by A.M. Strickland May 18, 2021; Imprint
You had me at “pansexual bloodmage.” With her blue hair, Rovan Ballacra is easily recognizable as a bloodmage. After witnessing her father be executed for refusing to serve the king, she’s hidden her abilities. But when she is forced to use her powers to save a friend, she’s dragged off to the palace, bound to a shade who keeps an eye on her on behalf of the king, and is set to be married off regardless of her wishes. Somehow Rovan must figure out how to break free of the king’s shackles and expose his corruption to the world.
Sambury will publish her first novel,
Blood Like Magic, in June. According to her, it wouldn’t have been possible without the mentorship of Queen’s creative writing professor, Carolyn Smart.
Sambury majored in English at Queen’s and took Smart’s Poetry and Prose course in her third year before gaining acceptance into Advanced Creative Writing where a handful of talented students collaborate on an anthology called
Lake Effect.
“Having the class gave me a dedicated space to really focus on honing my craft and getting better,” Sambury told
The Journal.
“It was good to have that group critique environment. You read your work and then everybody says something about it, and you get that direct feedback. It can be harder to find once you’re outside of the school setting to find critique groups like that.”
I heard a powerful interview on CBC Radio’s literary show, The Next Chapter one day, and I’ve been thinking about pain ever since.
Shelagh Rogers, the host, was interviewing Joshua Whitehead, an Oji-Cree, Two-Spirit scholar from the Peguis First Nation on Treaty 1 territory in Manitoba. He’s also the acclaimed author of the novel
Johnny Appleseed. At some point in the interview, he talked about pain but not in the way you think.
The main character of his novel, the titular Johnny, is a reflection of the kinds of violence indigenous youths are subjected to, and particularly the kind of sexual trauma indigenous communities continue to deal with as a result of Canada’s residential school system. But Joshua voiced a way of thinking about pain I hadn’t considered. As he explains, Cree language imbues various ‘objects’ with spirit: rivers, rocks and even the planet itself. But what about pain? Joshua poses the question to Shelagh: “if we can animate our pain, is that so
2021 Spring Preview: Kids’ books
This season’s books for children – from babies to teens – feature big-name authors and illustrators, anticipated debuts, and a fluffle of bunnies.
PICTURE BOOKS
The Rock from the Sky
Jon Klassen
Candlewick Press/Penguin Random House Canada, April
Jon Klassen is back – not that he really went away. It’s just that it’s been four years since he released his last solo work, the final book in his bestselling Hat trilogy. (
This Is Not My Hat was the first book to receive both the Caldecott and the Kate Greenaway medals.) Since then, he’s only done collaborations, illustrating books with his friend and author Mac Barnett among others. Recent standouts include the chapter book