2018 Reading List - Vancouver Writers Festival
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2018 Reading List
Reimagine Your World.
Discover the 2018 Vancouver Writers Fest Reading List.
Included in this guide are details of the most recent work from authors, poets and
thinkers from across the globe who are appearing at this year’s Vancouver Writers Fest.
From October 15 – 21, each of these writers will participate in a series of conversations,
presentations and readings on Granville Island.
Interested to know when your favourite writers will present?
The full lineup of events can be found on our website in late August.
Visit writersfest.bc.ca to be the first to know about these events—and when tickets go
on sale.
Or, pick up a copy of our printed program guide, available from local bookstores,
community centres, coffee shops and businesses throughout the Lower Mainland.
Tickets to this year’s Vancouver Writers Fest are available:
• Wednesday, September 5: For Members
• Monday, September 10: For School Groups
• Wednesday, September 12: General Sales Begin
Prices range from $15 - $35.
Get access to tickets one week before anyone else.
Become a member for as little as $35 a year for:
• Early ticket access
• A $2 discount on every festival ticket
• 6 tickets for the price of 5
• A printed program guide sent straight to you
• Invitations to VIP events
writersfest.bc.ca
2
Adult Titles
Discover the work of writers including:
Abu Bakr al Rabeeah Rawi Hage Jodi Picoult
Billy-Ray Belcourt Kate Harris Melanie Raabe
Dave Bidini Alix Hawley Shazia Hafiz Ramji
Randy Boyagoda Elizabeth Hay Jan Redford
Dionne Brand Sheila Heti Raziel Reid
Julie Bruck Michael Hingston Iain Reid
Elaine Castillo Emma Hooper Waubgeshig Rice
David Chariandy Uzma Jalaluddin Jaap Robben
Kevin Chong Jamil Jivani Eden Robinson
Paul Cleave Chelene Knight Michael Robotham
Craig Davidson Shane Koyczan Sarah Selecky
Patrick deWitt Amitava Kumar Vivek Shraya
Claudia Dey Rachel Kushner Gary Shteyngart
Cherie Dimaline Carrianne Leung Monique Gray Smith
Esi Edugyan Canisia Lubrin Joanna Streetly
Jackie Kai Ellis Maureen Medved Jordan Tannahill
Daemon Fairless Lisa Moore Kevin Vallely
Aminatta Forna Paula Morris Katherena Vermette
John Freeman Sisonke Msimang Andrea Warner
Peter Gajdics Liz Nugent Sarah Winman
Rachel Giese Ondjaki Lindsay Wong
Ian Gill Tommy Orange Javier Zamora
Brian Goldman Kathy Page E. Paul Zehr
3
Abu Bakr al Rabeeah
Homes: A Refugee Story
Abu Bakr al Rabeeah is a high school student in Edmonton
who immigrated to Canada with his family to escape the Syrian
war. His first book, as told to teacher and writer Winnie
Yeung, is Homes: A Refugee Story, highlighting the heartbreaking
juxtaposition of war and childhood. He shares the harsh realities
experienced by the most innocent of citizens in a war-torn
nation. Marcello di Cintio says of the book, “Homes stands as
one of those rare books that manages to find humanity in the
Freehand Books inhumane and, in the end, says more about love than war.”
May 1, 2018
$19.95
Billy-Ray Belcourt
This Wound Is A World
On June 7 of this year, 23-year-old Billy-Ray Belcourt from
the Driftpile Cree Nation became the youngest poet to receive
the prestigious Griffin Poetry Prize for his debut collection This
World is a Wound. The work looks at ways in which Indigenous
peoples respond to their pain while remaining optimistic
about the future in a decolonial kind of heaven. A 2016 Rhodes
Scholar, Belcourt is a powerful emerging voice at this year’s
Festival.
Frontenac House
September, 2017
$19.95
Dave Bidini
Midnight Light: A Personal Journey to the North
Dave Bidini is no stranger to awards, having been nominated
for a Gemini, Genie and Juno, as well as CBC’s Canada Reads.
His books include On a Cold Road, Baseballissimo and Tropic
of Hockey. His 2011 unauthorized biography, Writing Gordon
Lightfoot, was nominated for a Toronto Book Award and now,
his latest work, Midnight Light: A Personal Journey to the North,
describes his summer as a guest columnist with the Yellowknifer
in a city that is home to artists, politicians and complicated
Penguin Random House souls.
September 18, 2018
$24.95
4
Randy Boyagoda
Original Prin
The son of immigrant parents from Sri Lanka, Randy
Boyagoda has written for esteemed publications such as The
New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail
about politics, faith and contemporary literature for more than
15 years. His first novel, Governor of the Northern Province, was
a finalist for the 2006 Scotiabank Giller Prize and received
international acclaim. Called “an examination of a whole
spectrum of religious faith from shaky to fanatical” by Salman
Biblioasis Rushdie, Boyagoda’s latest novel, Original Prin, follows a man
September 25, 2018 who vows to become better and save his small Catholic college
$19.95 from developers.
Dionne Brand
Theory
A master of many genres, Dionne Brand is heralded as one
of Canada’s most accomplished poetic voices. Winner of the
Governor General’s Literary Award and Griffin Poetry Prize,
Brand’s writing is recognized for its powerful articulation
of experience as an immigrant woman of colour in Canada.
Her latest novel, Theory, is a bold statement on race, gender
and personhood. Following an unnamed narrator as they are
interrupted by passionate affairs while attempting to write a
Penguin Random House world-changing intersectional thesis, this love story looks at
September 18, 2018 what can and cannot be articulated—including the power of the
$27.95 heart, head and spirit.
Julie Bruck
How to Avoid Huge Ships
Called the “poet laureate of aftermath” by Seán Kennedy, Julie
Bruck’s work is found in The New Yorker, The Walrus and has
been anthologized in The Best Canadian Poetry in English. Her
latest poetry collection, How To Avoid Huge Ships, challenges the
boundaries of time and explores the spaces in between ‘growing
up’ and ‘growing down’. With an intimate, honest look at some
of life’s greatest disappointments, Bruck manages to capture
truth in her deceptively direct poems.
Brick Books
September 1, 2018
$20.00
5
Elaine Castillo
America is Not the Heart
Elaine Castillo’s debut novel, America is Not the Heart, propels
readers into what it means to be an immigrant in America
today with the story of three generations of women struggling
to reconcile the idea of the American dream with reality. The
novel has received international accolades, with Vogue calling
it, “a saga rich with origin myths, national and personal…
Castillo is part of a younger generation of American writers
instilling literature with a layered sense of identity.” Castillo is a
Penguin Random House Filipino-American writer and film-maker, and a graduate of the
April 3, 2018 University of California, Berkeley, whose work can be found in
$36.00 make/shift magazine, The Rumpus, and Tayo Literary Magazine.
