It’s Earth Day! We’ve only got the one planet, and today (and every day) is a good day to reflect on the ways we can make it better— today and tomorrow. We have a few books, for readers of all ages, that tackle some of our biggest environmental issues from a variety of perspectives. And if you keep reading, you’ll also get a peek at some forthcoming titles that also explore our connection to the natural world.
Continue reading “Reading Naturally”
This Week in Literary News: Week of July 11
Happy pub week to The Rising Tide, the second book in Helen Brain’s Fiery Spiral trilogy! Book 2 continues the story of Ebba den Eeden, the teenage heroine who discovers that she’s the heir to a massive fortune—and an ancient prophecy—after spending fifteen years in an underground bunker in Cape Town’s Table Mountain. Now, Ebba must return to the place where it all began and save the thousands left stranded before it’s too late. Learn more about the series and stay tuned for Book 3!
In awards news, Elle McNicoll’s debut novel A Kind of Spark, featuring an autistic heroine, won the Waterstones children’s book prize, and Tasmanian author Amanda Lohrey won the Miles Franklin Literary Award for The Labyrinth. Read up on this year’s shortlist, or if you want to learn how to win it, check out this detailed report on the last 64 years of Miles Franklin winners (spoiler alert, you’re in luck if you’re a middle-aged white guy).
Gabriel García Márquez’s son has penned a memoir about the late icon, and (shameless plug) there’s a new biography out about my favorite poet ever, Fernando Pessoa. And coming soon, we finally get to read Patricia Highsmith’s diaries, and send Ursula K. Le Guin in the mail! Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of July 11”
Out Now: The Rising Tide by Helen Brain
We’re excited to release The Rising Tide, the second book in Helen Brain’s Fiery Spiral trilogy, a dystopian fantasy series for young adult readers. The Rising Tide continues the saga of sixteen-year-old Ebba den Eeden, who has spent her life in a bunker deep within Cape Town’s Table Mountain. She, and the other inhabitants of the bunker, have grown up believing the world “above” was left uninhabitable due to nuclear war. When Ebba is suddenly released from the bunker, she discovers that everything she knew—about the world above and her own life—was wrong. Now shouldering an immense responsibility, Ebba must use her power to stop a second apocalypse. She must listen to her instincts, even if it means destroying the things she holds most dear. Who can she trust to help stop the second “Calamity,” now just days away? Who will betray her? Continue reading “Out Now: The Rising Tide by Helen Brain”
Q&A with Helen Brain
Note: This post is originally from November 2019. We’re sharing it again because we’re excited to release the second book in Helen’s trilogy—The Rising Tide—on July 13, 2021. Learn more about the book, and order your copy here. You can also enter to win a copy of The Rising Tide at Goodreads. The giveaway runs through July 6.
We’re so excited to add more books for young readers to our catalog. It has always been a part of who we are. We recognize the importance of giving kids and young adults the tools they need to be readers for life. One of the most important tools is giving them books that speak to them and their experiences. Books that value their voices and their concerns. It’s one of the many reasons we’re so proud to publish The Thousand Steps by Helen Brain.
The Thousand Steps is the first in Helen’s futuristic Fiery Spiral trilogy, and is the story of 16-year-old Ebba who has lived her entire life in a bunker deep within Cape Town’s Table Mountain. When she is suddenly elevated from the bunker, she finds that everything she knew about her life, and the world “above,” was wrong. Now shouldering the immense responsibility of her new life, Ebba must fight to save her friends still trapped in the bunker and facing execution any day. Helen’s book deftly explores race, class, and climate change while telling a story that will captivate young readers. School Library Journal praised the book writing, “This novel will draw readers in with its high stakes and well-developed characters.”
We chatted with Helen about her work, why she loves science fiction, and her advice for young writers. The Thousand Steps is out January 3. Continue reading “Q&A with Helen Brain”
This Week in Literary News: Week of June 20
In Catalyst Press news, the winners of this year’s Short Story Day Africa Prize have been announced! We’re thrilled to be releasing Disruption, the newest Short Story Day Africa anthology, to the North American market in September. Disruption features stories from 21 new and emerging authors from across Africa, including the winning short stories of this year’s prize. Pre-orders are available now.
In celebrity book news, beloved British television host Graham Norton has a new memoir, James Patterson and Bill Clinton are back with more tropes, and Jared Kushner and President Joe Biden’s sister both signed book deals (sigh). And most important, Tsitsi Dangarembga became the first Black woman to win the prestigious Peace Prize of the German Book Trade! Go Tsitsi!
A literary heritage project in Australia is trying to save the nation’s books, and five organizations across the United States have started a collective fundraiser in support of Black literary arts. This week commemorates 121 years since the loss of the Hanlin Library (the what, you ask?). And in case you needed another reason to hate Amazon… Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of June 20”
This Week in Literary News: Week of January 3
In Catalyst news, CrimeReads included Sifiso Mzobe’s North American debut, Young Blood, as one of their most anticipated crime books of 2021! Young Blood will be available in April. BookClubz also selected Helen Brain’s The Thousand Steps, the first book in her dystopian Fiery Spiral trilogy, as their Young Adult pick for January! The second book in the series, The Rising Tide, is out later this year. And we’ll soon be partnering with BookClubz to coordinate a Catalyst Press book club featuring contemporary and classic African literature – so stay tuned!
