Kenneth Oppel

London Times chooses Dark Endeavour as a 2011 Best Book for Children

2011-12-02T07:13:00.000-08:00

The children's critic for The Times of London, Amanda Craig, has made her annual pick of the best children's books -- and This Dark Endeavour makes the cut for the young adult category (13yrs + ) alongside Moira Young's acclaimed Blood Red Road:
"Kenneth Oppel’s This Dark Endeavour (David Fickling £12.99), a captivating gothic novel for 13+ about the future Dr Frankenstein and his competitive love for his twin brother. Books this good are for life, not just Christmas."

This Dark Endeavor named a 2011 Quill & Quire Book of the Year

2011-11-23T13:47:00.000-08:00

Reprinted from Quill & Quire Magazine

"The talented and prolific Kenneth Oppel already garners much attention from readers, award juries, and critics alike. So why feel the need to include him here? Here's the thing: sometimes the hype is justified. A Gothic tale of love, lust, ambition, and the supernatural, Oppel's latest effort, which has roots in Mary Shelley's classic horror novel, combines eloquent language and an action-filled plot. His young Frankenstein brothers, Victor and Konrad, are sure to get as much attention as those Twlight kids, especially once the movie (optioned by the producer of Stephenie Meyer's hit franchise) hits the big screen..."

The New Covers

2011-11-15T08:40:00.000-08:00

This Dark Endeavor will have a new look Summer 2012, in preparation for the release of the sequel, SUCH WICKED INTENT in August.

For those of you who didn't feel you had quite enough Victor Frankenstein in your life, rest easy -- the new cover gives you altogether more coverage of the mad-scientist-to-be, although his face is still, infuriatingly, half turned, or near concealed by abundant hair.

And for those of you who may have been curious about what the much sought-after Elizabeth Lavenza looks like, the cover of Such Wicked Intent should bring some satisfaction.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T07:58:00.000-07:00

Always good to get some love from London, especially since England is the home and native land of Mary Shelley, whose masterpiece Frankenstein inspired This Dark Endeavour...

This Dark Endeavor and Augmented Reality

2011-09-30T07:10:00.000-07:00

At hundreds of Chapters Indigo stores all across Canada, you will find an amazing banner depicting the Dark Library: shelf upon shelf of ancient tomes which Victor Frankenstein discovers in a secret chamber within his chateau.

If you have an Android phone, you can download a free app instantly, and scan your phone's camera over the shelves to search for a hidden volume. When you find it, the book will slide out from the shelf (on your cell phone screen), open, and reveal animated clues about my story.

The campaign was launched yesterday, at the Eaton Centre Indigo store in Toronto.

Or you can go here to my website, and experience the same thing via your computer's webcam:

Have fun!

And click here for Quill & Quire's coverage of the Augmented Reality campaign.

Young-adult Frankenstein

2011-09-28T10:26:00.000-07:00

By Mark Medley
Reprinted from The National Post
photo credit: Tim Fraser

The National Post's Mark Medley spoke to bestselling author Kenneth Oppel about his latest young-adult epic.

Mary Shelley published Frankenstein, her first and bestknown novel, when she was only 21 - an age when most people are still in university. Impressed? Well, Kenneth Oppel was still in high school when he published Colin's Fantastic Video Adventure, a novel he'd begun at the age of 14.

Now, 25 years after the start of his writing career, Oppel has mined Shelley's masterpiece for his latest book, This Dark Endeavour: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein, one of the most talked-about young-adult novels of the fall.

"I think any time you use a classic as a springboard, you might be asking for a bit of trouble," says Oppel, sitting on a patio near his Toronto home earlier this week. "You're begging for a comparison. And it would be pretty tough to come out on the winning end."

Oppel was rereading Frankenstein a few years ago when he was struck by descriptions of the scientist's childhood. "No human being could have passed a happier childhood than myself," Frankenstein says in an early chapter, before chronicling carefree days spent seeking the elixir of life, searching for the philosopher's stone and raising demons.

"What kind of happy kid spends his time trying to raise the dead and commune with devils?" Oppel asks. "But, as a writer, I looked at that stuff and I thought, 'Hmm. It's pretty interesting kernels for stories.' "

Although he jotted down some ideas, Oppel was hesitant to write an origin story. The market was already flooded with prequels - Young Sherlock Holmes, Young James Bond - and Oppel didn't want to be seen as jumping on a bandwagon, however lucrative it might be. Eventually, after finally deciding to explore Frankenstein's childhood in a novel, Oppel typed up a couple of pages and sent them to his agent, who "flipped" for the idea. He then wrote two sample scenes, which his agent sent to publishers around the world. "There was a bidding war for the book based on the idea," Oppel says.

In This Dark Endeavour, a 16-year-old Victor Frankenstein, with the aid of his pseudo-sister Elizabeth and friend Henry Clerval, set out to find the Elixir of Life, which Victor hopes will save his twin brother, Konrad, who has been afflicted with a strange malady. Oppel describes it as an alternative history of the Frankenstein family.

"I'm just trying to capture the flavour of the book," he says. "It's not supposed to be a total simulation of what Mary Shelley might have written had she gone back further in the chronology of the story."

Those familiar with Shelley's life or her 1818 novel will spot elements Oppel has borrowed for his own work, but readers needn't be familiar with Shelley's book to enjoy Oppel's offering, though he hopes young readers will seek out the original afterwards.

"What's exceptional is the story and the subject matter," he says of the original. "It's mythological. It's a cautionary tale about science and religion and early technologies - our relationship to the things we create on the planet and the other creatures on the planet. So it's a very moral and ethical book. I think that's one of the reasons I like it - it's got everything: it's a page-turner, it's a great story, it's got a monster for God's sake! It's sci-fi! It's horror! It's everything! But as a writer, it's all material. I look at it as, what a great story. I'd like to dig around in that and see where I can go with it."

Oppel, who says he's drawn to "heroes with huge cracks in their character," sees some similarities between his own work and the scientist with the Lazarus complex.

"We're grave robbers," he says of writers. "We dig stuff up. We chop it up. We sew it back together. We do our best. Sometimes it's ugly. Sometimes the suturing isn't good. Actually, when I think about it, it's a pretty excellent metaphor for the creative process. Because there is theft - subconsciously if not consciously. My imagination is informed and made up with all my favourite books, everything I saw, every comic I read, every movie, every video game I played, every theme park ride I was on. Every experience that I had is somewhere in there. And you pilfer, and you poach, and you try to recreate these amazing moments you had as a kid - these perfect, amazing, moments - and create this world."

The 44-year-old Oppel has been creating worlds since 1985, when his first novel was published. Since then, he's written more than 20 books for children, young adults and adults, including 1997's Silverwing, which has sold almost a million copies around the world, and 2004's Airborn, which won the Governor General's Award for Children's Literature.

This Dark Endeavour may prove to be his most popular book yet. It has already been sold to 13 territories around the world, and optioned for film by Summit Entertainment, the powerhouse behind the Twilight franchise. Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) has been tapped to direct. Although Oppel is realistic about the movie's chances of being made - he says seven Frankenstein features are currently in development - This Dark Endeavour has one thing going for it: "Mine ... is the only one with hot teens."

Whatever happens with the movie, Oppel is not leaving Shelley's world behind just yet - a sequel called Such Wicked Intent will be released next year.

Midway through our interview, I ask Oppel if he'd mind it if another writer used his work for their own fiction.

"After I'm dead, I don't imagine I'll have any say in it anyway," he says with a laugh. "It's an interesting question. Sure, if they did a good job, all power to them. Go for it. I don't mind that, it's really quite flattering. Too bad I wouldn't be around to get some of the residuals."

mmedley@nationalpost.com

Oppel stirs up alchemical magic in Frankenstein prequel

2011-09-24T08:13:00.000-07:00

Reviewed by Kelley Armstrong

Reprinted from The Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Sep. 23, 2011

Photo credit: copyright Fred Lum

The word “Frankenstein” often conjures up images of a block-headed monster brought to life by a mad scientist. But those familiar with Mary Shelley’s classic tale know that Frankenstein is not the monster; he is its creator, a young man driven to tragedy by ambition. In This Dark Endeavor, Kenneth Oppel adds a prologue to Shelley’s classic with a young adult novel about Victor Frankenstein, the teenager who will grow up to play God.

Oppel’s Victor is a 16-year-old living with his twin brother, Konrad, and their distant cousin, Elizabeth, in late-18th-century Switzerland. Together with their friend Henry Clerval, they enjoy the carefree lives of privileged young adults, and amuse themselves exploring the grounds, fencing and performing plays.

When Victor finds the Dark Library hidden deep in the subterranean passages beneath Chateau Frankenstein, it is like something out of their Gothic plays. After solving the riddle to enter, he discovers a library filled with arcane books, including Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa’s Occulta Philosophia, which becomes pivotal to the story. Victor soon finds himself fascinated by this mysterious world of occult science and alchemy. Of course, he is soon in urgent need of the magic these books promise, and the true story begins.

Oppel’s past novels for children have showcased his talent for writing action-packed tales. Despite the literary premise, This Dark Endeavor is no different. It comes as no surprise to learn that Hollywood is already developing a big-screen version of this cinematic adventure. Yet Oppel doesn’t sacrifice other aspects of the story to maintain the page-turning pace. He has obviously done extensive research into the period and the history of alchemy, and his historical setting is richly developed, as are the characters who inhabit it.

The protagonist, Victor, isn’t perfect. Oppel expertly lays the groundwork for the man we know Victor will become. He is arrogant and reckless, driven by a passionate, striving intelligence and a refusal to accept natural law as inviolable. He is also a believable teenager, beginning to question authority and make his own choices. When his father tries to dissuade him by confessing his own mistakes, Victor’s reaction is typical for his age, seeing not parental concern, but hypocrisy.

Oppel doesn’t neglect the female part of his audience either. In Elizabeth, he creates a spirited young woman who refuses to be left on the sidelines during even the most dangerous adventures.

There is a final twist that seems abrupt, leading to a rushed final chapter. However, the ending does propel the story in a direction it must go, and will leave readers eagerly awaiting the sequel.

For those who have read Frankenstein, This Dark Endeavor adds a new chapter – and a fresh angle – to a familiar story. The target audience, though, is teens, most of whom will not be familiar with the source material. Fortunately, they will have no trouble enjoying this story on its own merits. This Dark Endeavor may renew interest in Frankenstein, but it also stands alone as an original and welcome addition to the world of young-adult fiction.

