Once Upon a Northern Night

by Jean E. Pendziwol

Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-138-0

36 pp.

Ages 4-7

August, 2013

Think of those cold Canadian winter nights, when the fallen snow has us cocooned inside and a quiet stillness blankets the land.  A confetti of snow flakes drift beyond the windows, mounding on branches, railings, and the hidden promises of spring.  If you can place yourself in this divine winter scene and know of a child with whom you may share this, Once Upon a Northern Night will be a lovely addition to your lullaby collection.

I may be reviewing this in June, and it may be the hot summer of August when Once Upon a Northern Night will be released by Groundwood Books, but those are only dates and seasons.  Jean E. Pendziwol's text will transport you beyond a calendar to a darkened night lit by falling snow, taking a path through the pines and birches, sprinkled with flakes, to a garden and frozen apples.  You'll see the deer, owl, hares, fox and mouse but never hear them as their scampers and play are buffered by the snow.  And the glimmering sky of colours and shapes!  Perfection needs no other words.  And Isabelle Arsenault's gentle and reassuring drawings lighten the night-time fears of darkness and warm the winter's cold, creating a soft shelter of wonder and innocence, life and love.  No meditation or relaxation exercise could ever bring the serenity and adoration the infuses Once Upon a Northern Night, soothing all readers, young and old alike.

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This lovely book trailer was just uploaded to YouTube from House of Anansi and it's just too precious not to share.

Once Upon a Northern Night

Uploaded by House of Anansi on July 17, 2013 to YouTube

Every Never After

by Lesley Livingston

Razorbill

978-0-14-318208-5

242 pp.

Ages 12+

2013

Since curses are the order of the day in Every Never After, and in its prequel Once Every Never (Puffin, 2011), I would like to serve up my own.  OK, not really but Lesley Livingston: Why? Why? Why? Why would you drop readers cliffside, or at least Glastonbury Tor-side, with the last four sentences of your newest book?  And no respite until when? 2014? Not fair!

Now that I've got my Mercer-esque rant out, I can surprisingly and honestly inform the reader that I was so captivated by Every Never After, and every nuance of every interaction between familiar and new characters, that I was devastated by its ending.  So, if Lesley Livingston had not created yet another fantasy of such richness and emotional quality, I would not have yelled out, "NO!" upon reading those last words.  So, Lesley Livingston, it's your fault.

Wow.  That rant does seem to go on, doesn't it?  

Every Never After begins shortly after Once Every Never (reviewed here) resolves itself with 17-year-old Clare Reid's successful return from her "shimmering" time slip into the first century AD when Boudicca, Queen of the British Iceni tribe, fought the advances of the Romans.  Now, Clare and her best friend, Allie McAllister, have been accepted to help out on an archaeological dig at Glastonbury Tor, a distinctive hill with known historical significance and claims of faery and Arthurian connections.  Along with the other "trowel monkeys" excavating under the direction of Dr. Nicky Ashbourne, the girls will be recording a video blog of their work. And Allie's cousin, Milo McAllister, who Clare is dating, is joining them to put his computer and mapping skills to work developing a virtual dig-site app for the museum. 

Clare's relationship with Milo is making Allie feel a bit like a third-wheel so she is happy to continue working one day when Clare and Milo go off early for lunch.  Videotaping it on her iPad for the blog, Allie excavates a skull and disappears in a flashes and waves of darkness and colours before dropping into the midst of violent clashes between Roman cavalry soldiers and berserking Druidesses.  Though rescued by a Roman legionnaire, Marcus Donatus, Allie is manacled and kept with the other prisoners until her status is clarified and her fate determined by the ailing Praefect Postumus.  And who should she discover in the prisoners' tent but Stuart Morholt, the same "ass-hat" who'd grabbed the torc from Clare (in Once Every Never), resulting in his deliverance to the first century AD.

Meanwhile, once realizing that Allie has disappeared by some very unlike "shimmering" episode, Clare and Milo are desperate to locate her.  Destiny has them making the acquaintance of Piper Gimble, snidely nicknamed Goggles by Clare.  Piper is in possession of a family "heirloom" that has been passed from generation to generation -- a tin box scratched with instructions from Stuart Morholt that it only be opened by Clarinet Reid.  Seems the pompous Stuart Morholt (yes, a man from the present) is an ancestor of Piper's having had a dalliance with Boudicca's sister centuries before he is/was actually born. 

