Joint Book Launch on Gabriola

 Joint Event Launches Coming-of-Age Books with Historical Themes

Charlotte Cameron and Gloria Levi are launching their newest books together at the Gabriola Arts & Heritage Centre on August 20, from 2 to 3 p.m.

The Hotelkeeper’s Daughter, Levi’s fictionalized memoir spanning the period from the late Depression to 1948, is a moving account of Levi’s childhood in an Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York, and her disrupted life as the “hotelkeeper’s daughter” in a series of Catskills and New Jersey hotels rented seasonally and later bought by her entrepreneurial mother to pull the family out of poverty. This coming-of-age story is told from two perspectives: through the eyes of Gilda, the youngest in her family, who clashes with her mother, and through the eyes of the author on Gabriola as she reflects on the life lessons she has learned over her nine decades.

Cameron’s contemporary coming-of-age novel, Love and Courage in Troubled Times, tackles the persecution of the Cathars in 13th-century France from the perspective of a Vancouver teen. When she is forced to accompany her family to a Cathar village in the South of France so her father can finish his book on the Cathars, she starts seeing flashes of the tragic events that happened centuries earlier and gets caught up in a series of adventures that remind us that troubled times are always with us.

Join Cameron and Levi at what is sure to be a lively and engaging event.

Celebrate Gabriola authors at the Museum!

 

An outdoor bash with lots of local Gabriola authors and publishers at the Gabriola Museum. Music and food. Should be fun. Hope you'll join us!

A 3-star review by CM Materials

 "Unique and engaging"

⭐⭐⭐✰✰

"An interesting and distinctive story that successfully brings the plight of the Cathars to life for a young audience."

"Recommended" by CM: Canadian Review of Materials.

Full review here (CM Association).

Cloning Miranda goes to Korea!

A first foreign sale for a Fictive Press title!

A Korean edition of Cloning Miranda (Fictive Press, 2017) will soon be published by Sakyejul Publishing. Young Korean readers are in for a treat with this thought-provoking sci-fi novel for middle grades!

Congratulations to Carol Matas and her literary agent, Amy Tomkins, from Transatlantic Agency, on the sale of the Korean rights to this book.

Plaudits for Love and Courage in Troubled Times!

"What's your father's book about again?" Megan asks.

"It's about a crusade and inquisition in the South of France that happened hundreds of years ago. People called Cathars were stuffed into churches and burned alive because of their beliefs. I don't know why he is even interested in such horrible events. What happened way back then was awful, but it has nothing to do with today. It's totally irrelevant."

But of course Lesley, the narrator, is mistaken. The horrible events of long ago are relevant. In fact, long ago is still happening. Long ago is today...

Phyllis Reeve, Gabriola Island's book reviewer extraordinaire, describes with great eloquence what makes Charlotte Cameron's new YA novel so special. Click here to read the full review.

Print copies are now available on Gabriola Island at the bookstore of:

Now available at Pages bookstore on Gabriola

A Coming-of-Age YA Novel

“Gripping and informative – a perfect combination.”

“A tale that will not only thrill young readers but also reveal the strength of the human spirit.”

“What happened in the Age of the Troubadours becomes relevant to our own Troubled Times.”

GET YOUR PRINT COPY AT PAGES BOOKSTORE ON GABRIOLA ISLAND, BC

Why Science Fiction is So Important

Carol Matas talks to Cantastic Authorpalooza about her long career writing #sciencefiction and why it so relevant to young people today.

A New Thriller by Carol Matas

Short and snappy.
A fast-paced thriller
with a paranormal twist. 

After the shocking murder of her husband, Ros and her baby relocate to her childhood home to live with her parents. Palm Springs, California—full of sunlight, small and safe—should be the perfect place to bring up a child. But things are not always as they appear.

Soon, an unexpected tragedy sets a dangerous series of events into motion. Someone, it seems, is out to get Ros. As she struggles to uncover the identity of her mysterious enemy, Ros finds herself looking for answers in the most unusual places. Could the attacks have something to do with her increasingly disturbing dreams? And how many people close to her need to get hurt before she figures it out?

Inspiring Book Launch for Gloria Levi

It was standing room only at the Gabriola Library on August 13, 2019 for the book launch of Gloria Levi's memoir, Kissing an Old Dream Goodbye. 

This poignant memoir deals with the struggles of a young couple as they try to integrate into the newly created State of Israel in the 1950s. It is multilayered account that pits her Zionist idealism against the realities and complex challenges that she and her husband encounter in this very particular time in the history of the Jewish State. It’s a fascinating, intimate story, beautifully told.

BOOK LAUNCH AT GABRIOLA LIBRARY AUGUST 13, 2 P.M.