The nominees for the 2008-2009 Stellar Teen Book Award, BC’s Teen Reader’s Choice Award have been announced. The Bonemender’s Oath by Holly Bennett and Tell, an Orca Soundings novel by Norah McClintock, have both been nominated. From November to April, teens throughout B.C. read, rank, review, and discuss the nominees. The readers then vote in April, and in May, the winner of the Stellar Book Award is announced. An Orca book has won this award in the last two years – last year’s winner was Red Sea by Diane Tullson and the year before The Beckoners by Carrie Mac took the prize. More info on the Stellar Award here

Posted under Announcements, Awards, Books

We get a lot of very positive calls and comments on our books from readers, booksellers and librarians and we love hearing what the reaction is to certain titles. A common reaction is usually something like: “Thanks so much for publishing these books. [I, my son, my daughter, a student...etc] loved the book, keep ‘em coming.”

A recent caller though, went a bit further. After commenting on how the students in her library loved these books and kept coming back for more, we asked why she thought they were so popular. She said the stories were great, the writing sharp, but most important? “The stories didn’t feel like they were written by a nun!”

We love to hear your comments. Feel free to drop us a line.

Posted under Books

The Rainbow Project, co-sponsored by the American Library Association’s Social Responsibility Round Table and GLBT Round Table, has announced its first annual bibliography for young readers.

The bibliography is “a list of quality fiction and nonfiction titles that present positive views of alternative lifestyles.” (You can learn more on the Rainbow Project’s Myspace page) Books were chosen for their high appeal to readers, quality writing and illustrations, and realistic portrayals of issues.

We’re excited to announce that Beth Goobie’s Hello, Groin has been selected for the list. Congrats, Beth!

Posted under Awards, Books

	Here are a couple of cool photos to get you excited for Shelley Hrdlitschka’s new YA novel, Gotcha!.
Creativity must run in the family—these photos were taken by Shelley’s daughter Cara. Read more about the book and the photos at Shelley’s blog.

Posted under Books

Happy new year, everyone!

So many Orca books were launched in November, we’re still catching up!

Here’s Rachel Dunstan Muller at the launch of her new book Ten Thumb Sam, and a celebratory cake. The launch was at Salamander Books in Ladysmith, BC.

Posted under Books, Events