Category: honours

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The Boy Sherlock Holmes

Guy Ritchie’s adaptation of Sherlock Holmes hits theatres next week! Robert Downey Jr. plays the witty Sherlock Holmes, Rachel McAdams as the beautiful Irene Adler, and Jude Law as Dr. John Watson. But, before you watch the movie, we challenge you to read the Boy Sherlock Holmes series!

Eye of the Crow PaperbackEye of the CrowEye of the Crow
The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His 1st Case
Written by Shane Peacock
ISBN 978-0-88776-850-7 (Hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-88776-919-1 (Paperback)

“In Eye of the Crow, Shane Peacock has created a cleverly inventive background story for Sherlock Holmes that explains the adult character’s reluctance to talk about his family life. He’s also managed to create a thrilling, impeccably paced murder mystery. Peacock reveals the budding detective’s very real fears and insecurities, providing just enough detail about the young Sherlock’s methods to make him an entirely believable teenage precursor to the master detective. Peacock also neatly creates a sense of the bustle of Victorian London, making the squalid grunginess of the East End almost waft off the pages.” – Starred Review, Quill & Quire

“The details of the plot are plausible, the pacing well timed, and the historical setting vividly depicted…The titular crow comes fascinatingly into play…On balance, the characters enrich the book and help give Holmes’s storied abilities credence.” – Starred review, School Library Journal

“…the first intriguing volume in an ambitious new series….a shadowy, vividly described London….Creative references to Doyle’s characters abound…and Sherlock himself is cleverly interpreted….[made] both fascinating and complex….plenty of readers will like the smart, young detective they find here, and find themselves irresistibly drawn into his thrilling adventures.” – Starred review, Booklist

Awards and Honours:

  • Winner of the 2008 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Juvenile Book, presented by the Crime Writers of Canada
  • Winner of the 2008 IODE Violet Downey Book Award
  • Gold Medal Winner of the 2008 ForeWord Magazine‘s Book of the Year Award – Young Adult Fiction category
  • Gold Medalist for the 2008 Moonbeam Awards – Intermediate/Middle Grade category
  • Short-listed for the 2009 Rocky Mountain Children’s Book Award
  • Short-listed for the 2009 Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award – presented by MYRCA
  • Nominated for the 2009 Saskatchewan Young Readers’ Choise Award (SYRCA) – Snow Willow Award category
  • Nominated for the 2008-2009 Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award
  • Finalist for the 2008 Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction
  • Finalist for the 2008 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award
  • Honour Book for the Canadian Library Association’s Book of the Year for Children Award
  • Chosen as Booklist’s “Top Ten in Youth Mysteries” in 2008
  • Chosen as an Honor Book for the 2009 Silver Birch Award for Fiction – presented by the Ontario Library Association
  • Selected for the 2009 TD Summer Reading List

Death in the Air PaperbackDeath in the AirDeath in the Air
The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His 2nd Case
Written by Shane Peacock
ISBN 978-0-88776-851-4 (Hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-88776-928-3 (Paperback)

“In the first novel, we see many of the characteristics of the adult detective being formed through his first exciting adventure. In Death in the Air, this development continues and we get to know young Sherlock even better….This novel is written for the young adult, but adult readers will also find it satisfying. Peacock places demand on the reader, expecting intelligence and curiosity. The fast-paced adventure is a treat.” – The Globe and Mail

“Shane Peacock’s second novel of the young Sherlock is no less exciting or authentic than the first, Eye of the Crow…. Again Peacock has remained true to the original spirit of the Holmes series. Sherlock’s pervasive melancholy and his flirtatious relationship with the underworld of London create yet another authentic mystery. Peacock has honored the essence of the original Holmes stories while contributing his own intuitive, exhilarating touches.” – Highly Recommended, CM Magazine: Canadian Review of Materials

Awards and Honours:

  • Finalist for the 2009 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award
  • Short-listed for the 2008 IODE (National Chapter) Violet Downey Book Award
  • Finalist for the 2009 Canadian Library Association’s Young Adult Book Award
  • Selected for the Best Book for Kids and Teens 2009 list
  • Chosen as a 2008 Best Bets by the Ontario Library Association

