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FOREIGN RIGHTS 2015
FOREIGN rIGHTS
2015
for all foreign rights queries, please contact:Amy TompkinsTransatlantic Agency2 Bloor Street EastSuite 3500Toronto, Ontario M4W 1A8, Canada
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[email protected] World Rights Available (ex-English in North America) for all titles in this catalog, except where specifically noted
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Credits: Inside front cover: Illustration by Brooke Carlton, The Lake Where Loon Lives; front cover photo by Dean Lunt
A Snowy Owl Storyby Melissa Kim, illustrated by Jada Fitch
One winter, as food gets scarce, a snowy owl finds herself forced to look in new and unfamiliar spots in order to find food and a place to call home. Based on a true story, A Snowy Owl Story describes, through the adventures of one particular owl, the recent irruption of snowy owls all across the United States. Through simple narrative and beautiful illustrations, youngsters will learn about migration, adaptation, and respectful human interaction with na-ture. This is the first title in a new series called WILDLIFE ON THE MOVE, a set of four board books created in partnership with Maine Audubon. This
unique series is written and designed specifi-cally for a preschool market.
MELISSA KIM is the author of six children’s books, one adult guidebook, and countless articles for children’s magazines. She has worked as a writer and editor for more than 20 years in New York and London. She now works as a senior editor at Islandport Press in Yarmouth, Maine.
JADA FITCH grew up in a family-built log cabin in Sebago, Maine. She majored in Illustration at the Maine College of Art. The author and illustrator of the children's book, Tea with Hazel, she lives in Portland, Maine, with her husband, Philip, and dog, Daisy.
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RELEASE DATE: FEB. 10, 2015 $10.95, hardcover, children’s board book, ages 2-6, 7x7, 12 boards/24 pagesISBN: 978-1-939017-48-2WORLD RIGHTS AVAILABLE
Book 2: A Little Brown Bat StoryCOMING OCTOBER 2015A Little Brown Bat must find a safe place to spend the winter, in the second book of the WILD-LIFE ON THE MOVE series.
We tell stories.
Partnering to advance early childhood nature education
Hold This!by Carolyn Scoppettone, illustrated by Priscilla Alpaugh
Mika sees a sparkling stone."Will you hold this, Daddy?"
A girl and her father go for a walk, experiencing all the sights, sounds, smells, and feels of the woods.
With every step and stumble, Mika discovers the wonders of nature, as well as the ability to pick herself up after a fall.
But the true discovery for both daughter and parent comes at the end, when they come across a true treasure that will last a lifetime.
As Carolyn Cory Scoppettone gen-tly explores the changing relation-ship between a father and daugh-
ter, Priscilla Alpaugh’s evocative watercolors bring the joy of an outdoor treasure hunt to life. Young readers will delight in the tiny cast of woodland creatures, who follow in Mika’s footsteps to uncover the beauty of the woods.___________________________________________________________________
After working as a newspaper reporter in Los Angeles, CARO-LYN CORY SCOPPETTONE moved to small town New England to raise her children. Her new job as a freelance writer allowed time for walks in the woods. The children would race ahead, re- turning frequently with woodland treasures. Their sheer joy at exploring nature inspired Carolyn to write Hold This! In addition to picture books, Carolyn writes poetry, creative non-fiction, and middle grade novels. She lives in Montpelier, Ver-mont, with her husband Greg (a television director), their daughters, Sophia, Anna, and Nadia, plus two cats, one dog, and a puppy.
PRISCILLA ALPAUGH earned her BFA in Painting and Illustra-tion from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and studied for her MFA in Illustration at Syra- cuse University. Priscilla creates illustrations for the children's market. She also has been known to paint murals and traffic control boxes, design logos and bookplates and make digital animations. She works primarily in traditional mediums such as pencil, colored pencil, ink and watercolor, but will use digital methods as required. She is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustra-tors and the American Society of Bookplate Collectors and Designers.
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Talk a walk in the woods with
Mika and you will
HEARthe swish
of the leaves
FEEL the squish of the mud
SEE the sparkle
of the stone!
Coming Sept. 22, 2015
Hold This!By Carolyn ScoppettoneIllustrated by Priscilla Alpaugh
$17.95, hardcover, children’s picture book, 9x11, 32 pages, ages 3-7ISBN: 978-1-939017-68-0WORLD RIGHTS AVAILABLE
Islandport PressP.O. Box 10Yarmouth, Maine 04096(207) 846-3344www.islandportpress.com
We tell stories.