The writing world lost Eric Jerome Dickey this week, who died at 59 after a several year battle with cancer. Dickey wrote almost 30 novels on topics of Black life and love and sold more than 7 million copies. In South Africa, beloved cookbook author and food critic Dorah Sithole died at the age of 67, just months after the release of her newest book, 40 Years of Iconic Food, which follows her journey from a child in a South Africa township learning to love food to traveling the world as a leader in African cuisine. Continue reading “This Week in Literary News: Week of January 3”
Coming in 2021: The Rising Tide by Helen Brain
For the next few weeks, we’ll be spotlighting our upcoming releases for the new year. You’ll learn a bit about our 2021 releases, their authors, and information about pre-ordering.
If you’re like us, Helen Brain’s novel, The Thousand Steps, left you wanting more. The first in Helen’s Fiery Spiral Trilogy, a dystopian fantasy series for young adult readers, introduced us to 16-year-old Ebba. Ebba, like most of the population in the book’s futuristic Cape Town setting, lives in a bunker deep within Table Mountain, far removed from the world “above,” which she and the others believe was destroyed. When Ebba is suddenly elevated to the outside world, she discovers everything she thought she knew was wrong, and that she holds the power to change the world.
Ebba’s story continues in the second book of the series— The Rising Tide, set for release in June 2021.
Continue reading “Coming in 2021: The Rising Tide by Helen Brain”
The Fiery Spiral: The Rising Tide
January New Releases
This has been a busy month for us! We’ve started the new year with three new releases (plus ended the last year with one, which is also included here). All of these are available at your favorite booksellers and right here at our site.
The Thousand Steps by Helen Brain
The first book in Helen’s Fiery Spiral series for Young Adult readers, The Thousand Steps is the story of 16-year-old Ebba who has lived her entire life in a bunker deep within Cape Town’s Table Mountain. When she is suddenly elevated from the bunker, she finds that everything she knew about her life, and the world “above,” was wrong. Now shouldering the immense responsibility of her new life, Ebba must fight to save her friends still trapped in the bunker and facing execution any day.
Dark Video by Peter Church
The next installment in Peter Church’s Dark Web Trilogy, Dark Video is set in the early days of internet video sharing. A group of wealthy people are willing to pay any price for unimaginable videos. Cape Town college student Alistair Morgan is lured deeper and deeper into this sinister underground world where reality blurs and morals.
Cape Town: A Place Between by Henry Trotter
The first in our Intimate Geographies Series — short books of around 100 pages— which aim to help readers go beyond the surface of fascinating places. Cape Town: A Place Between weaves the history of city’s intersecting histories and cultures with Henry’s own experiences as an American living, working, and building a life there for nearly twenty years. While not a traditional travel guide, Cape Town invites readers into the city with hopes of sparking first-hand exploration with its mix of travel narrative and literary non-fiction.
Unmaking Grace by Barbara Boswell
Released in December
Unmaking Grace is a story an intimate portrayal of the legacy of inter-generational violence set in Cape Town in the 1980s. In this gripping novel, we meet Grace whose life is forever altered by her father’s violence. In her efforts to break the cycle in her own life, she finds a measure of peace in the stability of her middle-class lifestyle—complete with loving husband and baby. But when a figure from her past returns, Grace realizes that breaking free will be more difficult than she imagined.
Designing the Cover for The Thousand Steps
There is a lot that has to happen behind the scenes before we can get our books to readers. Edits, rewrites, marketing, event planning, design—it’s nothing if not exciting! While our author Q&As and From the Editor’s Desk features generally cover many of those (and if you don’t know what those are, all will be revealed if you subscribe to our newsletter!), but we focus on cover design a bit less often. That changes today! We talked extensively with artist Karen Vermeulen last year about her work, and now we’re chatting with Karen again about just one cover— the upcoming YA sci-fi novel The Thousand Steps by Helen Brain.
The Thousand Steps is the first in Helen Brain’s Fiery Spiral Trilogy, and is a dystopic sci-fi Young Adult novel set in Cape Town in 2055. After spending her entire life living in a bunker deep inside of Table Mountain, 16-year-old Ebba is released when the truth of her lineage is revealed. While learning to navigate the unfamiliar “Above,” Ebba must fight for her survival, and that of her friends still below. The Fiery Spiral is an eco-feminist trilogy that examines how class, race, and social identity are foundational to the ways in which society is organized and power wielded. It releases on January 7.
You can learn more about Karen and her work at her website, Instagram, and Twitter.
Continue reading “Designing the Cover for The Thousand Steps”