David Chariandy
I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You
David Chariandy became a household name when his novel,
Brother, won the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, was
longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and noted as a Best
Book of 2017 by multiple newspapers. In I’ve Been Meaning
To Tell You, he writes a letter to his 13-year-old daughter to
cultivate her sense of identity and responsibility through his
own experience as a visible minority—one whose ancestral
legacy includes slavery, indenture and immigration. It is hailed
Penguin Random House as a stunningly profound meditation on the politics of race.
May 9, 2018
$19.95
Kevin Chong
The Plague
Author, journalist and writer Kevin Chong has been
shortlisted for the Hubert Evans Fiction Prize and a National
Magazine Award. He teaches at UBC’s Creative Writing
Program and The Writers’ Studio at SFU in Vancouver. The
Plague, a modern-day retelling of the classic Albert Camus novel
La Peste, is a gripping, timely story of infectious disease and
rising social inequality in metropolitan centres, set in present-
day Vancouver. Called “artfully wry” by David Chariandy and
Arsenal Pulp Press “nuanced” and “terrific” by Eden Robinson, Chong’s latest novel
March 1, 2018 is a story of courage, failure and a city besieged.
$19.95
6Paul Cleave
A Killer Harvest
Paul Cleave received consecutive Ngaio Marsh Awards and
an Edgar Award nomination for his crime thrillers, which
have sold more than a million copies internationally and have
been translated into more than a dozen languages. In a novel
that puts a horrifying twist on the old adage “be careful what
you wish for,” A Killer Harvest follows the disturbing story of a
blind teenager who receives his murdered father’s corneas in a
surgery to help him regain his sight—only to be tormented by
Simon & Schuster visions of what his father (a homicide detective) witnessed in
August 7, 2018 his last few terrifying weeks alive.
$23.00
Craig Davidson
The Saturday Night Ghost Club
Craig Davidson is a widely celebrated author known for
his Scotiabank Giller Prize-nominated novel, Cataract City,
and novel-turned-film, Rust and Bone. In his latest work,
neurosurgeon Jake Breaker reflects on the childhood summer
he spent investigating Niagara Falls’ grisly urban myths with
his obsessed uncle Calvin. In doing so, he begins to recognize
where his uncle’s fixation stemmed from. A gem of literary
fiction, The Saturday Night Ghost Club is a poignant examination
Penguin Random House of the fragility of the mind and a moving exploration of the
August 14, 2018 complexity of memory.
$27.00
Patrick deWitt
French Exit
A possessive mother, a dependent adult son and a cat inhabited
by the spirit of the late husband and father: an unconventional
family that could only hail from the Upper East Side. Patrick
deWitt, the Governor General Award-winning author of The
Sisters Brothers—soon to appear on the big screen—shares his
new novel, French Exit: a mother-son caper in which the pair
attempt to escape scandal and financial demise. A novelist and
screenwriter, deWitt has received multiple accolades and major
House of Anansi awards for his work.
August 28, 2018
$22.95
7Claudia Dey
Heartbreaker
In what Iain Reid calls “an electrifying story,” Heartbreaker
begins with the family of Billie Jean Fontaine embarking on a
frantic search when she goes missing one night. Each holding
a single piece of the puzzle, her daughter, husband, dog and
friend must work together to discover the truth about Billie
Jean and decide how much they are willing to risk for their love.
Claudia Dey is a writer, playwright and former sex columnist
whose work includes How to Be a Bush Pilot: A Field Guide to
HarperCollins Canada Getting Luckier and Stunt.
August 21, 2018
$22.99
Cherie Dimaline
The Marrow Thieves
The Vancouver Writers Fest is pleased to announce that
Cherie Dimaline will be the first annual Guest Curator,
programming four events throughout the week. A Métis
writer, editor and coordinator of the annual Indigenous
Writers’ Gathering, Dimaline’s award-winning fiction has
been published and anthologized internationally. Her latest YA
novel, The Marrow Thieves, won a 2017 Governor General’s
Award and has been shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award.
Cormorant Books This cautionary tale challenges the reader to consider the
May, 2017 long-term impacts of present environmental practices and our
$14.95 destruction of other cultures.
Esi Edugyan
Washington Black
Esi Edugyan is a Canadian novelist best known for Half-Blood
Blues, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Writers’
Trust Fiction Prize, Governor General’s Award and won the
Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2011. Her latest and hotly-anticipated
novel, Washington Black, focuses on a young slave boy whose
new master is a man unlike any he has met before. These two
people, divided by lines drawn by many, must find a way to see
each other as human in this story that asks what freedom truly
HarperCollins Canada means.
September 4, 2018
$33.99
8Jackie Kai Ellis
The Measure of My Powers
Jackie Kai Ellis’s work is perhaps best known through the
happy faces (and empty plates) of the Beaucoup Bakery owner’s
delicious pastry inventions. The entrepreneur is also a food,
culture and lifestyle writer whose work has been published in
Hayo and Montecristo and is a judge for the Vancouver Magazine
Restaurant Awards. To many outside eyes she had it all, but
her life was mired in depression and angst. Ellis’s memoir,
The Measure of My Powers: A Memoir of Food, Misery, and Paris,
Penguin Random House reflects on her journey through France, Italy and the Congo.
March 6, 2018 Combining her love of food with a desire to love herself, she
$24.95 shares beauty and vulnerability—in travel and in life.
Daemon Fairless
Mad Blood Stirring
Where do men’s violent impulses stem from? This is the
question Daemon Fairless looks to answer in Mad Blood
Stirring: The Inner Lives of Violent Men. Told from the
perspective of someone who fights these base instincts himself,
this semi-autobiographical text explores the male psyche and
powerful emotions such as rage and bravado that can seek to
rule. Fairless, a former producer of CBC’s As It Happens, uses his
background as a science journalist and expert in neuroscience to
Penguin Random House present fascinating historic and sociological insights into male
March 6, 2018 violence.
$26.00
Aminatta Forna
Happiness
When two strangers collide on Tower Bridge in London,
neither know their lives will intertwine. When a young
woman’s son goes missing, the two join the search and—in
doing so—become integral to each other’s lives. Happiness
asks readers to consider the relationships between all living
things in this tale of love, loss and the power of unexpected
new connections. Aminatta Forna is a writer, reporter and
documentary filmmaker whose novel The Memory of Love
Grove Atlantic won the Commonwealth Writers’ Best Book Award and was
March 6, 2018 shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2011.
