Wildlife Rescue Series!

My heartfelt thanks to Editor Pat Tracy, Acting Editor Julie McClellan, journalist Rob Peters, photographer Jason Lang and arts reviewer Annie Boulanger for creating space in the Burnaby NOW for my new column, “Animal Instinct,” for launching it in tandem with Rob’s profile of me in the same issue (Saturday, July 28, 2007), and for featuring Crow Medicine in their list of great summer reads for kids!
Click here to see Rob’s story and Jason’s accompanying photo.

Click here to read my first “Animal Instinct” column. It will be appearing monthly, so stay tuned for more.

And click here for Annie’s review of Crow Medicine. Enjoy!

I was housesitting for J&S in Toronto when Craig Rintoul of BookBits came by to interview me about Crow Medicine. I shovelled snow for the first time in my life that week … and the second, third, fourth and fifth times as well. Anyway, the front walk was clear when Craig arrived.

I’d expected him to show up slinging bags of big, black, bulky audio recording equipment, child of the ’70s that I am. Instead, he pulled out what looked like an MP3 player and said, “Okay, ready?”

I have to thank Craig again for doing such a careful and compassionate read of the book, and for making the interview experience (always a bit nerve-wracking for me) so much fun.

No animals were harmed in the recording of this interview, although apparent evidence to the contrary may be heard near the top of the clip. That’s just Jiggy and Pixel, two wily grey tabbies and the house’s real owners, announcing their presence to their adoring public (you).

Enjoy!

Craig Rintoul of BookBits interviews Diane Haynes in Toronto about her latest book, Crow Medicine. Click here to hear their conversation!

Teen Services Librarian Jen Waters reviews Crow Medicine for the Canadian Review of Materials. Click here for the full review!

Here’s an excerpt:

At times, Crow Medicine veers into the land of Isabel Allende with dream sequences, spirit animals, tales surrounding the magical phoenix, and the addition of a wise old crone character who tells Jane about the “medicine” animals carry with them as well as the gift that certain people possess to access that medicine. This magical element may be an effort on Haynes’s behalf to widen her readership to include fans of animal fantasy. In this way, Crow Medicine could be a good companion to Clem Martini’s “Feather and Bone Crow Chronicles,” which are much less realistic and purely fantasy/folklore driven but similarly deal with a plague killing crows.

About two months ago, Whitecap Books’ publicist Jackie Wong contacted me with the news that PaperTigers was going to review Crow Medicine, and that the editor had requested a “personal views” piece from me as well. The word count was flexible, and the subject matter was entirely up to me - a writer’s dream assignment!

The review appeared on Friday - the same day as the west coast launch of the book and a sweetly satisfying cap to a fun and successful event (more on the launch party to follow!).

PaperTigers is part of PacificRimVoices, a family of web sites and projects that celebrate literary voices from and about the Pacific Rim and South Asia. PacificRimVoices promotes books and reading as a means to achieving greater understanding of and among the peoples and nations of this region.

This issue of PaperTigers is focused on children’s books about animals and the environment. It’s a fantastic site for educators and librarians, chock full of reviews, interviews and resources that can be used to direct classroom projects, facilitate research and stimulate reading and readers.
Here’s the link to PaperTigers’ review of Crow Medicine (or see Blogroll):

http://www.papertigers.org/reviews/USA/papertigers/Crow_Medicine.html

“Crow Medicine picks up the story four months [after Flight or Fight], when Jane is volunteering at the Wildlife Rescue Center and finds out that the crows are in danger. Someone is killing the birds to raise the alarm about West Nile Virus, and since there is a genuine danger of the virus attacking, the Center decides to start euthanizing their crows. Jane and her two friends travel to the Rocky Mountains to pick up a vaccine that will allow the Center to reverse its controversial decision. The trip involves the most nail-bitingly suspenseful scenes in the book, and the three girls barely make it home alive.”

Read the full review at: www.quillandquire.com/books_young/review.cfm?review_id=5418