Trio of youngCanLit authors appointed to the Order of Canada

On December 30, 2016, the Governor General of Canada, His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, announced 100 new appointments to the Order of Canada.  I am pleased to recognize and congratulate three youngCanLit authors who were named amongst the honourees.  They are:

Jan Andrews

author of picture books, short stories, fiction and young adult including

The Silent Summer of Kyle McGinley (Great Plains Teen Fiction, 2013)

When Apples Grew Noses and White Horse Flew: The Tales of Ti-Jean (Groundwood, 2011)

Rude Stories (Tundra, 2011)

The Twelve Days of Summer (Orca, 2007)

The Auction (Groundwood, 2007)

Winter of Peril: The Newfoundland Diary of Sophie Loveridge, Mairie's Cove, New-Found-Land 1721 (Scholastic Canada, 2005)

Very Last First Time (Groundwood, 1987)

Deborah Ellis

author of numerous fiction and non-fiction books, including

The Cat at the Wall (Groundwood, 2014)

Moon At Nine (Pajama Press, 2014)

Looks Like Daylight: Voices of Indigenous Kids (Groundwood, 2013)

My Name is Parvana (Groundwood, 2012)

True Blue (Pajama Press, 2011)

No Ordinary Day (Groundwood, 2011)

I am a Taxi (Groundwood, 2006)

The Heaven Shop (Groundwood, 2004)

Parvana's Journey (Groundwood, 2002)

The Breadwinner (Groundwood, 2000)

Jacqueline Guest

author of historical fiction and contemporary fiction including

Fire Fight (Book Publ. Co., 2015)

The Comic Book War (Coteau Books, 2014)

Outcasts of River Falls (Coteau Books, 2012)

Ghost Messages (Coteau Books, 2011)

Hat Trick (Lorimer, 2010)

Secret Signs (Orca, 2006)

Belle of Batoche (Orca, 2004)

Lightning Rider (Lorimer, 2000)

New releases for winter and spring 2017

The last few weeks I have been dealing with new medical issues, spending some unexpected time in hospital and even more time worrying.  I'm sure that a significant subset of the population, like me, is looking forward to 2017 bringing better everything.  Let's hope this post of upcoming youngCanLit heralds an impressive and positive turn of events and the beginning of another great year of books to delight younger readers.  Enjoy!

Picture Books

Birds Art Life: A Field Guide to the Small and Significant by Kyo Maclear (Doubleday Canada)

Little Blue Chair by Cary Fagan, illus. by Madeline Kloepper (Tundra)

Fiction

The Best Mistake Mystery by Sylvia McNicoll (Dundurn)>>>first book in new series The Great Mistakes Mysteries

Crushing It by Joanne Levy (Aladdin)

Deadpoint by Nikki Tate (Orca)>>>Orca Sports

Food Freak by Alex Van Tol (Orca>>>Orca Currents

Golden Goal by David Starr (Lorimer)

He Who Dreams by Melanie Florence (Orca)>>>Orca Limelights

Jay Vesus the Saxophone of Doom by Kara Kootstra, illus. by Kim Smith (Puffin Canada)

Run for Your Life by Trevor Kew (Lorimer)

Snow Soccer by David Trifunov (Lorimer)

Superhero Ninja Wrestling Star by Lorna Schultz Nicholson (Lorimer)

Team Fugee by Dirk McLean (Lorimer)

Wolfie and Fly by Cary Fagan, illus. by Zoe Si (Tundra)

Young Adult

Desert Slam by Steve Barwin (Orca)>>>Orca Soundings

Drawn Away by Holly Bennett (Orca)

Exo by Fonda Lee (Scholastic)

Finding Jade by Mary Jennifer Payne (Dundurn)

Frostblood by Elly Blake (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

If This is Home by Kristine Scarrow (Dundurn)

Zero Future by Melanie Florence (Lorimer)

Non-Fiction

Big Blue Forever by Anita Miettunen (Red Deer Press)

L'Nu'k: The Mi'kmaq of Atlantic Canada by Theresa Meuse (Nimbus Publishing)

Picture Books

Boonoonoonous Hair by Olive Senior, illus. by Laura James (Tradewind Books)

Count Your Chickens by Jo Ellen Bogart, illus. by Lori Joy Smith (Tundra)

Harry and Clare’s Amazing Staycation by Ted Staunton, illus. by Mika Song (Tundra)

On My Bike by Kari-Lynn Winters, illus. by Christina Leist (Tradewind Books)

Sam Sorts by Marthe Jocelyn (Tundra)

