The Governor General Literary Awards at Rideau Hall, April 18, 2024!

Author photo courtesy Terry Fan

Here it is, the last day of 2024! What was my TOP POST of the year? Yep, my visit to Rideau Hall on April 18, to receive the incredible honour of the gift of a GG award for my book FIREFLY.

An amazing day for any writer, enjoy! And Happy New Year all:

"Well, it's happened! The 4-year wait for the Governor General Awards has ended, and all the literary laureates from 2020-2023 have been celebrated in a four-day visit to Ottawa this April!

I'm still processing, and when the official photos come out, I'll share them along with more thoughts about the experience. Sincere thanks to illustrator Terry Fan for the candid photo of me before the ceremony, in the sunroom at Rideau Hall! 

Thank you to the Governor General of Canada and to the Canada Council for the Arts for hosting us writers, from all over the country. It was an absolute blast to meet 60+ laureates (usually it's 14 or so), and to visit the archives, the National Gallery, the Canadian War Museum (a personal trip), and then Rideau Hall together on April 18th. 

Each of us took our turn in front of the crowd of 200+ attendees, listened as our book was cited by the GG committee, then met Her Excellency The Right Honourable Mary Simon, our Governor General. 

FIREFLY, leather-bound, on the right

When we shook hands, our Governor General whispered, "good morning!" then smiled and handed me my gift: a leather-bound copy of my winning middle-grade book, FIREFLY. Apparently we were photographed together, but all I remember honestly, is her sweet smile and her green eyes!

A wondrous day. Thank you to my publisher, Marc Cote (Cormorant Books), and my editor, Barry Jowett, who were both there to celebrate with me. I told them when I was standing in front of the crowd filled with joy (and more than a little emotion), I was 9-year-old Philippa and 60-year-old Philippa, and every Philippa in-between, who wrote and failed, then wrote some more.

The Pink Room, Rideau Hall, for lunch

A magical experience, I'm filled with gratitude. Thank you and congratulations to all the laureates, it was SO great to meet you and celebrate together!

Here is the complete list of Governor General laureates 2020-2023.

Official photos of me with the Governor General and other laureates 

For all posts about FIREFLY on this blog.

Our amazing Governor General and Firefly

 

Author with Her Excellency The Right Honourable Mary Simon

On April 18, 2024, I was honoured (so incredibly honoured), to meet the Governor General of Canada, Her Excellency The Right Honourable Mary Simon, at her home in Rideau Hall, Ottawa. I'm holding her gift to me, a leather-bound copy of my award-winning book, FIREFLY. As an author, you don't get many (or any other) days like this.

The Governor General award is our country's highest literary award, congratulations to all the nominees and winners. I celebrated with the 2020-2023 winners, all 63 of us, among them some of my favourite writers, including the amazing Fan Brothers, David Robertson, Eric Walters, Sarah Everett, Jen Ferguson, and many more. 

As always, thank you to Marc Cote, publisher of Cormorant Books, and my wonderful editor, Barry Jowett, from DCB Young Readers. Thanks also to my sister-in-law, whose costume shop is the setting for the story. I'm wearing her silk scarf, glad to have a little bit of her with me to celebrate in Rideau Hall. She'd be proud. 

Full GG Awards 2024 Photo Gallery. Many thanks to the GG awards for the use of their photos.
Official Photographer: MCpl Matthieu Racette, Rideau Hall © OSGG, 2024

All posts about FIREFLY and the Governor General Award.

The Governor General award winners, 2021. CONGRATS ALL!

What book did I hide from my family as a kid?

 

Thank you to the Winnipeg International Writer's Festival and the ThinAir Kids Festival for asking me to be part of their 2023 festival online! The festival is finished now, but they had a great site which featured Canadian writers and books, including FIREFLY. The festival also featured the Manitoba Young Reader's Choice Awards (MYRCA), and FIREFLY is part of that wonderful award, too. Thank you all!

The ThinAir Kids festival posted my book reading and book trailer for FIREFLY,  plus I answered their 5 "Getting to know you" questions, reprinted with permission below. What book did I hide from my family as a kid, is my desk neat or messy? Read on ...

