slade's website 

Kingdom of Trolls (A Middlegate Book)
by Rae Bridgman
Sybertooth
288 pp.
Ages 10-14
2011

Stolen Away
by Christopher Dinsdale
Napoleon
229 pp.
Ages 10-12
2006





Young Adult

Eiriksdottir: A Tale of Dreams and Luck
by Joan Clark
Macmillan
418 pp.
1994

The Fetch (The Runestone Saga, Book I)
by Chris Humphreys
Alfred A. Knopf / Random House of Canada
357 pp.
Ages 13+
2006

Vendetta (The Runestone Saga, Book II)
by Chris Humphreys
Alfred A. Knopf / Random House of Canada
322 pp.
Ages 13+
2007

Possession (The Runestone Saga, Book III)
by Chris Humphreys
Alfred A. Knopf / Random House of Canada
369 pp.
Ages 13+
2008

The Sinclair Saga
by Mark Finnan
Formac
154 pp.
Ages 13+
1999

Under the Mound
by Cynthia Heinrichs
Be Read/Simply Read Books
455 pp.
Ages 11-15
2011

Viking Quest
by Tom Henighan
Dundurn
120 pp.
Ages 12-15
2001

Viking Terror (Book 2)
by Tom Henighan
Dundurn
180 pp.
Ages 12-15
2006







Non-Fiction

Adventures with the Vikings (Good Times Travel Agency)
by Linda Bailey
Illustrated by Bill Slavin
Kids Can Press
48 pp.
Ages 8-12
2001

Beowulf
by Welwyn Wilton Katz
Illustrated by Laszlo Gal
Groundwood Books/Douglas & McIntyre
63 pp.
Ages 10+
1999

Cryptic Canada: Unsolved Mysteries from Coast to Coast
by Natalie Hyde
Illustrated by Matt Hammill
Owlkids Books
48 pp.
Ages 9-11
2012

Explorers Who Made It...or Died Trying
by Frieda Wishinsky
Illustrated by Bill Dickson
Scholastic Canada
155 pp.
Ages 12-14
2011

First Folks and Vile Voyageurs (Hilarious Canadian Histories)
by Claire Mackay
Illustrated by Bill Dickson
Scholastic Canada
169 pp.
Ages 10-13
2001

Life of the Ancient Vikings (Peoples of the Ancient World)
by Hazel Richardson
Crabtree
32 pp.
Ages 9-13
2005

Science Detectives: How Real Scientists Solved Six Real-Life Mysteries
by Editors of Yes Mag
Illustrated by Rose Cowles
Kids Can Press
48 pp.
Ages 8-12
2006

The Vikings (Discovering Canada)
by Robert Livesy
Illustrated by A. G. Smith
Stoddart
90 pp.
1989

Vikings: Dress, Eat, Write, and Play Just Like the Vikings (Hands-On History)
by Fiona Macdonald
Crabtree
32 pp.
Ages 8-11
2008

The Night Has Teeth (The Magdeburg Trilogy Book One)

Written by Kat Kruger
Fierce Ink Press
978-0-988-10671-0
294 pp.
Ages14+
2012


The Night Has Teeth, and it has sharp edges and secrets and anger and judgement.  As the City of Light, Paris harbours enlightenment but sometimes in dark corners and in underlying worlds that extend beyond its catacombs.  Surprisingly, seventeen-year-old American Connor Lewis has chosen to spend his senior year here at the Victor Hugo International School.  Perhaps he might reinvent himself, becoming someone other than the boy who lost control of himself and bit a kid in kindergarten. 

Connor's host family is only one young woman, Amara Liang, a tattoo artist with a large dog named Lou.  Their paths rarely cross until Connor makes the acquaintance of two other students, Josh and Madison, and suddenly Amara and her boyfriend Arden seem to be everywhere.  Although Madison reveals that she and Josh no longer date after an incident at a campground in which Madison was almost killed, Josh is obviously still attracted to the cherry-redheaded girl and jealous of the attention that she gives Connor.  But the three friends continue to spend time together, going for sushi, playing Truth or Dare and clubbing, often encountering Amara and Arden.