Underneath the Sidewalk by Claire Eamer, illus. by Thomas Gibault (North Winds Press)

You Can Read by Helaine Becker, illus. by Mark Hoffman (Orca)

Fiction

Bijou by Susan Hughes (Sourcebooks Jaberwocky)>>>Puppy Pals series

Billy Sure Kid Entrepreneur vs. Manny Reyes Kid Entrepreneur by Luke Sharpe, illus. by Graham Ross (Simon & Schuster)

Bounced by Ted Staunton (Scholastic Canada)

Bullies Rule by Monique Polak (Orca)>>>Orca Currents

The Doll’s Eye by Marina Cohen (Roaring Brook Press)

Dominion by Shane Arbuthnott (Orca)

It’s a Mystery, Pig Face! by Wendy McLeod MacKnight (Sky Pony Press)

Mae and June and the Wonder Wheel by Charise Mericle Harper, illus. by Ashley Spires (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)

Quiz Queens by K. L. Denman (Orca)>>>Orca Currents

Strings Attached by Diane Dakers (Orca)>>>Orca Limelights

Wild Cards by Jeff Szpirglas, illus. by Dave Whamond (Orca)>>>Orca Echoes

Young Adult

10 Things I Can See From Here by Carrie Mac (Alfred a. Knopf Books For Your Readers)

Blood Brothers by Colleen Nelson (Dundurn)

Everything Beautiful is Not Ruined by Danielle Younge-Ullman (Razorbill)

Follow Your Heart by Tasha Nathan (Lorimer)

In Plain Sight by Laura Langston (Orca)>>>Orca Soundings

Love is Love by Mette Bach (Lorimer)

Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen (Tundra)

Same Love by Tony Correia (Lorimer)

Subject to Change by Karen Nesbitt (Orca)

The Valiant by Lesley Livingston (Razorbill)

Non-Fiction

Innocent Heroes: Stories of Animals in the First World War by Sigmund Brouwer (Tundra)

Let’s Eat: Sustainable Food for a Hungry Planet by Kimberley Veness (Orca)>>>Orca Footprints

The Vimy Oaks: A Journey to Peace by Linda Granfield, illus. by Brian Deines (North Winds Press/Scholastic Canada)

Picture Books

An African Alphabet by Eric Walters, illus. by Sue Todd (Orca)

The Alphabet Thief by Bill Richardson, illus. by Rozanna Bikadoroff (Groundwood)

Bill Bowerbird and the Unbearable Beak-Ache by Tyler Clark Burke (Owlkids Books)

Good Morning Grumple by Victoria Allenby, illus. by Manon Gauthier (Pajama Press)

By the Time You Read This by Jennifer Lanthier, illus. by Patrica Storms (Clockwise Press)

The Dance of the Violin by Kathy Stinson, illus. by Dusan Petricic (Annick Press)

Don't Move! by Anne-Sophie Tilly, illus. by Julien Chung (Annick Press)>>>trilingual board book

The Gold Leaf by Kirsten Hall, illus. by Matthew Forsythe (Enchanted Lion)

Happy Dreamer by Peter H. Reynolds (Orchard Books)

Hurry Up! by Anne-Sophie Tilly, illus. by Julien Chung (Annick Press)>>>trilingual board book

Liam Takes a Stand by Troy Wilson, illus. by Joshn Holinaty (Owlkids Books)

The Little Knight Who Battled a Dragon by Gilles Tibo, illus. by Geneviève Després (Scholastic Canada)>>>third book in this Little Knight Who… series

My Beautiful Birds by Suzanne Del Rizzo (Pajama Press)

Moose’s Roof by Jennifer Maruno, illus. by Laurel Keating (Tuckamore)

Short Stories for Little Monsters by Marie-Louise Gay (Groundwood)

Triangle by Mac Barnett, illus. by Jon Klassen (Candlewick)>>>new series wih Square coming in 2018 and Circle in 2019

A Trio of Terrible Tales by Margaret Atwood, illus. by Dušan Petričić (Groundwood)

Under the Umbrella by Catherine Buquet, illus. by Marion Arbona, translated by Erin Woods (Pajama Press)

Walk with Me by Jairo Buitrago, illus. by Rafael Yockteng, translated by Elisa Amado (Groundwood)

What Are You Doing? by Elisa Amado, illus. by Manuel Monroy (Groundwood)

The Wolves Return: A New Beginning for Yellowstone National Park by Celia Godkin (Pajama Press)

You Are Three by Sara O’Leary, illus. by Karen Klassen (Owlkids Books)

Fiction

The Goat by Anne Fleming (Groundwood)

