Second Story Press

11/01/2024

Ups and Downs by Nancy MacNairn, illustrated by Doruntina Beqiraj, is a New Picture Book reviewed by East Coast Advocate Sue Slade. Published by Second Story Press.

📚”Ups and Downs is a beautifully illustrated picture book about a young girl, her brother, and their mother.”

Sue’s article continues ⬇️
https://miramichireader.ca/2024/10/ups-and-downs-by-nancy-macnairn-and-illustrated-by-doruntina-beqiraj/

10/29/2024

Last night, the Canadian Children’s Book Centre announced that Bernice and the Georgian Bay Gold by Jessica Outram won the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People! We are so happy for Jessica and so excited for more kids to read her delightful book!

About Bernice and the Georgian Bay Gold:
Adventurous eight-year-old Bernice lives with her Métis family in a lighthouse on Georgian Bay. When she finds a treasure map pointing to gold on a nearby island, she is determined to find it and help her family.

You can buy Bernice and the Georgian Bay Gold wherever you love to buy books!

[image: a graphic with the cover of Bernice and the Georgian Bay Gold with a red award seal. Above the cover, there is text with the announcement of the book winning the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People.]

outram
The Canadian Children's Book Centre

10/25/2024

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and we, at Second Story Press, invite you to learn a little more!

Pick up one of these four titles this month and get 20% off on our website.

1. Support the Girls - The women from a small community came up with the “Art Bra” project to raise funds to buy a mammogram machine for the local hospital. People far and wide responded, sending in their creations along with the stories behind them. With names like “Got Milk”, “Lucky Charms”, and “Cradles of Civilizations” they will make you laugh and touch your heart.

2. Woman Redefined - Women who have faced breast cancer bravely share their post-surgery bodies with pride and the portraits are paired with medical information about breast cancer surgeries

3. But Hope is Longer - A different breast cancer story - a survivor's account of how she straddled the worlds of mainstream and complementary medicine, and the team that helped her.

4. Bearing Up With Cancer - Bearing up with Cancer chronicles the life of Annie Smith and her battle with cancer. An honest, intimate and humourous book about a vivacious woman who taped chocolate bars to her abdomen as an energy source for her surgical team.

10/24/2024

Congratulations Kathy Kacer!

As part of the province's new initiative to begin Holocaust Education in grade 6, my book, To Hope and Back: the journey of the St. Louis is being distributed to classrooms across Ontario. I'm thrilled about this! I'll be speaking about the book at this event on Sunday Nov. 3 at 2:00 p.m. Details are in this poster. If you are a grade 6 teacher, or you know a grade 6 teacher, or you want to learn more about this piece of history, please come out and join me!

10/21/2024

Renée Bondy talks about [non]disclosure on The Commentary! Listen here:
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/thecommentary-ca/id595279374?i=1000673556354

10/17/2024

Barcelona Red Metallic is now available at your nearest bookstore 🎉 We are excited to announce that this thrilling new release is available at Canadian airport stores! To celebrate, we are holding a contest to win a $25 gift card to your favourite indie bookstore of choice, and a $25 gift card for any books purchased on the Second Story Press website.

Here are 3 ways to enter:

1. 1 entry = comment on this post with which city you would like to see Barcelona Red Metallic in
2. 5 entries = post a BOOKSTORE sighting of Barcelona Red Metallic (with photo proof!) on your feed and tag
3. 10 entries = post an AIRPORT sighting of Barcelona Red Metallic (with photo proof) on your feed from an airport store and tag

The contest will be open until December 15, 2024. Happy hunting, readers!


Christine Cosack - writer

10/17/2024

Happy to [NON]DISCLOSURE written by Renée D. Bondy 🎉
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A young girl is abused by her Catholic priest. For years she tells no one, striving to meet her parents and teachers’ expectations that she be a Good Girl—passive, obedient, and devout.
When she learns as an adult that she was not his only victim—there were dozens more—the ensuing criminal trial threatens to overwhelm her. Disassembled by the abuse, she finds community working in an underground hospice for men dying from the still-taboo HIV-AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. In their midst, she recognizes the damage wrought by shame and silence, but she also finds incredible courage and love.
A profound story of finding your voice and healing what feels irrevocably broken.

[NON]DISCLOSURE is now available at your local bookstore or on our website! ✨
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bondy.3

10/17/2024

10/17/2024

Happy ! Today and beyond, we honor and celebrate the rich cultures, traditions, and contributions of Indigenous peoples around the world.

