More from the Consortium catalog - this time for teens & kids
After covering the titles for adults in the fall/winter Consortium catalog for small presses, I wanted to also share some titles for teens and kids that caught my eye. Here they are, along with some catalog copy descriptions:
Wild Ocean, Ed by Matt Dembicki (he also edited Trickster: Native American Tales) (Fulcrum Publishing). In this graphic collection, Matt Dembicki....explores the adventures of twelve iconic endangered sea animals: hawkbill turtle, bluefin tuna, hammerhead shark, giant clam, manatee....Produced in cooperation with the nonprofit PangeaSeed, these gripping stories instill a passion to conserve our magnificent sea creatures.
For ages 8 and up this is a format and topic I never get tired of. I liked Trickster and I'm eager to see what Dembicki does here.
Breath of Wilderness: The Life of Sigurd Olson by Kristin Eggerling. (Fulcrum Publishing) ...the story of Sigurd Olson's love for wild places and how that love transformed his life. It inspired him to play a key role in the movement to preserve wilderness throughout North America, including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the largest lakefront wilderness in the country. Olson's successful writing career, born from his devotion, spread his fervor worldwide. This is a story of one man finding his passion and standing up for what he believed even in the face of tremendous adversity.
Secret Lives by Berthe Amoss (from the Lizzie Skurnick Books imprint at IG Publishing). The Lizzie Skurnick imprint is about bringing back into print YA lit from the 30s and 40s through the 70s and 80s. Although much of the appeal will likely be to adults filled with nostalgia for long out-of-print titles from their childhood, I think Secret Lives in particular should be received well by today's MG & young teen readers of historical fiction. Here's a bit:
Set against the backdrop of 1930s New Orleans, Berthe Amoss's 1979 young adult mystery follows twelve-year-old Addie Agnew as she struggles to uncover the secret of her mother's death. Living with her spinster aunts in a house that's practically haunted, Addie was always told her mother was perfect and was swept off to sea with Addie's father in a Honduran tidal wave. But Addie suspects there's something her aunts aren't telling her, and it has something to do with the locked trunk in the attic. What's in the trunk? And what really happened to Addie's parents? In this classic story about family secrets and growing up, Addie will stop at nothing to discover truth about her mother, even if learning the truth will change everything forever.
Lone Wolves by John Smelcer (Leapfrog Press). Deneena Yazzie's love of the woods and trail come from her grandfather, who teaches her their all-but-vanished Native Alaskan language. While her peers lose hope, trapped between the old and the modern cultures, and turn to destructive behaviors, Denny and her mysterious lead dog, a blue-eyed wolf, train for the Great Race - giving her town a new pride and hope.
This one is a no-brainer for me - the Alaska setting, suggestion of dying language, Iditarod and struggle between old and new. Smelcer is an Alaskan Native who is the last surviving reader of the Ahtna language. Looking forward to it.
Nine Open Arms by Benny Lindelauf (Enchanted Lion). Oh how I love Enchanted Lion! What a great publisher - their books are STUNNING. This one is for MG readers - here's a bit:
A ghost story, a fantasy, a historical novel, and literary fiction all wrapped into one, this highly awarded novel for young readers begins with the Boon family's move to an isolated, dilapidated house. Is it the site of a haunting tragedy, as one of the daughters believes, or an end to all their worries, as their father hopes? The novel's gripping language, enriched by Yiddish, German, and Dutch dialect, plunges the reader into the world of a large, colorful motherless family.
[To All My Fans, With Love, From Sylvie is another great book from Lizzie Skurnick Books. Find out more here.]