Jungle Jitters by Lisa Dalrymple (Orca)>>>Orca Currents

Justine McKeen, Thermostat Chat by Sigmund Brouwer, illus. by Dave Whamond (Orca)>>>Orca Echoes

Kings of the Court by Alison Hughes (Orca)

The Lotterys Plus One by Emma Donoghue (HarperCollins Canada)

Masterminds: Payback by Gordon Korman (HarperCollins)

A Month of Mondays by Joëlle Anthony (Second Story Press

The Nor’Wester by David Starr (Ronsdale Press)

Olga And The Smelly Thing From Nowhere by Elise Gravel (HarperCollins Canada)

Show Mode by Raquel Rivera (Orca)>>>Orca Limelights

Sleath of the Ninja by Philip Roy (Ronsdale Press)>>> Book 8 in the Submarine Outlaw series

Summer’s End by Joel A. Sutherland (Scholastic Canada)

Young Adult

Bent Not Broken: Madeline and Justin by Lorna Schultz Nicholson (Clockwise Press)>>>third book in the One-2-One series

Blood on the Beach by Sarah N. Harvey & Robin Stevenson (Orca)

Breaking Faith by E. Graziani (Second Story Press)

The Guy, the Girl, the Artist and His Ex by Gabrielle Williams (Groundwood)

The Most Dangerous Thing by Leanne Lieberman (Orca)

Pinch Me by Gabrielle Prendergast (Orca)>>>Orca Soundings

Saying Good-bye to London by Julie Burtinshaw (Second Story Press)

Short for Chameleon by Vicki Grant (HarperCollins)

Show Mode by Raquel Rivera (Orca)

Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton (Viking Books for Young Readers)>>>sequel to Rebel of the Sands

Non-Fiction

Birthdays: Beyond Cake and Ice Cream by Nikki Tate and Dani Tate-Stratton (Orca)>>>Orca Origins

Eat This!: How Fast Food Marketing Gets You to Buy Junk (And How You Can Fight Back) by Andrea Curtis (Red Deer Press)

Eyes and Spies: How You're Tracked and Why You Should Know by Tanya Lloyd Kyi and Belle Wuthrich (Annick Press)

A Soldier’s Sketchbook: The Illustrated First World War Diary of R.H. Rabjohn by John Wilson (Tundra)

Top Dogs: True Stories of Canines that Made History by Elizabeth MacLeod (Annick Press)

What a Waste: Where Does Our Garbage Go? by Claire Eamer and Bambi Edlund (Annick Press)

Why Do Families Change? Our First Talk about Separation and Divorce by Dr. Jillian Roberts, illus. by Cindy Revell (Orca)

Wolf Island by Ian McAllister and Nicholas Read (Orca)

Picture Books

Along the River by Vanina Starkoff, translated by Jane Springer (Groundwood)

Atlantic Animal ABCs by Angela K. Doak (Nimbus)

Away by Emil Sher, illus. by Qin Leng (Groundwood)

Bertolt by Jacques Goldstyn (Enchanted Lion Books)

Elliot and the Impossible Fish by Rebecca North, illus. by Laurel Keating (Tuckamore Books)

Hand Over Hand by Alma Fullerton, illus by Renné Benoit (Second Story Press)

How Nivi Got Her Names by Laura Deal, illus. by Charlene Chua (Inhabit Media)

It’s Great Being a Dad by Dan Bar-el, illus. by Gina Perry (Tundra)

Milo and Georgie by Bree Galbraith, illus. by Josée Bisaillon (Owlkids Books)

More than Balloons by Lorna Crozier, illus. by Rachelle Anne Miller (Orca)

Mr. Postmouse Takes a Trip by Marianne Dubuc (Kids Can Press)>>> new book in series that includes Mr. Postmouse's Rounds and Here Comes Mr. Postmouse

The People of the Sea by Donald Uluadluak, illus. by Mike Mots (Inhabit Media)

pikiq by Yayo (Tradewind Books)

Sea Monkey and Bob by Aaron Reynolds, illus. bt Debbie Ridpath Ohi (Simon & Schuster)

Stop Feedin’ da Boids! by James Sage, illus. by Pierre Pratt (Kids Can Press)

Town is By the Sea by Joanne Schwartz, illus. by Sydney Smith (Groundwood)

Ukaliq and Kalla Go Fishing by Nadia Mike, illus. by Amanda Sandland (Inhabit Media)

Uncle Holland by JonArno Lawson, illus. by Natalie Nelson (Groundwood)

Water’s Children by Angele Delaunois, illus. by Gerard Frischeteau, translated by Erin Woods (Pajama Press)