(Temporally it might be difficult to keep straight what happened first and then what arose from that point. Maybe it's a chicken-egg argument.  Just remember: this is fantasy.  It doesn't have to make sense in our world.  Just believe that Lesley Livingston capably keeps the plot lines synced.)

Clare and Allie may have been sympathetic to the Celts whose land is/was being annexed violently by the Romans but, through the eyes of Marcus Donatus, Allie begins to see the Romans, or at least some of them, in a different light.  It seems Marcus Donatus is actually teen Mark O'Donnell who disappeared from Glastonbury Tor in the 1980's when Stuart Morholt and several of his devotees, including Clare's Aunt Maggie, performed some mystic ritual.  Twenty-five years may have passed in our world but it has only been four years in Marcus' new one.  And geeky Mark O'Donnell is/was now a hunky Roman legionnaire whose loyalty to Postumus and concern for Allie has her crushing on him. 

Confused yet?  Well, it's just the way I tell it, because from Lesley Livingston's pen, it is all handled beautifully.  The subplots of the two different time periods (or are there three?) merge courtesy of Clare and Milo's actions bringing them to the Roman camp of Allie's current circumstances. (OK, that's definitely an oxymoron.  How can the past be current?)  I won't tell you how it ends, though you might recall my earlier rant.  Suffice it to say that Every Never After climaxes with a maelstrom of ancient battles, romantic revelations, sacrifice, and mystic time-slips that will leave the reader reassured that Clare has accomplished her "mission" but, if the readers are anything like me, desperately awaiting the third book in the series, ever hopeful for a happy ending.

Summer Days, Starry Nights

by Vikki VanSickle
Scholastic Canada
978-1-4431-1991-7
219 pp.
Ages 10-14
June 2013

What a perfect time for Vikki VanSickle to launch her newest book, Summer Days, Starry Nights which takes middle grade readers to the lake, cabins and beach of Sandy Shores, the Starr family summer resort outside of Orillia, Ontario. The narrator of this 1962 coming-of-age story is the middle Starr child, Reenie, 13, who adores her home, the resort, but still doesn’t always feel like she belongs.  After all, her six-year-old sister, Scarlett, is so much like their mother, affectionately called Mimi, who likes pretty things and getting attention. Her brother Bo is 16 and, although he is obsessed with music and his band, the Wide Mouth Bass, he is still more likely to be asked to do work with his dad around the resort and will probably inherit it. But Reenie loves Sandy Shores. She can’t think of a better place to live or grow up.

So it’s perplexing to Reenie that Mimi becomes so melancholy about her past as a dancer and actress before she married and moved to the boondocks. And more surprising that Dad allows Mimi to implement a variety of ideas she has to bring a little class and hopefully more guests to the resort. In the summer of 1962, her idea is to bring in some entertainment and dancing, asking Gwendolyn, the daughter of her friend Grace Cates, to work for them. Gwen, almost 18, has grown up drastically from the lovely, ethereal girl attending ballet school who Reenie remembers; now she’s brash and more interested in singing than dance, especially not ballet, spending lots of time alone in her room when not teaching.

Reenie is determined to reacquaint herself with Gwen, hanging around her, taking dance lessons, talking about being a teenager. So it's not surprising that Reenie notices that, after Gwen gets letters from someone whose name begins with J or G, she is more grumpy and that there are times when it’s obvious she’s been crying. When Reenie is working in the office and answers a call from a rock and roller called Johnny Skins, looking to speak with Gwen, Reenie begins to hatch a plan that would bring some much-needed attention to Sandy Shores and lift her mother's mood; give her brother a chance to showcase his band and his music; and take away Gwen's blahs.  Reenie is convinced that she can pull together a special concert/dance and amaze everyone, especially Gwen, with a surprise appearance by Johnny Skins. But even plans laid upon the best of intentions will go awry when secrets are being kept by everyone.

The plot of Summer Days, Starry Nights draws attention to the sparkling promise of summer: new relationships, freedom, opportunities, spending time outdoors. But sometimes, like stars, that promise can be overwhelming, brighter than justified, blinding to the eyes. When the stars align, however, they paint a picture of a fragile family, held together by shimmering connections that waver, weakening and strengthening with different circumstances. With Gwen added to the big picture, all the Starrs begin to see themselves relative to her, moving within her pull, positive or negative, rather than as a stable system irrespective of her. But those pesky secrets shake the foundation of the Starrs forcing them to re-examine their ideas about themselves and each other so that they may rebuild those connections.

