Pajama Press

Pajama Press extends its heartfelt congratulations to Rob Laidlaw, whose book Cat Champions: Caring for our Feline Friends has been nominated for the 2014–2015 Red Cedar Book Award.

A young reader’s choice book program for the province of British Columbia, the Red Cedar Book Award encourages thousands of children between grades 4 and 7 to read a shortlist of fiction and non-fiction books, and to vote for their  favourites. The 2014–2015 list will be officially launched in November 2014, and the vote will take place in April, 2015.

Author Rob Laidlaw is no stranger to children’s choice reading programs. Cat Champions has also been nominated for Atlantic Canada’s Hackmatack Children’s Choice Award and its companion book, No Shelter Here: Making the World a Kinder Place for Dogs, won the 2013 Ontario Library Association Forest of Reading Silver Birch Non-Fiction Award. No Shelter Here is also nominated for the 2013-2014 Hackmatack Award and the 2014–2015 Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award.

Pajama Press is honoured to be a part of the Red Cedar program and many others. We salute all those involved in bringing kids together with excellent literature.

“The daughter of wealthy Iranian parents, 15-year old Farrin earns top scores at a prestigious school in 1988 Tehran. Her parents remain loyal to the ousted Shah, so Farrin knows the importance of keep morphs into a romantic relationship, for which both girls could face death. Set during the reign of Ayatollah Khomeini, Moon At Nine is based on real women who feing a low profile. One day, Farrin meets a new classmate, Sadira, who plays forbidden music on a prohibited instrument in a closet at school. Farrin and Sadira become fast friends who enjoy subversive literature and music despite the tough restrictions imposed by the Iranian government. Before long, Farrin and Sadira’s friendshipll in love in a country where homosexuality is still against the law. Sparse and eloquently-written, this short historical novel is both beautiful and heartbreaking. The subject matter and writing style will appeal most to older teens and adults who likely have a better understanding of the political history of Iran. Sadira and Farrin’s relationship is believable, as is the girls’ undying determination to stay together at all costs. While homosexuality is important to the plot, the book is relatively tame, containing no profanity and nothing beyond hand-holding and a few kisses. A four-page Author’s Note provides necessary historical background and insight into worldwide persecution of homosexuals today. Give this to fans of Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns (Riverhead, 2007) or Latifa’s My Forbidden Face (Miramax, 2003).”

“It is 1947, and life is hard for 16-year-old Wilm and his family. The city of Leipzig, in southeast Germany, is controlled by the Soviets, who are brutal masters. The Germans are constantly hungry because the Soviets have significantly reduced their food rations. Even worse, the German police, Schupos, are puppets of the Soviets. Wilm and his friends like to skulk around and pretend to battle the enemy, but the war becomes real when he experiences just how powerless his community really is against them…The last quarter of the book is nonstop action…Wilm is a flawed but engaging protagonist, prone to headstrong actions, and he matures believably over the course of the story…Bass does a fine job of opening readers’ eyes to the harsh realities that so many German civilians faced after their country’s defeat, regardless of whether they had supported the Nazi regime.”

—Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA