News from Orca Book Publishers

News From Orca Book Publishers
October 2008

News and notes...
(Click on the covers for more info).

Victoria Book Prizes...

Mechanimals, a picture book written and illustrated by Chris Tougas, won the inaugural Bolen Books Children's Book Prize at a gala awards ceremony in Victoria.
The evening's master-of-ceremonies John Gould, tongue firmly planted in cheek, had this to say about the award-winning book:
"Chris Tougas' Mechanimals represents a trenchant analysis, by way of pastiche and parody, of the modern mania for mechanization in the area of food production. Neo-Marxist critique mixes here with post-deconstructionist play to generate a profoundly unstable, and thus destabilizing, text. Tougas' Rooster-bot, perhaps his most prescient creation, subverts the paradigm of temporality to which we cling with such desperation in our post-millennial panic." If you say so, John!

Forest of Reading...

Seven recent titles from Orca Book Publishers have been nominated for the various reading lists sponsored by the Ontario Library Association. The awards are divided into several different age ranges.
Blue Spruce: Buttercup's Lovely Day (Carolyn and Andrea Beck); Silver Birch Express: Addison Addley and the Things That Aren't There (Melody DeFields MacMillan), Feather Brain (Maureen Bush) and TJ and the Quiz Kids (Hazel Hutchins); White Pine: Tweaked (Katherine Holubitsky) and Gotcha!(Shelley Hrdlitschka); Golden Oak:ID (Vicki Grant).
Congratulations to all the authors. The winners will be announced in the Spring after thousands of students vote.

YALSA Quick Picks...
Four recent Orca Soundings titles have been nominated for the Young Adult Library Services Association's (YALSA) Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers list for 2009. YALSA is a division of the American Library Association.
Down by Norah McClintock, Responsible by Darlene Ryan, Pain and Wastings by Carrie Mac and Middle Row by Sylvia Olsen, have all been nominated for this list which collects new titles of special interest to struggling and reluctant readers.
All of these titles are part of the Orca Soundings series, a collection of more than fifty titles that appeal to teen reluctant readers.
The final list will be voted on at the American Library Association Midwinter convention in Denver in January.

Steal this book...
A comment from a teacher:
"The Soundings series continues to be a huge success with my kids. Although, all of a sudden I have a whole new set of problems: kids stealing books, kids reading when I'm trying to teach and kids refusing to put books away after silent reading. Ironic for the teacher who only teaches reluctant and struggling readers." (Nicole Zilkie, Learning Support Services, Burnaby Central Secondary.)

Quebec Writer's Federation...

Orphan Ahwak, a novel by Raquel Rivera has been nominated for the Children's and Young Adult Literature Prize from the Quebec Writer's Federation.

The St. Albert Gazette said of Orphan Ahwak: "A skillful blend of fact and fiction, Rivera fashions a mesmerizing page-turner that is filled with many touches of early aboriginal life."

Raquel lives in Montreal.

Happy Hallowe'en...

Several new Orca Echoes early chapter books are in stock in time for the witching hour. Captain Jake by Shannon Stewart and illustrated by Ben Hodson, Sharing Snowy by Marilyn Helmer and illustrated by Kasia Charko and Monster Lunch by Pat Skene and illustrated by Graham Ross, are all in and would make great gifts for goblins.

Thanks for reading!