Category: Fall 2018

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2019 Joan Betty Stuchner – Oy Vey! – Funniest Children’s Book Award

The Joan Betty Stuchner- Oy Vey! -Funniest Children’s Book Award was created in memory of a beloved children’s author and teacher. The biannual award honours Joan’s life-affirming humour and encourages other children’s writers to laugh it up on the page the way she did. We would like to congratulate Cary Fagan, Mort Ziff is Not Dead won this year’s award!

Mort Ziff is Not Dead
By Cary Fagan
176 Pages | Ages 8-12 | Puffin Canada
ISBN 9780143198482

A humorous coming-of-age middle-grade novel set in 1960s Florida. Battling obxious siblings, sunburns, and a corporate millionaire, Norman is determined to help an old comedian save his career.

Mort Ziff is Not Dead kept the jury “buckled over with guffaws, incapacitated with giggles, and/or rib-ticklingly, side-splittingly, thigh-slappingly entertained.”

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Putting the YA in FRIYAY: Pride Reads 2019

Pride month might be almost over but that doesn’t mean you have to stop celebrating! We’ve made a list of some of our recent titles featuring LGBTQ+ characters – check them out below and let us know which ones you’ve read!

BONUS: We put together a #pridemonth playlist for your listening pleasure – we recommend putting it on shuffle and reading (or, let’s be real, dancing) the night away.

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2019 Ruth & Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Books Awards

The Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards were established in 1976 – each year, two awards are presented to recognize artistic excellence in writing and illustration in English-language Canadian children’s literature. The winners are selected by juries at dedicated schools. Tundra Books would like to congratulate Wab Kinew and Joe Morse! Go Show the World: A Celebration of Indigenous Heroes was awarded this year’s Children’s Picture Book award.

This year’s school, Scarborough’s Eastview Public School, has a large Indigenous community, offering Ojibwa language instruction and other Indigenous programming.

Go Show the World: A Celebration of Indigenous Heroes
By Wab Kinew
Illustrated by Joe Morse
40 Pages | Ages 5-9 | Tundra Books
ISBN 9780735262928

What the students said:
“This was my favourite book because it showed how to be positive and how to be a hero.”
“I loved the message of the book.”
“I liked that the first part of the book is a poem, and that the second part has information about the heroes’ lives.”
“The illustrations are beautiful. The artist made all the people in the story look like heroes!”

Joe Morse with the jurors of the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award picture book category.

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2019 IODE Violet Downey Book Award for Children’s Literature

The National Chapter of Canada IODE Violet Downey Book Award is offered annually since 1985 for the best young children’s English language book containing at least 500 words of text. Tundra Books would like to congratulate Susin Nielsen! No Fixed Address was awarded this year’s prize.

No Fixed Address
By Susin Nielsen
288 Pages | Ages 10+ | Tundra Books
ISBN 9780735262751

From beloved Governor General Literary Award–winning author Susin Nielsen comes a touching and funny middle-grade story about family, friendship and growing up when you’re one step away from homelessness.

Felix Knuttson, twelve, is an endearing kid with an incredible brain for trivia. His mom Astrid is loving but unreliable; she can’t hold onto a job, or a home. When they lose their apartment in Vancouver, they move into a camper van, just for August, till Astrid finds a job. September comes, they’re still in the van; Felix must keep “home” a secret and give a fake address in order to enroll in school. Luckily, he finds true friends. As the weeks pass and life becomes grim, he struggles not to let anyone know how precarious his situation is. When he gets to compete on a national quiz show, Felix is determined to win — the cash prize will bring them a home. Their luck is about to change! But what happens is not at all what Felix expected.

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Putting the YA in FRIYAY: Penguin Teen Screen

We’re stoked to announce a new event series for this year called Penguin Teen Screen. What’s better than reading a YA book? Watching a classic teen movie, of course!

Launching this month, we’ve partnered with the Revue Cinema to bring you the perfect event: an interview with a YA author followed by a screening of a teen movie from the 80s or 90s. Our first author will be Gabrielle Moss (Paperback Crush) in conversation with Anne Thériault and our first movie will be She’s All That.

The inaugural Penguin Teen Screen event will take place on Thursday, June 20th at the Revue Cinema starting at 6:45pm. Come for the discussion of the history of YA books, stay for Rachael Leigh Cook’s iconic stairwell entrance scene (and sorry in advance for when you sing “Kiss Me” all the way home). Books will be available to purchase from our friends at Another Story. RSVP here.

UPCOMING PENGUIN TEEN SCREEN EVENTS:

July 18: Isabel Sterling (These Witches Don’t Burn) x The Craft
August 22: Arvin Ahmadi (Girl Gone Viral) x Hackers

Make sure you’re following us on social media for all the details about #PenguinTeenScreen and our other events!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/penguinteenca
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PenguinTeenCa/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/penguinteenca/

Tundra Book Group