Hi Everyone, I’ll be at Saskatoon’s The Word on the Street on Sunday, September 20th. I’ll be in the TREASURE ISLAND TENT from 3:00 – 3:30, reading from Button Hill and playing a few fun storytelling games – hopefully with you! The Treasure Island Tent is right across from the Frances Morrison Library, on… Read more »
News & Reviews
BUTTON HILL NOMINATED FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE
I just learned today that Button Hill has been nominated for the 2015 Kirkus Prize – in the Young Readers Literature category. From the Kirkus website: ABOUT THE KIRKUS PRIZE “The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction,… Read more »
GOING PUBLIC v.1.0
Leading up to the release of Button Hill, I imagined the official launch at the Saskatoon McNally Robinson on April 27 at 7:00pm (you should come; there will be cookies and punch and reading) as the first big public moment in my life as an author. How wrong I was. I have experienced many wonderfully surreal… Read more »
4-Star review from BACK TO BOOKS
My rating: 4 of 5 stars “I enjoyed this horror/fantasy for middle graders. An exciting tale that has a brother and sister involved in the Underworld and afterlife risking their very own life force and in one case beating heart. “I was quite pleasantly surprised at the amount of horror in a book for this… Read more »
Starred review by QUILL & QUIRE
“A scrumptious Gothic treat, oozing high-calorie horror and delectable dread … Although Dekker’s quest seems hopeless at times, Bradford never lets him or the reader slide into complete despair. “A cheerful optimism bounces through the story, much of it coming from the upbeat, buoyant Riley … A rollicking good read, with adventures tumbling one after… Read more »
GOODREADS GIVEAWAY
To celebrate the release of Button Hill, I recently offered a giveaway on Goodreads. Never having done something like that before, I was hoping that the ten copies I had set aside would find appreciative homes. Imagine my utter delight to find that about 900 people entered the contest! I am truly grateful that so… Read more »
Review by SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
“The atmospheric descriptions of the spooky scenes and inhabitants of Nightside create a strong sense of place, and the children’s well-crafted dialogue adds humor to balance macabre scenarios… “The action unfolds at a steady pace that will keep readers curious about what happens next.” [March 1, 2015]
Review by ALICE KUIPERS
“A dark, yet delightful tale for readers who love the unexpected, who long for secret passages and who live for annoying their siblings. “When Dekker is trapped in the scary world beneath his strange Aunt’s spooky house, he and his sister have to discover what really matters to even have a hope of seeing the… Read more »
CM MAGAZINE – RECOMMENDED REVIEW
Here’s another review for Button Hill that appeared today in CM Magazine. I love reading the Canadian Review of Materials because it is a true labour of love: an all-volunteer crew of librarians, teachers, and professors review of what’s new in Canadian writing and illustration for youth. And they publish every week! So far reviews seem to… Read more »
KIRKUS GIVES BUTTON HILL A STARRED REVIEW
Reviewed on Dec. 22nd, 2014 A moment’s messing with an odd clock plunges a lad into the strange and dangerous borderland between the living world and the realms of the dead in this decidedly offbeat chiller. Great-aunt Primrose’s old house has no TV or Internet…but it does have a bone Nightclock hidden in the root… Read more »