The Governor General Shortlist for 2012 has been announced. Congratulations everyone. The winners will be announced in November, but in the meantime, here are 10 great new books just for kids and kids at heart. Enjoy!
Children’s Literature — Text
Rachel Hartman, Vancouver, Seraphina
(Doubleday Canada, an imprint of Random House of Canada; distributed by the publisher)
Deborah Kerbel, Thornhill, Ont., Under the Moon
(Dancing Cat Books, an imprint of Cormorant Books; distributed by Thomas Allen & Son)
Susin Nielsen, Vancouver, The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen
(Tundra Books, an imprint of Random House of Canada; distributed by the publisher)
Judd Palmer, Victoria, B.C., The Umbrella
(Bayeux Arts; distributed by Literary Press Group of Canada)
Allan Stratton, Toronto, The Grave Robber’s Apprentice
(HarperCollins Publishers; distributed by the publisher)
Children’s Literature — Illustration
Isabelle Arsenault, Montreal, Virginia Wolf, text by Kyo Maclear
(Kids Can Press; distributed by University of Toronto Press)
Renné Benoit, St. Thomas, Ont., Big City Bees,
text by Maggie de Vries
(Greystone Books, an imprint of D&M Publishers; distributed by HarperCollins Canada)
Jon Klassen, Los Angeles (originally from Niagara Falls, Ont.),
House Held Up by Trees, text by Ted Kooser
(Candlewick Press; distributed by Random House of Canada)
David Parkins, Lansdowne, Ont.,
In the Bag! Margaret Knight Wraps it Up, text by Monica Kullin
(Tundra Books; distributed by Random House of Canada)
Barbara Reid, Toronto, Picture a Tree, text by Barbara Reid
(North Winds Press, an imprint of Scholastic Canada; distributed by the publisher)
I’ve been sitting on the F & G’s for Lumpito And The Painter From Spain by Monica Kulling and Dean Griffiths for almost two weeks now. I’ve been so busy with deadlines, grant applications and freelance editing that I haven’t had a chance to get to it. Today I finally opened up the package from Pajama Press. What a delight!
My friend 
If you haven’t heard of Linda Bailey, get on out and today and pick up one of her hilarious and endearing Stanley books. You won’t regret it. Linda is the award-winning author of Goodnight Sweet Pig, the Stevie Diamond Mysteries, and the Good Times Travel Agency series. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.
In my humble opinion, A Monster Calls deserves to be the monster hit it seems to have become, despite the initial reluctance on the part of some gate keepers who found it too dark and too sad for children. It is sad. It is dark. How could it not be? It’s the story of a thirteen year old boy whose mother is dying. Frankly, children sometimes need to read dark, sad books. Sometimes children have to deal with terrible things in their lives; the loss of a parent, bullying, poverty, rejection. Reading about sad things that happen to a protagonist in a book can make a child feel less alone. It can help children whose lives have not been touched by strife understand and empathize with those who have been less fortunate.
It’s confession time. I can’t write a damed thing. I’m just too absorbed with BEA (the annual Book Expo America for those of you who are book people). I’m such a groupie. I love hearing about the various goings on…the panels, the characters, the free books, and even the entertainment. For example, did you know of Libba Bray’s other talent outside of writing incredibly funny yet poignant books for young adults? Who knew she could also sing! I’m so sorry to have missed her bluesy five-song set at the Little, Brown Speakeasy. Beauty Queens is her most recent title, but she has another coming out in the fall, so definitely watch for it.
And to have heard Kadir talk about doing the research for Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech would have been awesome. It’s one of one of the ‘greatest of all time speeches’ that continues to resonate even after all these years. The only surprise is that it took so long for someone to come along and illustrate it and making it so much more assessable. Although I have not had the chance to browse through Kadir Nelson’s tribute to King, I have heard that it’s stunning.
And then there is Lois Lowry. She has has written so many books that have touched me. She has written so many books that help young people grapple with the big questions. I have heard her speak bravely and eloquently about how fragile memory is. I have heard her talk of how she used a family photo album to try to help her father remember who she and her sister were when he was in the later stages of Alzheimer’s disease. She talked about how that experience impacted The Giver, the book which she was working on at the time.
Lowry has always known that young people believe they can fix the world and her characters reflect that. They don’t give up and neither does she. She has a way of translating personal pain into stories that speak to young people. Although her son returned from war in a flag-draped coffin, the main character in her new book, Son fights and vanquishes evil. It’s no surprise to me that Lowry was given a standing ovation. I just wish I could have been there to cheer her on too.
Sheryl McFarlane 