Pajama Press is pleased to announce that Nix Minus One by Jill MacLean and Graffiti Knight by Karen Bass have both been selected for the Ontario Library Association Best Bets Young Adult Top Ten list. The Stowaways by Meghan Marentette, with illustrations by Dean Griffiths, is a Junior Fiction honourable mention.
We are extremely proud of all three of these titles. For more information, resources, and book trailers, please visit our Books page. Here’s a taste of what reviewers have been saying:
Nix Minus One
“Well-crafted and intense, an engrossing family drama in which both young and old learn what it means to grow up.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Writing with careful, evocative language, MacLean explores love in myriad forms…”
—Publishers Weekly
“Readers used to a diet of cliché-ridden YA fiction will enjoy this refreshing take on the teenage plight…[T]he hard-won hopefulness of Nix’s growth will linger with them long after the poetry ends.”—School Library Journal
“The novel’s strength comes from the authenticity of Nix’s emotional evolution…This is an absorbing, emotionally resonant book.”—Quill & Quire
Graffiti Knight
“[A] gripping page-turner…The authentic setting, compelling characters and taut, suspenseful plot claim attention throughout. Bass refuses to oversimplify human beings…A different kind of war story, highly recommended.”—Kirkus Reviews
“…it has more drama than the Hunger Games.”—Resource Links
“…incredibly gripping and informative. As young adult war-related historical fiction goes, this book is second to none…Highly Recommended.”—CM Magazine
“Bass has artfully recreated an historical time and place peopled by realistic, three-dimensional characters grappling with their own emotions and global forces they can only barely understand.”—John Wilson, Quill & Quire
The Stowaways
“In the tradition of memorable mouse heroes, the Stowaways deliver page-turning, cliffhanging, heartwarming, first-rate adventure.”—Kirkus Reviews
“…charmingly illustrated by Dean Griffiths… exciting, interesting, and really good fun. I hesitate to compare it to The Wind in the Willows, but it is in the same league; so read and enjoy…Highly Recommended.”—CM Magazine
“Not since Stuart Little has the heart of a valiant mouse beat quite so fiercely as that of Rory Stowaway in Meghan Marentette’s first novel, The Stowaways. It meets and exceeds all the expectations of a good mouse story, with a well-constructed and self-sufficient mouse world, a teeny-tiny hero set against impossible odds, and an adventure brimming with mystery that scampers from chapter to chapter.”—National Reading Campaign
“Marentette has created a lovely world that combines animals and fantasy with humans and reality in an original and lively story. Her writing style is elegant yet conversational.”—Resource Links