Kelley Armstrong is the author of the Darkest Power series for young adults.

© 2011 The Globe and Mail Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Toronto Star covers DARK ENDEAVOUR

2011-09-19T08:11:00.000-07:00

The darker side of sweet sixteen

September 16, 2011
By Sarah Millar Toronto Star

This isn't the first time a book of Kenneth Oppel's has been optioned for a movie.

It's happened to many of his books before, including the Airborn trilogy, which was optioned by Universal Pictures and Stephen Somers, the man behind The Mummy movies.

"That never got made," the Toronto-based author said pointedly over the phone.

Now it's the author's latest young adult book, This Dark Endeavour: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein, which has been optioned for a film. This time by Summit Entertainment and Karen Rosenfelt: The people who took the Twilight trilogy to the big screen.

So far the film has a director: Matt Reeves, who directed the film Cloverfield (which is one of Oppel calls: "Godzilla done right."), and a screenwriter.

But just because the book has been optioned, has a producer, a director and a screenwriter doesn't mean it's going to get made. Especially in Hollywood. This is something Oppel knows well. Because of this, he's trying to remain realistic, but hopeful about the book coming to a big screen near you.

This Dark Endeavour, which was released last month, tells the story of Victor Frankenstein at the age of 16. It riffs off Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, a book that Oppel has always loved.

After re-reading the classic novel years ago, he began to wonder about Frankenstein's youth. He was intrigued by how Frankenstein described his youth ("No youth could have passed more happier than mine").

"It made me laugh because I thought it was a rather disingenous statement to say that when you're doing things totally unlike what you imagine a happy, carefree youth would do," Oppel said.

He also wondered what could happen to someone in their youth that would turn them into a man who goes around digging up graves and chopping up body parts and sewing them back together.

As a starting point, he decided to tell the story of Frankenstein's hunt for the Elixir of life — something Shelley mentioned in her novel. In This Dark Endeavour, young Victor feels compelled to find the Elixir when his beloved twin brother gets ill and may die. Fearing that conventional medicine cannot save him, Victor turns to black magic.

Oppel admitted that there were challenges in taking a character so well-known and making it his own.

"I was apprehensive, certainly in so much as you feel nervous taking on a literary classic and borrowing from it and reimagining it," he explained.

"So you feel you have to be respectful and try to keep the spirit of the original. And I tried to do that with the language, without alienating my readers. I'd like to think the novel has the same tone, it's the same sort of gothic, operatic, overwrought tone as the original."

Oppel learned that the book had been optioned in January of this year, after he had finished writing it. But, he said, the thought of the book being made into a movie did not influence the writing process.

"Realistically, the chance of any book becoming a film is slim. Even though now more than ever before more young adult books are being turned into movies because it's a very hot market, (doesn't guarantee a film will come)," he said.

Instead, Oppel's looking forward to his next book, a follow up to This Dark Endeavour, called Such Wicked Intent which picks up right where This Dark Endeavour leaves off and will be released in about a year. Oppel is not sure if the series of young Victor Frankenstein will stretch beyond the two books, but said he loves to write characters like Victor Frankenstein.

"It's so much more interesting to take a character that really exhibits every element of human nature than just focus on someone that's calm and heroic and does the right thing 95 per cent of the time. . . in the new book he descends to new levels of obsessiveness, and that to me is the fun part.

"I mean he's Victor Frankenstein, he's not Charlie Brown."

THIS DARK ENDEAVOR: Review of the Week

2011-09-13T10:40:00.000-07:00

Reprinted from QUILL & QUIRE

October 2011

The movie rights to Kenneth Oppel’s latest novel have already been sold to the producers of the Twilight series. No surprise there. This Dark Endeavour has all the elements – a love triangle, the supernatural, a touch of animal lust – that made the Stephanie Meyer franchise such a hit.

It also has depth and intelligence. Set in 18th-century Geneva, the story revolves around 16-year-old twins Victor and Konrad Frankenstein and their distant cousin, Elizabeth, who has lived with the Frankenstein family in their ancestral castle since she was a child. The three discover a secret library full of books on alchemy, including one that promises to produce an “Elixir of Life.” When Konrad falls gravely ill, Victor, against his father’s instructions, sets out with Elizabeth to find the ingredients for the elixir.

Along for the ride is family friend Henry Clerval (whose ultimate fate will be known to those who have read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein). His role here is limited, but since two more books are planned, it’s a sure bet we’ll be seeing more of him.

It takes a while to get used to the prose, which faintly echoes the style of Shelley’s 19th-century novel. At first it feels rather stilted, but once the adventure gets going, we are quickly caught up in Victor’s quest for the three ingredients, his growing lust for Elizabeth, and his jealousy over her preference for the “good” twin, Konrad.

Most engaging of all is Oppel’s choice of narrator. Victor’s seething passions and mixed motives – coupled with his clear-eyed assessment of them – make him by far the most complex and, oddly, sympathetic character Oppel has created (at least, among those that are human). Kind, sensible Konrad seems positively pale by comparison. Team Victor, start your engines.

THIS DARK ENDEAVOR: Review of the Week

2011-09-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

Reprinted from CANADIAN MATERIALS

Love, loyalty, loss, and obsession, all linger at the heart of Kenneth Oppel's This Dark Endeavour: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein , a gripping narrative of the early years of Mary Shelley's Dr. Frankenstein, his family, and the passions that ultimately consumed him. I am often wary of prequels to classic novels, but I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised and more than a little short of breath by the time I read the final sentence of this, dare I say, masterpiece. Having recently read Shelley's Frankenstein , I was not entirely sure how this attempt at a childhood story of the mad doctor would turn out. Hours after finishing the novel, I am already anxious for another installment.

Victor tells the story from his perspective, detailing his relationship with his twin brother Konrad, his cousin Elizabeth, and his friend Henry, as they enter a world of alchemy and pseudo-science. The three children come across a hidden library one day, deep within the bowels of the Frankenstein chateau, an eerily spectacular castle sitting on the edge of Lake Geneva. The Dark Library, as it is named, holds shelf upon shelf of dusty tomes from long-dead philosophers, alchemists, and mad-men. Victor's father is insistent that the children stay away from the library for fear that they will be seduced by the false knowledge hidden on the brittle, dusty pages. But one day, Konrad falls mysteriously ill, and even after a number of physicians, including Dr.Murnau—a delightful nod to W. F. Murnau of Nosferatu fame—are unable to find anything but a temporary cure, Victor, Elizabeth, and Henry, try to find a cure on their own.

Aided by a mysterious old alchemist named Julius Poidori, who lives in the city, the three friends embark on a series of adventures to find ingredients for the Elixir of Life, an ancient recipe written in an almost unreadable language. Along the way, Victor finds out about a deeper, romantic connection between Konrad and Elizabeth. With this knowledge, mixed with jealousy and the possibility of an elixir that can cure all ills and prevent death—with the exception of the most violent or gruesome kind—he becomes ever more obsessed in his quest. Soon after the elixir is complete, he discovers that he is not the only one who has developed a deep and frightening desire to obtain it.

Oppel's characters are incredibly complex, with the possible exception of Victor and Konrad's mother—who is often peripheral, though still strong when she shows up—and all seem to have some dark secret that motivates them throughout the novel. What starts out as an innocent quest for a medicine to cure Konrad quickly turns into a dark and twisted game of survival, secrets, and deceit, and the further they all continue, the less likely it is that any of them will actually win. This book is a work of fiction that goes beyond the limits of a simple prequel, often seeming as if Mary Shelley, herself, might have imagined the world and history of the Frankenstein family that Oppel has created. Oppel's mastery of language, and his ability to provoke a multitude of emotions, shines through, in This Dark Endeavour: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein

Highly Recommended. (4/4 STARS)

The Sketchbook of Victor Frankenstein: The Final Page

2011-09-07T06:18:00.000-07:00

artwork copyright Sophia Oppel

The Sketchbook of Victor Frankenstein, Part III

2011-09-06T07:08:00.000-07:00

"He is quite tame. He came to me as a mere kitten and is as amiable as any house cat. Aren't you, Krake?"

The alchemist's fingers vigorously kneaded the fur between Krake's ears, and the lynx gave a luxuriant yawn, revealing wickedly sharp teeth...

-- from This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein.

artwork copyright Sophia Oppel

More from the sketchbook of Victor Frankenstein

2011-09-02T07:35:00.000-07:00

artwork copyright Sophia Oppel

The Sketchbook of Victor Frankenstein

2011-08-31T07:54:00.000-07:00

Artwork copyright Sophia Oppel

In his youth, Victor Frankenstein kept a sketchbook, in which we can find some clues about his life and secret adventures -- as chronicled in THIS DARK ENDEAVOR...

THIS DARK ENDEAVOR Book Tour Dates

2011-08-26T07:53:00.000-07:00

No, I won't be going to Belize on my tour, but how often do I get to stand atop a Mayan pyramid?

Here are the initial dates for my Fall book tour. More dates and details to come:

SEPTEMBER

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ
NAIBA (New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Assoc.)
Breakfast Speaker
September 20, 2011

PHILADELPHIA, PA
Towne Book Centre event
details tba
September 21, 2011

GLEN ROCK, NJ
Books, Bytes & Beyond
details tba
September 22, 2011

TORONTO, ON
Word on the Street,
Queen's Park
Bestsellers Tent
12 noon
September 25, 2011

OCTOBER

VICTORIA BC
School and Library Visits
October 3-6, 2011

VANCOUVER BC
Vancouver Kids Books
West Point Grey United Church Sanctuary
4595 West 8th Avenue
October 6, 7:00 pm

BOSTON, MA
October 14-15
details tba

BALTIMORE, MD
School Visits
October 19-21, 2011

BALTIMORE MD
Books for the Beast Conference
Keynote Speaker
October 22, 2011

AUSTIN TX
Texas Book Fair
October 23, 2011
details tba

NOVEMBER

CHICAGO, IL
ALAN Young Adult Literature Conference
November 21-23, 2011

THIS DARK ENDEAVOR: The Book Trailer!

2011-08-24T07:33:00.000-07:00

It's Alive!!

2011-08-23T06:44:00.000-07:00

Feel like more monster in your life?

I'm very pleased to announce that my latest book THIS DARK ENDEAVOR: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein goes on sale today in the United States.

For my fellow Canadians, it will be published next week on August 30th by HarperCollins.

