Introducing the Weird Stories Gone Wrong 6 BOOK SERIES!

HERE THEY ARE! All six covers in the award-winning Weird Stories Gone Wrong series, and what a beautiful job series illustrator Shawna Daigle has done. I'm so lucky!

There are currently five titles available in the series:

Blackwells and the Briny Deep (2018)
Alex and The Other (2018)
Carter and the Curious Maze (2016)
Myles and the Monster Outside (2015)
Jake and the Giant Hand (2014)

And now I'm SO HAPPY to introduce Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet, which comes out from Dundurn Press next fall, September, 2019. It's a resistance dystopia, a little unusual for middle grade readers, but the whole series has been pretty unusual.

The series has covered plenty of weird stories for kids since its start: screaming mermaids on an enchanted island, an evil twin, time-travel at the CNE, a paranormal road-trip and a monster outside the car, and a giant's hand buried in a farmer's field.

More to come about Quinn and the Quiet, Quiet (September, 2019) in the months ahead, but for now, just look at that glorious set of covers!

More about Weird Stories Gone Wrong on this Blog

Two New WEIRD stories for Halloween!

Love WEIRD STORIES?

There are TWO brand new additions to the award-winning Weird Stories Gone Wrong series!

Alex and The Other is about a lonely boy who is suddenly stuck with an EVIL TWIN (mwa-ha-ha).

Blackwells and the Briny Deep is about 3 siblings who run aground on an enchanted (a.k.a. cursed) island.

Both books are available NOW, just in time for Halloween.

AND now there's a 5 book OMNIBUS, so you can check out the entire SPOOKY series at one pretty great low rate: Weird Stories Gone Wrong 5-BOOK BUNDLE

The first four books also have free Teacher's Guides, listed here: Teacher's Guides

There are also creepy new Book trailers, featuring the art of series illustrator, Shawna Daigle:
Alex and the Other, BOOK TRAILER
Blackwells and the Briny Deep, BOOK TRAILER

Enjoy!

More about Weird Stories Gone Wrong on this BLOG

Kids predict what happens in Alex and The Other!

Last week I got this great letter in the mail:

"Dear Philippa!

A grade 4/5 class in my school has been completely taken over by “Alex and The Other” in your latest installment of the series Weird Stories Gone Wrong!

I showed them the cover and read them “This part is mostly true” and “Chapter 1” and stopped … many groans erupted so I threw them a challenge: to predict with from the cover or from what they heard, what this “Weird Story” could be about.

Enclosed are their eager responses. The Teacher was amazed at their enthusiasm ... I am tickled they are this anxious to write their thoughts to you!

Thank you for taking time to read them!"

Thank you to the wonderful teacher-librarian for sharing this, and thanks to the kids for sending their thoughts! I absolutely loved reading their responses. Some of them got pretty close to what happens next, like this one ...

"I’m wondering if the two figures in the background have to do something with the fog. The cat has green eyes, maybe because it might have looked at the two figure’s eyes."

This student has the right idea too: "I think the guy in the mirror is Alex because it winked at him."

And this student: "I think when he looks in the mirror that’s gonna be his double-ganger (sic)!"

Here are some more wildly inventive possibilities:

The Optimist: "I think that Alex is going to go to school but everyone is going to like him because the Alex in the mirror is going to go at night and make everyone be his friend."

The Pessimist: "My guess is that he will get sucked into the mirror because the mirror is doing weird things."

The Realist: "I think that Alex lives in the house because why else will she add that in the story? I also think that the two figures have something to do with the mirror."

Predicting is fun! They're going to be pretty surprised when they read a little further ...

Alex and The Other is NOW AVAILABLE
CM Magazine Review  
Goodreads Reviews
Recently Read Teacher-Librarian REVIEW
Well Worth A Read REVIEW
Geekreads Kids REVIEW
See the BOOK TRAILER 
More About ALEX AND THE OTHER on this BLOG

Alex and The Other is going to the OLA SuperConference!

Grab your free copy of my next book at the OLA SuperConference!