1.    What book did you hide from your parents when you were a kid/teen, and why?

A: I don’t remember hiding a book, but I do remember hiding how I felt about one. When I was 14, I read and re-read my older brother’s copy of The Lord of the Rings, much to my mother’s dismay. For some reason the book unsettled her, maybe because after reading it my brother longed to leave home and live in Middle Earth. So when I read LOTR I longed more quietly than my brother, but understood (thanks to him) that we all yearn for Rivendell once we’ve been there.

2.    What is your favourite line from a book -- any book?

A: Well this is an impossible choice. So I’ll go back to my first book-love, and pick a line from Charlotte’s Web: “It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer.”

3.    Are you a clean desk person or a cluttered desk person?

A: My desk is relatively clean and tidy: right now it holds a few choice pens, a pencil, my glasses case, a few bookmarks, my cell phone top right corner, my laptop and monitor. My office though is a cluttered, busy place filled with boxes, guitars, sheet music, computers, paper, books, and art.

4.    What worry wakes you up at night?

A:  If I’m sleepless or discontented, it’s usually because I’m worried about what we’re doing to the planet. My children are adults now, but what will it be like for their children? For the young readers of my books? My newest book, Oculum Echo, is all about climate change and survival after environmental collapse. If you’re wondering if it helps to write about what scares me, the answer is yes: I get to structure the narrative and re-write the ending.

5.    What is one of your secret ambitions?

A: I’ve played guitar since I was 12 and have composed and recorded music ever since. I play casually with friends and sometimes at special events if someone asks, but my secret unfulfilled ambition is that I’ve always wanted to be in a band with maybe a violin, a piano, a bass player, and me. It’s just never happened. 

FIREFLY has a new translation in Macedonian!

 

Macedonian Cover of FIREFLY by Philippa Dowding

Here it is folks, my first foreign edition of any of my books: Firefly in Macedonian! I love the cover, thank you to publisher SF for creating a version for young Macedonian readers to enjoy. Thanks also to my wonderful Canadian publisher, DCB Young Readers, for making the deal.

It's a new world for me, I don't know much about foreign rights but I DO know that I love the differences between the Canadian version and the Macedonian version of the cover. I also love the fact that my name looks like "Puana Daylight." Now that's a name I can get behind! 

The Macedonian release date is a week away, I can't wait to see my copy!

FIREFLY is an IODE Violet Downey Award 2022 Nominee!

 

I'm SO honoured to say that FIREFLY has been nominated for the IODE Violet Downey Award 2022!

Thank you to the nominating committee, and congratulations to the other nominees and their publishers. FIREFLY is my first nomination for this prestigious award.

Here is a little more about the award: 

"Through the generosity of an IODE member, the late Mrs. Violet Downey, IODE Canada established The National Chapter of Canada IODE Violet Downey Book Award in 1984. The first award was presented in 1985. 

This award is offered annually for the best children’s English language book containing at least 500 words of text in any category, suitable for children aged 13 and under. To be eligible, the book must have been written by a Canadian citizen and must have been distributed in Canada during the calendar year immediately preceding the National Chapter Annual Meeting held in May."

The winner will be announced at the IODE Annual General Meeting on May 27, 2022. Here are the other nominees, congrats all!

Children of the Fox, Kevin Sands (Penguin Random House)

Meranda and the Legend of the Lake, Meagan Mahoney (Owlkids Books)

The Undercover Book List, Colleen Nelson (Pajama Press)

Tremendous Things, Susin Nielsen (Penguin Random House)

FIREFLY is a CCBC Expert Pick, March 2022

"This award-winning book is a poignant exploration of grief that touches on many heavy topics but with a light touch that leaves readers feeling hopeful and more conscious of the fact that there is often so much more in people's minds and hearts and lives than what we see on the surface. 

The characters are deftly drawn, the setting is unique, and Firefly's story is moving and thought-provoking." 

—Lisa Doucet, Woozles Bookstore, Halifax

Really honoured that FIREFLY is an Expert Pick in this month's issue of the Canadian Children's Book Centre's March 2022 newsletter. Thank you to them for the lovely review. Shine bright, Firefly!

Read the entire review here: FIREFLY is an Expert Pick

5 Questions About My Book, FIREFLY!

FIREFLY is my thirteenth book for children, thank you to DCB Young Readers, my amazing publisher. 