And to my British friends, you will alas have to wait until October 6th when it will be published by David Fickling Books/Random House. But that will just give you time to read Mary Shelley's gothic masterpiece Frankenstein.

Here's what reviewers are saying so far about the book. (And by the way, whenever you see those .... ellipses in a review blurb, it means I'm just skipping ahead to the next really good bit, or deleting something mean or silly the reviewer said. You'd be amazed at how even the stingiest, most negative reviews can yield at least one good pull quote. Trust me.)

"In this stylish gothic tale, teenage Victor Frankenstein makes a desperate attempt to create the forbidden alchemical Elixir of Life, in order to save his beloved twin brother, Konrad, from an untimely death.... Oppel hews closely to the Frankenstein mythos, and with a delicious mix of science, history, and horror, he peers into the psyche of a young man who is beginning to hunger for greater control over life and death. Publishers Weekly (starred review).

"As a prequel to Mary Shelley's gothic classic Frankenstein, this is both meticulously researched and highly original.... Written from Victor's perspective and filled with his believable internal moral struggles, Oppel's novel is a gripping tale of undying devotion, mixing hope with foreboding. Horn Book (starred review)

"Dark psychological drama is the main engine here: Victor’s determination to succeed is as much an urge to outperform Konrad as to save him. Oppel grapples with the human duality of animal and soul in ways that recall (but don’t repeat) Shelley’s similar thematic explorations as he revitalizes the classic horror tale for a new generation." Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)

"A dark and dramatic back story for Shelley's tormented creator." Kirkus Reviews

"Brash, jealous, and arrogant, Victor is sweet relief from today’s introspective YA protagonists, and one can easily visualize how this teen becomes the mad genius of Shelley’s Frankenstein." Booklist

“Oppel has reinvented the gothic thriller for modern readers. The narrative crackles with tension, emotions run high, and the atmosphere is perfectly dark and brooding. The Shelleys would be proud. I definitely recommend you check out the book when it's published August 23. I anticipate This Dark Endeavor will get a lot of attention, and rightly so." Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series

Kenneth Oppel takes a holiday

2011-07-31T10:03:00.000-07:00

This is me, working really, really hard on my next novel. With a looming deadline, I did what any self-respecting writer would do: I took my family on vacation. Wandering around Venice was much more fun than staring at my computer screen, trying to puzzle out my tortured characters' motivations, and wondering why that bit in the middle isn't nearly as exciting as it should be.

You'd be hard pressed to find a more spectacular city than Venice. You don't even need to try to find beautiful things. There are, of course, the many splendid vistas across the Grand Canal, but (and this is my favourite thing to do) just wander anywhere and you'll discover small streets and little squares and quiet bridges and, everywhere, the beautiful decrepitude that Venice has had centuries to achieve.

So by all means, start with the Piazza San Marco. After all, it's been in James Bond movies and stuff, so you kind of have to see it. The Basilica looks like this:

My advice: take in the square and Ducal Palace, the pigeons, the quarter of a million tourists -- and then get out of there. As quickly as possible. Of course, if shopping really turns you on, nearby you'll find shops like Bulgari and Prada and Gucci where you can see handbags and clothing so appallingly silly and ugly that it shakes my faith in the human species. But that's just me.

The farther away from the square you get, the more interesting the city becomes, especially as you find the small streets and neighbourhoods where there are real shops (that sell, um, food and vacuum cleaners and stuff) and real apartments where real Venetians live.

You can usually tell the real Venetians easily from the tourists, especially the women. They are often very well dressed, smoking furiously while talking into a cell phone and walking with terrifying speed, while emanating a thought bubble that very clearly reads: "Get out of my way, or I will kill you with the stiletto heel of my designer shoe."

The other cool thing about finding a quiet local square, say to have lunch on a red bench while your littlest daughter chases pigeons, is that you will come across real signs of the real city, like this garbage can with very helpful and specific information on it, about what NOT to put inside. I myself witnessed some locals trying to stuff their entire refrigerator into the can, without success -- but it didn't stop me from, later that night, cramming in an ugly armchair which was taking up too much space in my hotel room.

Unless you want to seem like The Grinch, you can't really take your family to Venice and not go on a gondola ride. It's pricey, but the boats themselves are really beautiful (see the seahorse detailing on the left) and you get a unique vantage point from the waterline. If you're lucky you might see a rat scuttling out of sight from the arrestingly jade-coloured water (I didn't see one this time, but did last time. Maybe they've been drinking too much jade-coloured canal water.)

Wander around enough and you can actually see the place where they make and take care of the gondolas.

And remember how I said everything was beautiful in Venice. Here, on the left, this is not a church (as I first thought). This is their civic hospital. I have no idea if the facilities inside are similarly baroque. It's kind of hard to imagine getting really top notch brain surgery here -- but I bet they're really awesome at applying leeches and dispensing edifying elixirs.

Oh, and remember how I said the best thing in Venice was just to wander around. Yeah. Just bring a map. The place is a maze. Here I am, trying to look nonchalant as I look (for the 126th time) at my map, trying to figure out just where the hell I am.

After Venice, I didn't think I'd procrastinated quite long enough, so we went off to some Greek islands,which were beautiful.

But then my various editors started getting anxious about a) where I was and b) when I was coming home and c) when was I planning on finishing the second book of the Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein.

So I came home.

And, oh yeah, This Dark Endeavor (Book One) comes out at the end of August... I'm really excited about it, and hope you enjoy it!

Exclusive Interview!! Shocking Confessions!!

2011-07-08T07:43:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite Seinfeld episodes involves Jerry being invited back to his old high school to speak at career day, but as he anxiously awaits his turn in the hall outside the gymnasium, he gets bumped by a series of other speakers (who go over big) and then a fire drill scuppers his appearance altogether.

I can happily say this was not my experience when I returned last May to my old high school, St Michaels University School (SMUS) in Victoria BC for a day of speaking engagements. I was even given the lofty title Scholar in Residence! Over the course of the day I spoke to attentive junior, middle, and senior students (without any fire drills), was treated to a lunch with the librarians, the energetic head of English and a group of bright and lively students, given a tour of the very impressive campus, and made to feel very welcome by the library and Alumni staff.

And even though, during my time at the school, I was a notorious non-joiner, was guilty of shockingly poor school spirit, and generally cultivated the persona of a tortured and misunderstood artist-in-the-making, all these years after my graduation, the school was kind enough to put me on the cover of their handsome Alumni Magazine, School Ties!

Below, you will find the exclusive, candid interview conducted by my friend and former alumnus, journalist Bert Archer, in which I talk about the school, and some of my experiences, and writing in general.

Kenneth Oppel accepts two CLA awards for HALF BROTHER

2011-06-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Awards 2011

2011-06-08T07:32:00.000-07:00

Melanie Watt (best picture book winner for Chester's Masterpiece) and I pose with our impractically large prize cheques Our respective juries are off to either side: amazing kids who read, discussed, debated and chose the winning book from a shortlist of five!

Melanie Watt and I with the Solways, the relatives of Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz, the esteemed Toronto booksellers after whom the award is named.

Will it fit into the ATM or will I actually have to talk to a teller?

Doing a quick reading of HALF BROTHER in which Ben gets peed on by a baby chimp. Went down well I think.

CLA AWARDS 2011

2011-06-03T08:49:00.000-07:00

I spent four years of my childhood in Halifax, so was particularly pleased to receive both the Children's Book of the Year Award, and Young Adult Book Award in a city that holds so many fond memories for me -- the Bookmobile on Saturday in the Sobey's parking lot, the Historic Properties, Point Pleasant Park, the wonderful old library on Spring Garden Road -- and my first viewing of Star Wars at the Gottingen Street Cinema!

Thanks to photogapher Erica Penton I have a photographic record of the evening!

Oppel's DARK ENDEAVOR film moves ahead

2011-05-28T06:27:00.000-07:00

Matt Reeves And Jacob Estes Take On Summit's Frankenstein Film

By MIKE FLEMING
Tuesday May 24, 2011 @ 4:43pm EDT
reprinted fromHollywood Deadline

Let Me In director Matt Reeves has been signed to direct This Dark Endeavor, with Mean Creek writer/helmer Jacob Aaron Estes writing the script for Summit Entertainment. Deadline told you yesterday about a batch of films based on the Mary Shelley Frankenstein novel. Summit just took a step forward in this contest. The film is based on the Kenneth Oppel novel This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein. It will be published this summer by Simon & Schuster, the first of a series.

In the Oppel novel, Frankenstein's twin Konrad is gravely ill. His brother seeks out a mysterious old alchemist to help him produce the Elixir of Life, a serum that will bestow the gift of perpetual health. You can't order this drink at a pub, and Frankenstein sets out on a dangerous adventure to find the elusive contents. He's accompanied by his best friend Elizabeth, who is sweet on Konrad. Things get complicated among the three of them.

Reeves, who also directed Cloverfield, adds This Dark Endeavor to two other projects he's working on. He signed recently to direct the Justin Cronin vampire novel The Passage for Fox 2000, and he's got a deal at Universal to write and direct a film based on the Ray Nelson short story 8 O'Clock in the Morning, about a man who awakens with the realization that aliens are all over the place and control society. Estes just completed The Details, the Tobey Maguire/Elizabeth Banks-starrer that sold to The Weinstein Company in a big deal at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Both are repped by CAA.

Half Brother optioned for film

2011-03-02T05:04:00.000-08:00

By Jeff Sneider
Reprinted from Variety

Producers Christian Taylor ("Hick") and Eva Orner ("Taxi to the Dark Side") have optioned Kenneth Oppel's young adult novel "Half Brother."

Set in the 1970s, the coming-of-age story explores the bond between a teenage boy and a chimpanzee, as well as the ethical implications of animal research. Raised by the boy's family as part of a study, the chimp quickly becomes a media sensation, but when the project loses its funding the teen must risk everything to save the animal.

Producers are in the process of finding a writer and distribution partner for the project, which is said to feature a magical quality reminiscent of "E.T."

Scholastic/HarperCollins published "Half Brother." named a 2011 Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Assn.

Summit Entertainment recently acquired rights to Oppel's upcoming novel "This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein," which Karen Rosenfelt ("Twilight") is on board to produce.

Taylor is producing "Hick," an indie pic that will star Chloe Moretz, Blake Lively and Eddie Redmayne.

Oppel's publishing rep is Writer's House, while Rosen Feig Golland and Lunn repped Taylor and Orner in the deal. Richard Shepherd represented film rights on the project.

