Home of Tundra Books, Puffin Canada, Penguin Teen Canada, and Friends
Yesterday we hosted our second #PenguinTeenSocial event – we invited bloggers and booksellers to our office for a fun night of trivia, pizza, and author signings. Check out some of our highlights below!
Thanks to everyone for a great night – hope to see you again next year!
Did you know that Sarah Everett was the president of her high school’s Japanese club? After obsessing over her latest novel, No One Here is Lonely, we just had to find out more about her.
Which of your characters is most like you?
Eden is definitely the most like me. She doesn’t like change, she is fiercely loyal and she is oftentimes on the outside of things. Being a writer, I’m usually the one eavesdropping on conversations and experiences and writing them down so I can put them in a book!
Recommend a book for Eden.
I’d recommend Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson or If You’re Out There by Katy Loutzenhiser (out in March 2019). Both are fantastic YA books about being ghosted by your best friend, and how you move on when one of the most important relationships in your life ends (or changes). Since Eden goes through a similar journey with her best friend, Lacey, I think she would appreciate both books.
No one Here is Lonely has a fantastic, all-too-possible concept. Where did the idea for this concept come from?
I feel like loneliness is one of the universal emotions every teenager (every person, really!) experiences. I was thinking about this and imagining a world in which no one was lonely (hence, the title J), and the idea of a near-future world in which people could contact an artificially intelligent being, someone who would be there 24/7 – just a phone call away – popped into my mind. Then I found myself wondering what might happen if this Companion was someone who had died, a loved one who never really went away, and the idea for Will and In Good Company was born.
What are you reading now?
I’m currently reading Sadie by Courtney Summers. It’s a gritty contemporary thriller about a missing girl on a journey for revenge. It’s an absolute page turner.
What books do you recommend after reading No one Here is Lonely?
For the futuristic elements, I would recommend Noggin by John Corey Whaley and More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera. Actually, I’d recommend anything by Adam Silvera – They Both Die At The End is another favorite. Other books I’d recommend: The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon, We Are Okay by Nina LaCour and Finding Yvonne by Brandy Colbert.
Add No One Here is Lonely on Goodreads here!
Have you binge-read Lesley Livingston‘s The Valiant series yet? The trilogy ended with The Triumphant earlier this year, and this fierce group of female gladiators is definitely something you need to experience for yourself. To convince you that you need more Lesley Livingston in your life, we asked her for five random facts about her and the results were pretty great:
Add The Triumphant on Goodreads here!
E.K. Johnston is such a prolific writer, it’s impossible for us to choose a favourite book by her…but The Afterward has been out since February and we’re still gushing about it! Please enjoy this Q&A from E.K. Johnston as well as some random facts about her.
Describe your book in 5 words
Sword, Sorcery, and Student Loans
Which of the characters in The Afterward do you relate to the most?
Kalanthe.
Recommend a book for Kalanthe and Olsa.
We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
What advice would you give your 16-year-old self?
Don’t rebel by choosing the school musical over track and field. The musical will never make it to stage, and only, like, five of you will take it seriously.
What is the best piece of writing advice you have ever received?
Shannon Hale says that writing a first draft is like piling all the sand into the sandbox so that you can make a castle later, and I love that.
What are you reading now?
Catching up on comics! Ms. Marvel and the last Poe Dameron volume.
What books do you recommend to fans of The Afterward?
How to Love by Katie Cotugno
The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow
5 Things You Need to Know About E.K. Johnston:
Add The Afterward on Goodreads here!
#WindowWednesday: We are incredibly fortunate to have stores create window features of our books. We want to highlight their amazing work here on our blog for you to see (and perhaps you’ll discover a new local bookstore).
Moonbeam Books
335 Jane St, Toronto, ON M6S 3Z3
Photography: Sam Devotta
Anna Humphrey (author) and Kass Reich (illustrator) got a chance to visit Moonbeam over the weekend and see the window in person! Aren’t they cute?
BONUS: if you go inside, you’ll see that they’ve left their mark on one of the shelves 🙂
