Frye Festival

On Monday I head off to the Frye Festival, a literary festival in Moncton. This will be my first time at the festival, and in New Brunswick (the last maritime province I've yet to visit). I feel pretty lucky as a children's author because I get to read not only at the festival, but in schools too. Meeting lots of teachers, kids, and the volunteers who drive authors around (always the nicest people, and deeply informed about where they live), I get a much better sense of the place. Should be fun!

They're saying nice things about "The Big Swim"

The first reviews of "The Big Swim" are coming out and they're rather nice. Publishers Weekly writes, "Fagan perfectly captures the summer camp experience" and calls the book "satisfying and charming." CM Magagine calls it "a thoughtful exploration of how children judge each other and the bonds of friendships." The review in Quill & Quire is also very good but I read it standing in a bookstore, too cheap to pay for it, so I don't have a copy to quote from.

The image, by the way, doesn't come from the book. It's from the cottage we borrowed last summer.

In the middle of winter, a taste of summer (camp)

April fool's day is the official publication date of 'The Big Swim,' a short kids' novel about a boy nicknamed "Pinky", his first camp experience, the arrival of a 'bad' kid, a girl named Amber Levine, and the infamous Big Swim. Since it is now listed on amazon.com and indigo.com I figure I can get away with this rather early notice. Mostly it's an excuse to post the great cover, designed by Michael Solomon of Groundwood Books. I think the cover perfectly captures the book's spirit of humour, adventure, but also its darker side.

I wrote the first draft immediately after the first draft of "The Fortress of Kasper Snit" quite a few years ago. Three Snit books and several others have made it to publication first. Some stories just want to take their time.

More 'Jacob'

Life has been busy and I haven't had a chance to post much lately. But I'm pleased to be able to mention that 'Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas' was named a 'Book of the Year' by 'Quill & Quire' magazine and a best book of 2009 by the magazine 'Resource Links.' Sweet.

Writing Courses

In the last week of January I'll be starting two new introductory courses in writing picture books. I believe that one is full but there may be spots for the other (Thursday afternoons) for anyone interested. Contact the School of Continuing Studies at the University of Toronto. The website is learn.utoronto.ca.

Kasper goes to the Silver Birch Awards

I'm very excited by the news that the third volume in the Kasper Snit trilogy, 'Ten Lessons for Kasper Snit,' is a nominee for the Silver Birch Express Award. That means thousands of kids in Ontario schools will get a chance to read it and vote for it--or some other favourite.

The first two Kaspar Snit books were also nominees. Third time lucky? Well, I won't hold my breath--especially since the ceremony isn't until May. But I'm going to have fun along the way.

Andrea Martin...and me?

Yesterday I had the pleasure of hearing Andrea Martin read an hour-long version of 'Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang' before an audience of enthralled kids and adults at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto. Of course I watched Andrea on the great sketch-comedy TV show SCTV years ago (my friends and I were ardent early fans), but she has gone on to become a Broadway actor, winning a Tony and many other awards. Her voices were hysterically funny, especially for the Hood Fang himself (across between Yoda and Nathan Detroit, I'd say). The organizers were kind enough to invite me and afterwards we had fun signing books together. Of course I was under no illusion as to who the real draw was!