Shaken & Stirred: O Canada Day

March 26, 2008

O Canada Day

It's One Shot World Tour: Canada Day, with a whole bunch of bloggers giving shout-outs to literary Canada. Colleen has the full list of links.

I had big plans, but the overwhelmingness of the overwhelming has impacted my capacity. Instead, I'm just going to highlight two incredibly wonderful writers from Canada who should be getting more attention (and who teach at my MFA program). And because time is short, I'm more or less just going to say that I love their books, and you should too, rather than offering compelling arguments. (But, seriously, you should too.)

Tim Wynne-Jones is a rock star. Maybe not quite yet in the U.S., but I'm thinking it's a done deal after his next couple of books come out. Rex Zero and the End of the World was rightly acclaimed and praised by critics, and was named a 2007 Boston Globe-Horn Book honor book. It's a hilarious, smart, wonderful book. The sequel, Rex Zero, King of Nothing, is due out in April, and I can't wait. Candlewick signed him up for a two-book deal back in the summer--the first book is called The Children of the Snye, and what I've heard him read from it was smashing. And, of course, he's published a lot of other books, for a whole host of age groups, any of which I'd wager are worth checking out. And Cynthia Leitich Smith did a great interview with him about A Thief in the House of Memory (the first thing I ever read of his; highly recommended).

I may be a bit biased, but only a bit--Tim was my first semester advisor and is a genius writing teacher. Really. If you ever get the chance to work with him, take it.

Sarah Ellis looks good in a hat, something you can see firsthand if you click that link and visit her site. Like Tim, she's also written for a whole range of age groups. Her picture book The Queen's Feet is absolutely charming, and I adored her slipstreamy, deliciously creepy short story collection Back of Beyond. Her most recent novel, the quirky* coming of age story Odd Man Out, should be a break-out book. It won the prestigious TD Canadian Children's Literature Prize (for which Rex Zero was shortlisted, I might add) and the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize in 2007. (Side note: Can we all agree that prize sounds more exciting than award?) On her site, she describes the book's genesis:

Once I was visiting a school and a grade seven boy asked me to consider writing a book about espionage. I'm not that interested in espionage (although I like the gadgets and the mysterious secrecy of it all) but I did find myself thinking a lot about a boy who was, himself, interested in espionage and spies. That boy turned into Kip. The other thing that is behind this book is my love for stories that have a group of kids in them, like Cheaper by the Dozen or the Casson family stories by Hilary McKay and I wanted to try such a book myself. A gang of five girl cousins is the result. I also like island stories so I put them all on an island.

I've also heard that she's no slouch in the genius writing teacher department herself.

*Not in the bad way.

Posted at 01:37 PM in Books, Children's Lit Fabulosity | Permalink

Comments

You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

Read Read

Kathi Appelt: The Underneath
Appelt's first novel is a beautiful, magical fantasy for younger readers that will instantly become a classic. Seriously. I can imagine this book being in classrooms right alongside Charlotte's Web in a hundred years. The writing is poetic in the good way, and there's a lamia. Children are going to absolutely fall in love with Appelt's equally kind and brutal universe, where love conquers most, and it can take millenia to come to your senses.
Jincy Willett: The Writing Class
With her second novel, Willett matches the perfect pitch and execution of her brilliant short stories. Every writer will want to read this novel--very little wincing is involved, but expect a great deal of laughter. C and I found ourselves reading pieces aloud, after howling provoked the "what's so funny?" question. As with any good writing workshop or class, the characters become more appealing as you get to know them, and ultimately what she has pulled off is a satisfying mystery, and a satisfying exploration of humanity. Amy Gallup is a character to remember.
Karen Joy Fowler: Wit's End
A new novel by Karen Fowler really is something to be excited about, unlike many of the writers for whom such praise gets bandied about. (If you're smirking because you think you know something about her work from the title--not the book--The Jane Austen Book Club, please go sit in the corner and read any of her novels. You're welcome.) This is an unmystery-like mystery, concerned not so much with dead bodies--though there are plenty--as with the mysteries of healing and the heart, politics and people. How is it that a writer gets a lens on the present that's as revealing as the one she employs in historical fiction? Now that's a mystery. Highly recommended.
Steve Erickson: Zeroville
Steve Erickson novels are often like dreams, or revelations, or discovered artifacts, or written just for you. Zeroville's no different, although it is perhaps the most readily graspable example of his work to date. The Rosetta Stone is there; the secret decoder ring is a film projector. The dizzying Hollywood confidential stylings will make your inner film geek happy, but the uncovering of a truly mythic cinematic story--since cinema has existed forever--of sacrifice and redemption is even more memorable. See also: this review.
Ursula Dubosarsky: The Red Shoe (Neal Porter Books)
Set in Sydney during WWII, this wonderful novel travels between the view from inside each of three sisters. Dubosarsky perfectly captures the differences that come from being the younger, older, or middle child. Perfectly conjuring the period, and yet creating a completely accessible story, the narrative contrasts chapters focusing on the family with interstitials from the Sydney newspapers of the time, stories of polio, the H-bomb, and a defecting Russian spy (who happens to be in hiding next door). Nothing here is heavy-handed. Everything is perfectly balanced. It's a beautiful, beautiful novel. See my full take here.
Kara Jesella: How Sassy Changed My Life: A Love Letter to the Greatest Teen Magazine of All Time
So, I'll tell you up front that this book delivers the goods. You will wallow in your Sassy forever-love, and feel as if you've just binged on a lot of especially great issues when you finish it. As the ladies say, this was a magazine about hope. Hope that there was something out there, some Great Beyond better than your teenagedom. And, lo and behold, that promise was kept, even though Sassy got murdered. Added bonus? An excellent portrait of the beginning of Third Wave feminism. See my full take here.