FINDING A SAFE SPACE ...

FINALIST FOR THE 2019 SASKATCHEWAN WILLOW AWARD

Jewel comes from a family with secrets. Even when her older sister vanishes, they don't tell anyone, especially not the police. It's really hard for Jewel to sit in school every day next to kids like Maya and Lily, kids who have happy, normal lives, and to pretend she's just like them.

When things get really bad at home, Jewel doesn't ask for help. She does what her sister did: she disappears. Only, how do you do that when you're only 13? Jewel is very good at being invisible, but not quite good enough. When Maya and Lily start suspecting she's living in the school, the last of Jewel's luck seems to be running out. Will they tell? 


“Almost Invisible does what the best YA books do: creates a sense of a world apart from the clueless, and at times cruel, grown-up one that must eventually be joined, but not quite yet . . .”      (Quill & Quire)

"Canadian readers will appreciate that Almost Invisible is set in Ontario with place names such as Kingston and Belleville being familiar to many . . .That said, the book could take place anywhere, as the characters and the situation are universal . . . Maureen Garvie has formed a memorable and thought-provoking character who will long remain in the minds and hearts of her young adult readers. Highly recommended." (CM: Canadian Review of Materials)  


Almost Invisible
Maureen Garvie
Groundwood Books / House of Anansi Press Toronto
$16.95 cloth
ISBN 978-1-77306-0781
Available in Kingston at Novel Idea, 156 Princess Street,
and Indigo Books, Cataraqui Mall

Not so much a whodunnit as a whogottit!

  WITHDRAWN from CIRCULATION

When the body of a local writer is found by the steps of
the public library, police focus on the library staff.
Senior librarian Greer McCallister is soon high on their list of
persons of interest.

Greer is an unlikely murder suspect, a quiet, dependable
employee of almost twenty years. Recently, however,
her life has changed. Having at last found the courage
to leave her overbearing husband,she is finding life
as a single woman bewilderingly complex.

A precipitous affair shakes her sense of identity and
ultimately her grip on reality. The investigating officer
points out that many aspects of the case lead back to
her, and she is terrified that she is in some way
responsible for the tragedy.


“I’ve finished Withdrawn from Circulation with great pleasure. As well as the characters, I relished the sense of the Ontario landscape, both lovely and unfriendly with its bug hats, sinister rednecks, and ‘halos of horseflies.’ It’s terrific, a sparkling novel with a light, dry wit that reminds me of Barbara Pym and Edmund Crispin at their best. Right up my alley.”
                                               ~ Ronald Wright, A Short History of Time

“Withdrawn from Circulation is a compelling mystery, but it is also a wonderful novel in its own right. The murder might tie all the threads together at the end, but it is a delight to just follow the intrigues with Greer’s mind. It’s the third book to be published by the small Kingston press Cowdy House, run by Christina Decarie and Darryl Berger. It’s being released as both a paper book and an ebook.
        The library pun in the title will bring to mind a string of possible future sequels. Is it too much to suggest that this debut mystery from Maureen Garvie is long overdue?”

                                                       ~Wayne Grady, Kingston Whig-Standard

READ THE FULL REVIEW

Withdrawn from Circulation

Cowdy House 

$15 paper ISBN 978-1-987934-00-7
Available at Novel Idea, 156 Princess St, Kingston, ON K7L 1B1, 613-546-9799
Kindle $7.99/$5.69 US on Amazon.com

YA books

Maureen Garvie has published four books for younger readers and those who never get old: Almost Invisible, Lake Rules, Amy by Any Other Name, and a historical tale, with Mary Beaty, George Johnson's War.

What's "Amy" in Italian?

Catia Argirò, a 24-year-old young woman from Italy, writes:

I graduated in Literary Translation at the University of Pisa last May and for my final thesis, I focused on young adult literature. I chose your Amy by Any Other Name as a work to be translated into Italian.

I translated the whole work, even if I put only some chapters in my thesis in order to get my Master's degree. I also did a linguistic analysis of the difficulties I found during the translating process.

Now, having finished my studies at university, I would like to propose the Italian translation of Amy by Any Other Name to some Italian publishing houses.

I really appreciated reading and translating Amy by Any Other Name. I think it's a nice story not only for young readers but also for those people who enjoy reading fantasy novels, like me.

Maureen Garvie, author

I was born in Kingston, Ontario, and grew up beside the St. Lawrence. I moved first to London, ON, and then to Toronto, finishing my education with masters, teaching, and library degrees. Then I moved to New Zealand and for 12 + years I worked on farms and in libraries, taught English and drama, and generally had a great life. My daughter, Leila, was born there.

After my family moved back to Canada, I worked as book-review editor for the Kingston Whig-Standard newspaper and co-editor of the Whig-Standard Magazine. I also taught writing and editing courses at Queen's University until 2017. I am a copy-editor for McGill-Queen's University Press and several academic journals including the Journal of British Studies.

email: garviem@queensu.ca, maureengarvie@gmail.com 

 

 

 

A Literary Mystery

Withdrawn from Circulation. Kingston, ON: Cowdy House

 

Books for kids and young adults

Almost Invisible. Toronto: Groundwood
George Johnson's War, with Mary Beaty. Toronto: Groundwood

Lake Rules. Toronto: Key Porter

Amy by Any Other Name. Toronto: Key Porter/Kingston: Minerva

In progress
The Taxidermist's Diary