Characteristically, Vikki VanSickle pens a story that is like a classic rock-and-roll song: there is a familiarity to its melody, of a family working together, with harmonies and some dissonance (especially feared in the 1950s and 1960s music!) but together it is a pleasing sound that resonates with all.  Summer Days, Starry Nights is sure to be a summer hit on the youngCanLit charts.

Dying to Go Viral

by Sylvia McNicoll

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

978-1-55455-271-9

251 pp.

Ages 12+

June, 2013

When fourteen-year-old Jade dies as a result of a skateboarding accident, dying becomes the least of her worries.  Nothing will undo that, no matter how much she chastizes herself about her carelessness and stupidity.  Let's face it: skateboarding without a helmet while hanging onto a car just so your eighteen-year-old crush can film it is pretty stupid.  And, like most stupid choices, there are unwanted consequences.  Jade's is her death.  But a lovely welcome from her mother on "the other side" has Jade wishing she hadn't caused so much more grief for her brother Devon and her dad and asking if she could return to the land of the living, just temporarily, to mitigate their guilt in her death.  Jade is given the opportunity to go back one week before her accident, and although she cannot change anything (it's that whole one-small-change-could-affect-all-history scenario), she can set things up so that her dad and brother accept no blame for her death.

But, when she returns just at the moment her best friend Scratch is about to attempt a grind on his skateboard which she knows will result in a broken wrist, Jade cannot help but try to step in.  Of course he still injures himself in a similar manoeuver but shortly after that and with more serious consequences, teaching Jade to heed her mother's advice that she shouldn't make any changes to the larger destiny.

"We can't know whether some change you make will drive destiny down a worse or a better path.  That's what makes reliving this week so dangerous." (pg.37)

So, Jade draws up a list of intentions, mostly centred on getting her dad a girlfriend and backing off on insisting Devon go to university (something he isn't at all interested in but willing to do but then quit), and allowing the three of them to spend more quality time together as a family.  But two things continue to thwart her plans:  Dad's workaholism with respect to his graphics company, and Devon's reluctance to interact with his father, knowing Dad just refuses to see Devon's perspective.  Luckily, her seven-day deadline puts enough impetus behind Jade to propel her into action.

By making casual suggestions, Jade is able to manipulate a few more family dinners, more discussions and appreciation of sunsets and such, even getting Dad to agree to attending the high school orientation BBQ with her and taking a day off work to spend a special day together with Devon and some friends.  Surprisingly, it's the changes in Jade's general outlook that have the greatest impact.  It's as if she can see the big picture while experiencing all the intimate details. Seeing Scratch's injuries as a parent might, watching their elderly cat Oreo as he deals with ravages of aging, appreciating her favourite dish, finally learning how to make fudge - Jade recognizes them for more than just what they appear to be.  Similarly, her one personal wish, to be kissed by Aiden, finally has her recognizing him as someone who looks to her, and everyone else, simply as sources of footage for his film-making.  Sadly, one realization has her proclaiming, even if only to herself,

"Mom, I can't die now.  I just fell in love." (pg. 219)

With that heart-breaking line, Jade seamlessly transforms from the instigator of change to the subject of destiny, good and bad, no longer making things happen, just reacting without deliberating.

I may have been astonished that Sylvia McNicoll would begin Dying to Go Viral with the main character's death but I should have trusted her expertise, the same skills that have made her an award-winning writer.  While I was apprehensive that the storyline would follow that of the play/movie Heaven Can Wait or TV shows like Twice in a Lifetime, I should have trusted Sylvia McNicoll to never write the easy plot, ending with a happily-ever-after.  Her plot has Jade trying to make things right and not always succeeding (hmm, sounds like real life) and learning a lot about herself and others when she takes the time to experience her life.  Her death and her return to her corporeal body allow her to make lemonade out of lemons for herself and others. Her story proves that lemonade can be sour but there is sweetness to be had if you make it right.  Jade did, courtesy of Sylvia McNicoll.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~

If you'd like to attend the book's launch and you're around Burlington, Ontario at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 9, 2013, check out her mother-daughter book launch.  Or you could watch Sylvia McNicoll's virtual book launch below or at http://youtu.be/ZNfM6FpkqPU in which she speaks about her new book, including the originating idea of Dying to Go Viral.


Dying to Go Viral Online Book Launch

Published by Sylvia McNicoll on June 6, 2013 on YouTube.

