June 6th, 2013
In their current issue, School Libraries in Canada is exploring bringing the past into the future. How fitting, then, to interview Sue MacLeod, author of the time slip novel Namesake in which a library book does just that. MacLeod explains how she came to write Namesake: “It was actually Lady Jane Grey herself who compelled […]
Posted in Namesake
May 30th, 2013
“Past and present collide when a 15-year-old Halifax girl named Jane Grey slips back in time and comes face-to-face with her namesake, who ruled Tudor England for nine days before being imprisoned in the Tower of London. The girls’ bond grows with each of modern Jane’s trips back through time, as she desperately tries to […]
Posted in Namesake
May 27th, 2013
“… MacLean (The Present Tense of Prinny Murphy) writes in short free-verse chapters that read like prose stripped of all unnecessary words. An introvert, Nix watches in dismay as his tempestuous sister flirts with drugs, alcohol, older boys, and risky social scenes: “I thought the yellow sun/ rose over the mountains and set over the […]
Posted in Nix Minus One
May 26th, 2013
On Thursday, May 23 a group of book lovers gathered at Another Story Bookshop to celebrate Namesake by Sue MacLeod. There was a lot of positive energy, plenty of insightful questions, and even some bakery-fresh cookies. Thank you to everyone who came out to the launch!
Posted in Namesake
May 26th, 2013
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 […]
Posted in Last Airlift, No Shelter Here, True Blue
May 21st, 2013
During her TD Canadian Children’s Book Week tour of Manitoba, Sylvia Gunnery (Emily For Real, 2012) had the opportunity to talk with Jordan Wasilka of the Westman Journal. The interview made the front page. Here’s a sneak peek: “‘The publishing industry is in a lot of trouble’ asserts the author, ‘but people still have faith […]
Posted in Emily for Real
May 9th, 2013
Don’t miss Open Book Toronto’s newest installment of “Five Things Literary.” Today, in honour of last week’s release of her debut novel Namesake, Sue MacLeod shares her favourite literary hotspots in the Eglinton West neighbourhood. Check it out!
Posted in Namesake
April 24th, 2013
“This meticulously-crafted novel-in-verse is as finely-honed as one of Nix’s own woodworking projects. MacLean tackles many serious issues, artfully weaving together the different elements of Nix’s story into a poignant portrait of one boy’s journey toward acceptance of himself and the curveballs life throws at him….While Nix struggles to find his voice, MacLean’s impeccable poetry—spare, […]
Posted in Nix Minus One
April 20th, 2013
“In her debut novel, Sue MacLeod successfully accomplishes a feat many more experienced writers struggle with: weaving an historical narrative smoothly into a contemporary storyline. The Toronto author uses the tried-and-true device of time travel to bring together two very different girls who share the same name: Jane Grey. Modern Jane is a 15-year-old Halifax […]
Posted in Namesake
April 18th, 2013
“Author Sylvia Gunnery on learning, writing, eavesdropping, teaching” by Kathleen Martin (reprinted with permission from Canadian Children’s Book News Vol 36 No. 2, Spring 2013) Sylvia Gunnery had to turn her writing desk away from the ocean. “I was getting distracted too much,” she says. There are trees outside the window next to her desk […]
Posted in Emily for Real
