National Adoption Day

National Adoption Day is a collective national effort to raise awareness of the many children in foster care waiting to find permanent, loving families. To learn more, please visit www.nationaladoptionday.org.

Nini
By François Thisdale
Hardcover | 40 Pages | Ages 3-6
ISBN: 978-1-77049-270-7
This exceptional book about adoption is a comforting story for children and families who have experienced it first-hand, a tribute to the author’s own adopted child, and a very heartfelt thank-you for the gift of family.

Emma’s Story
By Deborah Hodge
Illustrated by Song Nan Zhang
Hardcover | 24 Pages | Ages 5-8
ISBN: 978-0-88776-632-9
In gentle text, Deborah Hodge tells the story of one small girl’s adoption: the hopes and prayers of her Canadian parents, their trip to the other side of the world, their meeting with the new baby, and the very long ride home to the new family waiting for Emma.

Anne of Green Gables
By L.M. Montgomery
Illustrated by Laura Fernandez and Rick Jacobson
Introduction by Kate Butler MacDonald
Hardcover | 328 Pages | All Ages
ISBN: 978-0-88776-515-5
Anne (with an ‘e’ of course) starts out as a mistake. The elderly Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert had planned on adopting a boy to help Matthew with the chores on their Prince Edward Island farm. What are they to do with the red-haired, high-spirited girl who arrives instead?

A Home for Foundlings
By Marthe Jocelyn
Trade Paperback | 120 Pages | All Ages
ISBN: 978-0-88776-709-8
Thousands of mothers carried their babies to the gates of the Foundling Hospital desperate to save them from the cruel streets of eighteenth-century London. Each baby was left with a personal “token” – identification if a repentant mother ever returned to reclaim her child.

Folly
By Marthe Jocelyn
Hardcover | 256 Pages | Ages 12+
ISBN: 978-0-88776-929-0
eBook: 978-1-77049-212-7
Set in the late 1800’s, Marthe Jocelyn’s stunning new novel is told in the voices of four people whose lives and destinies intertwine. There’s Mary, who begins “exceeding ignorant” (apart from what a girl can learn from family mayhem, a dead mother, and a grim stepmother) and winds up encountering lust and betrayal when she becomes a servant in a fine house in London. Mary’s nemesis is another maid in the household, Eliza. Eliza also knows lust and betrayal, but she doesn’t know who is betraying who.

Raspberry House Blues
By Linda Holeman
Trade Paperback | 248 Pages | Ages 11-14
ISBN: 978-0-88776-493-6
Poppy is on an odyssey. Her adoptive mother has taken off to find herself, so Poppy decides to live with her adoptive father, his new wife, Calypso, and their toddler, Sandeep, in a ramshackle rasp-berry-colored house. At first Poppy is distressed by the disordered household, which is unlike anything she has ever known, but soon it becomes a jumping-off point for her search for her birth mother.

Promise Song
By Linda Holeman
Trade Paperback | 264 pages
ISBN: 978-0-88776-387-8
The year is 1900 and orphaned 14-year-old Rosetta and her beloved younger sister Flora sail from England as “home girls.” They are sent to Canada so that they can have a chance at family life. Their dreams are shattered when Flora is adopted, but Rosetta is deemed to be too old. She is to become a farm worker, far from Flora’s new home.

Canadian Library Association announces the 2011 Award Shortlists

The Award Committees of the Canadian Library Association / Association canadienne des bibliothèques are pleased to announce the shortlist for their 2011 Awards today. They are Canada’s largest national and broad-based library association, representing the interests of public, academic, school and special libraries, professional librarians and library workers, and all those concerned about enhancing the quality of life of Canadians through information and literacy.

2011 Book of the Year For Children Award Shortlist
This notable award recognizes a Canadian author of an outstanding book published in Canada in 2010, which appeals to children up to and including age 12.

Winter Shadows
by Margaret Buffie
Hardcover | 336 pages
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

Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom
by Susin Nielsen
Hardcover | 240 pages
ISBN: 978-0-88776-977-1
eBook: 978-0-88776-978-8
“Nielsen (Word Nerd) has created a narrator as sassy and candid as this memorable novel’s title….Nielsen skillfully balances her story’s keen humor…with poignancy. Especially affecting are Violet’s struggles to accept her father’s new family….” – Starred Review, Publishers Weekly

The Secret Fiend: The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His 4th Case
by Shane Peacock
Hardcover | 256 pages
ISBN: 978-0-88776-853-8
eBook: 978-1-77049-213-4
“…Peacock has added another brilliant installation to an already amazing series. Sherlock is beautifully drawn, true to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and infused with the freshness of a youthful perspective. It is a delight to watch as the young detective develops, and it is a thrill to see how the various elements of his adult persona come together. This book is more than an origin story of the famous detective, however. The mystery has a solid, fast-paced plot; the characters are carefully constructed and fully fleshed out with dynamic, complex relationships; Victorian England itself is a character, and Peacock does a wonderful job of describing the streets, the political unrest and the changing modes that mark the era. This is a truly wonderful book and belongs in any library.” – VOYA

2011 Young Adult Book Award Shortlist
This award recognizes an author of an outstanding English-language Canadian work of fiction (novel, collection of short stories or graphic novel), published in 2010, that appeals to young adults between the ages of 13 and 18.

