News from Orca Book Publishers

News From Orca Book Publishers
April 2009

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

Smithsonian Notable Books...

One Peace - True Stories of Young Activists, written and illustrated by Janet Wilson, has been included on the Smithsonian Notable Books for Children 2008 list. The list is comprised of "Surprising, inspiring and outstanding titles for youngsters and the grownups that read to them."

Booklist magazine said of One Peace: "Each double-page spread in this picture book for older readers is a passionate call for peace, the end of suffering, and the need for change."

Details here.

Next stop, Jon Stewart?

Bilaal Rajan, tireless twelve-year-old author of Making Change - Tips from an Underage Overachiever, has been on the road again - this time to Atlanta and New York.
He showed up on ABC News and talked at length about his experiences and his attempts to inspire other youth. You can see the clip of the interview here.

School Library Journal said of Bilaal: "Clearly, Rajan is an exceptional teen and has much to offer the world."
partial proceeds to UNICEF.

Stellar reviews...
A boatload of glowing reviews for just-released titles in Booklist, School Library Journal and Kirkus. Some excerpts for your reading (and ordering!) pleasure.

From Booklist:
Back (Norah McClintock) "...brief but moving... Perfect for
reluctant readers up for some soul-searching."
The Mealworm Diaries (Anna Kerz) "Readers will enjoy this quiet story as they absorb its simple but timeless message about the importance of kindness."
Queen of Disguises(Melanie Jackson) "readers will embrace high-energy Dinah, the story's surprise revelations, and the slapstick pranks, including a memorable fart-cushion incident that's sure to please the middle-grade audience."*

From School Library Journal:
The West is Calling (Harvey/Buffam/Bonder) "...a quality poetry and history collaboration...good comparison material for a study of U.S. westward expansion."
Sister Wife (Shelley Hrdlitschka) "gives depth and nuance to an experience (growing up in a polygamist community) that is portrayed without subtlety in the popular press."
Gravity (Leanne Lieberman) "may offend some readers and be embraced by others, and would certainly make for an interesting discussion"
What World is Left (Monique Polak) "This often graphic and realistic novel, written in memoir format, raises questions of moral principles and beliefs while it portrays the horrors of the Holocaust."

From Kirkus:
The Solstice Cup (Rachel Dunstan Muller) "...a good choice for reluctant readers seeking a fiendish-faery fix."
The Mealworm Diaries (Anna Kerz) "This moving first novel deftly weaves these serious issues into a realistic depiction...will add interest for all readers of this poignant tale."

(*I'll wager that this review for Queen of Disguises is the first time in history that the terms "Olympics" and "fart-cushion" have been used in the same review.)

Rainbow List...

Two Orca novels and another from Lobster Press have made the the 2009 Rainbow List, a joint undertaking of the American Library Association's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table and Social Responsibilities Round Table.
Gravity, a teen novel by Leanne Lieberman, and Crossover, an Orca Sports novel by Jeff Rud, have both made the list.
Belinda's Obsession a novel in the Not Just Proms & Parties series by Patricia Penny also made the list.

More info here.

CLA Book Awards...

Two recent teen novels have been shortlisted for the Canadian Library Association's Young Adult Book Award.
The Lit Report by Sarah N. Harvey and Sister Wife by Shelley Hrdlitschka are in contention for the award.
The 2009 Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award Shortlist has also been announced by CLA. This award recognizes an illustrator of a book that appeals to children up to the age of 12 years. Making the list for Orca was Out of The Deeps, a picturebook illustrated by Nicholas Debon and written by Anne Laurel Carter.
The winners of the awards will be announced at the CLA Conference in Montr�al, May 29th - June 1st.

Official press releases here.

Thanks for reading!
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