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CM . . . .
Volume I Number IV . . . . July 7, 1995
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Catchy Titles from Oz
Reg Sylvester
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Teenaged heroes overcome the threats of
monsters, gang rivalry, drunken brawls, and a desperate man bent on arson
Flash Fiction grabs you, especially if you're the
kind of kid who usually ignores books. Consider the titles: The
Things and Mall Rats by Martyn Godfrey; Bush
Party and Burn It by Lyle Weis.
The publisher is Oz New Media of Edmonton, who commissioned the
cover art to a guy with a reputation as the best airbrush van painter in
town. Jim Beveridge created a multi-fanged monster dripping with blood for
the cover of The Things. When you pick up Mall
Rats, you are confronted by a maniacally grinning security cop about
to take you by the throat. On Bush Party, a desperate hand
reaches out of river water while a plume of black smoke streaks across a
gigantic moon, low on the horizon.
This might be one occasion when you can judge the books by their
covers. The action continues inside, as the teenaged heros overcome the
threats of monsters, gang rivalry, drunken brawls, and a desperate man bent
on arson.
In marketing shorthand, these are hi/low/ESL books -- high impact,
low vocabulary, suitable for kids who have trouble reading or for students
of English as a second language.
The authors are experienced and popular writers of children's
literature. Martyn Godfrey has written more than 30 books for children,
with titles such as The Great Science Fair Disaster and
Wally Stutzgummer, Super Bad Dude, both published by
Scholastic Books. He has also been published by Avon Books in New York and
by Oxford University Press.
Previous books by Lyle Weis include No Problem, We'll Fix
It (General, 1991) and The Mill Under His Skin
(Thistledown, 1992).
Flash Fiction is the first sign of life from a new publishing
company on Earth. (Oz stationery and business cards locate the company in
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Earth.) The president is Randy Morse, former
general manager of Hurtig Books and a founder of Reidmore Books.
Without Morse, Reidmore continues to publish books for the
educational market.
Oz, meanwhile, looks to exploit continental and worldwide markets
for multiple media publishing. Imminent releases include Kate's
Story, a combination of Kodak Portfolio photo-CD with a softcover
book, and So, This is Canada!, a comic-book history of our
country designed with the American school market in mind.
Though the marketing objective is far-reaching, Morse and his crew
still look for talent close to home. The authors and artist for Flash
Fiction are all from Edmonton, as are the cartoonists Gary Delainey and
Gerry Rasmussen, who created the Canadian history
book.
Flash Fiction Titles:
Each book, 80 pages, $4.99
Mall Rats
by Martin Godfrey
ISBN 1-896295-00-2
Burn It
by Lyle Weis
ISBN 1-896295-01-0
Bush Party
by Lyle Weis
ISBN 1-896295-03-7
The Things
by Martyn Godfrey
ISBN 1-896295-02-9
Article originally published in Praire Books NOW. ©1995 Reg Silvester.
To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.
Copyright © 1998 the Manitoba Library Association.
Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice
is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without
permission.
Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364
TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - JULY 7, 1995.
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