Azalea, Unschooledby Liza Kleinman
In Pennsylvania, it was a cloth-ing boutique for pets. Then a breakfast buffet in North Caro-lina. Then an apple orchard in Connecticut. Now, Azalea’s dad says he’s going to drive a tour bus in Portland, Maine.
Through all those moves, Azalea and her older sister were homeschooled by their mom. But when they move to Port-land, Azalea’s mom asks them to try unschooling—a method of learning that gives children more freedom to direct their own education. As the sisters strug-gle to find a delicate new bal-ance, their world is rocked when someone sabotages Dad’s tour bus. Azalea decides it is up to her to find the culprit and hold her family tgether.
In her fresh and funny debut middle-reader novel, Liza Klein-man deftly explores the new
unschooling movement as well as the challenges of moving to a new home, making friends, and finding room for differences within a family.
LIZA KLEINMAN is a freelance writer who lives in Port-land, Maine. Her short fiction has appeared in several magazines including Fifth Wednesday, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Crossborder, and in the anthology Writes of Passage: Coming-of-Age Stories from the Hudson Re-view. She also writes language arts educational mate-rials for elementary, middle, and high school students.
BROOK GIDEON is a graduate of the Children’s Book Illustration certificate program at the Rhode Island School of Design, she also has a degree in biology from the University of Tampa. She lives with her husband, their two children, two large dogs, and a herd of cats in southeastern Massachusetts.
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Azalea, Unschooled
Gabby and I danced on the rope bridge, making it swing wildly.
“I don’t get why people have so much trouble with the differ-ence between homeschool and unschool,” I complained, as though I hadn’t just been one of those people. “Home. Un. It’s two different things.”
Gabby nodded her agree-ment. “It’s true. I mean, you wouldn’t call, like, being home-sick being unsick. You wouldn’t call someone homehappy instead of unhappy. It’s two totally differ-ent things.”
“You wouldn’t call under-wear homederwear,” I said, and we laughed until we had to lie down on the bridge. Then we fell out the sides, so we knew that the laws of gravity were still in working order.
Coming May 5, 2015
Azalea, UnschooledBy Liza Kleinman Illustrations by Brook Gideon$16.95, hardcover, middle-grade fiction (ages 8-12)6 x 9, 130 pagesISBN: 978-1-939017-58-1 WORLD RIGHTS AVAILABLE
Islandport PressP.O. Box 10Yarmouth, Maine 04096(207) 846-3344www.islandportpress.com
We tell stories.
Chantarelleby G.A. Morgan
Return to Ayda. But be ready to face the consequences.In Book Two of The Five Stones Trilogy, Chase, determined to fulfill his promise to find the uni-fying Fifth Stone, finds the elu-sive Captain Nate and brings him back to the island of Ayda, where one realm is burning and two others are under siege from Dankar’s dark forces of Exor. Meanwhile, Knox and Evelyn must trust a mysterious guide to help them find a way back, though each has their own per-sonal struggle to overcome. All three children must decide if they can put their own needs—and fears—aside to save their friends and family.
G.A. Morgan, who “excels at world-building,” (School Library Journal), intro-duced us to Ayda in The Fog of Forgetting. Now, she raises the stakes with a deeper examination of the evil power at work in Dankar, the conflict be-tween love and loyalty, and the pain of sacrifice.
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G. A. MORGAN is the author of The Fog of Forgetting, the first book in The Five Stones trilogy, and several nonfiction works under her full name, Genevieve Morgan. She grew up in New York City and spent every summer of her childhood in Maine. She lives and works in Portland, Maine. The conclusion to the trilogy, The Kinfolk, will be released in July 2016.
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Praise for
The Fog of ForgettingBook 1 of
The Five Stones Trilogy
“ . . . [an] emotionally reso-nant adventure."—The Wall Street Journal
“ A complex adventure to curl up with on a rainy summer afternoon.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Morgan excels at world-building . . . Filled with the type of danger and magic that will please fans of Brandon Mull's Beyonders series and C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. ”—School Library Journal
Coming July 17, 2015
ChantarelleBook 2 of The Five Stones TrilogyBy G.A. Morgan$18.95, hardcover, middle grade fiction, ages 10+6 x 9, 355 pagesISBN: 978-1-939017-63-5WORLD RIGHTS AVAILABLE
Islandport PressP.O. Box 10Yarmouth, Maine 04096(207) 846-3344www.islandportpress.com
We tell stories.
