Category: Toronto

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Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2023

Hello graphic novel lovers! The Young Readers team at Penguin Random House Canada is headed to downtown Toronto for TCAF 2023, happening on April 29th and 30th at the Toronto Reference Library. We’ll be showcasing many of our wonderful graphic novels at tables 144/145! Come by and say hello to our many staff volunteers including our Publicity Manager, Evan, our Publicist, Graciela, and our Social Media Coordinator, Julia!

Saturday, April 29th

At 10am at the Presentation Pond, join author Mario Brassard and illustrator Gérard DuBois for a reading of their latest graphic novel, Who Owns The Clouds?

Sunday, April 30th

At 10am at the Presentation Pond, join comics author Ryan North (Danger and Other Unknown Risks) for a workshop on writing comics professionally.

At 11am in the Novella Room, join author Mario Brassard and illustrator Gérard DuBois (Who Owns The Clouds?), and author Isabelle Arsenault for a panel on Dynamic Duos – Writer And Illustrator/Cartoonists Collaborators.

At 12pm at the Comic Campground, join author and illustrator Paul Gilligan for a reading of his latest graphic novel, Pluto Rocket: New in Town.

At 2pm at the Workshop Woodland, Matt James will read from his new book, Tadpoles. Grab some pencils and crayons, and get creative with Matt at this workshop.

At 3pm at the Learning Centre, join comics author Ryan North (Danger and Other Unknown Risks) for a panel on becoming a comics writer.

At 4pm in the Novella Room, join author Cory Silverberg (You Know, Sex) for a panel on Graphic Medicine for Kids and Teens.

We will also be hosting signings on both days at tables 144/145! Books will be available for purchase courtesy of The Beguiling.

We will also have goodies from our graphic novels available for free and a Narwhal & Jelly tote bag as a gift with purchase while supplies last!

And don’t forget to follow us online @tundrabooks and @penguinteenca as we post live from the show floors!

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Anime North 2022

Attention Toronto: Xiran Jay Zhao is coming to town! They’ll be appearing at Anime North July 15 to 17 to promote both Iron Widow and their middle grade novel, Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor. Grab tickets to Anime North and check out their schedule below:

Friday, July 15:

7:00PM: Fashion Show – North Ballroom, Toronto Congress Centre North Building
10:00PM: D20 Live – International C Room, Delta Hotel

Saturday, July 16:

12:30PM: Xiran Jay Zhao Q&A – Cohen Ballroom, Toronto Congress Centre South Building
2:00PM: Autograph session – Hall A, Toronto Congress Centre South Building

Sunday, July 17: 

4:30PM: LGBTQ+ Book Recommendations – Pinsent Room, Toronto Congress Centre South Building

Can’t make it to Anime North? Xiran will be stopping by a few local bookstores to sign stock – support your fave indies by ordering from them (you could also ask for personalized copies!).

Iron Widow
By Xiran Jay Zhao
400 Pages | Ages 14+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735269934 | Penguin Teen Canada
The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain. When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected – she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.​ To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia​. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way – and stop more girls from being sacrificed.

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The FOLD: Exploring Identity in Young Adult Fiction Panel

It’s one of our favorite times of the year: The Festival of Literary Diversity (aka The FOLD) starts this weekend! We’re really looking forward to the “Exploring Identity in Young Adult Fiction” panel featuring H.N. Khan (Wrong Side of the Court) and moderated by our very own Senior Marketing & Publicity Associate, Sam Devotta.

The panel is happening on Tuesday, May 3, 2022 at 12:00 pm ET – make sure to register here if you’re interested in attending and check out the rest of the schedule for some amazing events!

Wrong Side of the Court
By H. N. Khan
312 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735270879 | Penguin Teen Canada
Fifteen-year-old Fawad Chaudhry loves two things: basketball and his mother’s potato and ground-beef stuffed parathas. Both are round and both help him forget about things like his father, who died two years ago, his mother’s desire to arrange a marriage to his first cousin, Nusrat, back home in Pakistan, and the tiny apartment in Regent Park he shares with his mom and sister. Not to mention his estranged best friend Yousuf, who’s coping with the shooting death of his older brother. But Fawad has plans: like, asking out Ashley, even though she lives on the other, wealthier side of the tracks, and saving his friend Arif from being beaten into a pulp for being the school flirt, and making the school basketball team and dreaming of being the world’s first Pakistani to be drafted into the NBA. All he has to do now is convince his mother to let him try out for the basketball team. And let him date girls from his school. Not to mention somehow get Omar, the neighborhood bully, to leave him alone.

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2021 Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing

Since 1984, the Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing (formerly the Arthur Ellis Awards) recognizes the best in mystery, crime, and suspense fiction by Canadian authors. We would like to congratulate Frances Greenslade whose novel, Red Fox Road, won the Best Juvenile/YA Crime Book award.

Red Fox Road
By Frances Greenslade
248 Pages | Ages 10-14 | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735267817 | Puffin Canada
Francie and her parents are on a spring road trip: driving from British Columbia, Canada, to hike in the Grand Canyon. When a shortcut leads them down an old logging road, disaster strikes. Their truck hits a rock and wipes out the oil pan. They are stuck in the middle of nowhere. Francie can’t help feeling a little excited — she’d often imagined how she’d survive if she got stranded in the bush, and now here they are. But will her survival skills — building fires, gathering dandelion leaves and fir needles for tea — be enough when hours stretch into days?

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Window Wednesday

#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).

Beggars Banquet Books
126 King Street East, Gananoque, ON K7G 1G2

Thanks to Beggars Banquet Books for participating in the #AnonymouseChallenge! We’d love to see art from you – check out our Art Month page for ideas and details!