Where the Heart Is by Satoe Tone (Simply Read)

Fiction

Cammie Takes Flight by Laura Best (Nimbus)

The Explorers: The Door in the Alley by Adrienne Kress (Delacorte Books for Young Readers)

Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner (Tundra)

Laura Monster Crusher by Wesley King (Puffin Canada)

Magic in the City by Heather Dyer, illus. by Serena Malyon (Kids Can Press)

Simone: The Best Monster Ever! by Rémy Simard (Owlkids Books)

Tank & Fizz: The Case of the Missing Mage by Liam O’Donnell, illus. by Mike Deas (Orca ) >>>Book 3

Waiting for Sophie by Sarah Ellis, illus. by Carmen Mok (Pajama Press)

Young Adult

Adele's Garden by Linda Amyot, translated by Norman Cornett (Coteau Books)

Defender by Graham McNamee (Wendy Lamb Books)

Forest of Ruin by Kelley Armstrong (Doubleday Canada)>>>final book in Age of Legends trilogy

Hannah and the Magic Eye by Tyler Enfield (Great Plains Teen Fiction)

Identify by Lesley Choyce (Orca)>>>Orca Soundings

Keeping the Beat by Marie Powell and Jeff Norton (Kids Can Press)

Maud by Melanie Fishbane (Penguin Teen Canada)

Me and Me by Alice Kuipers (HarperCollins Canada)

Missing by Kelley Armstrong (Doubleday Canada)>>>new Reeve’s End series

Rough Patch by Nicole Markotic (Arsenal Pulp Press) 

Terminate by Natasha Deen (Orca)>>>newest title in Retribution series

Undiscoverd Country by Jennifer Gold (Second Story Press)

Non-Fiction

10 Routes That Crossed the World by Gillian Richardson and Kim Rosen (Annick Press)

The Banana-Leaf Ball: How Play Can Change the World by Katie Smith Milway, illus. by Shane Evans (Kids Can Press)

Be a Night Detective: Solving the Mysteries of Twilight, Dusk, and Nightfall by Peggy Kochanoff (Nimbus)

The Big Book of Canada: Exploring the Provinces and Territories by Christopher Moore, illus. by Bill Slavin (Tundra)>>>updated edition

Eat Up: An Infographic Exploration of Food by Paula Ayer and Antonia Banyard (Annick Press)

Families Around the World by Margriet Ruurs, illus. by Jessica Rae Gordon (Kids Can Press)

Go For Liftoff!: How to train like an astronaut by Dave Williams and Loredana Cunti (Annick Press)

Lines, Bars and Circles: How Wiliam Playfair Invented Graphs by Helaine Becker, illus. by Marie-Eve Tremblay (Kids Can Press)

Stormy Seas: Stories of Young Boat Refugees by Mary Beth Leatherdale and Eleanor Shakespeare (Annick Press)

UP!: How Families Around the World Carry Their Little Ones by Susan Hughes, illus. by Ashley Barron (Owlkids Books)

Where Will I Live? by Rosemary McCarney (Second Story Press)

Picture Books

A Cage Went In Search of a Bird by Cary Fagan, illus. by Banafsheh Erfanian (Groundwood)

Carson Crosses Canada by Linda Bailey, illus. by Kass Reich (Tundra)

Colette’s Lost Pet by Isabelle Arsenault (Tundra)

Different? Same! by Heather Tekavec, illus. by Pippa Cumick (Kids Can Press)

The Fog by Kyo Maclear, illus. by Kenard Pak (Tundra)

Gathering by Theresa Meuse, illus. by Leonard Paul (Nimbus)

Grandfather and the Moon by Stépahnie Lapointe, illus. by Rogé (Groundwood)>>>translation of award-winning graphic novel

Greetings, Leroy by Itah Sadu, illus. by Alix Delinois (Groundwood)

If You Could Wear My Sneakers by Sheree Fitch and Darcia Labrosse (Nimbus)

Sukaq and the Raven by Roy Goose and Kerry McCluskey, illus. by Soyeon Kim (Inhabit Media)

The Thing Lou Couldn’t Do by Ashley Spires (Kids Can Press)

Wade’s Wiggly Antlers by Louise Bradford, illus. by Christine Battuz (Kids Can Press)

Whispers of Mermaids and Wonderful Things, edited by Sheree Fitch and Anne Hunt, illus. by Lloyd Fitzgerald (Nimbus)

Fiction

The Bonaventure Adventures by Rachelle Delaney (Puffin Canada)

Dingus by Andrew Larsen (Kids Can Press)