Folly
by Marthe Jocelyn
Hardcover | 256 pages
ISBN: 978-0-88776-929-0
eBook: 978-1-77049-212-7
“… poignant story … A thoughtful, accessible and richly detailed read that moves along at a satisfying clip-this will appeal beyond just already-established fans of historical fiction.” – Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews

2011 Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award Shortlist
This award recognizes an illustrator of a noteworthy Canadian book, published in 2010, that appeals to children up to the age of 12 years. The Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator’s Award is generously sponsored by Library Services Centre.

Counting on Snow
by Maxwell Newhouse
Hardcover | 24 pages
ISBN: 978-0-88776-985-6
“… perfectly paced: each turn of the page reveals a new level of intensity in the growing blizzard, bringing an enjoyable hide-and-seek element…. Newhouse infuses every creature’s peering black eyes with character and life…. Newhouse’s sensitive portrayal of the stark Arctic landscape creates an atmospheric chilliness that perfectly captures a winter evening north of the 49th parallel. Original without being gimmicky, Counting on Snow should come with the purchase of every crib in this country, as it has all the makings of a Canadian classic.” – Starred Review, Quill & Quire

The winners of the CLA Awards and Honour Books will be announced prior to the Canadian Library Association National Conference and Trade Show. The award will be presented at the CLA National Conference and Trade Show in Halifax on May 26.

Congratulations to our authors: Margaret Buffie, Susin Nielsen, Shane Peacock, Marthe Jocelyn, and Maxwell Newhouse. In addition, congratulations to their Editors, Kathryn Cole, Sue Tate, and Kathy Lowinger.

OLA Best Bets 2010

Each year the OLA Best Bets Committee selects the top 10 Canadian picture books, fiction and non fiction for children and fiction for teens. The list will be featured at OLA Superconference at the Child and Youth Expo session on Friday, February 4 at 2:10 pm. Here are the Tundra titles that made the 2010 lists:

Junior Fiction:
Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom by Susin Nielsen
Honourable Mention to The Secret Fiend by Shane Peacock

Junior Non Fiction:
Honourable Mention to Hudson by Janice Weaver, illustrated by David Craig

Young Adult Fiction:
Folly by Marthe Jocelyn
Honourable Mention to Winter Shadows by Margaret Buffie

Tundra will also be hosting author signings at our booth: #720

Thursday, February 3, 2011:

  • 11:00 am Marthe Jocelyn will be signing chapbooks of “Scribbling Women” and F&Gs of Ones and Twos.
  • 12:00 pm Susin Nielsen will be signing Dear George Clooney, Please Marry My Mom.
  • 12:45 pm Heather Hartt-Sussman will be signing F&Gs of Noni Says No.
  • 1:30 pm Cyndi Sand-Eveland will be signing Dear Toni.
  • 3:30 pm  Rina Singh and Farida Zaman will be signing Nearly Nonsense.

Friday, February 4, 2011:

  • 10:00 am Monica Kulling will be signing F&Gs of Merci Mister Dash!
  • 12:00 pm Ed Butts will be signing Shipwrecks, Monsters, and Mysteries of the Great Lakes.
  • 1:00 pm Christopher Moore will be signing From Then to Now.

Signing times are subject to change. We are giving away a limited number of F&Gs, chapbooks, and books, it would be best to arrive on time to line-up! See you there!

Eden Mills Writers’ Festival 2010

This year, the 22nd Eden Mills Writers’ Festival is being held on Sunday, September 19, 2010 from noon to 6:00pm. Where is Eden Mills you may ask? It is 15 minutes east of the city of Guelph and 5 minutes west of Rockwood. The festival is outdoors, so we would recommend bringing a lawn chair (fold-up ones work best) or blanket for seating, an umbrella (just in case!), a water bottle, and cash (there’s no bank machine) to buy books, souvenirs, and food. Parking is free!

Keep an eye out for our authors participating in the festival this year:


Young Adult Authors
Shane Peacock, author of The Secret Fiend: The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His 4th Case
Marthe Jocelyn, author of Folly


Children’s Writers
Jo Ellen Bogart, author of Big and Small, Room for All
Ann Love and Jane Drake, sisters and co-authors of Talking Tails: The Incredible Connection Between People and Their Pets

Click here for some photos from last year’s festival!

Launch of: Folly

Last night, we celebrated the launch of Marthe Jocelyn’s new releases at Ben McNally Books.

Here is Marthe Jocelyn before all the guests arrive. Please, look at all the lovely books!

The guests arrive and Marthe Jocelyn is busy, busy!

Busy signing books!

Group photo! Former Publisher of Tundra Books, Kathy Lowinger, is back from a vacation and came to say a few words about working with Marthe Jocelyn.

Marthe Jocelyn reading the first section of Folly.

Thank you to the wonderful team at Ben McNally Books! Thank you to everyone that came out to say “hello” to Marthe! It was nice seeing Gillian O’Reilly, Shannon Howe Barnes, and Meghan Howe from the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. They came with the new issue of Canadian Children’s Book News too! Here’s a little snippet of what the issue contained:

“…Rather than crafting a bleak, grimy and desperate tale, Jocelyn enriches her story with the inclusion of love and desire to paint a wonderfully textured portrait of some of England’s poor. Savvy teen readers will enjoy drinking from this sometimes saucy literary concoction. A toast to the spirited author and her great-grandmother….” – Lian Goodall

Tundra Book Group