Exciting news: 2014 Forest of Reading winners announced!

The Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading's book awards have been an important part of my school library program and my personal volunteer experiences for many years, so I am always proud to post the results of this wonderful reading program.

It's impossible to congratulate all those who made this reading program and the Festival of Trees such a success but here are some of the amazing people who play important roles in its success:

• the readers;
• the selection committees who read so many books to choose the best for the shortlists;
• the steering committees that organize and put on the fabulous Festival of Trees;
• the OLA staff, with Meredith Tutching at the helm;
• the authors and illustrators who provide enviable youngCanLit;
• the publishers who publish youngCanLit and promote it; and
• the winners and honourees in each reading program.

Here are this year's readers' choice winners for each reading program:

Blue Spruce

WINNER

Oddrey
by Dave Whamond
Owlkids

Reviewed here

 

Silver Birch EXPRESS

   WINNER

The Secret of the Village Fool

by Rebecca Upjohn
Illustrated by Renné Benoit
Second Story Press


Reviewed here
 

Silver Birch FICTION

 WINNER

Recordbreaker

by Robin Stevenson
Orca Book Publishers

Reviewed here

Silver Birch NON-FICTION

WINNER

One Step at a Time: A Vietnamese Child Finds Her Way

by Marsha Skrypuch

Pajama Press 


Reviewed here

 

Le prix Peuplier

            Lauréat               

Une mouche, un chat et une patate 

by Céline Malépart
Simon & Schuster BFYR/Simon & Schuster

Le Prix Tamarac

                   Lauréat

Une fille à l’école des gars

by Maryse Peyskens

Dominique et Compagnie

Le Prix Tamarac EXPRESS

                   Lauréat

Attention, j’arrive ! (BiBop) 

by Raymond Parent
Boomerang

Red Maple Fiction

WINNER

The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen
by Susin Nielsen
Tundra Books

Reviewed here

White Pine FICTION

WINNER

Live to Tell
by Lisa Harrington
Dancing Cat Books

White Pine NON-FICTION

WINNER

The Secret of the Blue Trunk
by Lise Dion 
Translated by Liedewij Hawke
Dundurn

                                                                                                             

Thrilling news for all authors, illustrators and publishers!

Enjoyed all the more for being selected 

by young Canadian readers!

Congratulations to everyone!

The full list of winners and honour books is posted at CanLit for LittleCanadians Awards here or on the news release from OLA .

Groundwood Books: Spring Book Launch (Toronto)

Groundwood Books

invites everyone

to attend a spring launch of its newest picture books

Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress

by Christine Baldacchino

Illustrated by Isabelle Malenfant
Groundwood Books
978-1-55498-347-6
32 pp.
Ages 4-7

Reviewed here

The Tweedles Go Electric

 

by Monica Kulling 

Illustrated by Marie Lafrance

 Groundwood Books

 978-1-55498-167-0 

32 pp. 

Ages 5-8 

Reviewed here

Norman, Speak!

 

by Caroline Adderson 

Illustrated by Qin Leng 

Groundwood Books 

978-1-55498-322-3 

32 pp. 

Ages 4-7 

Reviewed here

Join authors Christine Baldacchino and Monica Kulling 

and illustrator Qin Leng

for readings, snacks and fun

at

Another Story Bookshop

351 Roncesvalles Avenue

Toronto, ON

on

Saturday, May 24, 2014

2 - 4 p.m.

(Readings at 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.)

Arrow Through the Axes: Odyssey of a Slave, Book III

Written by Patrick Bowman

Ronsdale Press

978-1-55380-323-2

200 pp.

Ages 12+

March 2014

Knowing that you're reading the third and final book of any trilogy can be both exciting and disheartening.   On one hand, the anticipation of learning the fate of all characters and the resolution of all plot lines is exhilarating.  But, knowing that every word read takes you closer and closer to the last gasps of a book's life can be enough reason to draw out your reading as long as possible.  Either way, I don't think I handled the finale as well as I could have, considering how invested I was in the story, all the way from Book I. (See my reviews of Book I, Torn from Troy, and Book II, Cursed by the Sea God) Sadly, I read too fast and now it's over. But, perhaps for you, the journey is still on.