Knock About with the Fitzgerald Trouts by Esta Spalding, illus. by Sydney Smith (Tundra)

Macy McMillan and the Rainbow Goddess by Shari Green (Pajama Press)

Mary Anning’s Curiosity by Monica Kulling, illus. by Melissa Castrillón (Groundwood)

Putuguq and Kubu by Danny Christopher, illus. by Astrid Arijanto (Inhabit Media0

Restart by Gordon Korman (Scholastic)

Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt: A Narwhal and Jelly Book by Ben Clanton (Tundra)

Young Adult

Road Signs That Say West by Sylvia Gunnery (Pajama Press)

Stay by Katherine Lawrence (Coteau)

Two Times a Traitor by Karen Bass (Pajama Press)

The Way Back Home by Allan Stratton (Scholastic Canada)

Non-Fiction

Animals Do, Too!: How They Behave Just Like You by Etta Kaner, illus. by Marylin Faucher (Kids Can Press)

Explore the Wild Coast with Sam and Crystal by Gloria Snively, illus. by Karen Gillmore (Heritage House)

The Land Beyond the Wall: An Immigration Story by Veronika Martenova Charles (Nimbus)

Meatless: A Fresh Look at What You Eat by Sarah Elton, illus. by Julie McLaughlin (Owlkids Books)

My Canada: An Illustrated Atlas by Katheine Dearlove, illus. by Lori Joy Smith (Owlkids Books)

Picture Books

All Around the Circle by Cara Kansala, illus. by Max Dorey (Breakwater Books)

Polly MacCauley’s Finest, Divinest, Wooliest Gift of All: A Yarn for all Ages by Sheree Fitch, illus. by Daka Erdelji (Running The Goat Books and Broadsides)

Shooting Star Rider by Nayoung Jin. illus. by Geneviève Côté (Simply Read)

There, There by Tim Beiser, illus. by Bill Slavin (Tundra)

What’s My Superpower? by Aviaq Johnston, illus. by Tim Mack (Inhabit Media)

Fiction

Ghosts in the Garden by Judith Silverthorne (Coteau Books)>>>sequel to The Ghosts of Government House

Young Adult

Algonquin Sunset by Rick Revelle (Dundurn) >>>An Algonquin Quest Novel

Julia Defiant by Catherine Egan (Doubleday Canada)>>>sequel to Julia Vanishes

Maybe in Paris by Rebecca Christiansen (Sky Pony Press)

Saints, Misfits, Monsters and Mayhem by S.K. Ali (Salaam Reads)

Non-Fiction

Shark Lady: The Daring Tale of How Eugenie Clark Dove into History by Jess Keating and Marta Alvarez Miguens (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky)

Why the Monster by Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley, illus. by Toma Feizo (Inhabit Media)

Picture Books

Christmas Wind by Stephanie Simpson McLellan (Red Deer Press)

The Good Morning Book by Lori Joy Smith (Simply Read)

Mitzi Tulane, Preschool Detective in The Secret Ingredient by Lauren McLaughlin, illus. by Debbie Ridpath Ohi (Random House Books for Young Readers)>>>Book 2

My Best Friend by Gilles Tibo, illus. by Janice Nadeau (Simply Read)

A Pattern for Pepper by Julie Kraulis (Tundra)

Ruby Rose, Big Bravos by Rob Sanders, illus. by Debbie Ridpath Ohi (HarperCollins)>>>Book 2

Searching for Sleep by Pierrette Dubé, illus. by Geneviève Godbout (Simply Read)

Sydney & Simon: To the Moon! by Paul A. Reynolds, illus. by Peter H. Reynolds (Charlesbridge) 

Under-the-Bed Fred by Linda Bailey, illus. by Colin Jack (Tundra)

When the Moon Comes by Paul Harbridge, illus. by Matt James (Tundra)

Fiction

The Artsy Mistake Mystery by Sylvia McNicoll (Dundurn)>>>Book 2 in The Great Mistake Mysteries series

Chase by Linwood Barclay (Puffin)

Dog Night at the Story Zoo by Dan Bar-el, illus. by Vicky Nerino (Tundra)

How to Make Friends with a Ghost by Rebecca Green (Tundra)

Mort Ziff is not Dead by Cary Fagan (Puffin Canada)

The Night Garden by Polly Horvath (Puffin Canada)

The Painting by Charis Cotter (Tundra)

Where Oliver Fits by Cale Atkinson (Tundra)

Young Adult

Parasite Life by Victoria Dalpe (ChiTeen)

