Category: honours

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2012 Rocky Mountain Book Award Winner

Tundra is happy to announce that Susin Nielsen’s Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom is the Gold Medal Winner of the 2012 Rocky Mountain Book Award, an Alberta Children’s Choice Book Award.

Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom
By Susin Nielsen
Ages 11-14 | 240 pages
Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-88776-977-1
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-77049-295-0
eBook ISBN:978-0-88776-978-8
Violet’s TV-director dad has traded a job in Vancouver for one in Los Angeles, their run-down house for a sleek ranch-style home complete with a pool, and, worst of all, Violet’s mother for a trophy wife, a blonde actress named Jennica. Violet’s younger sister reacts by bed-wetting, and her mother ping-pongs from one loser to another, searching for love. As for Violet, she gets angry in ways that are by turns infuriating, shocking, and hilarious.
When her mother takes up with the unfortunately named Dudley Wiener, Violet and her friend Phoebe decide that they need to take control. If Violet’s mom can’t pick a decent man herself, they will help her snag George Clooney.

PRAISE:

  • “[Susin Nielsen] … has created a narrator as sassy and candid as this memorable novel’s title….” – Starred Review, Publishers Weekly
  • “…This comic novel scores.” – Kirkus Reviews
  • “…very engaging read.” – Booklist
  • “…funny, witty, and lively….” – Quill & Quire

Gemini Award-winner SUSIN NIELSEN has written sixteen episodes of the hit television show Degrassi Junior High and four of the books in the Degrassi series. She is the co-creator and showrunner of the critically acclaimed television series Robson Arms. She also adapted Susan Juby’s Alice, I Think into a TV series. Susin Nielsen lives in Vancouver with her husband, Goran, son, Oskar, and Sam the cat.

PS: Word Nerd by Susin Nielsen was the Gold Medal Winner of the 2010 Rocky Mountain Book Award.

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Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards Nominations

Congratulations to Marthe Jocelyn, “Scribbling Women” has been short listed for the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards in the Young Adult / Middle Reader category!

“Scribbling Women”
True Tales from Astonishing Lives
Written by Marthe Jocelyn
Hardcover | 208 Pages
Ages: 14+
ISBN: 978-0-88776-952-8
eBook: 978-1-77049-230-1

If you want to read what others thought about “Scribbling Women,” check out all the links from the blog tour.

Toronto-born MARTHE JOCELYN is the award-winning author and illustrator of over twenty books. Her picture book Hannah’s Collections was short-listed for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Illustration. Her novel Mable Riley won the inaugural TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award. Marthe Jocelyn is the 2009 recipient of the prestigious Vicky Metcalf Award for her body of work.

About the Award
The award, made possible by the Ruth Schwartz Foundation, is presented annually to the authors/illustrators of two outstanding works of Canadian children’s literature – a picture book and a young-adult/middle-reader title.

Ruth Schwartz was a respected Toronto bookseller who ran a bookstore in the Park Plaza Hotel. She made a special effort to promote Canadian-authored children’s books. In 1976, after Ruth Schwartz’s death, her sister, Sylvia, established an award in her name. In honour of the late Sylvia Schwartz, the family recently added her name to the award. The award is administered jointly – the Ontario Arts Council oversees the jury process and publicizes the award and the Ontario Arts Foundation publicizes the award.

The 2012 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards will be judged by a panel of students from a school from the Parkdale area who are representative of the general school population and have demonstrated a strong interest in reading.

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2012/2013 Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Awards Nominations


The nominations are in for the 2012/2013 Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Awards and we are happy to say that Tundra has two nominated books! They are:

From Then to Now: A Short History of the World
Written by Christopher Moore
Illustrated by Andrej Krystoforski
Hardcover | 192 pages | Ages 10+
ISBN: 978-0-88776-540-7
eBook: 978-1-77049-120-5
“Moore does an admirable job not only getting so much history in, but displaying how it can be cyclical, a constant succession of societies rising and falling. That premise will prompt much discussion among curious young minds.” – Quill & Quire

Shipwrecks, Monsters and Mysteries of the Great Lakes
Written by Ed Butts
Trade Paperback | 88 pages | Ages 9-12
ISBN: 978-1-77049-206-6
eBook: 978-1-77049-259-2
“Guelph author Ed Butts delves into the history of the Great Lakes to produce this intriguing look at the tragedies they’ve caused…. While this book is geared to children ages nine to 12, cottagers and boaters of all ages will revel in each chapter and gain new respect for our Great Lakes.” – The Waterloo Region Record

The Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award is an Atlantic Canadian book award which allows children to choose their favourite Canadian and Atlantic Canadian books. This year, the children will read from a selection of forty books divided in four categories: English Fiction, English Non-fiction, French Fiction and French Non-fiction, chosen for their literary, cultural and enjoyment factors. The books have generally been published within two or three years of selection.