Little Jane and the Nameless Isle

by Adira Rotstein
Dundurn
978-1-459704206
260 pp.
Ages 9-12
2012

When I reviewed Adira Rotstein's first book in her A Little Jane Silver Adventure series, Little Jane Silver (Dundurn, 2011), I pictured Little Jane akin to Astrid Lindgren's famous Pippi Longstocking, a buccaneer's confident daughter who enjoys adventures and mocking authority or at least nasty adults.  But I was wrong.  I did Little Jane a great disservice.  She may dream about having the sorts of adventures that her father, Long John Silver the Second a.k.a. Jim, speaks of so descriptively (!) but she is always anchored to her family and the pirates with whom they sail.  She may be determined but she is never self-serving, often thinking of others first and charitably considering others' pride before her own.  If she happens to have an adventure or two along the way, even better, because she is really tired of the "Little" moniker she has been stuck with for so long. Luckily for her, in Little Jane and the Nameless Isle, Jane comes into her own, organizing a ship, crew and rescue, all without her parents' help because they're the ones who need rescuing.

Little Jane and the Nameless Isle begins with Jane and the crew's cook, Ishiro, being the only two who escaped when her parents' ship Pieces of Eight was attacked and destroyed by the pirate hunter, Captain Fetzcaro Madsea.  Madsea has been aided by her parents' villainous former bosun, Ned Ronk, for the purpose of leading them to hidden treasure on the Nameless Isle.  On board Madsea's ship Panacea, Long Jim has been left crippled from the attack and, knowing that he isn't in a position to fight when Mary is threatened, gives up some information about the treasure.  But, not to worry.  In addition to still being in love and caring deeply for their daughter, Jane's parents are formidable pirates and they have plans of their own for Madsea and his crew, none of which require giving up their gold.

As Ishiro is gravely ill, Jane takes it upon herself to request the help of the local magistrate, Villienne, who is Britain's representative on the island and understandably opposed to piracy.  However, Villienne is a man who prides himself on taking responsibility for all the people of the island and states that "...it was quite bad form for someone to take my citizens' ship by force!" (pg. 13) Moreover, Villienne is a man of great wisdom,

"Personally, I believe violence is only the province of the impatient, the incompetent, and the seriously-out-of-options" (pg.13)

and scientific curiosity, investigating all flora and fauna and even concocting a remedy for Ishiro.  Consequently, Villienne is enthusiastic about helping Jane procure a ship, even insisting on joining the crew.  This is quite fortunate as the magistrate helps Jane decipher a code on her wooden sword, MELVIN, which points their way to the treasure on Nameless Isle.

Through encounters with tasty (though digestively-challenging) orange birds and other spiteful avian species, a moat of dangerous creatures, treacherous terrain and old friends, all the characters attempt to "hold fast", Jim's perennial message, though some are better than others at it, especially when unencumbered by faulty knock-off arms.  Jane ultimately rescues her parents, though not as straightforwardly as might have been possible.  But it doesn't matter.  Those who made fun of her are those who never mattered anyway.  And any glitches in the rescue simply open other doors to further growth and learning, which are always welcome.

In her Little Jane Silver Adventures, Adira Rotstein has created a gutsy girl protagonist, a Katniss Everdeen for the middle-grade readers.  She can stand up to nasty pirates and inflexible bureaucrats, with a sense of humour, without needing a romance to fulfill her destiny; after all, she is only twelve.  As for Little Jane's resemblance to Pippi, it is limited to their spirit and exuberance for adventures, and perhaps their southern seas locales.  But Little Jane should be every pirate-parent's daughter and every child's friend, respectfully leading only when others insist on accompanying her, aware of everyone's need to accept their own challenges, though a little push sometimes doesn't hurt. I look forward to Little Jane's next adventure, hopeful that she will continue to create stories from which her own implausible yarns may be told.

New Summer and Fall Releases for 2013

These posts I do for upcoming releases always garner tons of attention and page views.  Seems everyone wants to know if their favourite youngCanLit author or illustrator has a new volume coming out.  No one wants to miss out on anything, apparently.  I suspect that there are quite a few of us with complete collections of particular authors' or illustrators' works on our shelves.  And rightly so!