Spring Appearances

2011-02-21T10:44:00.000-08:00

Coast to coast this spring, here's where you'll find me doing readings, presentations and workshops...

MARCH 2011

KITCHENER, ON
Kitchener Public Library
Country Hills Branch
March 1, 5pm

KITCHENER, ON
Kitchener Public Library
Country Hills Branch
March 28, 7pm

APRIL 2011
TORONTO, ON
School Book Tour
April 11-15, 2011

KITCHENER, ON
Kitchener Public Library
Country Hills Branch
April 16, 10am

MONCTON, NB
Frye Festival,
Moncton, New Brunswick,
April 27-30, 2011

MAY 2011

SASKATOON, SK
Literacy for Life Conference
May 2-4, 2011

VICTORIA, BC
School Book Tour
May 10-13, 2011

KITCHENER, ON
Kitchener Public Library
Country Hills Branch
May 31st, 1pm

KITCHENER, ON
Kitchener Public Library
Country Hills Branch
May 31st, 6:30pm

Summit acquires 'Victor Frankenstein' rights - Entertainment News, Top News, Media - Variety

2011-02-01T13:52:00.000-08:00

Summit acquires 'Victor Frankenstein' rights - Entertainment News, Top News, Media - Variety

Studio nabs feature claim to Kenneth Oppel's upcoming novel

By Dave McNary

Summit is looking to make a big-screen version of the Frankenstein origin story and has acquired rights to Kenneth Oppel's upcoming novel "This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein."

Projects' been set with Karen Rosenfelt, a producer on Summit's "Twilight" franchise and Fox's "Alvin" films.

The tome's the first book of a series to be published by Simon & Schuster. Story follows Victor Frankenstein's twin brother falling ill, leading Victor to seek out a mysterious old alchemist to help him produce the Elixir of Life, a fabled serum that will bestow the drinker with perpetual health. Aided by his best friend Elizabeth, Victor sets out on a quest for the three ingredients needed to save Konrad's life.

Oppel's previously written the "Silverwing" trilogy and "Airborn."

Erik Feig, Gillian Bohrer and Ashley Schlaifer are overseeing the project for the studio.

ICM represented film rights on the project. Oppel's publishing rep is Writer's House.

The Uncomfortable Bits

2011-01-28T08:30:00.000-08:00

There’s a scene in my new book, Half Brother, that some people have found very uncomfortable. I won’t tell you what it is; you’ll have to read the book to find out – and maybe you won’t find it uncomfortable at all. But it’s made me think about how differently people can respond to the same material – and most importantly, how much I’ve come to appreciate those moments – in a movie, or a book, or simply watching Ricky Gervais host an awards show – that have pushed me beyond my comfort zone, or violated my expectations in some way.

Because it’s inevitably these moments that stay with me the longest. It might be something as simple as the scenes in the movie Castaway where Tom Hanks names and starts talking to the volleyball – annoyingly absurd I thought at the outset, but then realized how brilliant and moving it was – a man so lonely and desperate to cling to sanity, he finds companionship however he can. Or the scene in Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Frankenstein where, having birthed the creature, he’s unable to lift its giant frame from the floor, and staggers and slips about for a prolonged period in a slick of “amniotic” fluid – at first it seemed farcical and gratuitously slimy, but then in my mind it became brilliantly primal, and a metaphorical wrestling with the boundaries of science and morality. Or it might be the literal ringing of bells in heaven when the heroine is “martyred” at the end of Breaking the Waves – a moment which several of my friends said utterly ruined the entire movie for them, but which I think is brilliant.

At their best, uncomfortable moments aren’t just shocking and interesting; they can challenge our convictions. As readers, viewers, citizens, we tend to prefer the same menu. There’s a comfort in it, a sense of security, but sometimes also an almost self-righteous complacency: See, everyone thinks exactly the same thing as me! But what I think is so valuable about a work of art is how it can confront you with a new opinion, a new moral or political idea, that you’d never considered. Novels as disparate as Never Let Me Go, Cider House Rules, Feed, Frankenstein, and Wolf Hall have introduced me to new and uncomfortable ideas, and forced me to think about life in different ways – and while my personal reactions and reflections might not have been those intended by the author –perhaps quite the opposite in some cases – the important thing is the process: an opening to ideas rather than a closing.

So, long live uncomfortable scenes!

By the way, here's some of what Patrick Ness said about Half Brother in his recent review in The Guardian:

"Oppel is pleasingly unafraid to ask awkward questions, often right at the point where readers might have made up their minds. What a particular joy for a teenage reader, to be challenged rather than instructed. Parents might be surprised at the passionate discussions Half Brother ends up inspiring, along with a healthy new respect for our closest genetic cousins." – Patrick Ness in The Guardian, 22.1.11

HALF BROTHER Q&A with Kenneth Oppel

2010-12-15T06:01:00.000-08:00

Reprinted from
A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust

I have been a fan of Kenneth Oppel since I read his Silverwing series about four years ago. In his newest endeavor, he enters the young adult literature arena with the book Half Brother:

FB: Having read your Silverwing series, I know that writing about animals is not new territory for you, but Silverwing was a fantasy and Half Brother is a realistic fiction. What inspired you to write about this topic?

Kenneth Oppel: Half Brother was inspired by a couple of famous experiments that took place in the early 1970’s, in which scientists tried to teach chimpanzees sign language: Project Nim and Project Washoe. The experiments were very controversial –their results are still disputed to this day – and when Project Nim ended after two years, Nim was abruptly stripped of his human identity, his clothes and toys and favourite foods, separated from the people he’d come to think of as mothers and fathers and siblings, and shipped off to another primate research institute where no one understood the signs he’d learned. I thought it was an incredibly sad story.

FB: What type of research process was involved in writing a novel about chimpanzees and language acquisition?

KO: I read as much as I could about the two real chimp experiments in the 1970’s: Project Nim and Project Washoe. Often, the people who were involved in these experiments went on to write books about their experiences – and their stories are fascinating. In some ways, the events are much stranger than anything I could invent from my imagination!

I wanted to know as much as possible about baby chimps, and how they were raised both in the wild, and by humans. I learned a little sign language. I watched films about chimpanzees and how they’ve been used and abused by humans for the purposes of human advancement, like the NASA space program, or for drug testing. I visited a chimpanzee sanctuary outside Montreal called the Fauna Foundation, which is a wonderful home for chimps who were once used in biomedical experiments, or in the entertainment industry, and became too old or ill to be of any further “use” to their human hosts.

FB: One of the things that struck me about Half Brother was how the reader gets so emotionally involved in the story from the very first chapter. The relationship between Zan and Ben was so touching. Was this something you had to consciously figure out, or did it flow naturally from the beginning?

KO: I found it a very emotional story to write, in part because I chose to set the story in the place and (rough) time period of my own childhood. So though Ben is not really much like me, I certainly drew from some aspects of myself when creating him. That, in combination with just how innately emotional the subject matter is, made for a very intimate, intense story.

FB: I loved that you wrote a book on such a volatile topic but didn’t forcefully spew a specific ideology down the reader’s throat. You appeared to address many different points-of-view in a neutral, "I want the reader to think for himself" sort of tone. Having said that, what were you hoping to get across to the reader in this book and what are you hoping readers will take away from reading it?

KO: Certainly I was interested in the controversial animal rights issues inherent in the story –but equally fascinating to me were the human dynamics of the story. Imagine, as a teenager, being told to treat a chimp like a baby brother, while never forgetting that it was also a lab specimen. Imagine watching your mother and father indulge in a bizarre form of parenting – one in which the baby was nurtured, but also emotionally manipulated, and ultimately coerced into performing. To the father, the baby is only of value as long as it gives him what he needs. But is human parenting -- or human relationships in general -- so very different? The more I worked on Half Brother, the more it seemed to me the story was really about love in all its possible forms – how and why we decide to bestow it, or withdraw it; how we decide what is more worthy of being loved, and what is less. We are masters of conditional love.

FB: I read on your website that you majored in English and cinema studies. Is that academic background what has helped make your novels feel so cinematic? I feel like the books of yours that I’ve read would translate so well on the big screen (Silverwing I think would make a fantastic animated feature).

KO: My story-telling style was probably formed long before I went to university, by a mixture of my favourite authors (Roald Dahl first and foremost) and my favorite movies (Star Wars, Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Blade Runner). When I write, I really do approach the story visually in that I imagine distinct scenes, and my job is to be lighting designer, set designer, choreographer, sound designer, writer and director all rolled into one! It’s quite exhausting.

FB: Do you have any interesting or quirky writing habits?

KO: Not really. I have a shamefully short attention span, so am easily distracted by the current weather conditions in Cairo, or how much money Iron Man II made domestically, or other unimportant bits of Internet destritus. I listen to music when I write and since I’ve never really listened to lyrics, it doesn’t get in my way.

FB: Who is your favorite character in all the books you’ve written? Which of your characters is most like you?

KO: Kate de Vries is a personal favourite. Most like me? Well, there’s a bit of me in each and every one, but I’ll let you wonder about which parts.

I would like to thank Kenneth Oppel for stopping by A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust. Half Brother was by far one of the best books of 2010 so go out and get it if you haven't read it!

http://bethsfbtb.blogspot.com/

Airborn: 125 Million Kilometres Around the World

2010-11-10T11:32:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago in Ottawa, I got to meet Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk, who took my book Airborn with him on his six-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in 2009. He also took another Governor-General Award-winning book up with him, Deux pas vers les étoiles by Jean-Rock Gaudreault. Both books travelled for six months at a speed of 8km a second, at an altitude of 300 km, for a total distance of 125 million kilometres.

At a ceremony at the Science and Technology Museum, Dr Thirsk officially returned both books to earth where they will be put on display in the Space and Aviation Museum.In his speech, he talked about why both these books were particularly appropriate choices for him to take into outer space -- as they dealt with young determined protaganists with dreams that take them beyond the earth. Here he is talking about how Matt Cruse has the right stuff to be an astronaut!

He went on to make a fabulous presentation about his six months aboard the ISS. I was filled with awe and admiration for the demanding and varied work the astronauts do aboard station.

An astronaut is a pretty hard act to follow, but I was asked to do a short reading from Airborn. I kept it very short indeed.

Mostly I just tried to be amusing. I seem to have gesticulated a lot.

Note my dynamic hand movements below!

