Putting the YA in FRIYAY: Fight Like A Girl Audiobook

We’re so excited for the audiobook release of Fight Like a Girl! Narrated by author Sheena Kamal herself, the audiobook drops on Tuesday, March 31. While you’re waiting to take a listen, check out these behind-the-scenes photos from Sheena’s final recording session.

Fight Like a Girl
By Sheena Kamal
ISBN 9780735269873 | Audiobook
Ages 14+ | Penguin Teen Canada
Love and violence. In some families they’re bound up together, dysfunctional and poisonous, passed from generation to generation like eye color or a quirk of smile. Trisha’s trying to break the chain, channeling her violent impulses into Muay Thai kickboxing, an unlikely sport for a slightly built girl of Trinidadian descent. Her father comes and goes as he pleases, his presence adding a layer of tension to the Toronto east-end townhouse that Trisha and her mom call home, every punch he lands on her mother carving itself indelibly into Trisha’s mind. Until the night he wanders out drunk in front of the car Trisha is driving, practicing on her learner’s permit, her mother in the passenger seat. Her father is killed, and her mother seems strangely at peace. Lighter, somehow. Trisha doesn’t know exactly what happened that night, but she’s afraid it’s going to happen again. Her mom has a new man in her life and the patterns, they are repeating.

You can pre-order the audiobook through Kobo, Audible, iTunes, or Google Books.

SHEENA KAMAL: website | instagram

Introducing #7SillyPrompts

Newsletter Header

Hello!

We are working with some of our authors to create a fun 7-day challenge for you to do at home. Each day, a silly prompt will be revealed by an author to help spark your creativity!

Feel free to send your art or story or both to us at:

YoungReaders@penguinrandomhouse.com

Put #7SillyPrompts in the SUBJECT heading of your e-mail. Then please let us know which prompt you’re submitting for.

We will group them into 7 collections for everyone to see on a few of our platforms like Pinterest and Facebook. You can do them in any order or pick and choose the ones you want to do. There are no set rules, just have fun with it!

Author Prompt Reveals:

  • Monday, March 30, 2020 – Kelley Armstrong
  • Tuesday, March 31, 2020 – Eric Walters
  • Wednesday, April 1, 2020 – Anna Humphrey
  • Thursday, April 2, 2020 – Tanya Lloyd Kyi
  • Friday, April 3, 2020 – Janet Hill
  • Saturday, April 4, 2020 – Marthe Jocelyn
  • Sunday, April 5, 2020 – Esme Shapiro

So stay tuned and get ready to create!

The Royal Guide to Monster SlayingA Royal Guide to Monster Slaying
By Kelley Armstrong
288 Pages | Ages 10-14
ISBN 9780735265370 | Puffin Canada
Twelve-year-old Rowan is destined to be Queen; her twin brother, Rhydd, to be Royal Monster Hunter. Rowan would give anything to switch places, but the oldest child is always next in line, even if she is only older by two minutes. She resigns herself to admiring her monster hunting aunt’s glorious sword and joining her queen mother for boring diplomatic teas. But tragedy shatters the longstanding rule, and Rowan finds herself hunting the most dangerous monster of all: a gryphon.

Broken StringsBroken Strings
By Kathy Kacer and Eric Walters
288 Pages | Ages 10-14
ISBN 9780735266247 | Puffin Canada
It’s 2002. In the aftermath of the twin towers – and the death of her beloved grandmother – Shirli Berman is intent on moving forward. The best singer in her junior high, she auditions for the lead role in Fiddler on the Roof, but is crushed to learn that she’s been given the part of the old Jewish mother in the musical rather than the coveted part of the sister. But there is an upside: her “husband” is none other than Ben Morgan, the cutest and most popular boy in the school.

Megabat Is a FraidybatMegabat Is a Fraidybat
By Anna Humphrey
Illustrated by Kass Reich
192 Pages | Ages 7-10
ISBN 9780735266025 | Tundra Books
Daniel is not so sure about going to camp. There will be bugs. And uncomfortable beds. And leeches! Megabat can’t WAIT to go to camp! There will be so much smooshfruit, and he loves a good sing-along. Daniel starts to think camp isn’t so bad. He’s made friends, and his bed isn’t THAT uncomfortable. Megabat has made a new friend too. But his new friend wants him to go flying to spooky caves. And her mom is very toothy.