Before I start listing those titles that are slated for release during the summer and fall, let me clarify that some books may be available before the public releases listed here.  For example, tomorrow, June 6th, Adrienne Kress is having a book launch for her newest book, Outcast, which Lesley Livingston, author of the Wondrous Strange series, calls,  

"a refreshingly different take on angel mythology with a funny, gutsy, shotgun-toting heroine and a rivetingly sexy hero. Set in an eerie deep south town, OUTCAST is a spooky, spirited, compulsively readable story—charged with wit, wisdom, and bittersweet romance."

Definitely a book on my radar.  But below, you will see Outcast listed as a July release.  After catalogues go to print, sometimes release dates change, earlier or later, or have multiple release dates, with launches in between.  So, please accept the dates provided below for releases as approximate, based on information available when posted.

Enjoy creating your own TBR (to be read) lists.

Picture Books

• Anna Carries the Water by Olive Senior, Illus. by Laura James (Tradewind Books)
• The Best Thing about Kindergarten by Jennifer Lloyd, Illus. by Qin Leng (Simply Read Books)
• From the Lands of the Night by Tololwa Mollel, Illus. by Darrell McCalla (Red Deer Press)
• King Pig by Nick Bland (Scholastic Canada)
• Pakwa Che Menisu by Julie Flett (Simple Read Books) >>> in the Cree language

Fiction

• The Power of Harmony: A Novel by Jan L. Coates (Red Deer Press)
• Summer Days, Starry Nights by Vikki VanSickle (Scholastic Canada)

Young Adult

• Burning from the Inside by Christine Walde (Dancing Cat Books)
• Compliance by Maureen McGowan (Skyscape) >>> The Dust Chronicles, Book Two; sequel to Deviants
• The Outbreaker's Shadow by Amy McCulloch (Doubleday Canada/Random House)
• Running on Empty by Don Aker (HarperCollins)

 






Picture Books

• Emily and the Mighty Om by Sarah Lolley and Sleepless Kao (Simply Read Books)
• Kenta and the Big Wave by Ruth Ohi (Annick Press)
• Noni is Nervous by Heather Hartt-Sussmann (Tundra) >>> follow-up to Noni Says No

 

Fiction

• Beautiful Goodbye by Nancy Runstedler (Dundurn) 
• Smokescreen by Nancy Hartry (Tundra)
• So Much Potential by Margaret J. McMaster (Mansbridge Dunn) 

Young Adult

• The Feros by Wesley King (Razorbill) >>  sequel to Red Maple award-winning The Vindico
• Membrane by Carol Moreira (Fierce Ink Press) 
• Outcast by Adrienne Kress (Diversion Books)
• Undercurrent by Paul Blackwell (Doubleday)

Non-Fiction

• Before the World Was Ready: Stories of Daring Genius in Science by Claire Eamer (Annick)
• Freaking Out: Real-Life Stories about Anxiety by Polly Wells (Annick)
• It's a Feudal, Feudal World: A Different Medieval History by Stephen Shapiro, Illus. by Ross Kinnaird (Annick)

Picture Books

• Big Top Otto by Bill Slavin (Kids Can Press) >>> Big City Otto returns!
• Black and Bittern was Night by Robert Heidbreder (Kids Can Press)
• Boy Meets Dog by Valerie Wyatt (Kids Can Press)
• The Man with the Violin by Kathy Stinson, Illus. by Dušan Petričić (Annick)
• Once Upon a Northern Night by Jean E. Pendziwol, Illus. by Isabelle Arsenault (Groundwood)
• Read Me a Story, Stella by Marie-Louise Gay (Groundwood) >>> newest Stella and Sam story
• Scaredy Squirrel Prepares for Halloween by Mélanie Watt (Kids Can Press)
• Tweezle Into Everything by Stephanie McLellan, Illus. by Dean Griffiths (Pajama Press)

 Fiction

• Fortuna by Nicholas Maes (Dundurn)
• Healing the Bruises by Lori Morgan (Formac)
• The Hypnotists by Gordon Korman (Scholastic) >>> new series
• Jane, the Fox and Me by Fanny Britt, Illus. by Isabelle Arsenault, Trans. by Christelle Morelli and Susan Ouriou (Groundwood) >>> graphic novel
• Kid Soldier by Jennifer Maruno (Dundurn) 
• Lilly Babysits her Brother by Brenda Bellingham  (Formac)
• Morgan on Ice by Ted Staunton, Illus. by Bill Slavin (Formac)
• The Spotted Dog Last Seen by Jessica Scott Kerrin (Groundwood)
• Striker by David Skuy (Lorimer)

