A Blog Interview About Pieces of the Past

In this blog interview about Pieces of the Past, as part of the Sydney Taylor book awards 2104 blog tour, I talk about the challenges of writing a Holocaust book. I also mention my upcoming historical novel, Tucson Jo, which is inspired by the life and family of Tucson's first Jewish mayor. It will be available in May.

Greater Than Angels - A "Best" Book for 2013

 

Two of my books are on Resource Links' "The Year's Best 2013" list for Grades 3-6:
Greater Than Angels and Pieces of the Past. I'm thrilled!

4/4 Star Review for Pieces Of The Past

Pieces Of The Past has been named a Best Book for 2013 (for Grades 3 - 6) by Resource Links and has been "highly recommended" by The Deakin Review of Children's Literature. I found their review very touching.

Pieces of the Past awarded Sydney Taylor Honor!

Pieces of the Past, The Holocaust Diary of Rose Rabinowitz (Scholastic Canada 2013) has just been named a 2014 Sydney Taylor Honor Book for Older Readers by the Association of Jewish Libraries. I will be travelling to the Association of Jewish Libraries Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, this June to pick up my silver medal! I'll also be giving a presentation. I was so excited I sat down and wrote the presentation already!

The Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically
portray the Jewish experience.

Number ONE on the Bestseller list!

Pieces of the Past is now number one on the Children's books  bestseller list at McNally Robinson's books.

Pieces Of The Past Book Launch!

Pieces of the Past, The Holocaust Diary Of Rose Rabinowitz launched on April 9th at the Berney Theatre at the Winnipeg JCC. It so happens that that was the date in  1940 Germany invaded Denmark - I wrote about that in my books, Lisa and Jesper. The Jewish Federation organized a wonderful program with a choir and beautiful singers, a collage of pictures from my book and then my presentation. I talked about how I came to tell the story of the Jewish war orphans who came to Canada after the war, and also why I chose to write about the Warsaw Ghetto and the hidden children of the Holocaust. My daughter Rebecca organized the whole thing and made it all possible as part of her job at the Rady. The turn out was fantastic. Afterwards

i talked to lots of people who all seemed to have loved the event and I signed lots of books. I also spoke to 2 sold out events for students at the theatre and they were also fantastic- the kids were great listeners and asked great questions.

Bestseller List 4 weeks in a row!

I'm really amazed that Pieces of the Past has made the bestseller list at McNally Robinson's Books for the 4th week in a row. And before the book even launches. Which, by the way, is coming up fast, this Tuesday, April 9, 7. PM,  at The Berney Theatre, JCC, Winnipeg.

Bestseller list 3 weeks in a row!

Pieces of the Past has made the McNally Robinson Bestseller list for the third week in a row! Just a reminder that the launch is coming up next week- April 9, at the Berney Theatre, 7 PM. Very busy trying to figure out what to read. I'll also be reading to students on the 9th and the 10th in the afternoons, also at the Berney Theatre.

Bestseller List, Again!

Pieces Of The Past, The Holocaust Diary of Rose Rabinowitz, has made the McNally Robinson Bestseller list for a second week in a row. McNally's has done this wonderful poster to publicize the launch coming up April 9, as part of Holocaust Awareness Week.

Book Launch!

Announcing the launch for my brand new book Pieces Of The Past, The Holocaust Diary of Rose Rabinowitz, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1948. Tuesday, April 9, at the Berney Theatre, Asper Community Campus, 123 Doncaster Street, Winnipeg.
 
The event is part of Holocaust Awareness Week which begins April 17th and goes until April 12. The program is sponsored by The Holocaust Awareness Committee, The Rady JCC, and McNally Robinson Booksellers. Hope to see you all there!

Bestseller!

Pieces Of The Past, The Holocaust Diary Of Rose Rabinowitz, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1948 is on the McNally Robinson's Bestseller list this week. What is so exciting about that is we haven't even launched the book here in Winnipeg. News of the launch coming soon!

