YOUTH MOVEMENT
Area writers shine in young adult, children’s genres
In the latest wave of local-authored books for kids and young adults, an interesting fact emerges: the vast majority were written by women.
Audreys Books general manager and children’s book buyer Kelly Dyer doesn’t subscribe to a quota — it just happened to turn out that way.
“This year just happens to be their year,” she says with a laugh. “That’s great!”
Between Kate A. Boorman’s critically acclaimed, dystopian Winterkill trilogy and a pair of spankingnew science books (Dinosaurs of the Alberta Badlands by W. Scott Persons IV and Joan Marie Galat’s addition to the National Geographic Kids empire), the range of topics and approaches chosen around here is as vast as the Prairies.
“We created a special section for local young adult, and it actually surprised me how much we have, a wealth in Edmonton alone,” Dyer says. “Both by major publisher and self-published, where people are taking the bull by the horns.”
Dyer points to the success story of Stony Plain illustrator Mike Boldt, who reached into his own pockets to write, illustrate and publish his first kids book, and ended up illustrating a Robert Munsch book. His latest work on the eye-grabbing and hilarious I Don’t Want to Be a Frog books by Jill Esbaum, came out last year.
“He did it right,” Dyer says. “He flogged it hard and really put himself out there.”
Dyer encourages local authors to bring their books to Audreys: “We don’t take everything, but we try to be supportive of the scene.
“It’s hard. Most children’s picture books, it’s 32 pages for an entire story, a bit of a message — it’s really difficult to keep it short enough to keep the attention span of a child. If it’s too wordy, they’re going to be bored. If the illustrations aren’t good, they’re not going to pay attention.”
She says editors are key to all levels of reading.
“I get a lot of picture books on my desk that are too wordy — or the illustrations might need a little extra love.”
For the YA books, she says, in judging a book, “the first thing, honestly, is the cover.”
She points to Natasha Deen’s book, a pair of ghostly hands looming over a creepy farmhouse. Nicely done. “Of course, what’s on the inside matters, too.”
What follows is a survey of some of the local kids/YA books recently released and on the shelves at Audreys, with a note about each from Dyer. If we missed anything that came out in the last few months, please let us know!
KIDS BOOKS
Jill Grow Esbaum, a Dinosaur: Mike “Mike’s Boldt — bright How illustrations to draw you in. Kids love dinosaurs — you add Mike, it’s tenfold.” Joan Marie Galat — National Geographic Kids, Solve This: “Lots of pictures, different activities, things to build, experiments. Just to bring out the thinker and engineer in your child.” Nancy Gordy, Cory Johnn — Olen’s Adventures in the Canadian Rockies: “This is self-published. She’s taken photos and overlaid her drawings. Really beautiful.”
Holly Preston, James Hearne — The
Home Team: “Just a good, kind of fun, hockey story. They ’ve done an update with the new Oilers jerseys, and the lynx mascot is in there with bright eyes.” Dev Petty, Mike Boldt — There’s Nothing to Do: “The frog books are my favourite, really clever. This one’s about trying to solve the problem of boredom, every parent’s nightmare.” Carrie Stanton, Sonia Leung — Emmie and the Fierce Dragon: “The story of a young girl who comes across this dragon. It’s really, really well done.” MaryBelle Thompson — Rayanna’s Hope for Africa: “This book celebrates the life of Rayanna Trotter, raising money for the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign.”
YOUNG ADULT BOOKS
Kate A. Boorman — Heartfire: “One of my favourite Edmonton authors. She’s written the Alberta landscape into her books. Her protagonist lives in a place with a lot of rules because something out in the woods is going to get you. The trilogy is a fabulous read.”
Hope Cook — House of Ash: “A boy starts hearing voices. He thinks he’s crazy, but starts doing some digging and ends up in this burned-out mansion. A gothic horror story.”
Natasha Deen — Game’s End: “It’s the third story of Maggie who transitions ghosts — they’re stuck and she helps them. It’s really well done.” Alison Hughes — Hit the Ground Running: “She was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award for short literature. A girl is looking after her younger brother and her dad has disappeared and they’re running low on everything. This one’s heart-wrenching.” Scott Persons IV — Dinosaurs of the Alberta Badlands: “Guess what, it’s about dinosaurs in our own Badlands. Anything and everything about them, lots of illustrations. We’re having a meeta-paleontologist event April 7 (2 p.m.) here.” (Audreys is at 10702 Jasper Ave.) Anna Priemaza — Kat and Meg Conquer the World: “Anna’s a lawyer in town and this is her first novel, which has come out to amazing reviews. It’s about two girls put together in a yearlong science project, and they realize the one thing they hate about themselves actually helps the other.”
Steven Sandor — Stick Pick: “The story of a female star hockey player who goes out celebrating and ends up in a bad accident and loses the use of her legs. Great for young readers, really inspiring.” Lorna Schultz Nicholson — Amazing Hockey Stories, Connor McDavid: “She has a connection to the family so she got close. Pictures from when he was growing up you won’t see anywhere else. Some comics. Really close and personal biography.”
Lorna Schultz Nicholson — Superhero Ninja Wrestling Star: “Another one by Lorna. The story of a young kid in Grade 6 who wants to be bigger and stronger.” Debby Waldman — Miriam’s Secret:
“It’s about a young girl who gets sent away to her grandfather’s house for Passover, and she’s not too happy about it. Beautiful book.” Karen Spafford-Fitz — Saving Grad:
“The story of a young girl heading into her final year of high school. Her mom is in an abusive relationship, and there’s racism involved as she’s mixed Métis. They escape this man and move to Edmonton, but he finds them. It’s got a lot of layers, really well done.”