Young Adult

• Creeps by Darren Hynes (Penguin Canada)
• Descendant: A Starling Novel by Lesley Livingston (HarperCollins Canada) >>> sequel to Starling
• Graffiti Knight by Karen Bass (Pajama Press)
• The Night Wanderer: The Graphic Novel by Drew Hayden Taylor, Illus. by Mike Wyatt (Annick)
• Picture Me by Lori Weber (Lorimer)
• Pure Fake by Beverly Scudamore (Lorimer)
• Rush by Eve Silver (Katherine Tegen Books) >>> The Game, Book 1
• The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten (Doubleday)

Non-Fiction

• Chitchat: Celebrating the World's Languages by Jude Isabella (Kids Can Press)
• History of Just about Everything by Elizabeth Macleod (Kids Can Press)
• Learn to Speak Film: a Guide to Creating, Promoting, and Screening Your Movies by Michael Glassbourg (Owlkids)
• Making Contact: Marconi Does Wirelesss by Monica Kulling, Illus. by Richard Rudnicki (Tundra)
• Pandemic Survival by Ann Love (Tundra)
• The Road to Afghanistan by Linda Granfield (Scholastic Canada) 

Picture Books

• Binky: License to Scratch by Ashley Spires (Kids Can Press) >>> final book in this graphic series
• The Camel in the Sun by Griffin Ondaatje, Illus. by Linda Wolfsgruber (Groundwood)
• Fox and Squirrel by Ruth Ohi (Scholastic)
• Gabby: Drama Queen by Joyce Grant, Illus. by Jan Dolby (Fitzhenry & Whiteside) >>> sequel to Gabby
• Itty Bitty Bits by Anita Daher, Illus. by Wendy Bailey (Peanut Butter Press)
  
• A Hero Named Howe by Mike Leonetti (Scholastic Canada)
• My Name is Blessing by Eric Walters (Tundra)
• Nat the Cat Can Sleep Like That by Victoria Allenby, Illus. by Tara Anderson (Pajama Press)
• Oddrey and the New Kids by Dave Whamond (Owlkids) >>> sequel to Oddrey
• The Raven and the Loon by Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley, Illus. by Kim Smith (Inhabit Media)
• Singily Skipping Along by Sheree Fitch, Illus. by Deanne Fitzpatrick (Nimbus)
• Sizing Up Winter by Lizann Flatt (Owlkids)
• Swamp Water by Robert Munsch (Scholastic Canada)
• Ten Birds Meet a Monster by Cybèle Young (Kids Can Press)
• The Unkindness of Ravens by J Torres (Kids Can Press)
• Up the Creek by Nicholas Oldland (Kids Can Press)
• When Mama Goes to Work by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, Illus. by Jessica Phillips (Fitzhenry & Whiteside)
• Whimsy’s Heavy Things by Julie Kraulis (Tundra)

Fiction

• Curse of the Dream Witch by Allan Stratton (Scholastic)
• Death of a King by Andrew H. Vanderwal (Tundra)
• Flying With a Broken Wing by Laura Best (Nimbus)
• Home Ice Advantage by Tom Earle (HarperCollins Canada)
• I am Canada: Fire in the Sky by David Ward (Scholastic Canada)
• The Opposite of Geek by Ria Voros (Scholastic)
• Search and Rescue: Powderhounds by Heather Kellerhals-Stewart (Lorimer)
• Seas of South Africa by Philip Roy (Ronsdale) >>> Book 6 in Submarine Outlaw series
• Touched by Fire by Irene N. Watts (Tundra)
• Ultra by David Carrol (Scholastic Canada)

Young Adult

• Apparition by Gail Gallant (Doubleday Canada)
• Baygirl by Heather Smith (Orca Book Publishers)
• Destination Human by K. L. Denman (Orca Book Publishers)
• Jeremy Stone by Lesley Choyce (Red Deer Press)
• Lily and Taylor by Elise Moser (Groundwood)
• Little Red Lies by Julie Johnston (Tundra)
• My Side by Norah McClintock (Orca Book Publishers)
• The Night Has Claws by Kat Kruger (Fierce Ink Press)
• Nothing Man and the Purple Zero by Richard Scarsbrook (Dancing Cat Books)
• Not Your Ordinary Wolf Girl by Emily Pohl-Weary (Razorbill)
• Rachel’s Promise by Shelly Sanders (Second Story Press)
• So Much It Hurts by Monique Polak (Orca Book Publishers)
• Tampered by Michele Martin Bossley (Orca Book Publishers)
• Thornhill by Kathleen Peacock (Katherine Tegen Books) >>> sequel to Hemlock
• The Tree of Story by Thomas Wiarton (Doubleday)
• The Unmaking: The Last Days of Tian Di, Book Two by Catherine Egan (Coteau)
• Until Today by Pam Fluttert (Second Story Press)
• Whatever by Ann Walsh (Ronsdale Press)

