“…what I liked about Ellis’ challenging character is that her actions made me think hard about how I would act in the same situation…I’d recommend True Blue for young to mid teen readers.”
Click here to read the full review.
Pajama Press is pleased to announce that all three of the books we published in our first season have been selected for Bank Street College of Education’s “Best Children’s Books of the Year 2013” list.
No Shelter Here: Making the World a Kinder Place for Dogs by Rob Laidlaw and Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan’s Rescue from War by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch appear in the Information Books section for ages nine to twelve, while True Blue by Deborah Ellis was selected for Fiction ages fourteen and up.
Congratulations to Rob, Marsha and Deborah.
Click here to view the full list.
Pajama Press is proud to announce that Deborah Ellis has won The Reliable Life Insurance Award for Children & Young Adult Book for her YA psychological thriller True Blue.
The award was presented on November 12, 2012, during the 18th Annual Hamilton Literary Awards at Theatre Aquarius’ Norman and Louise Haac Studio Theatre in Hamilton, Ontario. Ron Ulrich, artistic director of the host theatre, announced the award and shared the compelling first chapter with the audience.
True Blue has met with critical acclaim in both Canada and the United States. School Library Journal said, “True Blue is about the courage to believe in oneself and fight for what’s right, even when it’s the hardest thing to do. A book worthy of any school curriculum.” Kirkus Reviews said protagonist Jess “grabs readers’ attention and never lets it go.”
True Blue has also been nominated for the Manitoba Young Reader’s Choice Award and the John Spray Mystery Award.
Pajama Press is proud to announce that three of our titles have been nominated for 2013 Ontario Library Association Forest of Reading Awards.
Don’t Laugh at Giraffe by Rebecca Bender is nominated for the Blue Spruce Award. Last year, Rebecca won the Blue Spruce Award for her debut picture book, Giraffe and Bird.
No Shelter Here: Making the World a Kinder Place for Dogs by animal activist Rob Laidlaw is nominated for the Silver Birch Nonfiction Award.
Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan’s Rescue from War by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch is nominated for the Red Maple Nonfiction Award.
For more information about the Forest of Reading Awards, visit the Ontario Library Association website at www.accessola.com.
Our books have also been nominated for three other awards this year:
True Blue, a murder mystery by bestselling author Deborah Ellis, was nominated for the Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award and the Canadian Children’s Book Centre John Spray Mystery Award.
Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan’s Rescue from War by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch was nominated for the British Columbia Red Cedar Nonfiction Award.
Congratulations to all of our nominated authors!
“You know how the female praying mantis bites the head off of the male? That was one of Casey’s favorite things. As a future entomologist, she adored insects. She even copied the head chomp with a little hand signal. The signal meant that someone was really getting on your nerves, and you’d really love to just stop them in their tracks. That was before the murder trial…
…Not many books for teens fall into the genre of psychological thriller, but True Blue definitely has the chops to be a riveting, disturbing page-turner.” -Craig Graziano
Click here to read the full review.
Casey, one of the central characters in Deborah Ellis‘ murder mystery True Blue, has always known she will be an entomologist. In fact, her classmates nickname her “Praying Mantis.” True Blue is full of insects and insect information, but did you ever wonder what all those creepy crawlies really look like? If so, then you need…
Casey’s True Blue
Insect Guide
Praying Mantis
Photo by John
Dragonfly
Photo by MONGO
Anthomyiid Fly
Photo by Quark 67
Whirligig Beetle
Photo by Erin Hayes Pontius
Pond Skaters
Photo by Anne Burgess
Leech
Photo by Mike E. Talbot
Grasshopper
Photo by R.S.
Black Swallowtail
Photo by Kretven
Spring Field Cricket
Photo by Vespula Vulgaris
Pavement Ants
Image Source: Encyclopedia Britannica 11th Ed.
True Blue Cockroach
Actually, this endangered insect is so rare that we were not able to locate an image of it. If you have one, let us know!
American Cockroach
Photo by Eran Finkle
The summer edition of Canadian Children’s Booknews is here, and two Pajama Press books have made exciting appearances inside.
First, this issue announces the finalists for the 2012 Canadian Children’s Book Centre Awards, and True Blue by Deborah Ellis is in the running for the John Spray Mystery Award. Here’s what the magazine says about the award:
“Established in 2011 to honour excellence in the mystery book genre and sponsored by John Spray, President of the Mantis Investigation Agency, this $5,000 prize is awarded annually to a Canadian author of an outstanding work of mystery writing for young people.”
Over the page is the regular “Bookmark” feature, which 
highlights books on a particular theme. This issue the theme is “The Worlds of War” and A Bear in War leads the listings for “Picture Books and Early Readers for Kindergarted to Grade 3”:
“The true story of how a tiny stuffed bear named Teddy became an enduring memento of a Canadian family’s love during World War I is being re-released in September 2012. Teddy now lives in a glass display case at the Canadian War Museum and is one of its most beloved exhibits.”
You can purchase copies of Canadian Children’s Booknews on select newsstands or at www.bookcentre.ca.
Pajama Press has a brand new blog! Stop by www.pajamapartybooks.com for sneak peeks, extra content, author interviews, and more!
Intrigued? Here is a sneak preview of some of the posts you’ll be seeing this summer:
So put on your PJs and come on over. It’s a party!
This is an amazing book that pulls you slowly into Jess’s mind. It wasn’t until fairly far into the book that I was struck by Jess’s character. It’s difficult to describe without giving away too much because the joy for me was when I realized what the author was doing and began to squirm a bit in reading Jess’s words. Read it!