$37.50
9John Freeman
Freeman’s: Power
John Freeman has been a champion of the written word for
throughout his career. A writer, editor and critic, the author
of How to Read a Novel began Freeman’s Biannual as a stage to
publish some of the most exciting new voices in literature. The
most recent anthology, Freeman’s: Power, contains essays from
more than 25 authors including Ben Okri, Margaret Atwood,
Tracy K. Smith and Festival author Aminatta Forna, each of
whom explore the idea of who can say what during a time of
Grove Atlantic societal upheaval and evolution.
October 16, 2018
$20.96
Peter Gajdics
The Inheritance of Shame
Author Peter Gajdics spent six years in conversion therapy
that attempted to “cure” him of his homosexuality. Juxtaposed
against his parents’ tormented past—his mother’s incarceration
and escape from a communist concentration camp in post-
World War II Yugoslavia, and his father’s upbringing as an
orphan in war-torn Hungary—Gajdics’s story explores the
themes of childhood trauma, oppression and intergenerational
pain. Called “unforgettable” and “deeply moving”, The Inheritance
of Shame reminds us that resilience, compassion and the courage
HarperCollins Canada to speak exist within us all. Gajdics’s work has been published in
May 1, 2018 The Advocate, New York Tyrant and Opium, amongst others.
$32.99
Rachel Giese
Boys: What It Means to Become a Man
An eye-opening presentation of the impact of toxic masculinity
and stereotypical gender roles, Boys: What It Means to Become
a Man, provides an in-depth analysis of the challenges facing
young men today. Rachel Giese draws from research and
interviews with educators, parents, activists, psychologists and
young men to posit that the movement of gender equality can
liberate everyone from societal expectations. Giese is the editor-
at-large of Chatelaine, an award-winning writer and CBC Radio
HarperCollins Canada contributor whose writing has been featured in The Walrus,
May 1, 2018 Today’s Parent and The Globe and Mail.
$32.99
10Ian Gill
No News is Bad News
Newspapers are disappearing from our lives at such a rate that
they could be on the endangered species list. The results are clear
in our lack of public discourse, lack of political accountability,
and lack of true, groundbreaking investigations that unveil
the worst and uphold the best. Award-winning reporter and
author Ian Gill explores what’s happening to our newsrooms—
and where the future of journalism, and democracy, may lie.
Called “a blast of fresh air”, with “good humour and formidable
Greystone Books research”, No News is Bad News is required reading for anyone
August, 2016 interested in what we believe, and why.
$18.95
Brian Goldman
The Power of Kindness
What does it mean to really care about others? This is the
question that veteran emergency room surgeon, Dr. Brian
Goldman, set out to answer in The Power of Kindness: Why
Empathy is Essential in Everyday Life. Upon realizing that his
attitude as a veteran emergency physician varied significantly
since his early years in the profession, Goldman interviewed the
most empathetic people he could find. A powerful and engaging
exploration of the roots of care, this journey took the CBC
HarperCollins Canada Radio host around the world as he investigated why being nice
April 24, 2018 to each other is so vital to human existence.
$32.99
Rawi Hage
Beirut Hellfire Society
Winner of the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for De Niro’s
Game, celebrated Lebanese-Canadian writer Rawi Hage has
also been shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, Governor
General’s Award and Rogers Writers’ Trust Award. His latest
novel, Beirut Hellfire Society, follows Pavlov, a young man who
becomes an undertaker for an anti-religious sect when his
father passes away. A meditation on human action in the face of
death, this novel marks Hage’s return to wartorn Beirut of the
Penguin Random House 1970s, during the Civil War.
August 28, 2018
$29.95
11Kate Harris
Lands of Lost Borders
A self-described “writer with a grudge against borders,” Kate
Harris always aspired to be a scientist and go to Mars. When
she realized that her dreams of exploration had more to do with
her desire to live outside the lines, she and her friend set off on
the ultimate unmapped adventure to cycle the Silk Road. Her
first book, Lands of Lost Borders: Out of Bounds on the Silk Road, is
an honest and illuminating memoir that details the ten-month
long journey of two women exploring the wildness of the self
Penguin Random House and the liberation of living without boundaries.
January 30, 2018
$29.95
Alix Hawley
My Name Is a Knife
The Canadian literature scene struck gold with Alix Hawley,
whose debut novel, All True Not A Lie In It, was longlisted for
the Scotiabank Giller Prize and won the BC Book Prize. Her
short stories have won multiple CBC accolades including the
2017 CBC Short Story Prize and the 2014 BloodLines contest.
Her second novel, My Name is a Knife, is a sequel to her first
acclaimed work and returns to the wild lives of Daniel Boone
and his family on the early American frontier. Get ready to dig
Penguin Random House deeper into the human heart of the past.
July 17, 2018
$26.00
Elizabeth Hay
All Things Consoled
Elizabeth Hay has been writing since she was fifteen years
old and has no plans to stop any time soon. Her latest work of
non-fiction, All Things Consoled: A Daughter’s Memoir, offers a
very intimate portrait of Hay’s journey from child to caretaker
and a deeper understanding of the parents she knew and loved.
Winner of the 2007 Scotiabank Giller Prize for her novel,
Late Nights on Air, Hay is a household name to many. She has
also been shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award, the
Penguin Random House Trillium Award and the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize.
September 18, 2018
$32.00
12Sheila Heti
Motherhood
The decision to become a mother is one often fraught with
inner turmoil, external opinions and the omnipresent ticking
of a so-called biological clock. Motherhood is a critically
acclaimed examination of a woman’s decision to have—or not
have—children, published during a time when this topic is at
the forefront of many discussions of women’s evolving roles
and power in society. Author of the international bestseller
How Should a Person Be?, Sheila Heti is a writer, lecturer
Penguin Random House and playwright who has been published in The New Yorker,
May 1, 2018 McSweeney’s and Harper’s.
$29.95
Michael Hingston
Let’s Go Exploring
Who knew that the adventures of a young boy with a wild
imagination and his cynical stuffed tiger would be one of the
most beloved comic strips in the world? In Let’s Go Exploring:
Calvin and Hobbes, Michael Hingston makes the case that Bill
Watterson’s world of imagination is North America’s last great
comic strip. Author of the bestselling novel, The Dilettantes,
Hingston has been published in Wired and The Washington Post
and is the co-creator of the Short Story Advent Calendar.