FIREFLY recently won the 2021 Governor General's Literary Award for Young People's Literature (text) and has also received another five shortlist nominations, including the Ruth & Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Awards and the OLA Red Maple Awards.

Set in a real downtown Toronto costume shop, it's a story about mental health, PTSD, homelessness and poverty. BUT, it's also about the indomitable spirit of a 13-year-old girl, and her imperfect but amazing aunt, who runs the costume shop.

Order FIREFLY now.

Here are the top 5 questions I think people might ask about the book, enjoy!

1. What is FIREFLY about?

Firefly has been sleeping in the Toronto park across from her mother's house for most of the summer.  Then the Bad Night happens and she gets nabbed by social services, who send her to live at The Corseted Lady costume shop with her Aunt Gayle. The costume shop has 7 million pieces in it, enough for Firefly to try all kinds of identities in grade nine at her new high school. But which one is the real Firefly?

2. What made you want to write this story?

The setting for the story is inspired by a real costume shop in Toronto, run by my extended family members: 

Read more about Thunder Thighs here. 

It's an amazing place, a warehouse with 7 million pieces in it! Along with all the beautiful costumes, you'd have to include the huge collections of things like buttons, eye glasses, boots, shoes, fascinators to reach that number, though. My sister-in-law started the shop in the 1980s, and built it into a very successful business, creating and renting costumes for the Canadian film, theatre and television industry. She made my wedding dress, for instance, which was used on at least one CBC franchise! Costumes transform us, but also reveal who we are. I wanted Firefly's story to be more about who she becomes, than who she was on the street, and costumes are a great way to achieve that.

3. Firefly and her mother don't reconcile by the end of this story. Is this a little unusual for a middle-grade book?

Without giving too much away, I did want to write a story that explores the long-term struggle a young person has with a parent who, for various reasons, cannot parent their child properly. There's no fast, easy way to heal and to write any other kind of ending would be untruthful. But the story isn't really focused on the past. In the indomitable spirit of a young teenager, Firefly looks forward. She's curious, loving, smart, resourceful and with help from her aunt, her friend Charlie, a good social worker and a few others, she starts a journey of self-discovery. And in a costume shop, that journey can go in some amazing and hilarious directions! 

The ending is hopeful too, and there is the suggestion that Firefly and her mother will talk again, one day. When Firefly is ready.

4. What is your favourite part of the book?

It was a real honour to write a story inspired by a family-run business, one that my kids have worked at, that I have watched grow and change for decades. I have lots of memories about it, including the carrot costume that one family member wore every Halloween, or the motorcycle cop outfit that my son loved at age 13. It's a family story, so I love that about it, although it is a piece of fiction. The book is also quite hilarious in places, strange things can happen in a costume shop, especially at Halloween (which is when the story is set). I really love Chapter Fourteen, "There's Always a Guy in a Gorilla Suit," which I think is one of the funniest things I've ever written!  I'll just leave that there!

Firefly statue from friends, Dec. 2021

5. What is the main message you want young readers to take away from FIREFLY?

I think any child, whether in a difficult home situation or not, will identify with the courage and humour in Firefly. We're all luminous, beautiful creatures, lit from within, and there are people who see that in us, too. The main message I want kids to hear: find your crew, and let them love you and help you. You're not alone.

BOOK LAUNCH Q&A on YouTube: Kidlit blogger Helen Kubiw interviews me on all things FIREFLY.

Firefly is a CBC Books "28 Middle-Grade Books" Pick, March 2021

Firefly is an EXPERT PICK, Canadian Children's Book Centre March 2021

Beautiful Review from CanLit for Little Canadians

Here's a short YouTube video of ME Reading FIREFLY

FIREFLY BOOK TRAILER

More about FIREFLY on this BLOG

Singing lobsters, medieval warriors, and There's Always a Guy in a Gorilla Suit ...

 

"Gloria! You are HILARIOUS!" one of the ladies laughs, then they all grab a lobster costume. One of them sees me watching and says, 'We're a vocal quartet!' I just cannot imagine what kind of party they are going to dressed as four singing lobsters. It takes a certain self-confidence to go to a Halloween party dressed as one quarter of a lobster quartet.