After Arden defends them from a wolf attack, and Connor, Amara and Arden return to the apartment, Connor sees Amara in bed with Lou who is bandaged just as Arden had been.  Seems Lou (actually Loup i.e., French for wolf) is Arden in wolf-form and both he and Amara are werewolves, determined to protect Connor from a beautiful young woman, Boadicea Faelen, who is showing an interest in him.  Connor can't comprehend Boadicea's interest in a geeky gamer until Amara explains that they all sense something "different" about Connor related to lycanthropy.  Boadicea wants Connor for her dangerous boss, Henri Boguet, who 400 years ago led the people in attacks against the wolves before being bitten by Arden.  Now Boguet, one of the damned as neither werewolf or human, heads a biotech company intent on eradicating the werewolf genome and saving humanity from their disease and terror.

What follows is a dance of secrets and manipulation as Connor is pulled towards and away from three groups who all have some interest in him:  Madison and Josh; Amara, Arden and pack leader Roul; and Boadicea, Boguet and his men Trajan and Attila.  As he tries to sort through the information, often selective, that each shares with him, never knowing whom to trust, Connor replays the kindergarten biting incident and his reaction to it, wondering about his own nature and link to lycanthropy.

Although The Night Has Teeth has all the elements of other paranormal young adult books, it is unmatched to any I have read to date.  While the protagonists are teens dealing with issues of independence and self-recognition, there is none of the lightness of tone that is more typical of YA novels.  Yes, there is the awkwardness of teen romance, making new friends, making good decisions and relating to parents, guardians and other adults.  But there is a greater sense of gravitas, not seriousness really, but rather a sense of substance, that the story could be true.  Okay, I know that werewolves don't really exist (don't I?) but Kat Kruger has you believing that The Night Has Teeth provides an accurate account of Connor's experiences, even if somewhat surreal.  All I know is that when I finished The Night Has Teeth, (on two final sentences that will go down in my journal of best endings), I knew I would have to wait until Connor and Arden and the others resolve some issues before Kat Kruger could commit them to paper again. 

I'm wholly prepared for what lies ahead in this journey, because the wolf in the night has teeth.  It has claws, and it's me. (pg. 290)

    ∆      ∆      ∆      ∆      ∆      ∆    

As an aside, the texture and colours of the cover make for a spectacular book jacket, particularly with the torn (clawed?) openings revealing the startling red with succinctly ominous text. Kudos to Fierce Ink Press' jacket designer for nailing this.  I would love to see Quill & Quire feature the development of The Night Has Teeth's cover on its Cover to Cover feature page.  Don't you agree?

Deviants (The Dust Chronicles, Book One)

by Maureen McGowan

Amazon Children's Publishing

978-1-6121-83671

312 pp.

Ages 12+

2012

Trust is a big issue in any relationship: bosses and employees, husbands and wives, friends, parents and children, leaders and citizens, and even in ourselves.  So much of our society requires some element of trust in order function without stumbling into anarchy.  But how trust is earned or given is not necessarily obvious.  For that matter, what does it take for trust to be lost or questioned? 

In the dystopian world in which sixteen-year-old Glory currently resides with her thirteen-year-old brother Drake, her trust lies in the rhetoric (e.g., Haven Equals Safety) of Management who rule over Haven, the domed community protected from the outside world of dust and cannibalistic Shredders.  Glory also trusts in her knowledge that her father was a Deviant who killed her mother three years ago and injured Drake, leaving him a paraplegic.  Her father may have been taken by the Comps (Compliance Officers) and publicly expunged to the outside but Glory has been left to protect Drake, who would be considered a Parasite if Management knew of his existence.  With only her best friend Jayma knowing about her brother, Glory is constantly vigilant about keeping him a secret, especially now that he is displaying his own Deviance, a scale-like armour that covers his torso when stressed.  For that matter, Glory realizes that she too is a Deviant, able to focus her strong emotions to inflict pain.  Luckily she is able to use this "curse" to kill the rats she needs to supplement her rations to feed Drake.