Me and BanksyMe and Banksy
By Tanya Lloyd Kyi
272 Pages | Ages 10+
ISBN 9780735266919 | Puffin Canada
Dominica’s private school is covered in cameras, and someone is hacking into them and posting embarrassing moments for the whole school to see. Like Ana picking her nose. When Dominica quickly changes her shirt from inside out in what she thinks is the privacy of a quiet corner in the library, she’s shocked – and embarrassed – to discover a video has captured this and is currently circulating amongst her schoolmates. So mortifying, especially since over the past three years, they’ve had a half-dozen school talks about social media safety.

Lucy Crisp and the Vanishing HouseLucy Crisp and the Vanishing House
By Janet Hill
240 Pages | Ages 12+
ISBN 9781770499249 | Tundra Books
After moving to a seemingly quaint and quiet new town, Lucy faces a new reality in which fairies exist, weather can be bottled and witches hold grudges. Accompanied by gorgeous color paintings, this novel is perfect for fans of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, The Hazel Wood and Gregory Maguire.

Aggie Morton Mystery Queen The Body Under the PianoAggie Morton, Mystery Queen: The Body under the Piano
By Marthe Jocelyn
Illustrated by Isabelle Follath
336 Pages | Ages 10+
ISBN 9780735265462 | Tundra Books
Aggie Morton lives in a small town on the coast of England in 1902. Adventurous and imaginative but deeply shy, Aggie hasn’t got much to do since the death of her beloved father . . . until the fateful day when she crosses paths with twelve-year-old Belgian immigrant Hector Perot and discovers a dead body on the floor of the Mermaid Dance Room! As the number of suspects grows and the murder threatens to tear the town apart, Aggie and her new friend will need every tool at their disposal – including their insatiable curiosity, deductive skills and not a little help from their friends – to solve the case before Aggie’s beloved dance instructor is charged with a crime Aggie is sure she didn’t commit.

Alma and the BeastAlma and the Beast
By Esme Shapiro
44 Pages | Ages 3-7
ISBN 9780735263963 | Tundra Books
Alma lives happily in her hairy world, where she can braid the trees, comb the grass, pet the roof and feed her plumpooshkie butterfly. Until one day . . . a hairless, button-nosed beast appears in the garden! At first Alma is scared but when she realizes the beast is lost and misses her hairless home, Alma offers to help her find her way back. As the two take a fantastical journey through the red-headed woods and the bearded mushroom glen to the beast’s bald abode, they discover that they are much more alike than different.

Thank you to our authors for helping us come up with 7 silly prompts!

Employee Appreciation Day

Employee Appreciation Day
Friday, March 6 is Employee Appreciation Day and we asked our colleagues to put a little spin to it. In honor of the themes in Teddy Bear of the Year, we kindly requested our friends share their childhood plush stuffed toy so that we could acknowledge and appreciate them in public.

Evan-Munday-Shardim
Shardim from Evan Munday, Publicity Manager
Francesca-Conte-Brussers
Brussers from Francesca Conte, Operations Coordinator
John-Martz
[no name] from John Martz, Art Director
Lavanya-Narasimhan-Fitzwilliam
Fitzwilliam from Lavanya Narasimhan, Special Markets & Business Development Manager
Sam-Devotta
Ernie from Samantha Devotta, Associate Publicist
Sam-Swenson
Cookie Monster from Samantha Swenson, Senior Editor

The Teddy Bears’ Association is dedicated to excellence in teddy care. Here are some ideas to host your own Teddy Bear Services Awards to celebrate your favorite plush stuffed toy.

SNACK IDEAS: The most important part of an event is food! Here are some bear-y delicious treats to consider serving…

  • Gummy bears
  • Bear Paws
  • Bear-shaped cookies
  • Anything with honey!

TEDDY BEAR SERVICE AWARDS: Now for the main event…

  • Read Teddy Bear of the Year by Vikki VanSickle, illustrated by Sydney Hanson.
  • Have each child fill out a Teddy Bear of the Year certificate (download here).
  • Ask each child to share their name, the name of their teddy, and why their teddy has earned a certificate.
  • Provide a star-shaped sticker for each child, which can be added to the certificate or affixed to the teddy.

Teddy

Tundra Book Group