ECW Press
May 1, 2018
$12.95
Emma Hooper
Our Homesick Songs
The Cooper family are the last to remain in a barren fishing
village, slowly facing the reality that they will have to abandon
the only home they’ve ever known. Our Homesick Songs is the
mystical story of this family on the edge of extinction, and the
different way each of them fights to keep hope, memory, and
love alive. When Emma Hooper isn’t writing international
bestsellers like Etta and Otto and Russell and James, she can be
found creating music with her solo project Waiting for the Bees
Penguin Random House or playing alongside clients that include Peter Gabriel and HBO
August 7, 2018 Television.
$29.95
13Uzma Jalaluddin
Ayesha At Last
A young woman living with her boisterous Muslim family
while trying to forge her own path in life, Ayesha is shocked
when she can’t seem to forget about Khalid, a conservative
man who becomes engaged to her younger cousin. A twist on
the classic coming of age tale, Ayesha At Last is a captivating
romance that delights with its cast of charming characters and
reminds readers how to be true to themselves. A high school
teacher, Uzma Jalaluddin writes the popular Toronto Star
HarperCollins Canada column, “Samosas and Maple Syrup” and has appeared on
June 12, 2018 CityLine speaking about the Muslim experience.
$22.99
Jamil Jivani
Why Young Men
When Jamil Jivani learned of the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks,
he saw his own past reflected in the lives of the men behind the
tragedy, men influenced by gang culture. Why Young Men: Rage,
Race and the Crisis of Identity explores why men make violent
decisions and provides an argument for possible change. Jivani
is an activist who attended Yale Law School and founded the
Citizen Empowerment Project that leads initiatives related to
policing, racial profiling and democratic participation.
HarperCollins Canada
April 3, 2018
$32.99
Chelene Knight
Dear Current Occupant
Through a series of letters to the people who now live in her
twenty different childhood homes, Chelene Knight reflects
on her past in an effort to understand the meaning of home. Set
in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Dear Current Occupant is a
gem of creative non-fiction that explores the power of memory
and its impact on the present. A seasoned panelist and literary
event coordinator, Knight is currently the managing editor of
Room magazine and was named the executive director of Word
Book *hug Vancouver in June 2018.
March 1, 2018
$20.00
14Shane Koyczan
Turn On a Light
Shane Koyczan is one of the world’s most celebrated spoken-
word poets for good reason. He has worked at his craft for more
than twenty years, and captured Canadians’ hearts during his
“We Are More” performance during the 2010 Olympic Games
in Vancouver. His video, “To This Day”, about the lasting
impact of bullying has been viewed more than 20 million times.
Turn on a Light: A Bedtime Story for Grownups is his poem-
turned-graphic novel about a monster-hunting grandfather
Self-published who protects his grandson from night terrors and the power of
August, 2017 childhood imagination.
$20.00
Amitava Kumar
Immigrant, Montana
In this novel, Kailish is an Indian living in New York who
longs to make his adopted city home. A narrative of his life
as a student, Immigrant, Montana is a passionate investigation
into the joys and disappointment of Kailish’s experience
as an outsider, and an engaging exploration of cultural
misunderstanding and the desire to belong. Ultimately, this is
an impassioned investigation of love. A master of fiction and
non-fiction, Amitava Kumar has been writing for more than
Penguin Random House two decades and has had work published in The New York Times,
July 31, 2018 NPR, Vanity Fair and more.
$32.00
Rachel Kushner
The Mars Room
Condemned to two consecutive life sentences in a California
prison, Romy Hall is separated from her young son while
attempting to survive behind bars. Rachel Kushner’s
groundbreaking examination of prison in contemporary
America depicts the harsh realities of institutional living and
the systemic sexism that leads many women there. Bestselling
author of Flamethrowers and two-time National Book Award
finalist, Kushner spent years extensively researching the truths
Simon & Schuster of prison life for The Mars Room and has already received
May 1, 2018 widespread critical acclaim for this incredible new novel.
$36.00
15Carrianne Leung
That Time I Loved You
Set in a small Scarborough neighbourhood in the 70s that is
now home to new Canadians from around the world, That
Time I Loved You follows a young Chinese-Canadian girl and
her neighbours. By peeking into the lives of those living
behind picture-perfect windows, Carrianne Leung examines
the human realities that connect us all. Leung is a writer
and educator whose debut novel, The Wondrous Woo, was
shortlisted for the 2014 Toronto Book Prize.
HarperCollins Canada
March 27, 2018
$22.99
Canisia Lubrin
Voodoo Hypothesis
A rejection of contemporary and historical systems that
voodoo posit the inferiority of black lives, Voodoo Hypothesis explores
hypothesis the black experience through a mystical combination of
poems modern and folkloric language. A subversion of the imperial
construction of “blackness”, this poetry collection holds a torch
Cani s ia to the narratives of the ruling class. Heralded as “a brilliant new
Lu b r i n Canadian voice” by Sonnet L’Abbé, Canisia Lubrin’s work
has appeared in Room, Arc and CV2. An arts administrator and
Wolsak & Wyn community advocate, Lubrin takes from reality to create lyrical,
October, 2017 thought-provoking poetry and is a powerful force to watch.
$18.00
Maureen Medved
Black Star
Del Hanks is about to achieve what all professors often only
dream of: academic tenure. With her future about to be set
in stone, Hanks wonders if it’s the beginning or end of her
life. A humourous and honest dark comedy about the female
experience in academia, Black Star has been called a “powerful
exploration of imposter syndrome taken to extremes,” by
Scotiabank Giller Prize finalist Zoe Whittall. An award-
winning novelist, playwright and screenwriter, Maureen
Anvil Press Medved is also an Associate Professor in the Creative Writing
April 15, 2018 Program at UBC.
$20.00
16Lisa Moore
Something for Everyone
Internationally acclaimed storyteller Lisa Moore returns with a
remarkable book of short stories that feature characters ranging
from an escaped rock god to a man whose last day on earth is
revealed in people’s minds. Something for Everyone is a collection
of tales that—through a chorus of different voices, lives and
dreams—explores the timeless, tragic and miraculous details
that are hidden within every life. Moore is the award-winning
author of Caught and Open, whose first novel, Alligator, was
House of Anansi nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and won the 2006
September 4, 2018 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize.
$22.95
Paula Morris
False River
Comprised of short stories and essays that blur the lines
between fiction and non-fiction, False River is a complex
collection of many forms that New Zealand Books reviewer Mark
Broatch describes as, “full of incident and intrigue, and what
you might call twists.” Paula Morris is the award-winning
author of Rangatira, Forbidden Cities and Hibiscus Coast. Born and
raised in New Zealand, Morris has worked in marketing and
publicity and has taught creative writing around the world.