Alexi, the boy from Troy, who was enslaved by Lopex (Odysseus) and forced to work upon the Pelagios as the Greeks made their way slowly back to Ithaca, has grown from a child to a young man both respected for his healing and loyalty and despised by others for his actions.  He has survived brutal attacks by both man and mythical beasts and is now determined to find his sister Melantha whom he'd believed killed.  But a black cloud is following him and the Pelagios. Literally. No matter which way the boat turns, the cloud with an evil eye follows, until lightning courtesy of the god Helios splits the ship apart and sends the crew to inevitable death.  Though badly burned, Alexi is saved by Phaith, the girl whom he'd met on Helios' island.  Even that act of kindness, however, is veiled in deceit.

Escaping from her lonely grasp, Alexi gets on board the cargo ship Sappho which is heading to Mycenae, the city of Agamemnon who'd led the war against Troy.  Intending to search for his sister there, Alexis becomes enmeshed in several plots to place a king on the throne of the murdered Agamemnon.  Surprisingly, the only truth he hears is from a slave named Cass (formerly Crazy Cassie, the Trojan king's daughter), though he does not know it.

First travelling with Orestes, son of Agamemnon, Alexi continues to search for Melantha, stopping to visit the Oracle at Delphi, before going on alone to Sparta, the city of King Menelaus and his wife Helen (of Helen of Troy fame), and then Pylos.  His final journey takes him to Ithaca, accompanying a talkative and gullible young man, Telemachus, who Alexi learns is the son of Odysseus, his former master.

While the plot premise behind Arrow Through the Axes would appear on the surface to be Alexi's search for his sister, Patrick Bowman is a far better writer than one who would settle on this simple storyline.  Alexi may be focused on reuniting with his sister whom he has not set eyes upon since Torn from Troy, but his quest becomes one of enlightenment with regards to the nature of war, specifically about the consequences of the Trojan war.  He had believed that the war was essentially the Greeks attacking and winning over Troy, and that all Greeks were to be despised.  His fickle relationship with Odysseus demonstrates how Alexi both hates him for enslaving him and respects him for his leadership and wisdom.  But, along his travels, Alexi witnesses the ravages of war upon the Greek people, a people who had not chosen to go to war but may have felt duty-bound or been conscripted.

"...you lost so many men in the war.  Fighting-age men.  Fathers. Now the young kids are growing up wild.  The sea is thick with raiders.  The roads are full of bandits.  Kingdoms like yours are being pulled apart, fighting over who will be the next king.  The priest at Delphi said it best.  He said he hoped the war had been worth it, because it had lost the Greeks your soul." (pg. 194)

Homer's epic poem The Odyssey may share with the Odyssey of a Slave series in the telling of Odysseus' legendary return to Ithaca after the Trojan War, but for young readers this series will be the quintessential version of that story.  Patrick Bowman does not hold up the attackers or warriors as heroes but rather all participants as those who have lost, whether it be land, riches, family, freedom, or themselves.  The message that there are no winners in war is clear, but, told through the eyes and insight of a young enslaved Trojan boy, the learning of that lesson is all the richer, and more vivid and poignant. 

Now and For Never: Book Launch (Toronto)

First there was 

Once Every Never

by Lesley Livingston
Puffin Canada
978-0-14-317795-1
302 pp.
Ages 12+
2011

Reviewed here

 

Then came

 Every Never After

by Lesley Livingston

Razorbill

978-0-14-318208-5

242 pp.

Ages 12+

2013

 Reviewed here

Now

join author Lesley Livingston

on

 

Thursday, May 29, 2014

7:30 p.m.
at 
The Dominion on Queen

500 Queen St. East 
Toronto

for the launch of the final book in her time travel series

starring Clare Reid and Allie McAllister

Now and For Never

by Lesley Livingston
Razorbill
978-0143182108
  280 pp.
Ages 12+
2014

 
There will be 

food, drink, reading, signing, live music,
lots of Time Monkey Shenanigans fun
and
books available for purchase from Bakka Phoenix!

