FIREFLY is an Expert Pick by the Canadian Children's Book Centre!

"Firefly's compelling story unfolds through her indomitable and spirited first-person narration, and flashbacks revisit her troubled childhood of neglect and parental struggles with addiction. Aunt Gayle's care and kindness wrap around Firefly like a comforting, hand-knit blanket."

--Canadian Children's Book Centre, March 2021 Expert Picks

So honoured that FIREFLY is an Expert Pick in the March 2021 newsletter of the Canadian Children's Book Centre! Thank you so much for the lovely review!

More about Firefly:

Youtube Video of FIREFLY Book Launch, Q&A with kidlit book blogger Helen Kubiw and me.

The Author Reads from FIREFLY, 3-minute YouTube Video

All posts about FIREFLY on this Blog.

A beautiful book launch for FIREFLY and a blog post by Helen Kubiw

 

Thank you to everyone who came to the virtual book launch for FIREFLY (March 2, 2021)! We had over 55 guests, and many wonderful questions from attendees after the main Q&A.

Watch the Q&A Book Launch on YOUTUBE 

My most sincere thanks to kidlit blogger and author, Helen Kubiw, whose questions to me were so thoughtful and really teased out the main themes of the story. 

Also thank you to Another Story Bookshop for handling book sales at the event, and Thunder Thighs Costumes (where the story is set), for supporting the launch. Thanks to Rosana Khabbaz for this beautiful collage of the book and my sister-in-law, whose costume shop inspired the story.

Here is the whole interview on Helen Kubiw's blog: Canlit for Little Canadians, FIREFLY interview with Philippa Dowding 

Enjoy question seven from Helen and my answer below: 

HELEN: 
 Q: One of my favourite characters is Aunt Gayle. She’s fierce but never heavy-handed. She’s open and protective, while giving Firefly both freedom and security. Your acknowledgement tells us Aunt Gayle is based on your sister-in-law. Is she based on her personality, her actions, or both?

PHILIPPA: Yes, the character of Aunt Gayle is inspired by my sister-in-law, who started her costume shop in Toronto’s east end in the late 1970s.

But this is a piece of fiction, so Aunt Gayle is inspired by my sister-in-law, not an exact copy of her, although people who have read the book and who knew her definitely see her personality there. And her costume shop is pretty exactly described in the book.

She was determined, successful, creative, energetic, she loved her family and friends with a fierce devotion. She was also a world champion knitter. We once took her to a baseball game at Rogers Stadium, and she sat and knit the whole time! We always had beautiful hand-knit scarves and hats and sweaters as gifts, which she whipped off for us. So, her devotion and loyalty to her family and friends, her talent as a costume designer, her smarts as a boss and business person, that’s really what I wanted to capture in the story. And her tireless knitting. I think that pretty much sums her up!"

For the whole launch interview

All posts about FIREFLY on this blog

A beautiful first review for FIREFLY ...

"But author Philippa Dowding isn't telling us Firefly's story as dress-up play, as a little girl pretending to be someone else. Though the shop and its costumes are fascinating, colourful and rich in history and entertainment, as are the employees and customers, Firefly is about a child who has had to become an adult, who has endured trauma and negligence, and had to find ways to cope..."

--CanLit for Little Canadians, Feb 8/2021

Full FIREFLY Review here

The first review for my latest book FIREFLY is out, and it's a really thoughtful and beautiful one. Thank you to Helen Kubiw, from Canlit for Little Canadians, for the kind words for FIREFLY.

It's always a bit of a nail-biter for an author, that time before the first review comes out. This one is most appreciated!

YouTube Clip of Philippa Reading from FIREFLY!

More about FIREFLY on this BLOG.

Book Launch: March 2, 2021, Another Story Bookshop online. STAY TUNED!

Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet BOOK TRAILER

My next book, Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet, comes out in September 2019! It's the sixth and final book in the award-winning Weird Stories Gone Wrong series.

It's an environmental resistance dystopia for younger readers (grade 3-6), and it's got a great new BOOK TRAILER, with illustrations from the amazing Shawna Daigle, the series illustrator. Enjoy!

Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet will be ready in book form for early readers in September/2019. But if you'd like to preview a pdf copy, please contact me (leave a message in the comments below) or Dundurn Press (you can also ask to receive a print copy as soon as they are available).