The Sugar Mountain Snow Ballby Elizabeth Atkinson
Cheerful Ruby and her shy friend Eleanor couldn’t be more different. Ruby has lived her whole life in Paris, New Hampshire. Eleanor's family is from Sri Lanka. But these best friends share one thing: they both have impossible dreams.
Paris, New Hampshire, is home to Sugar Mountain, an exclusive ski resort. Every winter, it comes alive with “Outers,” wealthy families from out of town who own ski con-dos and wear designer clothes, luxu-ries that Ruby and Eleanor cannot afford.
One December day, the girls stumble across Madame Magnifique, the “World’s Most Divine Psychic,” who urges them to unlock their deepest dreams. Ruby’s has always been to mingle with Outers, and now, more than ever, she is determined to make that dream come true.
As events unfold over the winter, both girls find themselves on a journey of self-discovery that starts with unlikely friendships, secret crushes, and newfound skills, and both girls discover that people are not always who they appear to be.
A relevant story in today’s world – exploring cross-cultural sensitivities and diversity within a classic New England microcosm – The Sugar Mountain Snow Ball questions the role of destiny and the ability we have to achieve that which seems impossible.___________________________________________________________________
ELIZABETH ATKINSON, an award-winning middle grade author, is best known for her tween novel, I, Emma Freke. While she loves living on the North Shore of Massachusetts, her real home is in the woods of western Maine where she enjoys hiking, biking, cross-country skiing, board games, kayaking, grilling, star-gazing, ping-pong, snowshoeing, exploring, swimming, and lively discussions by the fire with her neighbors, friends, family, and doodle dog, Obadiah. Elizabeth visits schools all over the country, virtually and in person.
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Praise for
I, Emma FrekeBy Elizabeth Atkinson
“A well-paced story told with heart and humor."—School Library Journal, starred review
“Atkinson deftly portrays the intense self-consciousness that is an in-herent part of the transition between childhood and ado-lescence”—Kirkus Reviews
Coming October 6, 2015
The Sugar Mountain Snow BallBy Elizabeth Atkinson$16.95, hardcover, middle grade fiction, 6 x 9, 210 pagesISBN: 978-1-939017-72-7WORLD RIGHTS AVAILABLE
Islandport PressP.O. Box 10Yarmouth, Maine 04096(207) 846-3344www.islandportpress.com
We tell stories.
Merry Moosey ChristmasBy Lynn Plourde, illustrated by Russ Cox
It’s Christmas Eve! If Rudolph’s on the beach, who’s pulling the sleigh?!?Another year, another Christmas Eve. This year, Rudolph just wants to enjoy the holiday without having to work. So he convinces Santa to accept a substitute. The search for the perfect replacement results in an eager and resourceful moose, who knows just how to use a headlamp and a GPS.
But on Christmas Eve, Rudolph wor-ries: Was the moose’s training com-plete? Will Santa and Moosey be able to get all the presents where they need to be?
Illustrator Russ Cox pairs with award-winning children's book author Lynn Plourde and her illustrious storytelling skills to tell this hilarious, unique holiday story that’s sure to be a perennial favorite.
Lynn Plourde is the author of more than 25 children’s books, including Pigs in the Mud in the Middle of the Rud, Wild Child, At One in a Place Called Maine, and You’re Wearing THAT to School?! Lynn’s books have won a variety of honors, including Chicago Public Library Best of the Best, Junior Library Guild selection, Smithsonian Magazine Notable Book, Lupine Honor Awards, Los Angeles Times Best Children’s Book, Maine Literary Awards, and Oppenheim Gold Award. Lynn is a Maine native who grew up in Skowhegan and currently lives in Winthrop with her husband Paul Knowles. She enjoys reading, walks, snowshoeing, and kayaking.