Vanishing GirlVanishing Girl
The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His 3rd Case
Written by Shane Peacock
ISBN 978-0-88776-852-1 (Hardcover)

“The first two books in this splendid series have won a shelf-full of awards. Peacock’s adolescent Sherlock is complex, intuitive and fascinating. As much as a Bildungsroman as a detective yarn, Sherlock tracks down an aristocratic young woman gone missing twice, driven by passion and pride, in the belief this may be the case that will make his reputation.” – The National Post

“… The richly descriptive prose offers a vivid sense of both Victorian life and the diverse characters, especially complex, intriguing, and sympathetic Sherlock” – Booklist

The Secret FiendThe Secret Fiend
The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His 4th Case
Written by Shane Peacock
ISBN 978-0-88776-853-8 (Hardcover)
Available on May 11 2010!

It is 1868, the week that Benjamin Disraeli becomes Prime Minister of the Empire. Sherlock’s beautiful but poor admirer, Beatrice, the hatter’s daughter, appears at the door late at night. She is terrified, claiming that she and her friend have just been attacked by the Spring Heeled Jack on Westminister Bridge and the fiend has made off with her friend. At first Sherlock things Beatrice simply wants his attention, and he is reluctant to go back to detective work. He also believes that the Jack everyone fears is a fictional figure. But soon he is suspicious of various individuals, several of them close friends.

Set in a time when many in England were in a state of fear because a Jew was running the country, Shane Peacock presents a compelling story filled with an atmosphere of paranoia and secrets and surprises played out on late-night London streets. Sherlock gets drawn deeper and deeper into the pursuit of the Spring Heeled Jack, whose attacks grow in number until it seems that there are Jacks everywhere.

The Secret Fiend is the fourth book in Shane Peacock’s award-winning Boy Sherlock Holmes series, combining brilliant storytelling with fascinating historical detail and a mystery worthy of one of the greatest sleuths in English literature.

Please visit Shane Peacock’s website at www.shanepeacock.ca and www.theboysherlockholmes.com

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9th Annual Writers’ Trust Awards

Last night, the 9th Annual Writers’ Trust Awards was held at the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto. The following award winners were announced:

  • Writers’ Trust of Canada/McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize
  • Vicky Metcalf Award for Children’s Literature
  • Writers’ Trust Notable Author Award
  • Writers’ Trust Award for Distinguished Contribution
  • Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize
  • Rogers’ Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize

Congratulations to Marthe Jocelyn on being this year’s recipient of the Vicky Metcalf Award for Children’s Literature. This award honours a Canadian author of children’s literature whose body of work is judged to demonstrate the highest literary standards.

In her more than twenty books for preschoolers, elementary school children and young adults, Jocelyn demonstrates a rich versatility with genre, medium and style. She has published compelling narratives in a wide range of genres, including young adult realism, historical fiction, biography/memoir, fantasy and picture books. The emotional range of tone in her work is as broad and deep as her exploration of genre: she writes with equal conviction in the voice of satire, comedy and tragedy. Inventiveness, humour, and a sharp understanding of human nature underlie her work for all ages.

She is a visual artist as well as a verbal one, as her numerous picture books show. Her collage art glories in the beauty and grace of the child’s domain, rich in artefacts, objects of play and contemplation. Her subtle use of endpapers and framing, textured materials, fabrics and found objects – her use of real “kid things” – creates a visual world of identity, interest and choice, showing the creative possibilities and thoughtfulness in the child’s world.

– 2009 Vicky Metcalf Award for Children’s Literature Jury
Deirdre Baker, Julie Johnston and Judith Saltman

Congratulations to all the winners this year! Jian Ghomeshi, of Q on CBC Radio One, hosted the ceremony. He did a great job and kept the event on schedule. From left to right: Jian Ghomeshi, Annabel Lyon, David Bergen, Yasuko Thanh, Brian Brett, Marthe Jocelyn, and Politics & the Pen.

We would like to thank the jurors – Deirdre Baker, Julie Johnston, and Judith Saltman – for all their work. Thank you to everyone who attended the event and cheered for Marthe Jocelyn and gave a round of applause to Publisher, Kathy Lowinger. Finally, thank you to the Sponsors, Board of Directors, Authors’ Committee, and the staff at Writers’ Trust of Canada.