But two developments occur that have Glory questioning who and what to trust.  Eighteen-year-old Cal, who graduated from GT (General Training) at the top of his class and is recruited to join the Jecs (Junior Ethics Committee) for the opportunity to become a Compliance Officer in Training, asks Glory to apply for an official dating license with him.  Luckily, Glory really likes Cal, although she does worry that the strong feelings she has for him could pose a threat to him.  And when he shares with her that he knows of Drake's existence, she is especially concerned for Drake's safety.  Secondly, a young man named Burn, whose strong healthy physique is in contrast to that of most inhabitants of Haven, tells her that her father is alive and that Burn has been instructed to get her and Drake to safety.

What follows is an anxiety-wrought, perilous venture that has Glory questioning her firmly-entrenched beliefs and emotions, while continuing to focus on protecting her younger brother.  Sadly, in their dystopian world of overcrowding, rationed food, televised expungings, violent Shredders and a gun-toting military-like community, it's hard to believe Glory can find anything worthy to motivate survival.  But Maureen McGowan ensures that there is some brightness amidst the worlds of Deviants.

Most readers will find similarities between popular dystopian novels such as Blood Red Road (Moira Young, Doubleday Canada, 2011) and The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins, Scholastic, 2008) but all fictional dystopian societies, including those of George Orwell's 1984 and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World emphasize totalitarian governments and the dehumanization of the masses.  But Glory and Drake's beliefs about the murder of their mother takes Deviants from an exposé of an undesirable society to a story about a family with a secret lodged in destruction, love and redemption.  A story in which trust can be superfluous and imperative, depending on ... everything and anything.  But isn't that how trust works?  

And it's with this trust issue that Maureen McGowan ends Deviants, the first book of The Dust Chronicles, leaving the reader questioning Glory's shift in allegiances, both real and virtual, and apprehensive about her newest venture.  As with any great novel, Deviants has trapped the reader in a world in which gratification is only as near as the sequel.  Let's hope dust isn't allowed to settle before Maureen McGowan offers up Book Two of The Dust Chronicles.

Family Literacy Day: January 27, 2013

Ponder this fact for a second:

Literacy is clearly linked to education, employment, income levels, health and involvement in the criminal justice system. There is also a tendency for low literacy levels to be repeated from one generation to the next.

(Retrieved from http://www.famlit.ca/resources/stats.shtml on January 4, 2013.

Can there be a better reason to improve the literacy skills of all children and adults than improving the quality of life in general? Many literacy organizations, including ABC Life Literacy Canada think not, and so they are again promoting their annual Family Literacy Day, January 27.  ABC Life Literacy Canada is a non-profit organization that promotes literacy through a variety of programs and activities including Family Literacy Day and Good Reads® where great Canadian authors (for adults and youth) publish short books for adults to help improve their learning skills.

 

15 minutes of fun

... daily is all it takes to improve literacy skills.  To that end, ABC Life Literacy Canada has provided a variety of downloads, including an activity booklet, bookmarks, and an assortment of tips at their site including:

1. Create your own comic strip about your family.
2. Invent two new endings to your favourite book.
3. Make up a new recipe together and post it online.
4. Tell knock-knock jokes together while doing the dishes.
5. Sing five songs really, really loud!
6. Invent a new game while playing at the park.
7. Read a story to your pet (or favourite toy).
8. Make a paper fortune teller with eight fortunes.
9. Write a silly poem and tell it to your family at dinner.
10. Log on to your favourite word game - can you beat your best score?
11. Create your family tree.
12. Play rhyming "I Spy" - "I spy something that rhymes with..."
13. Play a board game together.
14. Text your friend and tell them about your holiday.
15. Find 15 things that begin with the letter "S".

Retrieved from http://abclifeliteracy.ca/fld/15-minutes-of-fun on January 4, 2013.

Events
... are held to allow Canadians to go out and enjoy community literacy activities. ABC Life Literacy Canada helps publicize these by posting a map and lists of events across Canada here. Many events are held at public libraries, school libraries and other literacy organizations from Bella Coola in BC to Stephenville in Newfoundland. (Please check the dates carefully as not all events are scheduled for January 27.)


Please
...help support the improvement of reading and writing skills of all Canadians by supporting ABC Life Literacy Canada and their numerous partners and sponsors in promoting Family Literacy Day and checking out more details and activities at http://abclifeliteracy.ca/fld/family-literacy-day

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.