But the real star of the show was, of course, Bob Thirsk. How often do you get to meet a real astronaut?

I wish I'd gotten a picture of myself with the moon in the background. Next time....

What I've Been Up To -- Part II

2010-10-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

After the Calgary-Banff Wordfest, the Half Brother book tour took me off to Victoria BC, my hometown, where I was very glad to see, finally, a statue of Emily Carr in the Inner Harbour, right in front of the Empress hotel. She has her monkey, Woo, on her shoulder.

I had a signing at the incomparable Munro's Books on Government Street, one of my favourite indepedant bookstores in the country. They put up a fancy red banner for me...

...gave my books a very flattering window display...

... and had a nice lineup of people waiting inside...

This is my intent signing face.

A highlight of the west coast book tour was getting to take my first harbour to harbour float plane, a Turbo Otter, from Victoria to Vancouver. Here's the ride...

And here's the pilot. I could actually see the altimenter and what he was dong the whole time. I think at one point he may have been scrolling through his iPod but I'm not sure...

It was sadly overcast when we approached Vancouver, but it was still a fine sight.

Here we are making our final landing approach in the harbour...

And a litle lower still... and then splashing down beside the Pan Pacific Hotel. Fantastic!

And then it was the Vancouver International Writers Festival where I did six events for groups like this:

Some highlights of Vancouver were meeting fellow YA authors Kevin Sylvester (also a CBC radio personality), and Australian writer Richard Newsome who has just released a really fun sounding book called The Billionaire's Curse. He was very funny. We shared an event in Vancouver -- here he is, doing his thing.

It was also great to catch up my long-time writer buddy Richard Scrimger, and we shared a panel with YA luminary Martha Brooks to talk about, um, writerly things. Another highlight was an impromptu breakfast with writer Yann Martel and his wife, YA author Alice Kuipers who, as the parents of an 18 month old, were up early and the only other people in the hotel dining room! They were there with Alice's parents, visiting from the UK, and I think they felt sorry for me, so they kindly invited me to join them. It was very pleasant to be included in a family breakfast after being away from my own family for so long. Oh, and the conversation was excellent!

And then home!

Hail Britannia! Advance love for HALF BROTHER

2010-10-20T06:46:00.000-07:00

HALF BROTHER will be published in January in the United Kingdom by the fabulous David Fickling Books, which brought the world The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Even though my pub date is a few months away, we just got this advance review in the Bookseller magazine. I love it when this happens...

‘Kenneth Oppel’s standalone novel for young adults, HALF BROTHER, is a compulsively readable, extraordinarily gripping and moving book. Thirteen-year-old Ben’s world is turned upside down when his research scientist parents adopt a newborn chimp into the family to raise as a human child in an experiment to see if they can teach it to communicate using language. This is a meticulously researched book and the development of the experiment is very absorbing, but it’s Oppel’s ability to realise the complexity of Ben’s emotions towards his ‘half brother’ which makes it a triumph.’

--Lindsey Stainer, Blackwell’s, in The Bookseller, 15 Oct 2010

What I've Been Up To -- Part I

2010-10-18T07:13:00.000-07:00

For the past four weeks I've been travelling around Canada and the United States, talking up my latest novel, Half Brother. It started at the Telling Tales Festival in Rockton ON, at the fabulous Westfield Village heritage site, which is a restored Victorian town, complete with theatre, train station, pharmacy and general store. It was a beautiful day, packed with kids -- who didn't realize they were in for a stealth reading by Robert Munsch -- I could hear the screams of excitement all the way from the hospitality tent! Other authors and illustrators present included Jeremy Tankard (Grumpy Bird), Edward Wallace, Paul Yee and Linda Granfield.

Next stop was Chicago (Naperville ) where the wonderful independent bookstore, Andersons was holding its 7th annual YA literature conference for over 300 teacher-librarians. I was one of the featured speakers, and sat on a couple of panels with Pam Munoz Ryan (her new book is called The Dreamer) and Brue Balliet (whose latest is The Danger Box). I got a chance to meet up with my editor (and fellow writer) David Levithan, and meet John Green (Will Grayson Will Grayson), and Charles Benoit who's written his first YA novel called You.

After that it was back to Toronto for Word on the Street, where I read at the Scotiabank Bestsellers Tent, and promptly boarded a plane and went to Houston for four days of school visits, and then on to the Austin Teen Book Festival.

I was on three panels with fellow YA writers (from left to right); Susane Colosanti (Something Like Fate), Jon Skovron (Struts and Frets), keynote speaker Ellen Hopkins (Fallout) and Charles Benoit (You). It was great fun to get to know all these writers (I was the token Canadian) including James Dashner, whose Maze Runner has become such a huge hit.

It was my first time in Austin and it was a very pleasant surprise-- a vibrant city filled with music bars and restaurants -- and sidewalks! And people on them! Bikes, the headquarters for Whole Foods, and a fabulous independent store called BookPeople. There is also the Congress Avenue bridge which is home to 1,5 million bats. Supposedly they all swoop up into the sky at dusk, like an image from the Apocalypse-- I'd heard all about this while researching Silverwing over a decade ago. So naturally I went down to wait on the bridge with hundreds of other hopeful bat watchers and after an hour of waiting we were rewarded with -- nothing. The bats were a no show. I blame the easy availability of fast food.

Next stop: Calgary for Worfdest, aways a favourite of mine, organized by the inimicable Anne Green,who will be stepping down as director this year. I was paired up with fellow YA writer Deborah Kerbel (whose new book is the ghost story Lure.) Originally we were sheduled to make one presentation at the 270-seat Vertigo Playhouse, but when that sold out, they added a second event, which sold out as well. So a third was added!

Me reading a selection of the novel to the kids...

Audience held spellbound by my presentation -- or just secretly revelling in the fact they're missing Math class.

After our Calgary events, Deborah (left) and I were taken up to Banff to do one last even at the Banff Centre for the Arts.

When I got up for breakfast, Banff looked like this...

Then after a few minutes it stopped raining and looked like this...

Then it snowed violently for a little while and looked like this...

So that was Calgary-Banff Wordfest. Check back for the next stops on the tour: Victoria and the Vancouver International Writers Festival....

Rejected chimps find shelter at Fauna Foundation

2010-10-13T09:36:00.000-07:00

By KATHRYN GREENAWAY
The Montreal Gazette

Kenneth Oppel wanted to write a book for teens about chimpanzees - specifically about chimpanzees who were raised as humans in the 1960s and 1970s and taught sign language to communicate.

And he wanted to write about what happened to these chimpanzees when they were no longer cute babies and became too large to follow household rules.

The book is called Half Brother (HarperCollins), and the Governor General's Award-winning author did part of his research at the Fauna Foundation, a sanctuary for abused animals located just outside Chambly in the Monteregie region.

The sanctuary is home to 12 adult chimpanzees, most of whom were rescued from biomedical facilities.

"It was a really energizing trip," Toronto-based Oppel said of his visit to the Fauna sanctuary in 2008. "I learned so much about how chimpanzees behave in captivity, how they assert their domination.

"I was struck by their power and the power of their scent. You feel respectful. Some of them came close to have a look at me, and one tossed a green pepper at me."

There are about 600 chimpanzees in sanctuaries in the United States alone. Some of them worked in the entertainment industry, others were raised as pets, others came from zoos or were the offspring of chimpanzees used way back for space-travel experiments. Many come from biomedical facilities.

All chimps come to sanctuaries as damaged goods -traumatized by repeated scientific experimentation and extended periods spent in isolation and cramped quarters. Those raised by humans suffered the betrayal of being rejected and removed from familiar surroundings when they got too big or suffered from stress disorders from being forced to do tricks to entertain.

The Fauna Foundation has cared for 19 chimpanzees since veterinarian Richard Allan and Gloria Grow opened the facility in 1997. Seven chimpanzees have died. Their life expectancy is 40 to 50 years.

"It was beautiful to see how they were so loved by the staff. Gloria loves those chimps, and they don't have to do anything," Oppel said. "That is a great achievement because we all put conditions on how we love each other. That's an uncomfortable truth about human relationships."

Oppel had been kicking around the idea of writing a book about great apes for 20 years. He was inspired to start writing the book after reading the obituary of Washoe, a chimpanzee who was raised by humans and taught sign language in the late 1960s. Oppel also read about Sarah, a chimp who began learning sign language as part of a behavioural experiment during the same period. She now lives at a sanctuary in Louisiana and is 47 years old.

When Washoe became too large to control, she was taken from the only family she knew and placed in unfamiliar surroundings. She was 42 years old when she died in 2007.

In Half Brother, infant chimp Zan is ripped from his mother's breast (she is tranquilized at the time) and taken into the Tomlin household to be raised as a human and taught sign language. The Tomlins' teenage son Ben grows to love Zan and becomes his protector and saviour after the Tomlins shut down the sign-language experiment and ship Zan off to a horrible "sanctuary."

Not all sanctuaries are created equal. "Just like there are good doctors and bad doctors, there are good sanctuaries and bad sanctuaries," Grow said. "At the Fauna Foundation, we try to give the chimpanzees the peace and comfort they deserve after coming from such traumatic backgrounds."

Chimpanzees are our closest genetic relative. They have definite likes and dislikes and personalities.

The chimps at the Fauna sanctuary love to paint pictures, drink tea, eat spaghetti from a bowl and play with toys and trinkets. Colourful hair "scrunchies" are a hit right now, especially with alpha male Binky, 21, who likes to wear a neoncoloured scrunchy on his upper arm. (The scrunchies are so popular, a woman in Ontario sews extra-large ones so that they don't cut off circulation in the chimps' arms.)

The staff has also designed an enrichment program for the chimps. The recently introduced construction-work theme was particularly popular. The chimps had a blast playing with the toy tools.

They have fun, but they are also prone to moods, just like us, and that's when their size and strength can come into serious play.

"One of the biggest dangers is for people to think chimpanzees can be perfect and predictable pets," Oppel said. "I was in the middle of writing Half Brother when that horrible thing happened in the United States. Chimps are not meant to be pets."

Last February, Travis, an adult male chimp weighing 230 pounds, attacked a friend of his owner, blinding her and severing her nose, ears and both hands. Travis was shot by a police officer while trying to attack another officer.

The Fauna Foundation is located on 60 hectares and includes concrete buildings and a series of specially designed islands where the chimpanzees can hang out. The buildings are locked up tight to prevent escapes, and the area is surrounded by a powerful electric fence.

