Help with my A to Z Challenge with Quebec and Whisky

[Jemima]

Hi all! In April every year there is a A to Z Blogging Challenge, where bloggers post something beginning with A on the 1st, B on the 2nd, and... you get the picture :)

This year I've decided to use the theme of the NATO Phonetic alphabet. It therefore happens that my usual book review days need to feature Echo, Kilo, Quebec, and Whisky.

I can do echo (dolphins) and kilo (er, a diet book!) but I am stuck for any books involving Quebec or whisky (which I rather hoped might be the name of a pony, rather than a drink).

If anyone has any inspirations for me for these two words, preferably MG books but anything other than a travel guide will help, then do let me know on this thread.

Thanks a million.

PS You'll realise why I chose the NATO alphabet theme when you see the title of my next book!

PPS Any blogger can sign up for the AtoZ Challenge - usually opens at the end of January at atozchallenge.com

[Cheryl]

I went to goodreads.com/places and paged through to:

https://www.goodreads.com/places/7269...

and

https://www.goodreads.com/places/8463...

Since that second one isn't terribly helpful, I also simply typed 'whiskey' into the search box for Listopia - there might be something here:

https://www.goodreads.com/search?utf8...

For example, Dandelion Wine is a spectacular MG book - you could maybe compare whiskey to wine....

[Cheryl]

And I learned something new. You spell it 'whisky' because you're from the UK. I'm from USA, so I add an 'e.'

[M.G.]

So this might be a stretch for whisky or whiskEy, but here in the US whiskey was originally made out on the frontier as "moonshine," that is, by people in their own backyard stills. (I don't know if this is a word used in Britain or not, spelled with or without an e -- the English language is so very interesting . . . )

So there is a children's picture book that won the Caldecott Medal in 1971 called Sam, Bangs & Moonshine. Here the word "moonshine" is used to mean made-up stories.

Good luck on the A to Z blog -- can't wait to see what you've come up with for X!

[M.G.]

Cheryl in CC NV wrote: "I went to goodreads.com/places and paged through to:

https://www.goodreads.com/places/7269...

and

https://www.goodreads.com/places/8463...

Since that second one is..."

Dandelion Wine has been on my reading list, but I didn't realize that it was written for kids. Bradbury is one of my favorite writers, but he's always a little depressing -- but now you've really piqued my curiosity, and I'm going to have to finally get around to checking this one out of the library!

[Rebecca]

I managed to find a book about a horse named Whiskey for Jemima to read!
That Horse Whiskey!

She gets to find out for herself if it's any good :)

[Carolien]

On the topic of whisky - only Scottish whisky may be spelled without the E. Whiskey produced in any other part of the world (including Ireland) is spelled with an E - whiskey.

I received a tour of a whiskey distillery at some point long ago and remember that part of the lecture. I think it is also related to what can be called whiskey and what is bourbon (which I think can only be attached to whiskey produced in Kentucky!)

[Jemima]

Thank you all for your comments. Yes, Carolien, you're quite right, which is why I spell it naturally as whisky. Scotch whisky, Irish whiskey. But the NATO alphabet, which is my key for this challenge, spells it whiskey, which makes sense.

Having had a spur from Rebecca to do some more searching, I found the listopias on Goodreads very useful. Quebec threw me towards a crime series by Louise Penny starring an inspector from the Quebec Surite. Given my penchant for sleuths (I'm a big fan of Montalbano) my followers will forgive me for not sticking with MG, I hope.

I had a look at That Horse Whiskey, but wasn't so keen on it, and it was quite expensive to buy in the UK. It's only for a blog challenge, after all!

I did consider the bootleg aspect as my other protagonist, Dylan, recently had a free short story out (off sale now). He discovered his uncle was turning strawberry juice into moonshine and smuggling it out of the country! But I've now picked another crime story; Whiskey Rebellion, which sounds extremely funny (and not MG).

As for X, the Nato word is X-ray, but as it falls on a Monday, I can write anything I like about it - I'm only doing book reviews for letters that fall on a Saturday in April.

Since I'm talking about it, I'm doing a cover reveal for my next book, Bravo Victor, for April 2nd. Is anyone interested in doing a cover reveal post for me around then?

[Rebecca]

Jemima, I'd love to make Bravo Victor my B post for A to Z! Thanks to you I've just started planning :)

[Mary Beth]

ever think about doing whisky as prohibition era and doing a book from the Al Capone series by Gennifer Choldenko? They are middle grade. Just another way of looking at it.

[Jemima]

Mary Beth wrote: "ever think about doing whisky as prohibition era and doing a book from the Al Capone series by Gennifer Choldenko? They are middle grade. Just another way of looking at it."

That's a fascinating idea. I've not heard of those books, but then I haven't heard of a lot of US books :) It's a funny thing these days, but we didn't get many US standards in the UK other the Little Women,What Katy Did, Moby Dick, and the Last of the Mohicans. Even Mark Twain wasn't common reading here in my youth!

[Rebecca]

Well, most of us didn't get a lot of British kids books, anyway. Though there has always been that reverence for the Mother Country that maybe keeps us more connected--and you can't go very far back in US lit., after all :)

[Rebecca]

But Choldenko's books are good, though it would definitely be a jury-rigged connection to whiskey.