Philippa Dowding's Blog - Posts Tagged "firefly"

I could NOT be happier to announce that FIREFLY is a Finalist for the Governor General Literary Awards 2021!

As an author you dream about writing those words somewhere, someday ... it's not a sentence that you ever really expect to write. I am so honoured to write it!

Here is the entire list of GG Finalists: https://ggbooks.ca/

Here is the list of Young Reader's Literature-TEXT, where FIREFLY is nominated: https://ggbooks.ca/#young-peoples-lit...

Congratulations to all the wonderful nominees, the winners are announced on November 17, 2021. Thank you to my publisher, DCB, small but mighty! Shine bright, Firefly!

"With poetic prose, a memorable character and evocative settings, Philippa Dowding deftly handles challenging subjects in this emotionally honest story. Supported by a unique cast of characters, Firefly will shine for readers and resonate long after they close this quietly powerful book." Peer Assessment Committee, Governor General Awards

I could not possibly be more honoured to say that FIREFLY has won the 2021 Governor General's Literary Award for Young People's Literature (text). It's an incredible, humbling, and slightly surreal experience.

Thank you to the Canada Council, and to my wonderful publisher, DCB Young Readers who are small but mighty!

Here's the Canada Council page: https://ggbooks.ca/firefly

Here's my other blog post and more about FIREFLY: http://phdowding.blogspot.com/2021/11...

Keep reading everyone, and Shine Bright Firefly!

Thank you to the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award for nominating FIREFLY this year. What an incredible honour to be named to such a terrific list of Canadian books.

As FIREFLY receives this wonderful shortlist nomination (administered by the Ontario Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Foundation), a terrific nod from the Canadian literary community, I have to say that I am truly humbled and frankly a little amazed.

Congratulations to all the nominees, the two winners will be announced in June.

Read the announcement and nominees here (you'll want to read these books!): http://communications.arts.on.ca/T/OF...

Is there is a writer anywhere who starts writing a book with the goal of winning awards and commendations? We HOPE for those things of course, we DREAM of them in our wildest moments of literary abandon, but to ACHIEVE them is something altogether different.

I think most writers will tell you that their goal at first anyway, is to write a story that they are itching to tell and which connects with someone. It's as simple and straightforward an impulse as that!

I am quite sure that my sister-in-law, the inspiration for the character Aunt Gayle and the creator of Thunder Thighs, one of Canada's largest film and television costume shops (and where my story is set), would be pretty amazed by the literary love for FIREFLY too! Since this book is in part a tribute to her and to her costume empire, I could not be happier for the attention it has received.

Shine bright, Firefly, and thank you all!

Here is another blog post about the nomination: https://phdowding.blogspot.com/2022/0...

FIREFLY is having an incredible year, I am overwhelmed and delighted by all the attention the book has received. Thank you to the MYRCA Northern Lights 2023 and IODE Violet Downey 2022 Awards for nominating FIREFLY to their shortlists!

Last November 2021, FIREFLY won the Governor General's Literary Award, a huge honour.

Now it has also had four wonderful nominations added to that honour: The Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award, The OLA Red Maple Award, The IODE Violet Downey Book Award AND the MYRCA Northern Lights Book 2023 award.

Here's a longer blog post about the IODE nomination:
https://phdowding.blogspot.com/2022/0...

And a longer post about the MYRCA Northern Lights 2023 nomination:
https://phdowding.blogspot.com/2022/0...

Wow. I cannot tell you how amazing this is, no one expects this kind of success when they set out to write a book (you might dream of it though), and I'm really grateful to all the nominating committees and readers who have taken FIREFLY into their hearts. THANK YOU ALL!

And to top it all off, I just signed a feature film option for FIREFLY. It's been a pretty great few months. Thanks also to my terrific publisher, DCB Young Readers!

Keep reading, everyone!

FIREFLY has been selected for the Rocky Mountain Book Awards 2023 shortlist. THANK YOU!