What could be more important and timely than a book about children standing up to a greedy corporation in an act of environmental resistance? Plus it has robots! 

The book has already been named a 49th Shelf Editor's Pick of the Week for Aug. 4 and a Dewey Diva and the Dudes pick for Fall 2019. It's also on the CanLit for Little Canadians fall list with other fantastic Canadian writers, compiled by Helen Kubiw. 

Stay tuned for more on Quinn!

You'll find all 6 book trailers here: Weird Stories Gone Wrong BOOK TRAILERS

More about Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet on this blog
All posts about Weird Stories Gone Wrong on this blog

It's BLOG TOUR WEEK for Everton Miles is Stranger than Me!

The week of Oct 10-15th, 2016, was BLOG TOUR WEEK for my new book.  From Vulcans to John Milton, I talk (a lot) about motivations for the story, themes, writing YA magic realism, and more. Enjoy!

I've never done this before, but with help from my wonderful publicist at Dundurn (thank you, Jaclyn), we've lined up five bloggers to talk about my new book, Everton Miles is Stranger than Me, all week. This book is my 8th children's book in 7 years, and is the sequel to my 2014 title, The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden, which was nominated for the OLA Red Maple award in 2015. The series is called The Night Flyer's Handbook.

The questions from the bloggers have been fantastic, from "describe magic realism in 2 sentences or less," to "what's the nature of forgiveness and mercy in the story," to "who would play your characters in the movie version?" and a lot more. I've answered incredibly insightful questions, and it's an interesting experience to see your book through another reader's eyes. So thank you to all of you for reading my magic realism story, and for sharing it with your readers. It's been fun!

Here's the blog tour schedule:

Sunday/Monday, Oct. 9/10: Philippa Dowding BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE
Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, Oct. 11: Helen Kubiw at CanLit for Little Canadians BOOK REVIEW

Wednesday, Oct. 12: Helen Kubiw, CanLit for Little Canadians, AUTHOR Q&A

Thursday, Oct. 13: Michelle, Fabbity Fab, AUTHOR Q&A

Friday, Oct. 14: Rosemary at MomReadIt, AUTHOR GUEST POST

Saturday, Oct. 15: Dundurn Press Blog, AUTHOR GUEST POST

Please join me for the BOOK LAUNCH: Join me on Saturday, Oct. 22, at Yonge/Eglinton Indigo, 12-3 pm, to get your signed copy (and a free bookmark)! Author reads at 1 pm.

For more reviews of Everton Miles is Stranger than Me:

Kirkus Review "Charming sequel ... a page-turner that is funny, magical and entertaining"
ReviewsInChalk (blogger)
Goodreads

More Info:

Everton Miles is Stranger than Me, Posts on this Blog

The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden BOOK TRAILER

A busy week, for sure, but lots of fun. I hope you'll dip into at least one or two of the blogs throughout the week, to check out their wonderful questions.

The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden is Best of the Month pick!

OLA Red Maple 2015 nominee

"This book is about more than the magic of flying, it is also about the power of friendship, family and most importantly - belief in yourself."--Rayanne, Children's Service, Aurora Public Library

Here's a nice surprise: The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden has been named the Best of the Month book for July in Young Adult reading, at the Aurora Public Library. Thank you so much! Here's the link to the full review: Best of the Month Reading Corner


And another nice surprise: 49th Shelf and Suzanne Sutherland compared Gwendolyn Golden to Judy Blume's classic, "Are you there God? It's me, Margaret," in its Judy Blume/Canlit Read-alikes article last week. Wow. As a 12 year old, I read Judy Blume's book until it fell apart in my hands. I'm really honoured to pull that comparison.

In other good news, my new middle-grade horror title, Myles and the Monster Outside, is getting some very nice reviews on Goodreads. Kirkus Reviews also had some nice things to say about it, particularly that it is "a well written Goosebumps... a gentle but still shivery spook tale." First a comparison to Judy Blume, now Goosebumps?! Quite a week!

There are lots of great books coming out this fall, take a look at this great New young Canlit releases for Fall 2015, compiled by Helen Kubiw at Canlit for Little Canadians (Myles and the Monster Outside is one of them!)

Deep into summer, are we ... many, many books to read ...