Russ Cox was raised by a pack of crazed hillbillies in the back woods of Tennessee. After graduating from art school with a portfolio in his hand, he ventured into the world of design and illustration. He opened his own studio, Smiling Otis Studio, where he specializes in illustration for children. He is the illustrator of Freddy the Frogcaster (written by Janice Dean) and Whatever Says Mark (written by Terry Collins).
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“This hilarious and happy story finds Rudolph faced with a di-lemma. Santa will let him go on vacation Christmas Eve, but only if they can find a suitable re-placement . . . Once again . . . Lynn Plourde’s whimsical imagi-nation has come up with an origi-nal and funny children’s story — just in time for Christmas.”—Kennebec (ME) Journal
“Readers will enjoy being in on the silly problem-solving, and Cox’s art, often focused on Ru-dolph and the Moose’s big ex-pressive eyes, gleefully plays into the story’s comical premise.”—Publishers Weekly
“The amiable story is enlivened by the illustrations of a broad-nosed and charismatic moose.”—School Library Journal
Published November 1, 2014
Merry Moosey ChristmasBy Lynn PlourdeIllustrated by Russ Cox
$17.95, Hardcover w/dust jacket, children’s picture book, ages 4-8, 9 x 11 in., 32 pagesISBN: 978-1-939017-38-3WORLD RIGHTS AVAILABLE
Islandport PressP.O. Box 10Yarmouth, Maine 04096(207) 846-3344www.islandportpress.com
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Lies in the DustWritten by Jakob Crane, Art by Timothy Decker
In Salem’s dark days of 1692 and 1693, young girls pointed fingers and accused others of witchcraft, sentencing them to torture, or even death.
When the cloud lifted, and the accusations were shown to be false, the girls faced little, if any, penalty. Were they sorry? No one knows. Only one girl, Ann Putnam Jr., felt moved to show remorse publicly.
Fourteen years after the trials, Ann wrote a letter of apology. This is her story.
This searing graphic novel is a wholly unique portrayal of an untold aspect of the Salem Witch Trials. Through the author’s extensive primary research and the artist’s creative re-imagining, the reader is taken inside the head of Ann Putnam, the only girl to apologize for sending 24 people to their death.
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Jakob Crane is a writer and visual artist who is native to New England. After graduating from Lesley University College of Art and Design, Crane worked as a writer and illustrator for numerous newspapers and publications throughout New England. As a boy, he trotted across the stone-walled land-scape into early American cemeteries and battlegrounds. Though he has hitchhiked across America, Crane’s love of the tales and history of New England have been a strong influence on his work; that interest is reflected in his first graphic novel, Lies in the Dust: A Tale Of Remorse From The Salem Witch Trials.
Timothy Decker is the author/illustrator of the criti-cally acclaimed books, The Letter Home, For Lib-erty: The Story of the Boston Massacre, Run Far, Run Fast, and The Punk Ethic. He works exclusively in pen and ink, often plays the blues on his cigar box guitar to the delight of cryptozoological ani-mals, and is known to enjoy the odd cup of tea from time to time. He lives in Jersey City, New Jer-sey. Visit www.timothydecker.com.
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Praise for Lies in the Dust
“Stark and affecting . . . Jakob Crane’s narrative puts the Sa-lem witch trials in a historical context.”—The Boston Globe
“Crane and Decker spin an airy, atmospheric graphic-novel examination of a legacy of guilt . . . All is illustrated with Decker's fine-lined draw-ings that evoke both the sur-real details of the accusations and the pastoral Colonial set-ting. . . its attempt to under-stand the effects of the trials on one of its villains is pro-vocative, to say the least. Haunting.”—Kirkus Reviews
“History teachers will appreci-ate this easy-to-read account, while students who are fans of the witch trials or the Euro-pean influence on America will appreciate and understand the power of a word such as witch.”—School Library Journal
Published Sept. 30, 2014Lies in the DustWritten by Jakob CraneArt by Timothy Decker
$14.95, softcoverGraphic novel/historical fiction, Young Adult, ages 10-146 x 9, 128 pages, b/w interiorISBN: 978-1-939017-33-8WORLD RIGHTS AVAILABLE
Islandport PressP.O. Box 10Yarmouth, Maine 04096(207) 846-3344www.islandportpress.com
We tell stories.
The Fog of Forgetting by G.A. Morgan
Move over, Narnia. The journey to Ayda has begun.