Penguin Books NZ
October, 2017
$32.00
Sisonke Msimang
Always Another Country
Sisonke Msimang is the Programme Director for the Centre
for Stories in Perth, Australia, a Yale World Fellow and Ruth
First Fellow, who frequently travels to South Africa to speak
on current affairs. She regularly contributes to The Guardian,
The Daily Maverick and The New York Times. Her viral TED talk
centers around her new, anticipated memoir, Always Another
Country. An exile who grew up in Zambia and Kenya, then
North America, Msimag reflects candidly on her discontent
World Editions with present-day South Africa, and on family, romance and
September 14, 2018 motherhood. With glorious character and pathos, Always
$24.50 Another Country is an intimate story that testifies to the power
of family bonds and sisterhood.
17Liz Nugent
Unraveling Oliver
A seemingly happy couple, Oliver and Alice work in their
quaint suburban home, writing and illustrating children’s
books together. One night, Oliver attacks his wife and leaves
her comatose. With Alice on the brink of life and death in the
hospital, Unraveling Oliver explores the layers of secrets that
led to this savage, unexpected action. Liz Nugent is an Irish
writer who won the Crime Novel of the Year Award and was
longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Prize for Lying
Simon & Schuster in Wait: a thriller about the dark secrets of a Dublin family. It’s
February 6, 2018 hard to look away from every page.
$24.99
Ondjaki
Transparent City
With Transparent City, Ondjaki has been singled out by
Vanity Fair and The Globe and Mail as a writer-in-translation
to discover. As one of Africa’s most accomplished writers, his
voice is powerful, unique and transporting. His latest novel
combines magic realism with scathing political satire. Set in
a crumbling apartment block in the Angolan city of Luanda,
families work, laugh, scheme and get by. As his city changes
beyond recognition, so does protagonist Odo-nato’s flesh. He
Biblioasis becomes transparent and weightless, offering a unique portrait
May 15, 2018 of urban Africa and some of its citizens. This invigorating book
$19.95 will be a highlight of 2018.
Tommy Orange
There There: A Novel
One of the most talked-about fiction releases this season,
There There: A Novel chronicles the tragic and complex lives of
Urban Indians as they get ready for the Big Oakland Powwow.
An intimate look at a world unknown to most, Tommy
Orange’s literary debut is a wondrous portrait of the lives
of contemporary Native Americans, full of rage, love and a
rejection of stereotypical perceptions. A 2016 Writing by
Writers Fellow, Orange is a recent MFA graduate from the
Penguin Random House Institute of American Indian Arts who, as Omar El Akkad says,
June 5, 2018 “writes the way a storm makes a landfall.”
$32.00
18Kathy Page
Dear Evelyn
A master of the short story and more, Kathy Page has been
writing for more than two decades. Called “a massive talent”
by Barbara Gowdy, she plays with boundaries of human
connection and asks her characters to confront their truths. Her
latest novel, Dear Evelyn, is an unconventional love story that
follows a seventy-year-long wartime marriage between two
seemingly incompatible partners. At once tragic and hopeful,
this novel explores what it means when two people shape each
Biblioasis other’s lives for decades—whether for better or worse.
September 4, 2018
$19.95
Jodi Picoult
A Spark of Light
Internationally-bestselling novelist Jodi Picoult has been
writing for more than 30 years. 25 of her novels have been #1
bestsellers. Her honest and raw stories about family, love and
loss have captivated fans’ hearts around the world. Her latest
novel, A Spark of Light, tells the tragic, emotional story of what
happens when an enraged gunman holds an abortion clinic
hostage. This is a spellbinding look at ordinary lives in crisis,
during a time when women’s rights in America are the subject
Penguin Random House of fierce debate.
October 2, 2018
$32.00
Melanie Raabe
The Stranger Upstairs
Though she began her career as a journalist, Melanie Raabe
found herself drawn to writing of a different nature. The
German author’s first novel, The Trap, was an international
bestseller and won the Stuttgart Crime Fiction Prize. Her latest
novel, The Stranger Upstairs, is told in first-person and follows
what happens when a woman meets a man who says he is her
husband but whom she has never met before. An intense and
unsettling thriller, this story asks what happens when one’s own
House of Anansi mind becomes a stranger.
September 11, 2018
$19.95
19Shazia Hafiz Ramji
Port of Being
Shazia Hafiz Ramji is a poet, editor and teacher whose work
has been published in Quill & Quire, Canadian Literature and
The Puritan. The winner of the 2017 Robert Kroetsch Award
for Innovative Poetry, Ramji also founded the Intersections
Reading Group series, dedicated to discussing race, gender
and class in writing and in life. Her debut collection of poetry,
Port of Being, looks at the ways modern technology affects
communication, migration and identity. Wayde Compton
Invisible Publishing called it, “a revelation [that] reveals the surface beneath the
October 15, 2018 surface.”
$16.95
Jan Redford
End of the Rope
A posterchild for the outdoors, Jan Redford has spent her
life exploring. Before becoming a writer, she dabbled in
beekeeping, tree planting, geoduck cleaning and more. She has
since had essays and articles published in The Globe and Mail,
National Post and Mountain Life. Her first book, End of the Rope:
Mountains, Marriage, and Motherhood, is an achingly honest
memoir of how mountains defined and influenced her life, and
how this remarkable woman surmounted both tall peaks and
Penguin Random House life challenges.
April 3, 2018
$32.00
Raziel Reid
Kens
When his debut young adult novel, When Everything Feels
Like the Movies, won the 2014 Governor General’s Award for
Children’s Literature, 24-year old Raziel Reid became the
youngest person to ever win the award. His latest novel, Kens, is
the story of uncool gay teen, Tommy Rawlins, and his desire to
fit in with the most popular boys at school. An original and bold
take on the cult 1988 movie, Heathers, this novel explores what
it means to reinvent oneself and how far we will go to achieve
Penguin Random House our social desires.
September 18, 2018
$21.99
20Iain Reid
Foe
Junior and Hen live in solitude on their farm far away from
the hustle of the big city. Their quiet lives are disrupted when
a stranger arrives with surprising news that has long-term,
unforeseen effects on the close couple. A hotly anticipated
psychological thriller, Foe is a story of domestic partnerships,
self-determination and what it means to be human. Iain Reid
won the 2015 RBC Taylor Emerging Writer award and is the
author of bestselling novel I’m Thinking of Ending Things, which
Simon & Schuster is currently being adapted to a film for Netflix by Being John
August 7, 2018 Malkovich screenwriter Charlie Kaufman.
