It’s reading season! The Catalyst team has assembled some of our favorites for all the book-lovers on your gift list this year!
Got a young bookworm at home? Here are my top picks for teen and tween readers.—SarahBelle Selig, South African office manager/publicity
A young boy brings his community together in a creative way in The Cedarville Shop & the Wheelbarrow Swap. Set in the last days of South Africa’s apartheid-era, Halley’s Comet finds three teens in an unlikely friendship, bound by a shared secret. An ancient prophesy sets 16-year-old Ebba on a quest to save the world in The Thousand Steps, book one of the Fiery Spiral trilogy.
We’ve published a lot of young creators here at Catalyst Press, but none as young as Kendra Powers, my awesome fourteen-year-old niece whose photo book, Bait the Toad, comes out this month. Featuring photos of Kendra’s pet toad Bait, whose sassy photo shoots became an overnight TikTok sensation, Bait the Toadis a side-splitting, quicky gift book that would make a great holiday gift for animal lovers of any age. I sat down with Kendra to chat about Bait, her new book, and her impressive crafting skills.
Bees are a vital part of life on Earth. The UN launched World Bee Day in 2018 to show us just how vital. Without pollinators like bees, “would equal a world without food diversity – no blueberries, coffee, chocolate, cucumbers and so much more.”
We’re celebrating #WorldBeeDay by pointing you toward some of our books that highlight just how important bees are. And we’ll share some organizations that are doing the very important work of keeping our ecosystems buzzing along.
Fall is in the air here (translation: I’m already cold). As the calendar pages start falling away on 2021, we thought it’d be a good time to give you all a little sneak peek at our upcoming titles— many of which are available for pre-order.
We’re excited to add more books from one of our favorite children’s authors, Niki Daly, our very first young adult book in translation, and a new addition to our growing list of graphic novels. In addition to those, we think there’s something for just about every kind of reader in our 2022 catalog. Continue reading “What’s New in 2022”
We lost civil rights hero and U.S. Representative John Lewis this week, who died on July 17 at the age of 80. You should go and read everything he’s ever written, but in the meantime, read this Brain Pickings feature and ten of his best quotes on getting into “good trouble.”
THE FARM
Here at Catalyst, we celebrated the South African release of Max Annas’ thriller The Farm (translated by Rachel Hildebrandt Reynolds) with a virtual book launch with Boekemakranka featuring Izak DeVries of LAPA Uitgewers, our South African distributor. The Farm is out now in South Africa, and comes to North American readers in September (you can pre-order it here).
Calling all His Dark Materials fans: Phillip Pullman just announced a new novella based on the bestselling series, to be released in October. And in comic news: the original 2003 Walking Dead comic book is being re-released in full color, and A-list action star Keanu Reeves is writing a comic book (and casually slipped that he’d like to play the lead character in a movie rendition – so that’s probably happening).
ICYMI: in early June, a bunch of big-name authors (including Atwood, Gladwell, Rowling, Rushdie, and Steinem) penned an open letter about the dangers of cancel culture in Harper’s Magazine. But then a counter letter was released in The Objective, calling out the authors of the Harper’s letter for writing from a place a privilege (among other grievances). Catch up on the drama here. NPR responded with typical Swiss neutrality vibes by getting authors from both letters on a podcast together.
COVID-19 has hit the book world hard: according to a survey from nonprofit Americans for the Arts, 253 literary organizations reported over $7.2 million total losses to date. But it’s not all bad: with bookstores and festivals shut down, big box retailers like Walmart and Costco have been helping readers get their fix, and three literary nonprofits teamed up with the Mellon Foundation this week to create a Literary Arts Emergency Fund, distributing $5,000 to $50,000 grants to literary organizations across the United States. And one book festival in the United Kingdom came up with an innovative way to bring joy to book lovers at a distance: a drive-in book fair. If Britain is a bit too far for a road trip, Book Riot has a handy list of some upcoming virtual book events. Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of July 19”
There’s a great new online exhibit of African comic art. “Afropolitan Comics: From South Africa to the Continent, Images in Conversation” features “tales from across Africa as the artists and writers construct new narratives in one of the oldest forms of expression.” We’re so proud that one of the featured artists is Luke W. Molver, the author/illustrator for our series of graphic novels on the life of legendary Zulu leader, Shaka (Shaka Rising, King Shaka).
