Thursday, October 18 - English School Events
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 Please Don’t Ask About My Parents!
Gayle Friesen |
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*The programming details of this event have changed since the Festival Program was printed: How do you cope with parents whose behaviour forces you to recognize that they’re sexual beings as well as mothers and fathers? From “oh, gross!” to acceptance that life as they knew it changed when their parents split up, had affairs, got pregnant, or introduced a new dad and stepchildren into the mix, two young teens in two novels for young adults fi nd they’ve grown up in ways they never expected. Handled with sensitivity and a generous dollop of humour, two experienced novelists tackle family life as many teens experience it today. |
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Suitable for grades 9 to 12 *Study Guide |
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Stories Near and Far
C.J. Taylor |
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Stories may have their roots in your own neighbourhood—Vancouver’s Commercial Drive—or the heavens and underworlds of traditional legends. Governor General’s Literary Award winner Paul Yee and Mohawk storyteller and illustrator C.J. Taylor spin an afternoon’s worth of adventure for young readers. Yee’s stories are fi rmly set in the here and now of our city, while Taylor’s span the mythical worlds of Aboriginal legends across North America. However, as children know, great storytelling has no boundaries. |
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Suitable for grades 1 to 3 *Study Guide |
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The Bite of the Mango
Mariatu Kamara in conversation with Kathryn Gretsinger |
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When Mariatu Kamara was 12 years old in Sierra Leone, she was brutally attacked by armed rebel soldiers who cut off both her hands. The sweet taste of a mango, her first food after the attack, both reaffirmed her desire to live and harshly presented the challenges that lay before her. Eventually arriving in Toronto after begging in the streets of Freetown, Mariatu began to pull together the pieces of her broken life with courage and astounding resilience. Now in her early 20s, Kamara has been named a UNICEF Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict. Her story is told in The Bite of the Mango. |
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Suitable for grades 8 to 12, and adult *Study Guide |
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The Timeless Forces of Good and Evil
Hiromi Goto |
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Those with a taste for dark fantasy and the worlds of magic, adventure and time-travel will revel in new works by authors Hiromi Goto and Matthew Skelton. In Skelton’s novel, merciless rogues are conniving to steal the world’s most divine power, which they believe young Cirrus Flux has inherited. Goto’s heroine Melanie is lured to the purgatory-like Half World to save her mother, only to realize the whole state of the universe is at risk. A violent struggle to restore cosmic balance ensues. With contemporary flair, two accomplished authors bring new relevance to the universal themes of good and evil. |
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Suitable for grades 8 to 10 *Study Guide |
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