$26.99
Waubgeshig Rice
Moon of the Crusted Snow
Anishinaabe storyteller, journalist and author Waubgeshig
Rice has made his impact on Canadians from coast to coast.
In June of this year, Rice was named the new host of CBC’s
afternoon radio program, Up North, making him the first
Indigenous host of a local radio show. His first book of short
stories, Midnight Sweatlodge, won an Independent Publishers
Book Award in 2012. His second novel, Moon of the Crusted
Snow, is a post-apocalyptic tale set in a small, northern
ECW Press Anishinaabe community that goes dark on the brink of winter,
October 2, 2018 and the struggle for survival that follows.
$17.95
Jaap Robben
You Have Me to Love
Jaap Robben is a multi-talented Dutch poet, novelist,
playwright and performer who has written several successful
children’s books. You Have Me to Love is his first novel for adults
and was selected as the best book of the year in 2014 by Dutch
booksellers. When his father is lost in a tragic accident by the
seashore, young Mikael is unable to articulate to his mother—or
himself—what happened. A tragic story of loss and betrayal,
this raw coming-of-age narrative follows a young boy as he
World Editions discovers what it means to be an adult.
September 4, 2018
$24.50
21Eden Robinson
Trickster Drift
Eden Robinson captivated Canada with her spellbinding
novel Son of a Trickster, which explored coming of age, family
dynamics and Indigenous teachings with both grit and magic.
Following this inaugural, Giller Prize-shortlisted title in the
Trickster series comes Trickster Drift, which continues to
follow protagonist Jared. With her work shortlisted for or
the recipient of multiple prizes—from the Governor General’s
Literary Award to the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize—Robinson
Penguin Random House is one of the most powerful voices in Canadian literature, for
October 2, 2018 good reason.
$32.00
Michael Robotham
The Other Wife
Michael Robotham is an internationally-renowned crime
writer based in Australia whose work has been shortlisted for
multiple awards and translated into 23 languages. His latest
page-turner, The Other Wife, delves into questions about the
mysterious identity of a woman covered in blood, crying at the
bedside of a successful doctor involved in an accident. As the
doctor’s son, Joe, tends to his happily married father, he must
ask whether this mysterious addition to their life is a friend,
Hachette Book Group CA mistress, fantasist or killer.
October 20, 2018
$24.99
Sarah Selecky
Radiant Shimmering Light
Following the publication of her Scotiabank Giller-Prize
shortlisted story collection, This Cake is for the Party, Chatelaine
suggested Sarah Selecky might be the next Alice Munro.
With her debut novel, Radiant Shimmering Light, the author
and writing teacher (whose school has taught more than 10,000
writers across the globe) continues to dazzle. Described as
inventive, warm and elegant, the novel follows unconfident
Lilian as she embarks on a three-month ‘Ascendancy’ program
HarperCollins Canada for self-actualization before asking about the real truth behind
May 8, 2018 its offerings.
$24.99
22Vivek Shraya
I’m Afraid of Men
Vivek Shraya is a multidisciplinary artist whose work crosses
boundaries of music, poetry, fiction, visual art and film. She is
the author of even this page is white, The Boy and the Bindi and
She of the Mountains. In her highly-anticipated I’m Afraid of
Men, the trans artist explores how masculinity was imposed on
her as a boy—and how it continues to haunt her as a woman.
Internationally renowned poet Rupi Kaur says of the work,
“This challenge is a necessary one—one we must all take up. It is
Penguin Random House a gift to dive into Vivek’s heart and mind.”
August 28, 2018
$17.95
Gary Shteyngart
Lake Success
Wry, hilarious and ever-so-observant, Gary Shteyngart has
made a reputation holding a mirror to society, asking biting
but often hilarious questions about modern life. The US-based,
bestselling author of Super Sad True Love Story launches an
impeccably timely novel this fall. Lake Success: A Novel follows
Barry Cohen who flees his responsibility of overseeing $4.2
billion in assets, and his driven wife Seema who craves a
picture-perfect life. A piercing exploration of the ‘1%’, Lake
Penguin Random House Success is also a critique of modern America and the perception
September 4, 2018 of what really makes it great.
$37.00
Monique Gray Smith
Tilly and the Crazy Eights
Monique Gray Smith is a mixed-heritage writer of Cree,
Lakota and Scottish ancestry. An accomplished consultant,
writer and international speaker, her first novel, Tilly: A Story of
Hope and Resilience, won the 2014 Burt Award for First Nations,
Métis and Inuit Literature. In Tilly and the Crazy Eights, Tilly
accepts an invitation to drive eight elders to Albuquerque, New
Mexico, for the Gathering of Nations Pow Wow, the adventure
will change her life forever. The trip proves to be powerful
Second Story Press medicine as they laugh, heal, argue and reveal hopes and dreams
October 9, 2018 along the way.
$19.95
23Joanna Streetly
Wild Fierce Life
An ode to the wilds of the Pacific Coast, Joanna Streetly’s
heart-stopping collection of true stories, Wild Fierce Life,
shares a vivid portrait of life at the edge of a continent, and
the author’s place there. From near-death experiences while
swimming at night to an encounter with a cougar, each tale
celebrates BC’s coast in its dangerously-beautiful complexity.
Streetly is ideally placed to share just that as the author of
multiple books—fiction, non-fiction and poetry—and a resident
Caitlin Press of Tofino, BC since 1990.
March 24, 2018
$22.95
Jordan Tannahill
Liminal
Described by The Toronto Star as “one of Canada’s most
accomplished young playwrights, filmmakers and all-round
multidisciplinary artists”, Jordan Tannahill is a multi-award
winning voice in North American culture. His latest book,
Liminal, has been described by beloved CanLit author Anne-
Marie Macdonald as “generous, bold… an ultra-engaging
portrait of the artist.” The fast-paced, pop-culture thriller and
saga follows a young man as he searches for the nature of self
House of Anansi through a myriad of modern day situations.
January 23, 2018
$22.95
Kevin Vallely
Rowing the Northwest Passage
Kevin Vallely is a professional explorer, named by The Globe
and Mail as one of Canada’s leading adventurers and a member
of the esteemed Explorer’s Club. His new book, Rowing The
Northwest Passage, is both a thrilling adventure saga and
fascinating exploration of climate change science and discovery.
Recounting one of Vallely’s heart-stopping adventures—in this
case taking to a high-tech rowboat to explore man’s effects on
the Arctic. Called a “must read”, it’s nail-biting reading for both
Greystone Books the travel and the consequences it unveils.
