Kids and Teen Blog

Tag: Janet Gurtler

Paintball and Gal Pals: Janet Gurtler’s latest

by Megan
YA Fiction / May 10, 2013

Janet Gurtler’s new book How I Lost You is out (*squeal!*) and I’m plum happier than a paintballer landing a hit in a speedball match at the thought. Gurtler has quite the knack for picking distinct, interesting environments  in which to situate her compelling  characters, and this book is no different, delving headlong into the competitive milieu of professional female paintballing.

If you’re like me and have no clue about this paintball-filled subculture (the kids today with their rap music and baggy pants and their paintballing! Gah!), the opportunity to dive in is a total treat.

In the book we are introduced to Grace and Kyla, two best friends forever who are also competitive paintball players. Kyla has a dark secret in her past, one that makes Grace unsure of what to do to best help her friend through her troubled life as Kyla's demons begin to take over.

Unlike a lot of contemporary YA fiction, where the core narrative is between the protagonist and a love interest (swoon), this book’s main story delves into the dynamics of friendship, and how those moments of growth and change in a teen’s life impact both people in the relationship, for better or worse.

The notion of the best bud for women has become something of a cultural cliché. How many of us, after all, wish we could have the cocktails and chat sessions of Carrie Bradshaw’s NYC foursome? The jean-sharing comraderie of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants? (Even if we're not so keen on sharing pants). But what is not heard among all the gal-pal bonding in popular culture is how the bonds of friendship can be frayed slowly from the outside in, ultimately leaving loose strings and a host of conflicting emotions and questions:

What does it mean to be a good friend?

How long do I stay in a toxic friendship?

How can I be there for someone in a way that doesn’t hurt me?

What is the final straw? The red line that can't be crossed in this friendship?

I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more from Gurtler. Plus, I now have the crazy urge to don some paintball gear and go see what this sport is all about (let's just say this Mother's Day weekend might be rather interesting).

If you would rather curl up with a good book than go and get doused with paint, there's a number of excellent backlist titles from Janet Gurtler to satisfy. Check 'em out:

If I Tell
9781402261039

I'm Not Her
9781402256363

Who I Kissed
9781402270543

Event on Friday June 10- A Note From Janet Gurtler

by Crystal
Events + YA Fiction / June 08, 2011

Janet Gurtler, the author of I'm Not Her just sent me the below note and asked for me to pass it along to all of our readers. If you are in Calgary, Janet hopes to see you there!

Hello all!

I would love to invite you all to, the book launch/signing for I’M NOT HER  this Friday from 7-9pm.

It’s at Chapters MacLeod Trail 9631 MacLeod Trail SW and will be set up at the back of the store.

 Please bring your friends and family. I will have delicious cupcakes and some other treats. Kids are very welcome. The event will be casual so if you can not stay the whole time please just stop by and say hi!

I’M NOT HER has had some great reviews over the last couple of weeks, so hope that you will enjoy the book.

Thanks and hope to see you Friday night!

Janet Gurtler
 

Notes From A Children’s Book Publicist- Volume One

by Crystal
Kids + News + Picture Books + Vancouver + YA Fiction / May 04, 2011

Hi! I'm Crystal! Your friendly, neighborhood, Raincoast Children's Book Publicist. Recently my dad said to me

"Crystal, What does a Children's Book Publicist do? What is a day in your life like?"

I realized that a lot of people probably have no clue what a book publicist does. I am currently reading What The Dog Saw: And Other Adventures by Malcom Gladwell and am finding it fascinating reading about what different professions do in their day to day life. What The Dog Saw and my Dear Old Dad have inspired me to start this weekly blog column to fill readers in on my crazy, fun, never enough hours in the day, work life.

What does a Children's Book Publicist Do? A book publicists job is to earn free media. We do this by sending our books to editors of newspapers and magazines, bloggers, television and radio producers and websites. We also try to meet with these people as often as possible to "pitch" (aka talk about) our favorite books from our list each season that we feel would be a good fit for their readers, listeners or viewers.

Here are a few of my recent mailings. 

Alice in Zombieland mailing. This copy was headed to Karen at The Magazine. Look for a review of it in an issue of The Magazine coming this summer. 

Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Sight mailing. (Do you have a truck and digger tot in your life? If so this book is a must have!) This copy was headed to Susan Perren at The Globe and Mail.

This mailout was being sent to the winners of The Liar Society Contest that was on MyJellybean.com. We do a ton of contests with MyJellybean so if you love teen fiction make sure to check out their website and enter to win some great upcoming teen fiction reads. 

Canadian Family Magazine turned 15 this year! To help them celebrate we gave them a big box of MoMA products to give to one lucky winner. 

Meeting with media is one of the most fun parts (in my opinion) of the job.Later on this month my cohort  co-publicist, Danielle and I are heading to Toronto to meet with media. I will make sure to report back on all of our adventures from TO.

We also work quite closely with the publicists from the different publishers that we represent and we get to work with a bunch of really wonderful authors and organize media appearances and events for them. Recently I have worked with Kristi Yamaguchi for her book Dream Big Little Pig. She appeared on Canada AM and did some great interviews including this one with MySweetBaby.

Bindi Irwin also toured recently for her new series of  books Bindi's Wildlife Adventures. Bindi and her mom Terri did a great interview for Canada AM.

I have also been working with Janet Gurtler who will be doing a ton of events in Alberta to promote her new book I'm Not Her and who did this fantastic interview with the Indigo Teen Blog. I just read I'm Not Her a few weeks ago, if you are a fan of Jodi Picoult or Sarah Dessen you should definitely check it out!

So that's it in a nutshelf. Life as a Children's Book Publicist. Check back each week for my latest adventures. If you have any questions I would love to hear them.

Happy Reading!

Crystal