YA Write with Amy Mathers

Amy sits down to talk with the 2020 finalists for the Amy Mathers Teen Book Award: L.D. Crichton (All Our Broken Pieces), Nafiza Azad (The Candle and the Flame), Natasha Deen (In the Key of Nira Ghani), Tom Ryan (Keep This to Yourself) and S.K. Ali (Love from A to Z). Support the show

Amy sits down with all of the nominees of the 2019 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award: Kelley Armstrong (Aftermath), Catherine Lo (Easy Prey), Tanaz Bhathena (A Girl Like That), Michelle Barker (The House of One Thousand Eyes) and Janice Lynn Mather (Learning to Breathe). *Any beliefs expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Support the show

For the beginning of season two of YA Write, I am talking to Anna Preimaza, author of Kat and Meg Conquer the World and her latest, Fan the Fame. An expert on gaming and an avid YouTube fan, Preimaza discusses juggling two careers, creating her own fictional gaming world and writing for a teen audience with authenticity. Enjoy!*Any beliefs expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Support the show

Caught up this week with Nova Scotian author Tom Ryan whose book, Keep This To Yourself, comes out in May. Ryan expands his range from contemporary teen fiction to mystery, reflecting the importance of equal representation of LGBTQ characters in all genres. Having lived in several parts of Canada, Ryan discusses when Canadian settings are important, and what he hopes to bring to a teen audience.Happy Reading! *Any beliefs expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Support the show

Valentines Day is just around the corner so it seems appropriate that this month on YA Write I am talking to author and activist Robin Stevenson. A former social worker, Stevenson's empathy and care for those around her inspires both her writing and her social justice projects of which there are too many to count. Join us as Stevenson shares her activist roots and how they have informed her non-fiction books, Pride and My Body My Choice. Happy Reading! —Amy *Any beliefs expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Canadian Children's Book Centre. Support the show

It’s the most wonderful time of the year – the Canadian Children’s Book Centre award nominees have been revealed, and the 2019 Forest of Reading lists will be close behind. I am happy to announce this year’s nominees for the Sylvan-sponsored Amy Mathers Teen Book Award are: The Agony of Bun O’Keefe by Heather Smith, Everything Beautiful is not Ruined by Danielle Younge-Ullman, The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline, Munro vs. the Coyote by Darren Groth, and The Way Back Home by Allan Stratton!For the past few years, kidlit author, founder of Raising Readers, and Giller Prize marketing manager Michelle Kadarusman has been inviting me to Between the Pages: An Evening with the Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalists. It’s an evening filled with readings and powerful discussion about writing processes and ideas, as well as the creative muse. Every year it inspires me, and every year since the beginning I’ve thought how awesome it would be to have a similar discussion with my favourite people – teen authors.So this year, we did! I can still hardly believe it, but as I’ve learned since I started volunteering at the CCBC, the Canadian kidlit community is unfailingly generous. We coordinated five different schedules and three different time zones to get together in person, through Skype, Facetime and a long-distance phone line to include authors all the way from British Columbia to the United Kingdom. All to talk about teen books. It was like a dream – except it was real.I hope you enjoy the results – sadly, we lost Cherie Dimaline about halfway through and had to keep going without her – but a good time was had by all. Special thanks go to Emma Hunter and Robin Smith for their technical assistance with recording and sound editing – I could not have done it without them.While I am looking forward to finding out the winner at the TD Book Awards on October 29th, I am reminded of Allan Stratton’s insight during our podcast – that while awards pick out a few books to showcase, their main purpose is to highlight the category. The book nominees are exceptional this year and I highly recommend them, but are also just a small representation of the excellence 2017 had to offer in Canadian teen fiction.Until next month, Happy Reading!*Any beliefs expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre.Support the show

In a special summer edition of YA Write! Podcast, author Christina Minaki talks about her novel, #BurningTheBoats ! Tune in for an enlightening conversation about disability, self-publishing, and the challenges of changing long-held perspectives.*Any beliefs expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre.Support the show

Hello Canadian teen book readers! Change of authors this month - Christina Minaki's Burning the Boats launched on May 24th, but due to my personal medical problems I was unable to get together with her to tape our podcast. Look for her in one of my special summer podcasts that will be available through the CCBC's Twitter feed.Instead, I took advantage of the CCBC/TD Book Week and met up with BC author of Are You Seeing Me? and the upcoming Infinite Blue, Darren Groth, at the Hamilton Public Library. Coming in at one hour and seventeen minutes it is a longer podcast than my previous ones, with Darren and I discussing his being a Australian/Canadian author, visibility of of disabled characters, and the importance of authentic voices. Don't be surprised if you hear piano music in the background. Enjoy, and happy reading! - Amy*Any beliefs expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre.Support the show

Hello Canadian teen book readers! This month I am talking to Danielle Younge-Ullman about the differences between writing for the stage and writing books, as well as the hallmarks of Canadian literature. Nominated for a Governor General's Award and currently up for White Pine 2018 for Everything Beautiful is Not Ruined, Younge-Ullman offers insight into the writing process and how she challenges herself with her books. Next month, I will be talking to Christina Minaki, author of Burning the Boats. Enjoy, and happy reading! - Amy*Any beliefs expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre.Support the show

Hello Canadian teen book readers! After a medical leave of absence I am back with a podcast interview with Star Spider! Her first teen book, Past Tense, is coming out in April. Listen to our 46 minute conversation covering such topics as mental illness and and LGBTQIA2 issues in YA, and the unique writing processes of short stories and full length novels. Up next month is Danielle Younge-Ullman, GG & White Pine nominee for Everything Beautiful is not Ruined. Enjoy, and happy reading! —Amy*Any beliefs expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre.Support the show

 *Any beliefs expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Support the show

Going into my podcast with author Sylvia McNicoll, most recently known for Body Swap, I had ideas about what I wanted to ask her. Focusing on her last four YA/teen books alone, the themes of death, rebirth and second chances have fascinated me, especially since they keep reappearing and are obviously something Sylvia has wrestled with.Sometimes though, podcasts get away from me. While I did get to bring a bit of that out in my conversation with Sylvia, ultimately when she started to talk, all I wanted to do was listen. Her writing career has spanned decades and continents - experiencing first hand how our ideas of writing have changed over time. Sylvia knows how to engage her listener, and I could have continued our conversation for a lot longer.I say in the podcast that it was recorded for December, but we're releasing it in January because I have been dealing with health concerns. Hoping to bring you many new podcasts in 2019 - next month I have an excellent podcast recorded with author Robin Stevenson about the power of activism.Happy New Year and Happy Reading!*Any beliefs expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Canadian Children's Book Centre.Support the show

My guest this month for YA Write! is Michelle Barker, author of The House of One Thousand Eyes, a novel about life under the East German regime in Berlin after World War II. Listen as we explore the differences and commonalities of writing sci fi/fantasy and historical fiction, learn about the unimaginable tactics of the Stasi, and be inspired by Lena, a teen character who is thought to be simple minded but has more courage than most. I hope you will be as enthralled as I was.*Any beliefs expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre.Support the show