Explore Enriching Titles To Teach Your Students About Indigenous Culture and Heritage: https://buff.ly/4dKg4ij

Orca Book Publishers Second Story Press Annick Press

10/15/2024

Happy to BARCELONA RED METALLIC written by Christine Cosack Christine Cosack - writer 🎉

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When the death of a child in a hit-and-run shocks the quiet seaside town of Oyster Hill, police officer Luci Miller is called in to investigate. Her only clue is a fragment of car paint found at the scene—a unique shade of red that could help identify the killer.
Luci’s investigation leads her to Jo Nelson, a grandmother in her seventies, who is deeply affected by the tragedy. She has watched too many parents suffer the loss of a child, having devoted decades of her life to keeping her son Oliver, born with cystic fibrosis, alive. Jo suddenly finds herself in the middle of the chaos when her family falls under suspicion.
The closer Luci gets to Jo, the more she struggles to maintain objectivity. Jo is charming and charismatic—but she has secrets and knows how to keep them. As the investigation draws in around her, Jo must confront the possibility that someone she loves has done the unforgivable.
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10/09/2024

Excited to meet people at the NIEA - National Indian Education Association- Convention in Palm Springs!
Oct. 9th, Educator Day: Meet us at booth 20
Oct. 10-12th, Trade Show: Meet us at booth 323

10/08/2024

Happy to ALINA IN THE DEEP written by Shenaaz Nanji .nanji 🎉
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Alina has always dreamed of having a sibling, an instant BFF, and with her cousin Safi arriving from Kenya for the summer, her dream can finally come true!
Alina creates a list of things to do with Safi, but nothing goes as planned when she finds it hard to connect with her cousin. Safi is not who Alina expected her to be. She wears her culture proudly and acts in ways that make her stand out—and Alina hates standing out!
What will happen to the summer Alina had planned? And will she and Safi ever become BFFs?
The sequel to the award-nominated Alina in a Pinch!

ALINA IN THE DEEP is now available at your local bookstore or on our website! ✨
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10/08/2024

We are thrilled to announce that Nights Too Short to Dance, written by Marie-Claire Blais and translated from French by Katia Grubisic, is a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Awards!

About Nights Too Short to Dance:
René, a trans man, confronts age and illness on a winter’s night. Charismatic as ever, he is surrounded by friends and lovers. They look back over a century of struggle—Stonewall, the AIDS epidemic, the rise of the Far-right—and realize it’s not over. But neither is the love. Blais, a q***r literary icon, brings to life pivotal moments in the fight for q***r rights.

Nights Too Short to Dance is available now at your local book store or on our website. The original French edition, Un cœur habité de mille voix, is published by Éditions du Boréal.


Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des arts du Canada

10/07/2024

“Peace is not the absence of war, peace is the absence of fear.” The above quote comes from Ursula Franklin, the titular character in a new book ...

10/04/2024

Congratulations to Jessica Outram ( .outram ) for her book, Bernice and the Georgian Bay Gold, being nominated for the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People!

Bernice and the Georgian Bay Gold is about exuberant, eight-year-old Bernice who lives with her Métis family in a lighthouse on Georgian Bay. When she finds a treasure map pointing to gold on a nearby island she is determined to find the treasure.

Jury's comments:
“An immersive story of an Indigenous girl seeking adventure and finding it close to home. This story shared the language and culture of the Métis in Georgian Bay in the early 1900s… Jessica Outram weaves a sincere story about a loving family who follow the teachings and traditions of their Métis ancestors… A good balance between adventures and heartfelt family moments.”

Bernice and the Georgian Bay Gold is available now at your local book store or on our website.

10/03/2024

Congratlations to Lara Okihiro and Janis Bridger!!

10/02/2024

Happy to THE LIGHT KEEPER written by Sheila Baslaw and Karen Levine and illustrated by Alice Priestly 🎉

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If the flick of a switch can bring light, what other miracles might be possible?
Shmuel is eager to help support his poor family, but no one in his shtetl is interested in hiring a ten-year-old boy. One day, the village installs new electric lamps, bringing light to their square and dazzling away the dark. Until a lamp breaks during a storm—and Shmuel is the only one who can fix it. Will Shmuel be able to conquer his fear of heights and bring light back to his town?
A gentle tale of bravery, empowerment and community, and the thrill of transformation.

The Light Keeper is now available at your local bookstore or on our website! ✨
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10/02/2024

Join Katherine Leyton on October 4 at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto as she performs a reading of her recent book, Motherlike.

Books will be available for purchase at the event, and Katherine will be available to sign your copy after the readings.

About Motherlike:
Sharp and intensely candid, entertaining, and deeply poignant, Leyton weaves her own experience of becoming a mother to her son (the shocks, the strangeness, and the pleasures) with historical research and cultural commentary. Everything from the history of the birth control pill and the objectification of women's bodies to the risks of labor and the realities of being postpartum. Leyton invites us into a very personal story that reflects a larger picture of ourselves.

Join us on 14 Elm St. at 7:00 p.m. in the 3rd floor Studio for an evening of readings!

10/01/2024

10/01/2024

09/30/2024

Together we mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day, September 30th.

Orange Shirt Day started in 2013 as an effort to promote awareness and education of the Canadian residential school system and the impact it has had on Indigenous communities for over a century. We wear orange shirts to honour the experience of Phyllis Webstad who, at the age of six, entered the St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School wearing a brand-new orange shirt for her first day of school, given to her by her grandmother. She was stripped of her new shirt and it was replaced with the school’s institutional uniform.

We take this as a special time every year to honour the Indigenous creators who have shared their stories and art with Second Story Press to publish for a new generation. Featured in this post is artwork by Tessa Pizzale from the children’s book What’s in a Bead? written by Kelsey Borgford. This book also has a dual-language edition, kekwan etakwak mîkisîhk? in Ininîmowin (Cree) and English, translated by Duane Linklater and Angela Shisheesh.

09/27/2024