Non-Fiction

• Cat Champions: Caring for Our Feline Friends by Rob Laidlaw (Pajama Press)
• The Great Bear Sea: Exploring the Marine Life of a Pacific Paradise by Ian McAllister and Nicholas Read (Orca Book Publishers)
• Is This Panama?A Migration Story by Jan Thornhill (Owlkids)
• Just So Stories Vol. 1 by Rudyard Kipling, Illus. by Ian Wallace (Groundwood)
• Looks Like Daylight: Voices of Native American and Aboriginal Young People by Deborah Ellis (Groundwood)
• Northwest Passage by Stan Rogers, Illus. by Matt James (Groundwood) 
• Ode to Underwear by Helaine Becker (Scholastic)
• Phenomenal Female Entrepreneurs by Jill Bryant (Second Story Press)
• Real Justice: Branded a Baby Killer, The Story of Brenda Waudby and the Notorious Pathologist Dr Charles Smith by Harold Levy (Lorimer)
• Why Do We Fight? Conflicts, War and Peace by Niki Walker (Owlkids)

Picture Books

• The Best Worst Christmas Present Ever by Budge Wilson (Scholastic)
• Bluenose Adventure by Jacquline Halse, Illus. by Eric Orchard (Formac)
• Mr. Got to Go, Where Are You by Lois Simmie (Red Deer Press)
• Never Let You Go by Patricia Storms (Scholastic Canada)
• The Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore, Illus. by Barbara Reid (Scholastic Canada)
• On a Snowy Night by Jean Little (Scholastic Canada) 
• Spark by Kallie George, Illus. by Geneviève Coté (Simply Read Books)
• This Little Hamster by Kass Reich (Orca Book Publishers)

Fiction

• Ace's Basement by Ted Staunton (Orca Book Publishers)
• Attitude by Robin Stevenson (Orca Book Publishers)
• Cut the Lights by Karen Krossing (Orca Book Publishers)
• The Dead Kid Detective Agency #2: Dial "M" for Morna by Evan Munday (ECW Press) >>> sequel to Silver Birch-nominated The Dead Kid Detective Agency
• The Four Seasons of Patrick by Susan Hughes (Red Deer Press)
• The Great Bike Rescue by Hazel Hutchins (Orca Book Publishers)
• How to Curse in Hieroglyphics by Lesley Livingston and Jonathan Llyr (Puffin)
• Panic in Pittsburgh by Roy MacGregor (Tundra)
• Seconds by Sylvia Taekema (Orca Book Publishers)
• Tag Team by W. C. Mack (Scholastic)
• Totally Unrelated by Tom Ryan (Orca Book Publishers)
• Triggered by Vicki Grant (Orca Book Publishers)

Young Adult

• Anywhere But Here by Tanya Lloyd Kyi (Pulse/Simon & Schuster)
• Audacious by Gabrielle Prendergast (Orca Book Publishers)
• Crash by Lesley Choyce (Orca Book Publishers)
• A Fool’s Errand by Maureen Fergus (Razorbill Canada) >> The Gypsy King, Book 2
• If Only by Becky Citra (Orca Book Publishers)
• The Rule of Thirds by Chantel Guertin (ECW Press)
• Sorrow's Knot by Erin Bow (Scholastic Canada)
• Tag Along by Tom Ryan (Orca Book Publishers)
• Who I'm Not by Ted Staunton (Orca Book Publishers)

Non-Fiction

• Brilliant!: Shining a Light on Sustainable Energy by Michelle Mulder (Orca Book Publishers)
• Growing Up, Inside and Out by Kira Vermond, Illus. by Carl Chin (Owlkids) 
• How to Be Alone by Tanya Davis, Illus. by Andrea Dorfman (Harper) >>> based on spoken-word performance on YouTube
• Lasso the Wind: Aurélia’s Verses and Other Poems by George Elliott Clarke, Illus. by Susan Tooke (Nimbus) >> middle-grade poetry
• A Maritime Christmas Treasury (Nimbus)
• Pay It Forward Kids: Small Kids, Big Change by Nancy Runstedler (Fitzhenry & Whiteside)
• Shanghai Escape by Kathy Kacer (Second Story Press)