August, 2017
$24.95
24Katherena Vermette
River Woman
Katherena Vermette was raised in the heart of the Métis nation
in Winnipeg. Her first collection of poetry won the Governor
General’s Literary Award, and Break, her debut novel called “an
incredible feat of storytelling by The Globe and Mail, won multiple
awards including an Amazon First Novel Award. river woman is
her second book of poetry, grounded in the eternal present and
examine and celebrating love as a post-colonial action. Much
like the Red River Vermette lives near, these poems ebb and
House of Anansi flow in patterns of construction and deconstruction, both in our
September 25, 2018 environment and within our own hearts.
$19.95
Andrea Warner
Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography
“Buffy Sainte-Marie is a beacon,” Naomi Wolf explained when
praising the official biography of the Canadian rock star, activist
and icon. Andrea Warner’s book offers an expansive portrayal
of the legend—one that is already receiving acclaim from
musicians and authors throughout North America. Warner is a
critic, journalist and author who writes for CBC, Exclaim! and
Pitchfork amongst others. Her first book, We Oughta Know: How
Four Women Ruled the ‘90s and Changed Canadian Music became
Greystone Books
a cult classic. Andrea will be in conversation with Buffy on the
September 25, 2018
final night of the Festival.
$36.00
Sarah Winman
Tin Man
British writer and actor Sarah Winman impressed critics and
readers with her debut novel, When God Was a Rabbit, which
quickly became an international bestseller and won several
awards. Described as an exquisite, tender love letter to human
kindness, friendship and living, her latest work, Tin Man,
follows two inseparable little boys—Ellis and Michael—as they
become men, and two women, Joanna and Annie, who deeply
impact the lives of men capable of beautiful things.
Penguin Random House
May 15, 2018
$22.95
25Lindsay Wong
The Woo-Woo
Lindsay Wong has been described by one of her teachers
as the future of Asian-Canadian writing, and her receipt of
many awards and fellowships is confirmation. Wong’s acerbic,
heartbreaking but deeply funny memoir, The Woo-Woo:
How I Survived Ice Hockey, Drug Raids, Demons, and My Crazy
Chinese Family, offers a bizarre glimpse into the lives of her
dysfunctional family who blame their woes on ghosts and
demons. Sharing startlingly honest reflections on the Asian
Arsenal Pulp Press immigrant experience, and mental illness across generations, it’s
October 1, 2018 a riveting look at conditions that can haunt us all.
$19.95
Javier Zamora
Unaccompanied
Born in El Salvador and now residing in the US, Javier
Zamora is a decorated poet whose work explores both the form
itself and the depth of human experience it seeks to capture. His
debut collection, Unaccompanied, describes the journey he made,
alone and at nine years old, across borders from El Salvador
to the United States to be reunited with his parents. Dramatic,
moving and uplifting, the Stanford University Fellow’s
remembrances will stay with readers long after the last page.
Copper Canyon Press
September, 2017
$16.00
E. Paul Zehr
Chasing Captain America
What if hero and superhuman Captain America was not
simply fiction but near-future scientific achievement? Could
your descendents open a can like Wolverine in a few hundred
years? Professor, author and comic book enthusiast E. Paul
Zehr explores the rapid development of biomedical science and
engineering. Accessible yet mind-bendingly fascinating, Chasing
Captain America asks what the real limits of being human are,
and how far we could—and should—bend them.
ECW Press
April 17, 2018
$19.95
26Children’s / YA Titles
Discover the work of writers including:
Ian Boothby Paula Morris
Jeffrey Brown Susin Nielsen
Kelly Collier Kenneth Oppel
Christopher Paul Curtis Raziel Reid
Cherie Dimaline David A. Robertson
Claire Eamer Heather T. Smith
Rachel Hartman Monique Gray Smith
Andrew Larsen Elizabeth Suneby
Ashley Little Katherena Vermette
Lindsay Mattick Dr. Dominic Walliman
27Ian Boothby
Sparks!
A veteran comic book creator, comedian and writer, Ian
Boothby is best known for his work as the lead writer of
Simpsons Comics and Futurama Comics for Matt Groening’s
Bongo Comics. His new graphic novel, Sparks!, follows the
adventures of two cats, August the inventor and Charlie the
pilot, who are always ready to leap into danger to save lives in
their giant mechanical dog costume. When Princess, a devious
infant, sets her sights on their robotic dog to help her achieve
Scholastic Canada world domination, August and Charlie must race against the
February 27, 2018 clock to save the day.
$16.99
Grades 2-5
Jeffrey Brown
Lucy & Andy Neanderthal: Bad to the Bones
A beloved cartoonist known for his New York Times bestselling
Jedi Academy series of graphic novels, Jeffrey Brown has built
his career around a love of the animated form. With over two
dozen texts under his belt including Clumsy, Star Wars: Vader’s
Little Princess and Cats Are Weird: And More Observations, the
two-time Eisner Award winner has truly mastered the form.
His latest graphic novel in the Lucy and Andy Neanderthal series,
Bad to the Bones, combines facts about the history of the world
Penguin Random House with humour, and is sure to delight children and adults alike.
August 28, 2018
$21.99
Grades 3-7
Kelly Collier
Team Steve
Kelly Collier, beloved and award-winning children’s book
author and illustrator, came up with the idea for the A Horse
Named Steve series after doodling in an empty picture frame at
home. Team Steve takes children back to the forest where their
KidsCan Press favourite self-absorbed horse lives, in time for the annual Race-
September 4, 2018 a-thon. Steve is certain he will win the race like he does every
$18.99 year, but when he is told that Turtle, Duck, and Snail are his
Grades Pre-K to 3 teammates, he starts losing confidence. A delightful and lively
children’s book with plenty of life lessons, Team Steve is sure to
bring the giggles and excitement.
28Christopher Paul Curtis
The Journey of Little Charlie
Christopher Paul Curtis is known for his riveting historical
fictions of the Underground Railroad and freed slaves in
Canada, which have won the Newbery Medal, multiple Coretta
Scott King Awards, and the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical
Fiction. The Journey of Little Charlie dips back into the troubling
history of the American South to deliver a tale of courage and
perilous adventure. Charlie, a poor boy whose father has just
died, must settle a debt his father owes to the most violent man
Scholastic Canada in South Carolina, Cap’n Buck. But when the job brings him
January 30, 2018 face-to-face with systematic racism, Charlie must decide how
$19.99 far he is willing to go.