An EVIL TWIN ...
A MISSING CAT ...
PIG-CREATURES whispering in the trees ...

Going to the OLA SuperConference in Toronto?

Come grab a free copy of my latest book, Alex and The Other, book 4 in the award-winning Weird Stories Gone Wrong series!

Thursday, February 1st
1 pm - @1:45 (come early)
Dundurn Booth, Exhibitor's Hall

They're horror stories for middle-grade readers, ages 8-12, and Alex and The Other is about a boy with an evil twin. A doppelganger story for middle-grade readers is rare, I think because of the constraints of the genre. If the evil twin wins, what's a young reader to gain from that (trust no-one and nothing?). If the evil twin loses, how does the hero win, and what is to be gained from that?

Early Reviews on Goodreads
Watch the Booktrailer with illustrations by Shawna Daigle, series illustrator
More about Alex and The Other on this blog

ARC letter for Myles and the Monster Outside

My sixth book, Myles and the Monster Outside, book 2 in the Weird Stories Gone Wrong series, has been nominated for two awards:

The Hackmatack Children's Choice Award
The Silver Birch Express Award

Thank you so much to the nominating committees and to the librarians, teachers and readers who read, vote for and promote Canadian authors!

A few readers have recently asked me what gave me the idea for Myles and the Monster Outside?

Here's the letter that accompanied the advanced reader's copy, with the answer:

"Dear Middle-Grade Horror Lover,

Book 1, Jake and the Giant Hand

When I was a child, my family and I travelled on long car trips to far-flung places like Manitoulin Island, Cape Cod, and South Carolina.

In my early twenties, I drove across Canada in an ancient Vega that barely made it home. A long car trip requires a certain fortitude, an ability to remain focused despite the inevitable boredom, and the knowledge that anything could be around the next corner.

My early travels became the inspiration for Myles and the Monster Outside. I wanted to examine the crucible of a tiresome journey from the perspective of a young boy who is moving to a new home for the first time. I also wanted to create a middle-grade character who is prone to anxiety and who has a vivid imagination that is both his undoing and his strength.

Who hasn't been that child in the back seat, tortured by the boredom of a long drive, convinced they can see something strange outside the window?

Book 3, Carter and the Curious Maze

I know I was!

As the journey unfolds, Myles must confront fears about his new home, a monster, a rainy night, and a ghostly old man and his dog. At first his overabundance of imagination is a curse, but as the story unfolds, he comes to realize that the ability to see what no one else can see may just give him the advantage.

At its heart, Myles and the Monster Outside is a paranormal road-trip adventure, a horror story about the monsters we create outside ourselves, and how we cope with them.

I hope you enjoy the journey!"

For more about Myles and the Monster Outside:

Goodreads Reviews
All "Myles" posts on this blog
YouTube Book Trailer, featuring illustration by Shawna Daigle

Thank you CanLit for Kids!

Thank you to the CanKit for Kids experts out in BC! They have selected not one, but TWO, of my titles for their winter catalog selection. 

Both Everton Miles is Stranger than Me (Dundurn, 2016) and Carter and the Curious Maze (Dundurn, 2016), have been selected.

You can read more about the books here.

CanLit for Kids selects great books for schools and libraries across the country, and their selections are updated spring and fall. Subscribers then order pre-selected book packages of high-quality books for school-age kids. Go and check them out, they are wholly Canadian and very knowledgeable (and lovely) book folks.

Publishing two books close together poses a few challenges (like how to be in two or three places at once!), but both books have done well so far and have fabulous reviews. It's very gratifying to see both books get the nod from a great service like Canlit for Kids.

Everton Miles is Stranger than Me is the sequel to The Strange Gift of Gwendolyn Golden (nominated for the OLA Red Maple Award 2015), and the series is called The Night Flyer's Handbook.

Carter and the Curious Maze is book 3 in my award-nominated middle-grade series, Weird Stories Gone Wrong.

Thank you CanLit for Kids!

More about the books:

Everton Miles is Stranger than Me (posts on this blog)
Carter and the Curious Maze (posts on this blog)