Sneaking out for a quick boat ride on a summer day, five children find themselves engulfed in a curtain of dense, powerful fog that transports them from the rocky Maine coast to the mysterious island of Ayda. Rescued by Seaborne, a machete-toting wayfarer of few words, the children suddenly find themselves at the center of a centuries-old battle between Dankar, the ruler of Exor, and three siblings that rule the other realms of Ayda. At stake are the four stones of power and the elusive Fifth Stone that binds them all. When 9-year-old Frankie is kidnapped by Dankar, her older sister Evelyn and the three Thompson brothers must learn to harness the powers of the daylights—ancient forces of earth, fire, water, and air—in order to rescue her and find a way home.
We tell stories.
MYSTERY ON PINE LAKECooper, whose family owns a campground, and his new friend Packrat, must race to find out who is trying to harm the loons, before it’s too late. US $16.95, 6x9, Middle Grade Fiction, Hardcover, 150 pagesISBN: 978-1-934031-86-5World Rights Available (ex-English in NorthAmerica)
MYSTERY OF THE EAGLE’S NESTThe boys must save an eagle chick which has been kidnapped from its nest. US $16.95, 6x9, Middle Grade Fiction, Hardcover, 175 pagesISBN: 978-1-939017-35-2World Rights Available (ex-English in NorthAmerica)
UNCERTAIN GLORYAs Civil War breaks out, Joe Wood struggles to publish a newspaper, help a young spiritualist, and keep his friends safe and family together. US $16.95, 6x9, Middle Grade Fiction, Hardcover, 225 pagesISBN: 978-1-939017-25-3World Rights Available (ex-English in NorthAmerica)
MERCY: THE LAST NEW ENGLAND VAMPIREHaley uncovers secrets and a vampire tradition in her family’s past. Inspired by a true story.US $16.95, 6x9, Middle Grade Fiction, Softcover, 178 pagesISBN: 978-1-934031-36-0World Rights Available (ex-English in NorthAmerica)
BOOK 1 in THE FIVE STONES TRILOGY
The Fog of ForgettingBy G.A. MorganUS $18.95Hardcover, young adult fiction, grades 5-9, ages 10+6 x 9, 304 pagesISBN: 978-1-939017-23-9Pub date: July 17, 2014Lexile: 750LWORLD RIGHTS AVAILABLE (Ex-English in North America)
THE LITTLE FISHERMANWritten by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Dahlov Ipcar. A little fisherman and a big fisherman go to sea, in a little boat and a big boat! US $16.95, 9.25x11.25, Picture book, Hardcover, 38 pagesISBN: 978-1-934031-70-4World Rights Available (ex-English in NorthAmerica; Japanese [BL Shuppan]; andSimplified Chinese [Beijing Mediatime Books Co., Ltd.] )
STRIPES AND SPOTSBy Dahlov Ipcar. When a young tiger and a young leopard meet, the adventure doubles!US $17.95, 8.5x11, Picture book, Hardcover, 42 pagesISBN: 978-1-934031-70-4World Rights Available (ex-English in North America; Japanese [BL Shuppan]; Simplified Chinese [Beijing Mediatime Books Co., Ltd.]; French [Albin Michel Jeunesse]; and Italian [Orecchio Acerbo])
We tell stories.