This idea actually makes me quite happy. I'm perilously close to giggling." --From FIREFLY, p. 103

Ever wondered what Halloween in a costume shop might be like?

Firefly knows. She lives in the Corseted Lady costume shop with her Aunt Gayle, which is much better than the park where she used to live. But it takes some getting used to, especially around Halloween. Singing lobster quartets, medieval warriors, Gorilla Suit Guy, that's just the start.

Here's a YouTube clip of me reading this chapter:

There's a new FREE TEACHER'S GUIDE and an excerpt from the book, too.

Halloween is coming! Spend some time with Firefly in her Aunt's costume shop, based on a real costume shop in Toronto, run by my extended family. ENJOY!

All Posts About FIREFLY on this blog

A lovely tweet for FIREFLY from a fan ...

It's not every day that an author gets a TWEET like this from a reader! 

Thank you, Andy7071, you may not realize how inspiring it is for an author to hear from a reader, that their story, their character, their words, have moved another person. Writing a story is such a leap of faith: faith that someone will read it, that it will make sense to them, that it will speak to them in a way that matters or deepens their understanding of the world.

Faith restored!

Read an excerpt of FIREFLY: Philippa Dowding, Open Book

Watch a short clip of Philippa reading on YouTube

MORE ABOUT FIREFLY ON THIS BLOG

 

CLICK TO ORDER

Family, PTSD, homelessness and more, FIREFLY interview on Deborah Kalb's blog

I'm so honoured to be the featured author on US blogger Deborah Kalb's blog this week! She asked me some great questions about my latest book, FIREFLY, and I had a lot of fun answering them. Thanks Deborah!

See the FULL Q&A INTERVIEW.

We talked about finding story inspiration, how the story started, how it ended, my writing process along the way, what I hope young readers take from the story, and also finding that fine writing balancing act of pain and humour, a delicate combination in a middle-grade book about serious issues like PTSD, homelessness and parental addiction. 

Click for the whole interview. Here's Question 2:

"What do you think the novel says about definitions of family?

One thing I’ve learned from raising my family in a busy city is that our definition of family is constantly changing, and that we help, support and love each other in ways that make us family, whether we’re related by blood or not.

Firefly has a friend in the park who looks out for her, a homeless man named Moss Cart, who despite his own challenges helps her as best he can. She helps him, too. There’s also a group of therapists at Jennie’s, a women’s drop-in centre, who teach Firefly coping techniques for PTSD (the therapists don’t know she is only 13).

And there’s Aunt Gayle who barely knows her niece, but agrees to shelter and care for Firefly as soon as the social worker contacts her. Aunt Gayle’s staff at The Corseted Lady all care for Firefly, too. As they spend time together in the days before Halloween (a busy time in a costume shop), they give Firefly support and validation in the most unusual way (and a plot twist that I can’t give away!).

When she starts grade nine six weeks later than everyone else, Firefly also discovers a family of school friends she never expected.

The only traditional family member in the story is her mother (who she calls Joanne-the-mother), who has failed Firefly. At the end of the book, they are not reconciled although there are supports in place for Firefly if she ever wants to connect with her mother.

What is a family? Ultimately in this book, it’s up to Firefly."

NEW: Watch my short 3-minute reading from FIREFLY, on BIBLIOVIDEO

More about Firefly on THIS BLOG.

FIREFLY is an Amazing New Middle Grade Read for Spring on the 49th Shelf!

 

FIREFLY is one of 10 books named an "Amazing new middle grade read" for spring, 2021 by the 49th Shelf! Thank you!

Here's the 49th Shelf Post 

I'm in great company with authors Mahtab Narsimhan, Kathy Kacer, Michelle Kadarusman, Marthe Jocelyn, Roy McGregor, Leslie Gentile and more. Congrats all! 

Also congratulations to my amazing publisher, DCB Young Readers, who has TWO titles on this prestigious list. Elvis, Me and the Lemonade Stand Summer, by Leslie Gentile, is also published by them.

AND, thank you to the Canadian Children's Book Centre and Bibliovideo, who have featured my three-minute reading from FIREFLY HERE. Go see what my messy office looks like! 😊

The good news for Firefly just keeps coming, and I'm really honoured. Keep reading everyone!
All posts about FIREFLY on this blog.

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.