Thin Places by Lesley Choyce (Dundurn)>>>novel in verse

Tracker’s Canyon by Pam Withers (Dundurn)

Non-Fiction

What Makes a Monster? Discovering the  World's Scariest Creatures by Jess Keating (Knopf Books for Young Readers)>>>new book in The World of Weird Animals

Greenbeard the Pirate Pig

by Andrea Torrey Balsara

FriesenPress

978-1-460285015

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

August 2016

Andrea Torrey Balsara, the illustrator behind my favourite Happy the Pocket Mouse series by Philip Roy (Ronsdale Press), has created her own lovable character in Greenbeard the Pirate Pig, a farming guinea pig entranced by the smell of the salty sea.  Greenbeard, so call because of the copious lettuce he eats which turns his beard a bright, leafy green, smells adventure and packs his bag with lettuce and carrots, dons his boots, a hat plumed with a lettuce leaf, his gardening belt into which he inserts a carrot sword (but not a sharp one because that would be dangerous), and heads to the shore.  There an elderly mouse sells him a decrepit ship for a song–which Greenbeard happily sings, not knowing the mouse means it's cheap–and proceeds to mend and patch and shine his new ship, The Golden Lettuce, until ready to sail.

From Greenbeard the Pirate Pig 

by Andrea Torrey Balsara

But what about a crew?  A gloomy rat, which the mouse owner introduces to Greenbeard as Snug Rumkin, is somehow shanghaied into accompanying Greenbeard, though his involuntary attendance becomes enthusiastic participation when he hears of possible treasure, as well as the adventure, that Greenbeard promises.

From Greenbeard the Pirate Pig

by Andrea Torrey Balsara

Greenbeard is a delight, an innocent in search of adventure, hopeful of worldly voyages.  His intent is to explore the world and enjoy life, never to engage in the nefarious activities often associated with pirates.  Of course, he’ll have to curb the pirating enthusiasm of his first mate Snug Rumkin–probably already curtailed by Greenbeard’s singing of a song he deems inappropriate (n.b. music and lyrics are included in the book)–but that’s just part of his job as captain of The Golden Lettuce.  While I would have enjoyed sharing in one of Greenbeard’s adventures, slated to be told in the upcoming Greenbeard the Pirate Pig and the Isle of Lost, Greenbeard the Pirate Pig is a delightful introduction to Andrea Torrey Balsara’s guinea pig pirate captain.  In addition to charming young readers with her cartoon characters and  characteristic long curvy lines amongst the whiskers, fur and landscape of her drawings, Andrea Torrey Balsara offers colouring pages and puzzles available at www.torreybalsara.com and www.greenbeardthepiratepig.com to entertain and empower children to be more like the invincible Greenbeard the Pirate Pig, ready to pursue adventures at the drop of a carrot.

From Greenbeard the Pirate Pig

by Andrea Torrey Balsara

French Toast

by Kari-Lynn Winters

Illustrated by François Thisdale

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-006-2

32 pp.

Ages 6+

November 2016

Although National French Toast is celebrated on November 28, I thought that reviewing this inspirational picture book on that day would trivialize its significant message.  And since my family enjoys French toast, the food, on Christmas morning, I opted to celebrate the book’s publication closer to that celebration, one similarly wrapped in inclusivity, culture, love and family.

While out for a walk with her grandmother, Nan-ma, Phoebe is called “French Toast” by kids from school.  Obviously humiliated, the little girl clarifies to the blind woman that she is called that because the colour of her skin is “Like tea, after you’ve added the milk.” (pg. 10) But Nan-ma sees that as “Warm and good” which gets Phoebe wondering since the label doesn’t usually make her feel good, just as “I don’t feel good when strangers at the mall comment on my ringlets or ask me about my accent.” (pg. 11)  This begins a discussion about the colour of Phoebe’s mother’s skin, usually identified as white, but which Phoebe recognizes more like stirred peach yogurt, filled with sweetness and goodness.  She sees her father as warm banana bread and her Nan-ma like maple syrup, and then others as cinnamon honey and toasted coconut. Meanwhile, as they walk, a girl from school engages Phoebe, surprising her by calling her by name. Finally Phoebe takes to heart the guidance she has taken and likewise given, flavouring her life, her family and herself with optimism.

From French Toast 

by Kari-Lynn Winters 

illus. by François Thisdale

French Toast starts out as less about the food and more about labelling but Kari-Lynn Winters, with illustrator François Thisdale (most recently awarded the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award), turns the story around to be about the goodness of food and relationships that nourish us.  Kari-Lynn Winters, who can do fun and whimsical (e.g., Good Pirate, Pajama Press, 2016) as well as serious and meaningful (e.g., Gift Days, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2012), impresses with her splendid foray into understanding and acceptance of skin colour, diversity and multiculturalism (Phoebe’s family is Haitian) and one that warms the heart and fills the belly with virtue and affection.