THE LAKE WHERE LOON LIVESA boy, a fish, a fly, a loon and her chicks collide in this playful bedtime story.US $17.95, 9x11, Picture book, Ages 4-8, Hardcover, 32 pagesISBN: 978-1-939017-24-6World Rights Available (ex-English in NorthAmerica)
THERE ARE NO MOOSE ON THIS ISLANDA boy and his father look for wildlife on an island, with help from a playful moose.US $17.95, 9x11, Picture book, Ages 4-8, Hardcover, 32 pagesISBN: 978-1-934031-34-6World Rights Available (ex-English in NorthAmerica)
CRUSTACEAN VACATIONA family of crabs takes a vacation at a seaside resort.US $17.95, 9.5x8.5, Picture book, Ages 4-8, Hardcover, 36 pagesISBN: 978-1-934031-95-7World Rights Available (ex-English in NorthAmerica; Korean [Awesome World] )
THE ICIEST, DICIEST, SCARIEST SLED RIDE EVERSeven children climb up the biggest, scariest sledding hill ever, and dare themselves to go down! US $17.95, 9x11, Picture book, Ages 4-8, Hardcover, 36 pagesISBN: 978-1-934031-88-9World Rights Available (ex-English in NorthAmerica)
MY CAT, COON CATA girl moves into a new home and slowly wins the affection of a Maine coon cat. US $17.95, 9.25x11.25, Picture book, Ages 4-8, Hardcover, 36 pagesISBN: 978-1-934031-32-2World Rights Available (ex-English in NorthAmerica)
THE PIG SCRAMBLEClarence gets good advice and confidence from his uncle at the county fair pig scramble.US $17.95, 9x11, Picture book, Ages 4-8, Hardcover, 36 pagesISBN: 978-1-934031-61-2 World Rights Available (ex-English in NorthAmerica)
MY WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS TREEBy Dahlov Ipcar. Twelve different colorful creatures fill the branches of a tree topped by a bright star. US $16.95, 8.75x11.5, Picture book, Hardcover, 40 pagesISBN: 978-1-934031-22-3World Rights Available (ex-English in NorthAmerica; Japanese [BL Shuppan]; Simplified Chinese [Beijing Mediatime Books Co., Ltd.; and French [Albin Michel Jeunesse])
ABOUT DAHLOV IPCARDahlov Ipcar is an award-winning fine art painter and illustrator who has written and illustrated more than thirty children’s books over a remarkable career that spans more than six decades.
Once Burnedby Gerry Boyle
LIFE IS BRIEFLY AS IT SHOULD BE for Jack McMorrow: He and Roxanne have retreated from the stress and danger of their day jobs to raise their daughter. But when development and arson threaten the nearby town of Sanctuary, and a crazy accident brings back mistakes from Roxanne’s past, Jack’s nose for crime leads him into a darker and deeply twisted tale. Something explosive is smoldering beneath the glossy facades and picturesque town square in Sanctuary, and the enemy is closer than he thinks. In Once Burned, the 10th installment of the internationally popular McMorrow series, Jack will take you alongside as he hunts a killer with a long memory and a very short fuse.
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Like many crime novelists, Boyle be-gan his writing career in newspa-pers—the best training ground ever. After Colby College, he knocked around, including doing stints as a roofer, a postman, and a manuscript reader at a New York publisher. His first reporting job was with a weekly in the paper mill town of Rumford, Maine. After a few months it was on to the (Waterville, Maine) Morning Sentinel, where editors learned early on that he worked best when left to his own devices. He wrote about stuff he saw in police stations, courtrooms,
in the towns and cities of Maine. The first McMorrow title, Deadline, was originally published in 1993, and is now available in an updated, revised, fully redesigned re-issue of the series in print and as an e-book from Islandport Press. His next McMorrow, Straw Man, is due to be released in 2016.
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Praise for Once Burned
“Plot, characterization, at-mosphere—everything works in Boyle’s excellent 10th Jack McMorrow mystery.”—Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review
"Reading a Jack McMorrow mystery is like visiting an old friend. In ONCE BURNED, Jack's found trouble again. The tension is riveting, the mystery utterly compelling. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough!"—Tess Gerritsen, author of Die Again
“Everyone writing crime fic-tion today owes a debt to Gerry Boyle — the original master of Maine noir. Once Burned shows Boyle working again at the top of his form. This book is lean, mean, and packed with action. Jack McMorrow is back, and not a moment too soon."—Paul Doiron, author of The Bone Orchard
Release Date: May 12, 2015
Once BurnedBy Gerry Boyle$24.95, Fiction/Mystery, hard-cover, 6 x 9, 413 pagesISBN: 978-1-939017-60-4WORLD RIGHTS AVAILABLE
Islandport PressP.O. Box 10Yarmouth, Maine 04096(207) 846-3344www.islandportpress.com
We tell stories.
Closer All the TimeA novel by Jim Nichols
The inhabitants of Baxter, Maine are going nowhere fast—but not for lack of trying. In this deftly written jewel of a novel, veteran author Jim Nichols strings together the bittersweet stories of several different characters bound together by shared geography and the insular nature of small-town life. With the coastal waters of Maine as a backdrop, Nichols artfully explores the nature of connection—hoped for, missed, lost, and found—in Closer All the Time; that very special novel that delivers quick-moving, compelling storytelling with a lasting emotional wallop. You’ll devour it in one sitting, but its characters will linger at the edges of your day like memories of old friends and lovers.