South African author Elsa Joubert died recently, another in the long list of those lost to the coronavirus. Joubert is best-known for her apartheid-era novel The Long Journey of Poppie Nongena, which as the New York Times reports in their obituary, “opened the eyes of many white South Africans to the harsh treatment that the black majority had been enduring largely out of their sight.”
There was criticism over the lack of diversity among the winners of the Media24 Book Awards (South Africa). As the Johannesburg Review of Books reports, the outcry was a reaction to “the fact that all the winners of the awards, as well as the majority of the shortlisted authors and judging panels, are white.” Media24 has issued a statement acknowledging the issue, which you can read here.
Small Mercies
We began the first in what we hope is a long-running series of conversations with Catalyst authors, friends, and partners this week. Our first installment in our “Conversations with…” series features our office manager SarahBelle Selig in conversation with Small Mercies author Bridget Krone.
Even as states begin the long process of reopening, the need to connect online still seems as relevant as ever. One way to do that is by starting a virtual book club. Jessica Pryde at BookRiot offers some tips for starting your own through your public library.
Andy Fitchfrom the LA Review of Booksrecently spoke with Rep. Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American legislator in the United States, to discuss her recently released memoir, Somalia, her politics, and why she’s put her faith “in seeing what American democracy looks like when elected officials actually engage the people.”
Outside the Lines, our recent release by Ameera Patel, has been earning praise all over: Publishers Weekly (starred review), Shelf Awareness, Ms. Magazine, CrimeReads, and others. We chatted with Ameera about her work, her book, her writing process, and more. Read our Q&A with her here. You can also read an excerpt from the book at CrimeReads. And since you’re already gearing up to visit CrimeReads, make sure to also check out the excerpt from another of our recent releases, Bitter Pill by Peter Church, which has also earned its fair share of praise from Publishers Weekly, NY Review of Books, Cosmo, and others. We’re also offering the e-books of Peter’s Dark Web Trilogy for a special price all summer long. Check it out here.
“I think those of us who acknowledge the humanity of young people, those of us who acknowledge the complexity and the beauty and the sophistication of childhood know that when you’re writing it, all of those elements have to be present.” Author Jason Reynolds (All American Boys, Long Way Down) chats with Krista Tippett of On Being about children’s literature and the power of books to heal.
And finally, we are pleased to take part in the PEN World Voices Festival’s Indie Lit Fair. The Fair, hosted by the Festival and the Community of Literary Magazine and Presses (CLMP), “showcases the breadth of independent magazines and presses our country has to offer.” There are so many amazing indie publishers featured— from book publishers to magazines to literary journals— each offering special pricing on several of their items. We’re presenting three award-winning books: Love Interrupted by Reneilwe Malatji, We Kiss Them with Rain by Futhi Ntshingila, and Bom Boy by Yewande Omotoso, at a special price when you buy all three. Visit the Indie Lit Fair here.
In support of Black Lives Matter and Juneteenth, the hashtags #BlackPublishingPower and #BlackoutBestsellerList have been trending, encouraging people to buy books by Black authors and from Black-owned bookstores from June 14-June 20.
If you’re unsure which books to buy for your children or teens on the topic of anti-racism, Publishers Weekly released a list. The lengthy list encompasses both non-fiction and fiction titles, and spans picture books to novels. At Catalyst, we also published a smaller list, including adult books and organizations to support, should you wish.
The National Book Critics Circle’s board fell apart this past week over charges of internal racism. Almost 2/3 of the board members resigned, and the remaining board has committed itself to doing the hard work of changing its structure and approach to be specifically anti-racist.
In censorship news: This week, the highest-ranked leader in the land, our President, attempted to ban a book by John Bolton, the former national security adviser. The book purportedly offers an insider’s view on the President’s egregious behavior. Mr. Trump claims that the book reveals classified secrets and should not be released. Advocates for its release argue that if he successfully bans the book, it will undo decades of free speech precedent. Court hearings began June 19th.
In Catalyst Press news, we released Bitter Pill by Peter Church this week. Bitter Pill is the third installment in his Dark Web Trilogy, and continues our African Crime Reads series. Publishers Weekly has praised Bitter Pill, writing, “Church expertly juggles the multiple story lines all the way to the sordid, frantic maelstrom of the denouement.” You can read an excerpt from the novel at CrimeReads.
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In Catalyst Press news, we released