Picture Books

• Out the Window by Cybèle Young (Groundwood)

Fiction

• Camp X: Enigma by Eric Walters (Puffin Canada)
• I am Algonquin: An Algonquin Quest Novel by Rick Revelle (Dundurn)
• Justine McKeen and the Bird Nerd by Sigmund Brouwer (Orca Book Publishers)
• Messy Miranda by Jeff Szpirglas (Orca Book Publishers)
• Pirate Island Treasure by Marilyn Helmer (Orca Book Publishers)

Young Adult

• Topspin by Sonya Bates (Orca Book Publishers)

Non-Fiction

• Righting Canada's Wrongs: The Komagata Maru and Canada's Anti-Indian Immigration Policies in the Twentieth Century by Pamela Hickman (Lorimer)

When it comes time for my winter 2013-2014 new releases list, I'm sure that the number of November titles will have increased in numbers substantially.  Look for that list in late October.

War Brothers: The Graphic Novel

by Sharon E. McKay

Illustrated by Daniel LaFrance

Annick Press

978-1-55451-488-5

176 pp.

Ages 14+

February 2013

My story is not an easy one to read.  The life of a child soldier is full of unthinkable violence and brutal death. . . .There is no shame in closing this book now. ~ Kitino Jacob

With his opening letter, Jacob, the narrator of this story, prepares the reader for the horror that begins with his abduction by the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda at the age of fourteen. 

Taken in the night with all the boys at his boarding school and marched continuously day after day, night after night, Jacob believes that rescue is imminent, that his father and the government will rescue the boys soon.  Meanwhile, though, they are "instructed" in the ways of the Lord's Resistance Army that purports to serve God and uphold Christian beliefs, aiming its actions against the evil government.  This is especially problematic for these boys who come from a seminary school, where they receive religious instruction.  In fact, Tony, one of Jacob's friends, may have considered becoming a priest.  But, when Tony is threatened, shamed and brutalized into beating an injured boy to death, he begins to see the horror in himself while the LRA sees him as a soldier, worthy of food and water.  Those who have yet to prove themselves as soldiers continue to do without, snatching whatever they may find, edible or not, along their travels.

When they learn that Joseph Kony, the infamous leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, has been trying to negotiate with the government for guns and other arms in exchange for the boys' release,  Jacob and his friends may feel they have some degree of safety.  But they still must endure the mistreatment and strict "decrees" of the LRA, never knowing when one of them may become the victim of a cruel commanding soldier, such as Lizard who seems to target Jacob regularly. From Tony to Hannah, the serving girl who has had both her ears removed, to new children abducted by the LRA, Jacob can see how the LRA manipulates with fear and twisted reasoning, but he holds tight the premise that his small group of friends are his war brothers and he will act as needed to save them, even when he feels abandoned, by God, his father and the government. 

Winner of the 2009 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Juvenile Crime Novel, Sharon E. McKay's novel War Brothers (Puffin, 2008) is a gritty read, graphic in its story premise, in its details, in its reality.  Sadly, it's a story that is easily adapted to the graphic novel format, especially when illustrated so capably by Daniel LaFrance.  But be prepared for the darkness - there are few moments of lightness, except at the beginning before Jacob's abduction and somewhat at the book's conclusion.  And Daniel LaFrance's illustrations successfully instill that atmosphere.  Sharon E. McKay has wrapped the details of Jacob's abduction and life as a child soldier in the innocence of a young boy with a reasonable hope for a "normal" life, until the LRA hijack it away from him.  There is no happy ending but one that may satisfy somewhat, knowing that Jacob escapes.  But, Sharon E. McKay and Daniel LaFrance make it clear that there may never be a resolution to the horror of the LRA as long as there are those who've been transformed, even temporarily, from victim to criminal.

While I can encourage the reading of War Brothers: The Graphic Novel, I cannot share with you the intimacy of the story as experienced by Sharon E. McKay.  However, a recently uploaded video from Annick Press has Sharon E. McKay and Daniel LaFrance discussing adapting the book to graphic novel format.  The link to AnnickPress' trailer called Sharon McKay and Daniel LaFrance discuss "War Brothers"can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFrfJ5NaQX4.  Be sure to get this different perspective.