Grades 4-7
Cherie Dimaline
The Marrow Thieves
The Vancouver Writers Fest is pleased to announce that
Cherie Dimaline will be the first annual Guest Curator,
programming four events throughout the week. A Métis
writer, editor and coordinator of the annual Indigenous
Writers’ Gathering, Dimaline’s award-winning fiction has
been published and anthologized internationally. Her latest YA
novel, The Marrow Thieves, won a 2017 Governor General’s
Award and has been shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award.
Cormorant Books This cautionary tale challenges the reader to consider the
May, 2017 long-term impacts of present environmental practices and our
$14.95 destruction of other cultures.
Grades 8+
Claire Eamer
Out of the Ice
Packed with eye-catching visuals and easy-to-understand
descriptions, the children’s book Out of the Ice: How
Climate Change is Revealing the Past explores the impact of
environmental changes. Author Claire Eamer has always
KidsCan Press been fascinated by science and has written multiple articles and
September 4, 2018 children’s books about the subject including The World in Your
$18.99 Lunchbox and What a Waste: Where Does Garbage Go?
Grades 3-7
29Rachel Hartman
Tess of the Road
From award-winning YA author Rachel Hartman comes
Tess of the Road, a tale of self-reliance and redemption set in the
medieval kingdom of Goredd where ladies are damsels and men
are shining knights. Tess, a young woman who heartily rejects
gender roles and the notions of how one is suppo sed to act,
escapes her societal chains to forge her own path and learn what
she has been running towards her whole life. Hartman is the
bestselling author of Shadow Scale and Seraphina, which won the
Penguin Random House William C. Morris award for best YA debut novel as well as the
February 27, 2018 Cybils Award for best YA fantasy or science fiction novel.
$22.99
Grades 8+
Andrew Larsen
The Bagel King
Eli and his grandfather have a Sunday ritual: eating bagels from
Merv’s and enjoying time together. When his grandfather falls
and injures himself, Eli takes it upon himself to continue the
tradition and help out his family. A charming story of the bond
between grandfather and grandson, The Bagel King also includes
KidsCan Press a glossary for the Yiddish words in the book and teaches
May 1, 2018 youngsters about language and culture. Andrew Larsen is
$18.99 an award-winning children’s author of many books, including
Grades Pre-K to 2 Goodnight, Hockey Fans and The Imaginary Garden, shortlisted for
the Governor General’s Award for Children’s Illustration.
Ashley Little
Confessions of a Teenage Leper
Popular cheerleader Abby Furlowe’s dreams of fame and
fortune are thwarted when she is diagnosed with leprosy and
sent to a facility to recover. Darkly comic but emotionally
touching, Confessions of a Teenage Leper shows what happens
when the mean girl switches roles and is forced to confront
the impact of her past actions. Ashley Little’s works of young
adult fiction have had international success and her third
novel, Anatomy of a Girl Gang, won the Ethel Wilson Fiction
Penguin Random House Prize and was longlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin
September 11, 2018 Literary Award.
$21.99
Grades 9+
30Lindsay Mattick
Winnie’s Great War
As the great-granddaughter of Captain Harry Colebourn,
Lindsay Mattick passionately shares the ubiquitous story
of Harry and the bear, Winnie—who inspired A.A. Milne’s
Winnie the Pooh series. Her first book, Finding Winnie: The
True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear, won the 2016
Caldecott Medal for most distinguished picture book for
children. Her second book, Winnie’s Great War, follows
Winnie as she and Colebourn journey around wartime
HarperCollins Canada Europe. Real excerpts from Colebourn’s journal ground the
September 18, 2018 story in reality while Winnie’s interactions with humans and
$17.99 animals alike will delight youngsters.
Grades 3-7
Paula Morris
The Eternal City
Laura Martin is on a school trip to Rome when the magical old
city takes a dark turn. Caught in the middle of a centuries-old
battle between gods and goddesses, Laura must reveal her own
inner strength to face up to what might be the fight of her
life. The Eternal City is a young adult novel of history, thrilling
romance and mystery. Paula Morris is the award-winning
author of Rangatira, Forbidden Cities and Hibiscus Coast. Born and
raised in New Zealand, Morris has worked in marketing and
Scholastic Canada publicity and has taught creative writing around the world.
May 26, 2018
$20.99
Grades 8+
Susin Nielsen
No Fixed Address
Felix Knutsson and his mother are living in their van when the
trivia-loving 12-year-old sees a chance to solve all of his and his
mother’s problems by participating in a game show. No Fixed
Address is an immersive narrative about homelessness and the
infectious power of a child’s hopefulness. An award-winning
children’s and young adult author, Susin Nielsen got her start
writing for the original Degrassi Junior High television show.
She won a Governor General’s Award and Red Maple Award
Penguin Random House for her novel, The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen, about the
September 11, 2018 aftermath of a school shooting.
$21.00
Grades 5+
31Kenneth Oppel
Inkling
Internationally celebrated children’s and young adult author,
Kenneth Oppel, has delighted generations of young readers
for more than 30 years. Best-known for his Silverwing and
Airborn series’ of novels, Oppel is back with a story about the
power and importance of imagination. Inkling follows the
Rylance family who are all stuck in their lives: writer’s block,
artist’s block and the longing for a family puppy. When an ink
blot in Mr. Rylance’s notebook jumps off the page and begins
HarperCollins Canada to inject his creativity into the whole family, they realize what
September 11, 2018 they’ve been missing and begin to understand what they all
$17.99 need to be happy.
Grades 4-7
Raziel Reid
Kens
When his debut young adult novel, When Everything Feels
Like the Movies, won the 2014 Governor General’s Award for
Children’s Literature, 24-year old Raziel Reid became the
youngest person to ever win the award. His latest novel, Kens, is
the story of uncool gay teen, Tommy Rawlins, and his desire to
fit in with the most popular boys at school. An original and bold
take on the cult 1988 movie, Heathers, this novel explores what
it means to reinvent oneself and how far we will go to achieve
Penguin Random House our social desires.
September 18, 2018
$21.99
Grades 9+
David A. Robertson
Monsters
David A. Robertson is an award-winning author from the
Norway House Cree Nation who educates as well as entertains
with his stories about Indigenous peoples in Canada. His
children’s book, When We Were Alone, won the 2017 Governor
General’s Award for illustrated young people’s literature. His
latest graphic novel, Monsters, is the second in The Reckoner
Trilogy, and continues the story of Cole Harper as he struggles to
settle into life in Wounded Sky First Nation after the traumatic
Portage & Main Press events of the first novel. Though he already stopped a serial killer,
September 30, 2018 the trouble is far from over as Cole longs to discover the truth
$19.95 about his father and the nation he now calls home.
Grades 7+
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