I Love To Read Month

On Tuesday I visited the Gray academy for I Love To Read Month. I read from "The Lost Locket" for grade 3 and a new, as yet unpublished picture book I have written for grade 1. (Which they loved and that was encouraging.) We made up a story with the grade one class and the grade 3's had more questions than there was time for. It was really great when I asked the children what their favourite book was and two of them said "The Proof that Ghosts Exist." When I said that I thought it was for older kids when I wrote it they were stunned- not realizing I was the author- of course with my friend Perry Nodelman! That was cool.

A Life Cut Short

The cover of this book is particularly haunting. This photo is of a young girl who did not survive The Holocaust. I look at her and wonder who she was and what exactly happened to her, and then think about who she might have become.

Popular Fantasy Soon to be Reissued

Fantasy never becomes dated! I am excited about the reissue of Of Two Minds, the first in a four-book series written with my friend and fellow author Perry Nodelman. Of Two Minds is as fresh as the first day the novel was published, and now has become a well loved classic! It is one of the top selling titles ever in the Japanese library system, and is read all over the world. Check back here for launch date and purchasing links.

Pieces of the Past, my new book launches in April 2013

My new book is finally done and available on Amazon

and will soon be in bookstores. It is a Holocaust book called Pieces of the Past, set in Winnipeg in 1948 about a young Jewish orphan who arrives in the city and then begins to look back over her life during the war. A very haunting thing - the picture is of a young girl, name unknown, who perished during The Holocaust. There are 6 million people who were murdered. We can't tell all their stories but we can try to remember that each one had a story and a life that was precious and a life that was ripped away.

Book Launch Over, Now Onto the Next One

Just back from the launch of Behind Enemy Lines. The place was packed and everyone said the reading went well. (Thanks to 2 years of Drama school in London, England.) Now I need to get back to the Holocaust book I'm writing for Scholastic Canada. Deadline looming. Nearing the end and everything else feels like a distraction. Onward.

CBC and my new book

CBC has done a lovely piece on my new book, Behind Enemy Lines
http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/scene/books/2012/03/15/carol-matas/
The launch is tonight and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm hoping to meet, in person, some of the veterans who helped me get my facts right!

Praise for Behind Enemy Lines

"The narrative voice is potent and realistic, and Carol Matas does a marvelous job capturing both the hope and courage in Sam’s personality as well as the terror he feels as he is transported around Nazi occupied territory against his will ... the truth of his situation is never overwrought with heavy-handed factuality or didacticism. Behind Enemy Lines is a fantastic account of one Canadian’s struggles through World War II in occupied France." — Bob Bittner, CM, Volume XVIII Number 23, Feb. 17, 2012. Read the full review.

"What starts as a rip-roaring adventure soon becomes a sobering account of strength in the face of adversity that encompasses the workings of the French Resistance and illuminates the Holocaust from a fresh angle ... the subject matter is difficult but ultimately uplifting." — Elaine Kalman Naves, The Gazette (Montreal) Feb. 17, 2012.

ORDER Behind Enemy Lines Today!
McNally Robinson
Chapters Indigo
Amazon.ca

My New Book Written Especially for Boys

A tale of courage & endurance

Eighteen-year-old Sam Frederiksen has come a long way from the Prairies. Trained to be a gunner in a Lancaster bomber during WWII, he is shot down over France. Surviving the crash, he joins forces with the French Resistance...only to be betrayed by one of its members. He and other flyers are rounded up by the Gestapo and held in Fresnes prison.
Treated as spies, rather than POWs, these men are beaten — then sent to Buchenwald Concentration Camp in Germany. It is here that Sam witnesses the darkest side of humanity — gas chambers, torture and starvation. Yet it is also here that he comes to understand the true resilience and unfathomable courage of the victims.
Behind Enemy Lines is partially based on a true incident from WWII, in which 168 Allied airmen were captured and sent to Buchenwald. Twenty-six of these men were Canadian.

JOIN ME AT THE BOOK LAUNCH:
Thursday March 15, 7:30 pm
Grant Park in Prairie Ink Restaurant
McNally Robinson Booksellers Grant Park
1120 Grant Ave., Winnipeg, Manitoba

Nice Review for Edge of When

Kirkus Reviews just called Edge of When "a thought-provoking and entertaining time-travel tale with a hopeful, message about personal responsibility."