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The Best Children’s Books of the Year

The Best Children’s Books of the Year
List compiled by the Children’s Book Committee
of the Bank Street College of Education

Here are the Tundra books that made the list this year:

Word Nerd
Written by Susin Nielsen
ISBN: 978-0-88776-875-0
CDN Price: $20.99
US Price: $18.95
Hardcover
One uber nerd, one ex-con, a love of words, a budding romance … put them together and voila, a wonderful novel about coming into one’s own.

Dear Toni
Written by Cyndi Sand-Eveland
ISBN: 978-0-88776-876-7
CDN Price: $16.99
US Price: $14.95
Hardcover
A novel with the look and feel of a journal that reveals the heart of a special twelve year old.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: The Graphic Novel
Adapted by Alan Grant
Illustrated by Cam Kennedy
CDN Price: $12.99
US Price: $11.95
Paperback
The classic story of good and evil, retold by the graphic novel dream team of Alan Grant and Cam Kennedy.

Visit the Bank Street College of Education: Children’s Book Committee’s website for more information. This is their 100th anniversary edition of The Best Children’s Books of the Year. This special edition of their annual booklist was published in September 2009.

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2009 Canadian Children’s Book Centre Awards

This year, Tundra had a number of finalists for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, and the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People. We had all received lovely gold coloured invitations and were all invited for a glamorous night at the Carlu.

This was my first time at the Canadian Children’s Book Centre Awards and I was excited (but I totally played it cool). Pamela had told me that it would be a great event and last night did not disappoint (aside from us not winning).

Pamela and I left the office around 6:00 pm and swiftly arrived at the Carlu. There was a red carpet leading to the elevators. Interestingly enough, we shared our ride up to the 7th floor with the Fleck Family and Marilyn Baillie! Then, those elevator doors opened… and wow. I glanced at Pamela and she gave me the “I told you this gala is great” look.

The place was decorated with costumed bears. Here’s one that mimics love stories. I remember spotting a pirate, a mermaid, and an astronaut bear.

What an amazing atmosphere: the music, the chatter (who is going to win tonight?), and the clink of glasses. There were hot food stations, hor d’oeuvre, and drinks going around. A lot of Tundra’s authors and illustrators were there, most of our finalists were able to attend (they were not feeling nervous at all), and it was really nice to meet or see everyone.

The awards ceremony began at 7:00 pm with Eleanor Watchtel as our MC for the night.

The Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction went to The Bite of the Mango. Congratulations to Mariatu Kamara and Susan McClelland!

The Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People went to The Landing. Congratulations to John Ibbitson!

The Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award went to Mattland. Congratulations to Hazel Hutchins, Gail Herbert, and DuÅ¡an Petričić!

Finally, the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award went to Shin-chi’s Canoe. Congratulations to Nicola I. Campbell and Kim LaFave!

Before we left, we were handed an environmentally friendly bag with the 2009 TD Grade One Book Giveaway Program’s book: Let’s Go! The Story of Getting from There to Here by Lizann Flatt and illustrated by Scot Ritchie.

Thank you to everyone at the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, to the jurors, to the sponsors, and to the wonderful staff that made the event a fantastic night! Until next year!

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CBC Salutes our Award Nominees!

Hannah Sung of CBC Book Club presents the five nominees for the Governor General’s Award for Children’s Literature – Illustration, which included Tundra’s book, Bradley McGogg, The Very Fine Frog by Tim Beiser and Rachel Berman.

Congratulations to Jirina Marton, illustrator of Bella’s Tree, who was announced as the winner in this category on Tuesday, November17th.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke1qJ-68fXI]

Hannah also interviewed Shane Peacock, Susin Nielsen, and Cary Fagan on their books’ nominations for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, the biggest prize in Canadian Children’s Lit! We’ll be cheering them on at the ceremony at the Carlu in Toronto this Thursday, November 19th.

Other Tundra authors and books up for awards Thursday evening include:

  • Thing-Thing by Cary Fagan (again!), nominated for the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award.
  • The Ancient Ocean Blues by Jack Mitchell, nominated for the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People.

Sigh. What to do when you have so many nominated books in one evening?!

Vlog courtesy of www.cbc.ca/bookclub

Tundra Book Group