WIN a free copy of Everton Miles is Stranger than Me

"A charming sequel that is funny, magical and entertaining." Kirkus Reviews

It's GoodReads Giveaway time for Everton Miles is Stranger than Me, book 2 in The Night Flyer's Handbook series.

The sequel to my Red Maple nominated title, The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden (2014), this story picks up where we left off. Gwendolyn has to start grade 9, PLUS she has to get to know the strange new boy in town. He's Everton Miles, and he's a Night Flyer, too.

Get a chance to win your free copy now: Everton Miles Goodreads Giveaway 

Hurry, giveaway ends Feb. 18!

Rave Reviews:

                                                      "A must-read" CCBC BookNews
                                                      "Funny, magical and entertaining" Kirkus Reviews
                                                      "Wildly creative, wonderfully strange" OpenBook
                                                      Goodreads reviews 4.24/5 star average


'

E for Excellent for Everton Miles is Stranger than Me

"Author Dowding describes her heroine’s heart breaking several times until she has to face the powerful darkness of the Shade. It is at that point that she discovers the inner strength borne of her deep affection and sincere joy for those around her and those who are no longer.

Dowding’s effective use of magic realism gives this novel the flexibility to reconcile the minutiae of everyday life with the huge events that can derail it, allowing a resolution that neither diminishes nor exaggerates either of these polar opposites.

Themes: Family Life; Siblings; High School; Friendship; Grief; Self-Respect

E/Excellent; Resource Links Magazine, Oct 2016"

What a fantastic review for my newest title, Everton Miles is Stranger than Me. Thank you Resource Links, it's been a while since they've given me an "E" for Excellent (their highest rating).

This new book was really a beautiful write for me, drawing together everything I loved about the prequel, The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden (which was nominated for the Red Maple award, 2015), and letting me really explore the fantasy world of Abilith the Rogue. I kind of let my fantasy -loving side take over in this book, and answered all the questions readers had about book one: how did Night Flyer's originate on Earth, where did Gwendolyn's father go, what's the Shade?

Really honoured to pull an "E" for Everton!

For more blog posts about Everton Miles is Stranger than Me:

Kirkus Reviews (Oct 2016) "A charming sequel... a page-turner that is funny, magical and entertaining"

Blog Tour Schedule (Oct 15-20) Guest blog posts on everything from Vulcans to magic realism.

Goodreads Review

Everton Miles is Stranger than Me KIRKUS REVIEW

"Dowding offers a charming sequel ... a page-turner that is funny, magical and entertaining."
--KirkusReviews July/2016

There's nothing tougher for an author than waiting for the first review of a new book. It brings new light to the old phrase, "waiting on tenterhooks"-- whatever those are!

(Quick lookup on Merriam Webster: "a sharp nail used for fastening cloth on a tenter." Oddly oblique, but the sharp nail part is apt.)

Sewing implements aside, I couldn't be more pleased with this first, fantastic review of my new book, Everton Miles is Stranger than Me, from Kirkus Reviews in the U.S.

THANK YOU, KIRKUS! They bill themselves as the "toughest reviews of the world's bestselling books," so they're no nonsense, honest and it's quite an honour to get them to review you.

All to say, huzzah!

More to come on Everton Miles is Stranger than Me soon (release date is October 15, 2016 from Dundurn Press), but here is the Amazon page if you'd like to read the first chapter, or pre-order your own copy: Everton Miles on Amazon

And of course, here's the Goodreads page for book one, The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden which was Shortlisted for the OLA Red Maple award in 2015.

And the booktrailer! The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden

COMING OCTOBER 2016, Everton Miles is Stranger than Me

Sequel to The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden, shortlisted for the OLA Red Maple Award.

'I wander around like any normal, paranoid self-absorbed teenager. Do we all think we're being chased by deadly entities, I wonder? Probably, but how many of us actually are?'

Gwendolyn Golden, Night Flyer, floats over the cornfields all summer. What draws her to the same spot, night after night? All she knows for sure, is that change is coming: she's starting high school, plus there's a strange new boy in town.

He's Everton Miles, and he's a Night Flyer, too.

Soon the mismatched teenagers face dangers they never imagined, including a fallen Spirit Flyer, kidnap, and the eternal darkness of the Shade. How will Gwendolyn handle her new life and grade nine? With help from The Night Flyer's Handbook, and her strange new friend, it might not be that hard. 

Read more on the Dundurn Press Site

I have to say that I couldn't be more excited about a book! This story, book 2 in The Night Flyer's Handbook series, takes us further into Gwendolyn's life, and through her first year of grade nine. She's a little older, wiser, and more comfortable with her strange gift of flight, but there is still a world that she doesn't understand yet. There are boys (a kinder, gentler Martin Evells turns up again), and there's the bizarre world of grade nine, PLUS there's Everton Miles, the only other teenager she's ever met who can fly, too.

At first she thinks that he's nothing like her, but as she gets to know him, she realizes that he really is, at least in the things that matter most. She has a lot to face, including nefarious forces, the loss of her father, and the deadly Shade, not to mention the "decision" she has to make at the end of the book: to fly, or not to fly, for life. She has an 800-page handbook to help her navigate all these changes, plus her old friends, her family, her Mentor, Mrs. Forest, plus (most unfortunately) a school-appointed family therapist ... but more than all that, she has Everton Miles.

Here are reviews of Book 1, The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden, which was nominated for the OLA Red Maple Award 2015. If you enjoy magic realism, YA and flight literature, you're in the right place! Stay tuned for more!

Related Blog Posts:

Judy Blume's Read-Alikes (49th Shelf)
Birdman, The Karman Line, and The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden: Magic Realism in movies and Literature
Why I Chose a Poem from Gwendolyn MacEwen as an Epigraph and more

Reviews:

Quill and Quire (Starred Review)
Canadian Teacher Magazine (13 year old reader)
International Blogger (Giraffe Days)
Goodreads

Book Trailer:

Here's the Book Trailer for Book 1.

Sales:

The Night Flyer's Handbook Series is available at your library, favourite bookstore and from:

Amazon
Indigo
Dundurn Press