"Kenneth's book is great because it captures everything about a chimp's life in captivity, and it didn't turn into the Pollyanna world of chimpanzees," Grow said. "It's educational and it's based on fact. And he's written it for exactly the right audience. I recently did some work with students from Miss Edgar's and Miss Cramp's School. They were so engaged and wrote letters to (government officials) about the unethical treatment of chimpanzees. They are the generation that will change things. They are the ones that will read Kenneth's book and then talk about why it's not right to use chimpanzees in commercials."

Grow is one of the founders of the recently established North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance, an organization dedicated to the health and survival of quality sanctuaries for abused animals.

Is the Fauna Foundation accepting new chimps? "That's hard to say right now," Grow said. "It costs a lot to care for them ($250,000 a year) and they live a long time. We have to make sure the foundation is financially secure and that there are measures in place to care for the chimpanzees after we are gone. They are here for the rest of their lives."

Half Brother is in stores now. kennethoppel.com.

For information about donating to the Fauna Foundation, faunafoundation.org.

kgreenaway@montrealgazette.com

© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

Ape becomes human; humans go ape

2010-09-27T14:11:00.000-07:00

HALF BROTHER
Reviewed by Erika Ritter
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Sep. 24, 2010

There is something particularly poignant in the plight of captive primates. Yet their similarity to us has never guaranteed them our compassion or respect – especially our closest relatives, chimpanzees. Mostly, we view them as human surrogates for cognitive studies, aeronautical experiments, invasive medical research and drug-testing, which we undertake solely for our benefit but would flinch from inflicting on ourselves. That’s when we’re not dressing these animals up as humans and laughing as they “ape” us in the circus ring or on TV.

Indeed, apart from the fortunate few who still live unmolested in the wild, chimpanzees inhabit a uniquely tragic in-between realm neither human nor strictly animal. Clearly, Kenneth Oppel gets that, right from the title of his latest young-adult novel, Half Brother, to the sober-sweet conclusion.

In previous works, such as the Silverwing and Matt Cruse series, Oppel has specialized in creating alternative realities for humans and animals. Half Brother, however, is set in a factually correct recreation of the early 1970s and modelled on real-life events. Nim Chimpsky was a chimpanzee raised from infancy in a human household and taught American Sign Language. The hope was that treating him like a human and giving him means to communicate with humans would determine that a non-human could acquire and employ language meaningfully. Ultimately, Project Nim was deemed a failure, and the poor chimp, stripped of his human clothes and celebrity status, was nearly sold to a research lab before animal advocates intervened to get him to a sanctuary.

Like Nim, Oppel’s fictional ape, Zan, comes to his human family as an infant, slated to be treated like a new baby. Unlike Nim, Zan is lucky that one member of his household becomes aware of how equivocal, perilous and ultimately untenable the position of a half-brother “adopted” for experimental purposes can be.

Ben Tomlin, our teenage narrator, is an only child initially upset because his father uprooted the family from Toronto to take up a university teaching and research post in Victoria. Rapidly, Ben’s upset turns to dismay when his mother (her husband’s research assistant) arrives at their new home with a week-old baby chimpanzee in her arms. With no more prior consultation than the animal himself received, Ben is expected to accept Zan as a sibling and to participate in the experiment of raising him and teaching him to sign.

Ben comes to love Zan and to view him as a fellow resister of adult tyranny. As both young males develop, Oppel draws comparisons between the means each finds to assert individuality and oppose authority. Ben adopts the posture of a “dominant male” in order to survive at his new school, as well as cope with his controlling father. Meanwhile, Zan begins to bristle, bare teeth and lash out when thwarted or challenged.

Despite his father’s scientific assertions and his mother’s tortured rationales, it’s clear to Ben that the chimp isn’t actually being treated like a human – not when he’s kept in a basement suite, drilled in ASL by brigades of grad students and strapped into a restraining chair if he misbehaves. It also becomes apparent that none of this is being done for the animal’s benefit. When Project Zan is shut down – for more or less the same reasons as real-life Project Nim – Ben is threatened with losing Zan to a prison-like primate facility.

Ben’s dilemma comes to parallel Jody’s in the classic novel The Yearling, by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Like Jody, Ben must deal with a cuddly baby creature turned destructive adolescent, no longer able to be returned to the wild, yet no longer capable of being controlled like a domestic animal.

Oppel explores the limited options available, from the brutalities of research, to the exploitations of zoos, to the comparative humaneness of a primate sanctuary. Without ever becoming preachy, he makes the point that the initial dislocation of Zan and other members of wild species cannot ever lead to truly good outcomes.

Half Brother is fast-moving, engagingly told and smart. I hope today’s teen readers won’t be put off by its antediluvian setting in a period pre-text messages,

Facebook and cellphones, with a soundtrack by ABBA and Elton John. Actually, not much has changed for apes in North American research facilities over the past four decades, and, come to think of it, ABBA and Elton are still with us, along with Planet of the Apes movies and heated debates on animal rights.

Beyond Ben’s unique preoccupation with Zan, Oppel takes pains to give his protagonist more typically adolescent concerns. As an adult, I confess I found the teenage-angst aspects of the novel fairly run-of-the-mill. That might be the limitation of a young narrator’s perspective on his own standard-issue anxieties – as compared to his vivid accounts of his extraordinary relationship with an animal through sign language.

Ultimately, this novel is about much more than an abandoned experiment in interspecies communication. Through Ben, Oppel gracefully underscores the true value in reaching Zan: Not to profit from teaching him to perform tasks, but to grasp the world as a non-human perceives it.

Erika Ritter is the author most recently of The Dog by the Cradle, the Serpent Beneath: Some Paradoxes of Human-Animal Relationships, now available in paperback.

My Books My Place

2010-09-27T14:07:00.001-07:00

Kenneth Oppel plays the library card
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Sep. 24, 2010

I don’t actually spend much time here, but I really should. The book-lined room has an incredibly comfortable chair that I picked myself, a scholarly refectory table, beautiful ceiling mouldings and even an antique globe. Any self-respecting writer should be permanently ensconced here with a pipe and a glass of port.

The truth is, I read mostly on my bed, where I can sprawl out and easily go unconscious. But I hereby resolve to spend more time in my library and finish the last pages of my current read, John Updike’s Rabbit, Run.

As a teenager, I read Updike’s first short-story collection, The Same Door. A Hemingway devotee, I’d marvelled at his crystalline prose and the authenticity of his characters and scenes. Wanting more, I got a second-hand copy of Rabbit Redux, not realizing it had a predecessor (and later would have a successor). It didn’t matter: Although Updike’s prose had become more jewelled and a bit less lithe, my 16-year-old self still loved reading about Rabbit Angstrom and his incredibly weird and smutty life.

But for some reason, though I’ve read and admired many of Updike’s other works, I never got around to reading the first Rabbit until now. Just before this, I devoured Mordecai Richler’s The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz – another grievous omission in my reading life. Like Rabbit, Run, it was written in the late fifties, by a writer in his mid-20s – but the heroes, though both careening, are polar opposites. Duddy is all manic action; Rabbit, a study in passivity. Richler’s novel bursts with energy; Updike’s offers a more sedate, penetrating character study.

I love Updike, but I’ve got to say, Duddy Kravitz wins my vote: I like heroes with restless hearts and big passions, who make things happen.

Writing Half Brother

2010-09-10T13:49:00.000-07:00

Published in the Huffington Post

Writing Half Brother: Love, Control, and Talking Animals

I only recently realized how fitting (and possibly ironic) it was that, after writing four bestselling “talking animal” fantasies featuring bats (the Silverwing series), I’d go on to write a realistic novel about an animal who truly did talk.

The seed for my novel Half Brother was planted in my mind over twenty years ago, but didn’t germinate until late 2007 when I came across the obituary for Washoe, an extraordinary chimpanzee who had learned over 250 words of American Sign Language.

It wasn’t the first time I’d heard about Washoe, or the radical language experiments performed on chimps in the 1960s and 70’s. As a first year undergrad at the University of Toronto, I’d read with fascination about Project Nim, in which a baby chimp was raised as a human child to determine whether chimps were capable of learning human language. Nim was dressed in diapers and clothes, he ate at a high chair, had books and toys -- and a very large surrogate human family.

At first blush, the experiment had a beguiling Doctor Dolittle charm to it – an attempt to communicate with another species in a truly meaningful way. Not nearly so charming was what happened when the experiment ended two years later – after being deemed a failure. Nim was abruptly stripped of his human identity, his clothes and toys and favourite foods, separated from the people he’d come to think of as mothers and fathers and siblings, and shipped off to another primate research institute. I found the image of Nim, looking out through the bars of a cage, incredibly sad – and I’d never considered myself someone who was sentimental about animals.

When, years later, I read Washoe’s obituary, I wondered what it would be like to write a story from a chimpanzee’s perspective. When I’d written my Silverwing series -- I’d imbued the bats with full human awareness and vocabulary. But what would it be like to try to tell a story with only the words Nim or Washoe had learned? The idea had a powerful appeal, but I decided that limiting myself to a two-hundred-and-fifty-word vocabulary – heavy on nouns, and light on verbs – would probably create something that might generously be called brave and avante-garde; or ungenerously, an unreadable mess.

Any attempt to write from an animal’s perspective inevitably involves anthropomorphization, and with Half Brother I wanted to steer clear of that. In the end I chose to tell the story through human eyes – those of Ben, a teenager whose father is a hotshot behavioural psychologist conducting a language study with a baby chimpanzee called Zan, in the family home.

Certainly I was interested in the controversial animal rights issues inherent in the story – chimps have been used and abused by humans in the entertainment industry, the US Space Program, and, perhaps most upsetting, the biomedical research industry. But equally fascinating to me were the human dynamics of the story. Imagine, as a teenager, being told to treat a chimp like a baby brother, while never forgetting that it was also a lab specimen. Imagine watching your mother and father indulge in a bizarre form of parenting – one in which the baby was nurtured, but also emotionally manipulated, and ultimately coerced into performing. To the father, the baby is only of value as long as it gives him what he needs.

But is human parenting -- or human relationships in general -- so very different? The more I worked on Half Brother, the more it seemed to me the story was really about love in all its possible forms – how and why we decide to bestow it, or withdraw it; how we decide what is more worthy of being loved, and what is less. We are masters of conditional love.

