News from Orca Book Publishers

News from Orca Book Publishers
October 2010

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

Governor General's Literary Award nominee...

Me, Myself and Ike, a teen novel by K.L. Denman, has been nominated for a Governor General's Literary Award in the Children's Literature - Text category.

Me, Myself and Ike is the story of a boy struggling with schizophrenia. Publishers Weekly said of the book: "A stark and fascinating portrait of a paranoid and delusional teenager...Denman deftly gets into the head of a mentally unwell teenager while telling a coherent, engaging story."

And Quill & Quire said: "Denman exhibits such flexibility within the confines of a first-person narrative, while also maintaining the reader's feelings of empathy for Kit...an undeniable accomplishment. While the writing is seamless, the subject matter is challenging...Completely riveting, suspenseful, and heartbreaking, Me, Myself and Ike is one of the best young adult releases of the year."

The winner of the Governor General's award will be announced on November 16.

Forest of Reading nominations...

The Ontario Library Association has announced their nominees for the annual Forest of Reading readers' choice awards. Thousands of students across Ontario will read and vote for their favorite books in a number of categories.

Orca has several titles on the lists:

Silver Birch

Branded (an Orca Currents novel), Eric Walters;
Dunces Anonymous, Kate Jaimet;
The Salmon Bears - Giants of the Great Bear Rainforest, Ian McAllister and Nicholas Read;

Silver Birch Express

The Ballad of Knuckles McGraw (Orca Young Readers), Lois Peterson;
A Different Game (Orca Young Readers), Sylvia Olsen;

Golden Oak

The Barrio Kings (Rapid Reads), William Kowalski;
The Middle Ground (Rapid Reads), Zoe Whittall.

Congratulations to all the authors.

More info here.

Reluctant Readers Webinar...
Orca Book Publishers recently sponsored a webinar with Booklist magazine titled: Reaching Reluctant Readers - Using High Interest Fiction to Engage and Inspire.

With an all-star panel of teachers and librarians (oh, and me, for balance) we heard about what reluctant readers really want, how to engage them, projects for the classroom and lots of books that are appealing.

The panel was:

· Carolyn Salonen, Program, Curriculum, and Instruction Consultant, Waterloo Region District School Board, Ontario;

· Rebecca English, Educator, Godwin Heights High School, Wyoming, Michigan;

· Amy J. Cheney, Librarian, Alameda County Library, Juvenile Hall, San Leandro, California;

· Andrew Wooldridge, Publisher, Orca Book Publishers.

You can view the entire presentation here.

Like sites? We've got sites...

The Orca machine shop has been busy banging together some great new sites for recent books. Have a wander around the cyber pod:

The Sea Wolves. This companion site to the beautiful book by Ian McAllister and Nicholas Read is a wonderful homage to these unique wolves that live in the Great Bear Rainforest. (Also check out www.salmonbears.com, the site that bears it all.)
The Salt Trilogy. Check out this dystopian site that lets you in on the nefarious actions of Company and Hari's race to save his father. The second installment of this trilogy by Maurice Gee, Gool, has just been released. Teachers' guides available soon.
Richard Was a Picker. Help Richard find a tissue. Print out the BoogerBoy comic. Say no more.
Imagining Ontario. Check out this amazing site for the book Great Lakes & Rugged Ground - Imagining Ontario by Sarah Harvey and Leslie Buffam and illustrated by Kasia Charko. A look at Ontario's history, a timeline, projects and more. Perfect for the classroom. Fire up that Smart Board!

Quebec Writers' Federation nominees...
T

wo recent novels have been nominated for the Quebec Writers' Federation annual book awards in the Children's and Young Adult category.

The Middle of Everywhere by Monique Polak and Walking Backward by Catherine Austen are two of the three titles on the shortlist.

Resource Links said of The Middle of Everywhere: "A powerful novel. Polak delivers her tale with a simplicity and realism that brings the readers into the northern world."

And the Globe and Mail said of Walking Backward: "Austen's writing cuts straight to the heart. She delivers a wise, rich novel, wonderfully compelling for children and adults alike."

More info here.

School and Library catalogue ...
The 2010-2011 School and Library catalogue has been mailed.
With new titles and new collections, this is the best and most complete catalogue yet. If you have not seen one, please drop us a line and we will send one out ASAP.

Some highlights:

Audio books available in the Orca Soundings series;
New digital collections;
French translations;
and much more.

The catalogue is available for download here.

BTW, this year's catalogue is printed on post-consumer waste paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Thanks for reading!
Remember customer service? We do too. If you have a question about a title, want us to customize a collection for your school or library, are interested in what we can can do for your store, or just want to chat and exchange gossip, give us a call. Our toll-free customer service line is manned (personed?) from 8:30 to 4:30 PST.
Really - call us. We're waiting.