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2011 Finalists for the Book of the Year Award

ForeWord Reviews‘ Book of the Year Awards were established to bring increased attention to librarians and booksellers of the literary and graphic achievements of independent publishers and their authors.

Here is a list of the 2011 Tundra Finalists in their respective categories:

Young Adult Nonfiction Category:
“Scribbling Women” True Tales from Astonishing Lives
by Marthe Jocelyn
Hardcover | 208 pages
ISBN: 978-0-88776-952-8
eBook: 978-1-77049-230-1
“…a wonderful example of a book that will break down any negative stereotypes about biographies. [Jocelyn]… creates lively, sometimes humorous pieces that blend straight biographic detail and anecdotal accounts about some lesser known women writers in history…. Not only does Jocelyn share extraordinary stories about these women, but her piece also celebrates writers of all kinds, inspiring young adults, particularly girls, to value their own voices and experiences by writing through whatever means they choose….” – ForeWord Reviews

Young Adult Fiction Category:
First Descent
by Pam Withers
Hardcover | 272 pages
ISBN: 978-1-77049-257-8
eBook: 978-1-77049-274-5
“…From the first page, when Rex hears a crack of river ice, sees an eight-year-old in peril, and enacts a dramatic rescue in which he must out-paddle an advancing mountain of ice, Withers flings the reader from one perilous adventure to another….” – Booklist

Young Adult Nonfiction Category:
Five Thousand Years of Slavery
by Marjorie Gann and Janet Willen
Hardcover | 176 pages
ISBN: 978-0-88776-914-6
eBook: 978-1-77049-151-9
“This well-researched global survey introduces readers to slavery practices, customs, suffering, uprisings, and revolts as well as antislavery efforts from ancient Greece and Rome to today’s world…. The authors promote global awareness and issue a call to action…. Informative documentary photos and factually rich sidebars enhance the text…. This groundbreaking title brings the disturbing subject into historical and contemporary focus.” – Starred Review, School Library Journal

Juvenile Nonfiction Category:
In the Bag! Margaret Knight Wraps It Up
by Monica Kulling and illustrated by David Parkins in the
Hardcover | 32 pages
ISBN: 978-1-77049-239-4
“Third in the Great Idea series, this concise introduction to trailblazing American inventor … reveals a woman committed to living life on her own terms, unafraid to fight for her successes. In clean, straightforward prose, Kulling explains how Knight’s interest in and knack for machines was present even at a young age…. Paired with Parkins’s detailed and handsome pen-and-ink illustrations, the book focuses on Knight’s invention of a paper bag-manufacturing machine and her legal fight to protect her creation after her idea was stolen.” – Publishers Weekly

Juvenile Fiction Category:
Stones for My Father
by Trilby Kent
Hardcover | 176 pages
ISBN: 978-1-77049-252-3
eBook: 978-1-77049-260-8
“This meticulously researched novel about a white Afrikaner girl caught up in the Boer War at the turn of the 19th century brings to light a hitherto overlooked aspect of South African history.” – School Library Journal

Young Adult Fiction Category:
The Dragon Turn: The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His Fifth Case
by Shane Peacock
Hardcover | 240 pages
ISBN: 978-1-77049-231-8
eBook: 978-1-77049-273-8
“…Shane Peacock has done his research well. His character makes a very believable younger version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. Shane has also accurately portrayed London of the 1860’s. True to the style of the original master, this novel is filled with excellent deductions by the young Holmes, numerous twists and turns and an exciting climax that kept me reading at the edge of my seat.” – Jewish Book World

Winners in each category will be announced at the American Library Association annual conference and on the award website in June of 2012.

Congratulations to our authors and illustrators!

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2013 Young Reader’s Choice Awards Nomination

We are happy to announce that Winter Shadows by Margaret Buffie has been nominated for the 2013 Young Reader’s Choice Award, the oldest children’s book award and sponsored by the Pacific Northwest Library Association.

Winter Shadows
Written by Margaret Buffie
Hardcover | 336 pages | Ages 11+
ISBN: 978-0-88776-968-9
eBook: 978-1-77049-228-8
“…The alternating narratives are gripping, and the characters are drawn with rich complexity; even the stepmothers are finally humanized. Readers will be pulled in by the searing history of bigotry as well as the universals of family conflict, love, and friendship.” – Booklist

Students read nominated books, then vote on them between March 15 and April 15. Winning authors are given a medallion and are invited to speak at their Annual Conference in August. Congratulations to Margaret Buffie and to all the other nominees!

Tundra Book Group