During my research for Half Brother I read numerous accounts of people who had worked with chimps and many of them, I believe, truly did love the animals, and were heart-broken when they were separated from them. One of the most moving experiences I had was visiting the Fauna Foundation, a chimp sanctuary outside Montreal, which is home to thirteen chimpanzees who have been “retired” from zoos, the entertainment industry, and biomedical research facilities. These chimps, no longer deemed “useful” by their previous owners, now have a wonderful home where they are cared for by director Gloria Grow and her staff. Some are old and ill, some are HIV positive as the result of medical research. But they no longer have to perform or deliver, and it was clear to me that they were truly and unconditionally loved.

Half Brother Interview

2010-09-09T08:11:00.000-07:00

Exclusive Q&A with Kenneth Oppel
By Teen Editor at Indigo Books

"I am so excited to bring you this exclusive Q&A with one of my personal favourites, Canada's own Kenneth Oppel in which he talks about writing his new novel, Half Brother."

TE: How did this idea of a family adopting a chimpanzee develop for you? Were you inspired by a particular story or study that you’ve read?

KO: As a first year undergrad at the University of Toronto, I read about Project Nim, in which a baby chimp was raised as a human child to determine whether chimps were capable of learning human sign language. Nim was dressed in diapers and clothes, he ate at a high chair, had books and toys -- and a very large surrogate human family. But when the experiment ended two years later – after being deemed a failure, Nim was stripped of his human identity, his clothes and toys and favourite foods, separated from the people he’d come to think of as mothers and fathers and siblings, and shipped off to another primate research institute. I found the image of Nim, looking out through the bars of a cage, incredibly sad. It stayed with me for over twenty years.

TE: Half Brother is a bit of a departure for you from your other books, such as Airborn and Silverwing. What were some of the challenges you encountered writing it?

KO: Ironically, the subject matter of Half Brother is even more fantastical and strange than that of my earlier books, so I was quite at home! But certainly it’s a much more realistic book, and a more intimate one, so the characters and their relationships are more intricate. So I found it both challenging and invigorating, after so many fantasies in alternate worlds, to be grounded in our own.

TE: You set the novel in the early 1970s Victoria. What made you chose that particular time and place? Were you interested in pursuing some of the popular ideas around behavioural science and psychology?

KO: The real chimp language experiments that inspired Half Brother took place in the late 60s and 70s so I wanted to stay true to that time period. They were some of the first attempts to teach another species our language. Followers of the psychologist BF Skinner thought any behaviour – including language -- could be taught; followers of the linguist Noam Chomsky believed that language was intrinsic to human beings only. So these experiments were quite radical, and still controversial to this day. Also, there seemed to be such a fascination with chimps in popular culture at the time. They were everywhere on TV and in movies – namely the Planet of the Apes franchise which imagined a world in which chimps and the other great apes had evolved beyond humans. As for setting the story in Victoria, I mostly grew up there in the mid 70s to mid 80s, and I found it just gave me another way of entering tangibly into Ben’s world.

TE: I noticed that family dynamics continue to play an integral part in all of your novels, from Matt’s devotion to his mother and loss of his father in Airborne, to Dusk’s complicated relationship with his father in Darkwing. In this novel, it really all about that isn’t it? Who is the Alpha Male in the family and outside of it and what that means for Zan and Ben’s relationships?

KO: All drama is really about the dynamics between the characters – whether they’re bats, aeronauts in an alternate past, or the members of a uniquely dysfunctional family in 1970s Canada. Father-son relationships fascinate me, how a boy inevitably moves from seeing his father as impervious and all-knowing, to fallible and frail – simply human, in other words. But I think that all kids seek reassurance in dominance and power and control – boys in a more physical manifestation than girls – but every kid wants to be an alpha. Despite his ambivalence towards his father, Ben models himself after him by trying to control his environment and relationships – and the results are far from triumphant in some cases
TE: What kind of research did you do for this novel? Did you learn American Sign Language?

KO: I’d learned a bit of sign language to use with my youngest daughter, and it was amazing to see how it helped her communicate with us before words came. Then we used it simultaneous with speaking, and then the sign language just faded away as spoken language took over. My other research included reading up on all the famous chimp studies – Project Nim, Project Washoe, as well as some other accounts – including one of a scientist who lived with a chimp and truly thought of her as his daughter. I tried to learn as much as I could about chimp behaviour, especially baby chimps, and was fortunate enough to visit an amazing chimp sanctuary outside of Montreal.

TE: What do you think of the evolution of Teen/YA literature in the last five years and your place within it? Do you think that there are things you have to do differently now?

KO: Teen/YA literature definitely experiences trends like any form of literary and popular culture. Harry Potter gave us a good decade of wizardry and magic that spurred a huge general interest in fantasy which included period gothic fiction and steampunk. About five years ago the trend took a turn into contemporary gothic with Twilight, and now the shelves are groaning with books about hot vampires and werewolves and fallen angels and any other kind of paranormal creature you could wish for. I would say that trends rule the marketplace as never before – and it’s probably harder to launch books that are not considered trendy. But almost inevitably, the next great big doesn’t belong to the clique: it bravely charts its own course. No one really knows what’s going to take off, so as a writer all you can do is write the story that you fall in love in, and have to tell.

TE: Do you hope that this book raises awareness around animal cruelty and what kids can do about it?

KO: Certainly I hope that kids will take an interest in chimpanzees and the way they’ve been used and abused by humans. But the more I worked on Half Brother, the more it seemed to me the story was really about love in all its possible forms – how and why we decide to bestow it, or withdraw it; what’s worthy of being loved, and what isn’t? We are masters of conditional love. As the dominant species on the planet we have incredible power, and an incredible responsibility to treat our planet and all the creatures on it with respect and care.

TE: Abba or Zepplin?

KO: My feet say Abba, but my heart says Zeppelin.

A star from School Library Journal

2010-08-27T06:59:00.000-07:00

Thrilled to get this starred review for HALF BROTHER in the September issue of School Library Journal!

*OPPEL, Kenneth. Half Brother. 375p. Scholastic. Sept. 2010. Tr $17.99. ISBN 978-0-545-22925-8. LC number unavailable.

Gr 7-11–Thirteen-year-old Ben Tomlin’s whole world is changing. His parents, research scientists, have moved them across Canada to be with their newest subject, Zan. Intending to prove that chimpanzees are capable of intelligent thought and communication, the Tomlins teach the baby chimp sign language and incorporate him into their daily lives. Thrust into a new school and, essentially, a new family, Ben is caught in a whirl of new emotions, especially when the lovely Jennifer comes onto the scene. Though Zan learns sign language relatively well, his animal instincts gradually become more pronounced and Ben and his parents must make some important decisions about the chimp’s future. Oppel has taken a fascinating subject and molded it into a top-notch read. Deftly integrating family dynamics, animal-rights issues, and the painful lessons of growing up, Half Brother draws readers in from the beginning and doesn’t let go. The carefully crafted characters will be an easy connection for teens and the interpretation of the animal-testing controversies of the 1970s will provide an alternate viewpoint for animal-book lovers.– Sara Saxton, Tuzzy Consortium Library, Barrow, AK

Six Weeks and Counting...

2010-07-21T07:09:00.000-07:00

Here's one of the strange things about writing a novel: once I've finished it, and it's been edited by the publishers, there is usually a nine to twelve month lag before it appears in bookstores and libraries and people actually start reading it. Of course, a few people have already read it: my wife and kids, my literary agents, my editors in Toronto and New York and London, and various other marketing and sales people at my publishers....

But the fact is, I have to wait a long, long time before I start seeing magazine reviews of the book, and hearing back from my readers. Fortunately, so I don't go insane, I'm busy with other things, namely writing a whole new book -- but it is a bit agonizing to have to wait so long before I know what people think of the one that's about to be published.

Luckily, over the past weeks, I've started getting some early feedback from people who have read advanced readers copies (ARCs) of Half Brother.

As publication day fast approaches (September 1st) I thought I'd share some of these early comments here on my blog. They are from a wide variety of people across North America: teachers, librarians, university instructors, and teenaged fans of my earlier books.

So here's what readers are saying about Half Brother:

"It's a brilliant book. I can't say enough great things about it My son (he's 12) read Half Brother in two days. He said it was the best of all your books. I would have to agree!"
--Kim Akana

"Just finished Half Brother -- stayed up until midnight and hated to put it down, but wrapped it up this aft. What a COOL book. So different from anything else out there. Really made me think.... I like the way you did so much with characterization in this book. Everyone f elt very three-dimensional and real... heartbreakingly so at times.
--Martha Brack Martin

"I just finished Half Brother today with tears streaming down my face. What a great read! So glad I won the ARC. Thanks.
--Lena Coakley

"I finished reading Half Brother and it was one of my favourite books you have written. This is a beautiful story about the value and importance of family. It made me think about what really counts and matters in a person. Your writing keeps evolving and growing. I hope Half Brother receives all the success and praise it deserves.
--Colin, age 19

"I finished the advanced copy of Half Brother you sent. Wonderful! Fantastic writing once again. I won't hesitate to buy copies for my libraries and recommend it to students. A pleasure, as always, to read one of your books. Thanks again and best of luck and much success with this new one!
--Nancy Runstedler

"I finally had a chance to sit down and read Half Brother (I'd been waiting until I had a couple of days without too much else going on) -- great book! It was both precisely what I'd expect from an Oppel book (well-written, great characters, suspenseful plot, intelligent) and not at all what I'd expect (seems to me that you're charting new directions in your writing?). I was particularly impressed by the complicated mixture of personal (Ben's budding adolescence), political (animal rights) and social (subtle explorations of class struggle and gender relations). Setting it in the early 1970s was also very effective (and not just because it was like a visit to my own boyhood... minus the chimp).
--Mac Fenwick

"I thought Half Brother was incredibly awesome. I really didn't know what to expect given that I'm most familiar with your Airborn series, but this was a pleasant surprise. I love how you were able to give the story a teenager's perspective -- a very believable one at that. The relationship between Zan and Ben was so sweet; I especially liked the part where Zan is comforting Ben.... Your book was very honest in the sense that if shows that not everything works out the way you planned, and that you have to be willing to meet in the middle to ensure that it's not only you that will be happy in the end. In sum, your book was refreshing. Thank you for letting me have the chance to read such a great book.
--Ruchita, age 16

Half Brother Galley Tour

2010-06-27T10:45:00.001-07:00

Do you want to join the Half Brother galley tour?

HarperCollins Canada is sending copies of Half Brother on tour across Canada!