FIREFLY is having quite a terrific year, and has been named to the RMBA 2023 list. This means that young readers in Alberta, between grades 4 and 7, will be able to read the 10 books selected and vote for their favourite in spring, 2023.

Here's the RMBA website: https://rmba.info/

This nomination is a huge honour, and I'm really looking forward to talking about Firefly's story, about a homeless girl in downtown Toronto who moves in with her aunt in a costume shop, with kids in Alberta next winter.

Go check out the list here, https://rmba.info/ and get reading!

"The student jurors who selected Firefly were very enthusiastic about the book.

'We wish we could meet these characters in real life!' they said. 'We love how the staff at the magical costume shop became a family for Firefly, and how every character evolved and grew – even the cat! Firefly is so relatable, with very human flaws, and we want to see her again in another story.' -- Faywood School Jurors"

I could not be more honoured and humbled to say that FIREFLY has won the Ruth & Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award 2022.

This award is managed by the Ontario Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Foundation, with a generous endowment from the Schwartz family. Thank you to them for supporting the arts in Canada. Thank you also to my publisher, DCB Young Readers, for having faith in me and in Firefly's story, right from the start.

What is especially moving for me, is that this award is selected by students who read the shortlisted titles and collectively choose the winner. I was so honoured to meet the students of Faywood school, and to hear what they loved about FIREFLY. I was lucky enough to enjoy a fascinating discussion with one student about how she felt that Firefly (the character) is similar to the character 7-of-9 from Star Trek/Voyager. Both are people in exile, and she convinced me!

Thank you to the students and to everyone involved in this wonderful award!

Here is a longer blog post and the full list of nominated titles, read on: http://phdowding.blogspot.com/2022/06...

Young readers in Alberta and Manitoba are enjoying great Canadian books and voting on their favourites this spring, 2023. THANK YOU to both the Rocky Mountain Book Awards (RMBA) in Alberta and the Manitoba Young Readers Choice Awards (MYRCA) for including FIREFLY on their curated shortlists for readers in grades 6-8.

Here is the list for the RMBA selected books: https://rmba.info/category/nominees/2...

Here is the MYRCA list: http://www.myrca.ca/2023-northern-lig...

As a lovely addition to the MYRCA excitement, the Winnipeg International Writers Festival is also highlighting the selected books and authors with additional info, here is my page but go and look around, there are wonderful writers here (this site will be dismantled at the end of Feb. 2023): https://thinairkids.ca/user/534/

If you want to know what book I hid from my family as a child, or see images of Thunder Thighs costumes (the costume shop which inspired The Corseted Lady in FIREFLY), go see!

Canadian and provincial Reader's Choice awards are so important to kids, they get to read works written by talented Canadian authors. These awards are also incredibly important to Canadian writers and their publishers since they help get the word out about books and boost sales in the process.

This author is really grateful. Thank you all!

Thank you to the Saskatchewan Young Readers Choice Awards (SYRCA) for nominating FIREFLY to their wonderful Snow Willow award 2023-2024!

This means that young readers in Saskatchewan, grades 6-8, will be reading FIREFLY as part of a fabulous curated list of ten grade-appropriate books written by talented Canadian authors, and choosing their favourite for the award ceremony next spring, 2024. The winners will be announced in May of next year.

Here's the full list of SYRCA Snow Willow nominees: https://willowawards.ca/previous-year...

Here's a longer blog post about the nomination for FIREFLY: https://phdowding.blogspot.com/2023/0...

Thank you to SYRCA for getting Canadian books and young readers together, keep reading everyone!

Thank you to the Saskatchewan Young Readers Choice Awards (SYRCA) for nominating FIREFLY to the Snow Willow award 2023-2024!

For readers in grades 6-8, I hope the students in Saskatchewan find a favourite Canadian book in the curated list this winter. They vote on this year's winner in the spring.

Here's the full list of nominated titles: https://willowawards.ca/previous-year...

Keep reading everyone!