From French Toast

 by Kari-Lynn Winters 

illus. by François Thisdale

Kari-Lynn Winter’s story could only have been paired with the artistry of François Thisdale who illustrated the memorable The Stamp Collector (Jennifer Lanthier, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2012) and That Squeak (Carolyn Beck, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2015). François Thisdale, whose artwork is a magical blend of drawing and painting with digital imagery, balances the reality of Phoebe and her grandmother’s relationship and emotional situations with a dream-like landscape. His colours and textures fuse so many elements that the book becomes more art than merely a child’s picture book. And then there are the images of glorious food that cultivate nourishment for the soul, inspiring Phoebe and her grandmother, and anyone who reads the book, to see family and skin colour from a fresh perspective.

French toast may not be part of your holiday buffet but French Toast should definitely be on everyone’s bookshelf and story-telling list for the holidays and every day of the year when acceptance is vital i.e., always.  It feeds the spirit and bakes up multiple servings of compassion and open-mindedness, helpings we should all scoop out enthusiastically.

From French Toast

by Kari-Lynn Winters 

illus. by François Thisdale

The Secrets We Keep

by Deb Loughead

Dundurn

978-1-459737297

184 pp.

Ages 12-15

December 2016

Not all secrets are bad; in fact, The Secrets We Keep ends on a very sweet one.  But the secrets being kept in Deb Loughead's newest young adult novel are the destructive kind, the kind that destroy relationships and souls, the kind that erode slowly the edges of what is good until it becomes a slippery slope with a pit at the bottom.

Ever since that field party at the quarry last June when challenged teen Kit Stitski disappeared and was later found dead, drowned in the water, fifteen-year-old Clementine has been tortured with guilt, convinced that she played a role in his death.

It’s like his ghost will not go away and leave me alone.  And now that I know his mother’s still hunting for answers, my secrets are spooking me even more. (pg. 15) 

Worse than her own guilt, Clem’s supposed best friend, Ellie Denton, who had also been secretly at the quarry, partying with Mac, a boy on whom she’d been crushing, is manipulating Clem with the threat of exposure.  With excessive demands on Clem to always be available to cover for her and Mac, Ellie becomes a menace that Clem can’t seem to shake.  Though Clem wishes she could speak to her family about this, she finds some relief when she convinces her tech-addicted parents and younger brother to agree to put aside their devices regularly for some quality family time, including at night when Ellie regularly texts Clem.

That might get Ellie somewhat off her back but Clem is still plagued by a guilty conscience and a crush on Grade 10 student, Jake Harcourt, with whom she’d once been part of a Circle of Friends support group for Kit in middle school.  When the two finally reconnect as friends who've both taken on blame for Kit’s death and recognized how the circumstances have changed them, Clem and Jake look for ways to be something positive in the lives of Kit’s mother and younger brother, as well as expose a lot more secrets concerning the young man’s death.

Though The Secrets We Keep is not a mystery, there is a problem to be solved and secrets to be exposed and Deb Loughead never lets the reader’s adrenalin levels subside.  The tension that Clem suffers at the hands of her friend drives the story and her to find some resolution, one with which she can live.  And though it is never obvious, Jake, the boy who defends another teen rumoured to have fought with Kit that night, is the means to that resolution, as well as a sweet respite from the strain of keeping secrets and harbouring guilt.  The Secrets We Keep has both the strong plot and character development to hook teen readers but its strong message about connecting and disconnecting, both personally and digitally, makes the story one worth reading and heeding.

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Reviewed just in time, The Secrets We Keep launches this Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at Harbourfront's Lakeside Terrace in Toronto.  Details here.

Akilak's Adventure

by Deborah Kigjugalik Webster

Illustrated by Charlene Chua

Inhabit Media

978-1-77227-123-2

32 pp.

Ages 5-7

November 2016

“…your destination is not running away; it will be reached eventually.” (pg. 6)

This is now Akilak’s grandmother reassures the young girl when she sends her off on her own when the older woman injures herself.  Akilak must travel on foot to her uncle’s camp, hopefully reaching it before nightfall, so that she might get food which they had planned on replenishing during a hunting trip, now cancelled.