HarperCollins is looking forward to getting them back filled with your comments, photos, and anything else that reveals where they have been in their travels.

As you read the book, put sticky notes, photos—whatever you like— on the pages for others to see along the way.

When you’re finished reading, give the galley to a friend. If you're the 10th person to read the galley, mail it back to the contact name in the galley, and HarperCollins will send you a free book (from the genre of your choice) in exchange for any shipping charges you may incur.

Send me a private facebook message before noon on Monday June 28th and you might be the one to kick-off the galley tour!

HALF BROTHER gets highlighted preview in Quill&Quire

2010-06-18T10:58:00.001-07:00

Quill & Quire, the Canadian trade magazine, has given a highlighted preview to my upcoming novel Half Brother.

I am thrilled with the coverage, and delighted to know that "the story will surely be as classy a crowd-pleaser as the Silverwing and Airborn series," but would just like to point out that the main character in the book, Ben Tomlin, is not eight years old, but 13, 14 and 15 through the course of the novel!

More news and info to come as publication date approaches...

HALF BROTHER named "Hot Read" by Globe and Mail

2010-06-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

My upcoming novel Half Brother has been included in this weekend's Globe and Mail as one of the "Hot Reads" of the summer. I'm delighted by the mention. The novel will actually be released at the very end of August, and showing up in bookstores the very first week of September.

Advance reader reviews are starting to come in, and I'll try to post some of them here...

Coming Fall 2010

2010-04-06T07:53:00.001-07:00

Ben Tomlin was an only child for thirteen years.

Then his parents brought home a baby chimp.

Ben's father, a renowned behavioral scientist, has uprooted the family to pursue his latest research project: a high profile experiment to determine whether chimpanzees can acquire human language. Ben's parents tell him to treat Zan like a little brother. Ben reluctantly agrees. At least now he's not the only one his father's going to scrutinize.

It isn't long before Ben is Zan's favourite, and Ben starts to see Zan as more than just an experiment. His father disagrees. Soon Ben is forced to make a critical choice between what he is told to believe and what he knows to be true -- between obeying his father or protecting his brother from an unimaginable fate.

Half Brother isn't just a story about a boy and a chimp. It's about the way families are made, the way humanity is judged, the way easy choices become hard ones, and how you can't always do right by the people and animals you love.

Barnes and the Brains

2010-02-11T10:47:00.000-08:00

The Barnes and the Brains series was inspired by the stories I liked best, growing up. I loved series about groups of kids who had clubs, invented things, and went on fantastic adventures. Enid Blyton's Castle of Adventure introduced me to four English schoolkids who always seemed to be on Easter holidays with obligingly absent relatives, and stumbled into dangerous situations, often involving smuggling. The Danny Dunn books featured kids and a scientist who invented incredible gadgets, including a homework machine.

The Mad Scientist Club books featured a group of kids in Mammoth Falls, Wisconsin. They had a clubhouse, and they too invented things. I remember episodes involving hot air balloons -- and a working submarine! I couldn't get enough of this stuff. I also loved the Great Brain books, in which the young hero, JD, is continually stymied by his older brother JD -- the great brain of the title. Schemes and adventures, some of them quite scary, abounded.

For me, the Barnes and the Brains books were a way of trying to recapture some the humour and sheer fun of my favourite childhood stories. Starting with A Bad Case of Ghosts, these books were written with a 7-9 year old in mind -- kids who are moving away from picture books, but who might not be quite ready for full-length novels.

The main character is Giles Barnes, the new kid in the neighbourhood, who is befriended by Tina and Kevin Quark, self-proclaimed geniuses who run their own business, investigating strange occurences. There are ghosts birds, invisible magicians, and maniacal robots.

There are six books in all, the first three of which have just been re-issued, with fabulous eye-catching covers, in Canada by HarperCollins. The next three will be out this May. Often when I visit schools, teachers tell me they never have enough fun reading material for grades 2-4. So I hope these books find homes, and happy readers, in classrooms across the country!

AIRBORN on "Decade's Best Books" list

2009-12-30T08:56:00.000-08:00

I was thrilled and surprised to discover that Quill & Quire magazine has given Airborn an Honourable Mention in its list of "The Decade's Best Books."

Among the fourteen Canadian titles selected were Yann Martel's Life of Pi, Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes, Alice Munro's Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage, and Miriam Toews' A Complicated Kindness. The only other children's title on the list is Deborah Ellis's The Breadwinner.

Airborn was also named a Best Kid's Book of the Decade by Indigo Books.

It's a great honour to be amongst such illustrious company -- and a great way to head into the New Year of writing...

Starclimber and The King's Taster on the OLA Forest of Reading List!

2009-10-26T06:23:00.000-07:00

This isn't actually me in the photo, but it's how I feel after learning that I've been nominated in, not one, but two categories of the Ontario Library Association's fabulous Forest of Reading Awards.

There are all sorts of literary awards for children's books, but possibly the most satisfying for a writer are the readers' choice awards -- the ones where the winners are actually chosen by your real audience -- young readers -- as opposed to adults who decree which books are worthy and important for kids.

The Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading Awards give young readers in Ontario the chance to vote for their favourite books from a shortlist of ten titles. And it's always fascinating, surprising (and, for a writer, eye-opening) to see which book wins.

This year I've been fortunate to be nominated in two categories. First, Starclimber has been nominated for the Red Maple Award (decided on by grade 7-8 students across Ontario.) This is the fifth time I've been nominated (Airborn and Skybreaker won in 2005 and 2006 respectively).

As well, my picture book The King's Taster, illustrated by the wonderful team of Steve Fancher and Lou Johnson, has been nominated for the Blue Spruce Award (chosen by children from kindergarten to Grade Two).

Kids will be reading all through the fall and into the spring, voting at the end of April, with the winners announced in May.

A Fabulous Poster

2009-10-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to Jason Loo at the Mississauga Public Library for painting this wall-sized poster that formed the backdrop for my reading at their Literary Festival this past September. I think you'll agree it's fantastic!

One of the most gratifying things about my visits to schools and librairies is seeing how much effort and enthusiasm the hosts and students put into them, and how welcoming they are to me!

Over the years I've been the lucky recipient of many fabulous bats and airships and Yetis -- in all media imaginable!

Happy Halloween

2009-10-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

I am one of many contributors who wrote a creepy short story for a new anthology called HALF-MINUTE HORRORS. The book is published in partnership with First Book, a nonprofit organization that puts books in the hands of children in need. There are stories by Neil Gaiman and Lemony Snicket and Margaret Atwood, and spooky illustrations by the likes of Brian Selznick, Lisa Brown and Adam Rex.

So, how short is my short story? Well, you can read it in thirty seconds. Those were the instructions of the book's editor, Susan Rich, who, as Lemony Snicket's editor, has a great deal of experience with horrific stories. I couldn't help noticing that some people's stories were considerably longer than thirty seconds, so I can only assume they didn't follow instructions and were suitably punished.

My story is called "In Hiding," and it involves... well, if you really want to know, check out the book.

Or come to the Toronto launch, where I'll be reading it -- or maybe just some of it, if we're short on time.

The launch is sponsored by World Literacy Canada and takes place on Halloween at 2-4pm at the Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West.

Oh, and Happy Halloween!

Fall Events

2009-08-30T12:18:00.000-07:00

This Fall I’ll be appearing at a few events, mostly in and around Toronto, reading from my new picture book, The King’s Taster and the newly released paperback edition of Starclimber, the third book in my Airborn series.

September 13th 2009
Mississauga Literary Festival
The Living Arts Centre, Mississauga

September 27, 2009
WORD ON THE STREET
Toronto, Queen's Park

November 7, 2009
Packaging Your Imagination
Victoria College, 73 Queen's Park Crescent East,Toronto, Ontario

November 19, 2009
River Arts Festival
Dunnville, Ontario

The August Report

2009-08-12T20:43:00.001-07:00

After two invigorating weeks off (see idyllic scenery on left), I'm back at work. So I wanted to answer some of the questions I've been getting recently via email and facebook.

1) What am I working on?

I'm actually just finishing up work on my new novel called Half Brother, which will be published Fall 2010 by HarperCollins (in Canada); Scholastic (in the US) and David Fickling Books (in the UK). It's the story of 14-year-old Ben Tomlin, whose psychologist parents are involved in a radical scientific experiment. They bring a newborn chimp into their house to raise as a human baby (a sort of half brother to Ben), and try to teach it sign language, so they can see if chimps are capable of learning language. I'll tell you more about the book as the publication date nears...

2) What's going on with the Airborn movie?
The quick answer: nothing. I've had many, many emails asking me about the film. When will it appear? Can they audition for it? And there is a great deal of incorrect information floating about on the internet. In 2004 Universal Pictures optioned the book for Stephen Sommers (The Mummy movies etc). The Summers Company hired screenwriters, who wrote a script which, in my opinion, bore very little resemblance to my novel. Yes, there were characters who had the names Matt Cruse and Kate de Vries (but they were much older) and yes, there were airships. But there were no cloud cats, and my entire plot had been replaced by a story involving magical urns with glowing runes which contained magical elemental powers, and mysterious priests to guard over them... I didn't like the adaptation, and apparently, Universal Pictures didn't either, because they let the option lapse. In short: no movie is being made, and the rights are now mine again, and I am going to be very picky about who I sell them to next time around. So, if you happen to know Steven Spielberg, or Peter Jackson or J.J. Abrams very well, feel free to pass along a copy of the Airborn series to them.

3) Will I be writing any more Silverwing books?
Maybe. If I did, it would probably be a continuation of Darkwing, because I see a very eventful life ahead for Dusk...

4) Will I be writing more Airborn books?

I love Matt and Kate and would hate to say good-bye to them forever. But Starclimber does leave them at a very interesting point in their lives... I might return to them, but first I have several other stories I'm going to tell first...

Airborn in Orbit

2009-07-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking of having this picture framed. My book Airborn is floating -- actually floating! --in outer space beside Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk. He brought a copy with him as part of his "official flight kit" on his six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

Needless to say, I'm completely thrilled by this. It's amazing to think that something I created is circling the earth in such stellar company.

I wonder if Bob Thirsk will have time to read it -- but my impression is that they keep these fellows pretty busy up there!

Thanks to the Canada Council for the Arts, who suggested my book to Bob Thirsk, and the Canadian Space Agency who provided this wonderful photo. And of course, thanks to Bob Thirsk himself who agreed to pack it in his luggage!