Maybe I'll see you there!

I Wish I Could Draw

Words and (Bad) Pictures by Cary Fagan

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-318-6

32 pp.

Ages 6-10

Release May 13, 2014

I did not label the illustrations in Cary Fagan's I Wish I Could Draw as "(Bad) Pictures"; that was all Cary Fagan's doing.  Like so many of us, it takes some effort and practice before Cary Fagan, the illustrator, can accept that he has some artistic skill.  Of course, he does have to stop wishing and start doing before he realizes that, with a little practice, some effort and an interest in his subject, he can draw. 

From the onset, Cary Fagan, the illustrator, states unequivocally and even takes the time to show the reader how crummy an artist he is, from a self-portrait to a series of still-life pictures.  It's only when he begins to draw things he actually likes, e.g., a double-scoop chocolate ice cream cone, does Cary start to see some promise in his artistry.  And then, when he makes his illustrations purposeful i.e., part of a story, he admits that he likes drawing and encourages readers to go and pursue their own "stinky" drawings!

In these days of nurturing resilience and grit in children, I Wish I Could Draw lends itself so well to encouraging young readers not to give up when they are challenged.  In a notebook-style format, I Wish I Could Draw could be any child's doodle book of sketches, cartoons and reproductions of superheroes or characters with which they are familiar.  Maybe they won't be drawing teapots (though I think Cary's is rather quaint) but you can be assured that they'll be practising those troublesome fingers and landscape elements of trees and houses that always seem to show up in some school drawing.  With Cary Fagan's signature dry humour (we've read it in Danny, Who Fell in a Hole and Oy Feh So?), I Wish I Could Draw will make readers point and chuckle and then stop wishing and start drawing for themselves.  After all, their drawings couldn't be any worse than Cary Fagan's (bad) pictures.

Check out his brief drawing demonstration for Groundwood Books recently.

Yesterday's Dead: Guest Blog Post

The following blog post is a review letter of Yesterday's Dead to author Pat Bourke from a 12-year-old reader who read the book as part of the Silver Birch Fiction reading program.  I would like to add that this student read all thirty books of the Silver Birch Express, Fiction and Non-Fiction award reading programs, and over half of the Red Maple nominees, and chose to write a review of Yesterday's Dead.  No surprises of the high praise within.

by Pat Bourke

Second Story Press

978-1-926920-32-0

232 pp.

Ages 9-14

2012

Dear Pat Bourke,

As a Silver Birch reader who has read all of the book selection, I would clearly say that your book, Yesterday’s Dead, was a favourite of mine. I prefer to read historical fiction, and your book was a great fit for me. It was the first book I read, and nothing I read after this came close to your book.

A character I connected really well to was Meredith, because one night when my mother was sick, my father and I had to take care of my sister, who had thrown up. I could sense her hardships, and I knew how hard she was working to take care of Parker, Mrs. Butters, Jack, and Harry. I also could connect with her frustration to Maggie’s attitude. Maggie was a clear brat in my eyes, and I think Meredith did an amazing job of keeping calm.
       
One of my favourite things about this book was the way Maggie and Meredith had to settle their differences to take care of all of the patients, without any adult help. This sent a really good message out to students because many people take a first impression of someone and will not change that, no matter what. This book will help children understand that this is not okay, and that first impressions can be changed, because Meredith’s first impression of Maggie was that she was a spoiled brat, but near the end she realized that she was able to get along with her.

This book was an amazing read, and I knew right after our librarian, Ms. Kubiw, had explained it to us, that it would be the first one I read and probably the one I would most enjoy. Thank you so much for writing this awesome book, and I sincerely hope there will be a series or more books to come like this.

Sincerely,

Grace D.
Age 12

Viminy Crowe's Comic Book: Book Launch (Toronto)

Tundra Books

978-1770494794

336 pp.

Ages 9-12

May 2014