The journey across the tundra is long but making the acquaintance of Caribou who decides to accompany the young girl on her journey makes the distance more manageable.  As the two companions trek across the northern landscape, Akilak’s imagination has her wondering how much more quickly she could travel as a fish across the water, or a fleet-footed wolf across the land, or as a snow goose across the sky.  But when Caribou asks whether she would really choose to be an animal rather than a human, Akilak understands the value of being exactly who she is.

From Akilak's Adventure 

by Deborah Kigjugalik Webster 

illus. by Charlene Chua

From their shelter to their clothing and footwear, and their habits and the nuance of language, Deborah Kigjugalik Webster has accomplished what she set out to do: told a wonderful story contextualized in Inuit culture.  She may have intended this originally for her daughters but by wrapping in her own Inuit heritage the story of an imaginative young girl with a seemingly daunting task, Deborah Kigjugalik Webster has created a tale that will entertain, teach and inspire all.  Artist Charlene Chua, who has also illustrated Fishing with Grandma (Susan Avingaq and Maren Vsetula, 2016) and Leah’s Mustache Party (Nadia Mike, 2016) for Inhabit Media, adds an effortlessness to the realism of her illustrations.  Though depicting animals with representative flair, Charlene Chua keeps the energy of the story gentle, never miring her art in the enormity of Akilak’s mission but instead illustrating it as the adventure Deborah Kigjugalik Webster, Akilak and Caribou all recognize it to be. I wish I could adequately scan the double-spread illustrations to share the sweetness of Charlene Chua’s cartoon-like creations because they convey more completely the breadth of Akilak’s Adventure than my mere words can.

I’m sorry that I missed announcing the book launch for Akilak's Adventure which was held on November 13, 2016 at Kaleidoscope Kids’ Books in Ottawa but it's better to get the book late rather than never.  Akilak’s Adventure has timeless teachings about responsibility and the importance of imagination to make it a worthwhile read now and always.

From Akilak's Adventure 

by Deborah Kigjugalik Webster 

illus. by Charlene Chua

Saving Stevie

Written by Eve Richardson

Red Deer Press

978-0-88995-540-0

228 pp.

Ages 14-17

November 2016

When her obnoxious older sister Tiff gives birth to Stevie, it's thirteen-year-old Minto who delivers him, so it’s not surprising that the girl feels bonded to the baby.  But when her sister disappears and her mother has an accident that sends her to hospital and rehab, the decision is made to put Stevie in foster care, and Minto refuses to let it happen.  In a planned escape, she packs up two and a half-month-old Stevie in a sling beneath her mother’s winter coat and, with a laundry bag laden with formula, diapers, food and her sketchbook, heads out across a ravine to Shacktown, a menagerie of shelters constructed from dumped garbage.

     I could, this moment, change my mind, go back inside, make it unreal.  And lose Stevie. 
     Or cut, and keep him. (pg. 15)

There Minto asks for shelter from Dawn, an Aboriginal young artist, who lives with her large dog Niijii in the make-shift neighbourhood.  Amidst the odd assortment of characters are the older Ginger and her nineteen-year-old son Matthew; the hyper Palma who speaks of her own baby, Janine, whom she’d given up to care; Palma’s “sister” Cass;  the handsome Damian to whom Minto is attracted; an older, one-armed dump diver Scrap; and a couple of jerks, Lex and Cody.  Everyone has their own way of surviving life on the edge, including prostitution, but Dawn sells her art and encourages Minto in her drawing, helping to sell some of her doodle designs as cards.

When Dawn has to leave to help her suicidal brother, leaving behind Niijii who has appointed himself Stevie’s canine guardian, Minto must ensure she can keep Stevie safe, fed, and clean, a tall order in such precarious circumstances.  When survival is the priority for all, it’s hard to know whom to trust, especially when desperation dictates much.  Too soon Minto learns she’ll have to save Stevie from far more than foster care.

Saving Stevie is a raw initiation into life in the tenuous urban neighbourhoods hidden in plain sight and those who make them their homes.  Minto may be distressed by her situation i.e., the possibility of losing Stevie and feel the need to react by running away with the baby, but she learns soon enough that there are worse places to be.  Eve Richardson pens a story of desperation and action that reveals that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the ravine.  In fact, it’s pretty darn scary, even if there are a few friends around to mitigate the apparent hopelessness. Eve Richardson is especially good at giving Minto voice, a voice that is both young and mature, vulnerable and strong, with her heart and head working together to save Stevie.  As a debut, Saving Stevie is an accomplished story, hopefully a portent of more YA from Eve Richardson whose own voice takes us into places we need to see but rarely do.

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The book launch for Saving Stevie takes places tomorrow in Toronto. Details are posted here.