____________________________________________________________________JIM NICHOLS’s work has appeared in Esquire, Narrative, Zoetrope ASE, december, paris transcontinental (FR), From The Ashes (BR), elimae, Germ, The Clackamas Review, American Fiction, Downeast, River City, Con-versely. and Night Train. He has been nominated several times for Pushcart prizes, and his novel, Hull Creek was the runner-up for the 2012 Maine Book Award for Fiction. Among numerous recognitions, he recently won the 2014 Curt Johnson Fiction prize in de-cember magazine, and was a 2012 IPPY silver medalist. He is also a 2013 finalist in Glimmer Train magazine, and a 2013/2014 finalist in Narrative maga-zine. In addition to his prolific short story work, he is the author of two previously published works of fiction: Slow Monkeys and Hull Creek.
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Advance Praise “These intertwined narratives create a memorable novel that vividly renders a town and its denizens. Jim Nichols never condescends to his characters. Though readers might question their choices in life, we never doubt their humanity.”—Ron Rash, author of Serena and Something Rich and Strange
“...I felt like I was among friends, friends who worried me, challenged me, rejected me, loved me, paid back my attention, revealed their tru-est selves, moments so inti-mate I'd sneak off to read, moments so joyful I'd laugh through my tears. Closer All the Time is a novel built of stories, and a story built of sentences so beautiful I want to keep them like wild honey in a jar.”—Bill Roorbach, author of The Remedy for Love and Life Among Giants
“Nichols is one of my favorite writers, not just because he writes with such—dare I say—feminine insight about men’s men. . . .”—Monica Wood, author of When We Were the Kennedys
Release: Mar. 10, 2015Closer All the TimeBy Jim Nichols$22.95, Fiction, hardcover6 x 9, 176 pagesISBN: 978-1-939017-49-9WORLD RIGHTS AVAILABLE
Islandport PressP.O. Box 10Yarmouth, Maine 04096(207) 846-3344www.islandportpress.com
The Havener Sisters by Ardeana Hamlin
THE HAVENER SISTERS FOLLOWS ABBOTT’’S REACH as the third book in Ardeana Hamlin’s beloved Pink Chimneys series.
The story follows the fortunes of the Havener triplets in nineteenth century Maine as they experience what happens when it becomes necessary to embrace change later in life.
After eight years of life as land-lubbers, the sisters are suddenly faced with a crisis in economic circumstances that propels them into new adventures—some welcome, some not. Hamlin returns to the setting and characters that have made her Pink Chimneys series a favorite of thousands of readers in this
well-researched and engaging novel.
The Havener Sisters will transport the reader back to the customs and country of an earlier time at the dawn of suffrage and the Industrial age in the Northeast.
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ARDEANA HAMLIN grew up in Bing-ham, Maine, in the 1950s and 1960s, in the day of the river drives, the veneer mill, and the woods op-erations. Now a newspaper journal-ist for the Bangor Daily News, she lives in Hampden, Maine, and is the author of three previous novels, Pink Chimneys, A Dream of Paris, and Abbott’s Reach (Is-landport Press/2011).
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Excerpt from the book:
“China and her sisters were trip-lets, an oddity they never thought much about except when they stood together before a mirror and gazed at their fifty-five-year-old selves, their faces identical . . . She thumbed through a pile of invoices, statements, and there it was, plain and simple: The Em-press, the ship they had been born on in 1826 and had lived on most of their lives, was bringing in much less money than it had in the past year. That came as no surprise. For years, steamships had encroached on the revenue of sailing ships. She had known it would catch up with them even-tually. And now it had. That was the thing about life; it was a long series of compromises requiring periodic adjustment to new reali-ties. But even though she well understood that aspect of the human condition, it was quite another matter to embrace it. She also knew that embracing change in its early phases was never easy and rarely ran smoothly.”
Coming September 5, 2015
The Havener SistersBy Ardeana Hamlin$16.95, Fiction, softcover, 5.5 x 8.5, 300 pagesISBN: 978-1-939017-85-7WORLD RIGHTS AVAILABLE
Islandport PressP.O. Box 10Yarmouth, Maine 04096(207) 846-3344www.islandportpress.com
We tell stories.
