Defining Canada » The Third Eye

Life in a Vacuum

Erin Winzer — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:44:01 +0000

Sometimes we exist in a vacuum. By that I mean that often we have books that we get very excited about, for instance the upcoming Something Remains and Pilgrim in the Palace of Words, but despite our sales projections and how hard we work on the publicity campaign the public’s reaction to said books are sometimes not what we anticipated. Sometimes we love a book and the public and the critics don’t quite embrace it as much as we do. Or sometimes the enthusiasm for a book is overwhelming and it blows us away to the point that reprinting is necessary. It’s always nice when you our readers and the media like a book as much as we do. For instance The Third Eye by Mahtab Narsimhan. Last week, I wrote about The Third Eye winning the Silver Birch Award. And as promised here is a video interview with Mahtab discussing the Silver Birch, The Third Eye, and what she’s working on next.

Talking about the media, I would like to send a big shout out to Don Graves, mystery book columnist with the Hamilton Spectator, who continually provides insightful reviews of Canadian mysteries. Recently Don reviewed John Moss’ Grave Doubts - his second novel featuring the detective duo Quin and Morgan. Here’s a brief snippet from that review.

“Quin and Morgan are as quirky and dynamic a duo as there is out there fighting crime, exploring life and spinning solutions to life’s mysteries … Grave Doubts is writing that moves the mystery novel beyond the often trite label of genre fiction into crafted storytelling that delves into the energy and desperation behind actions that can both define and destroy lives.”

Click here to read the entire review.

A Silver Birch Award for The Third Eye

Erin Winzer — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:50:44 +0000

Photo taken at Forest of ReadingÂ® Festival of Treesâ„¢ at Harbourfront Centre

Yesterday, I found myself outside amongst screaming fans numbering in the thousandsÂ … was IÂ playing hooky from work and attending an outdoors concert? Nope, rather I was at the Festival of Trees, the culmination of the Forest of Reading Program, at the Habourfront Centre in Toronto, where Dundurn’s very own Mahtab Narsimhan won the Silver Birch Award Fiction for her novel The Third Eye! Congratulations Mahtab!

All I can say is WOW! It wasÂ a truly spectacular event!Â Â More than 250,000 students province wide voted for their favourite bookÂ and it all culminates in a two dayÂ festival.Â Â TheÂ Habourfront grounds were filled withÂ tents set up for author signings, face painting, and carnival like games and were overrun withÂ more than 6000 students who were all there to cheerÂ on their favourite authorÂ in seven different categories. The first thought that came to my head, after thinking how on earth am I going to locate our authorsÂ was I so would have loved this when I was a kid/teen. I’ve often described my job to my friends as being part cheerleader. And it was nice being surrounded by a group of kids who love and support not only The Third Eye but also Reading the Bones by Gina McMurchy-Barber which was also nominated for a Silver Birch Award, and Perilous Passage by B.J. Bayle which was nominated for the Red Maple Award as much as I do. And I must confess that I found myself hollering and clapping as loud as the students wereÂ when The Third Eye won!

Mahtab with her award

Next up for Mahtab is The Silver Anklet, the second book in the Tara Trilogy. Watch this blog for an upcoming video interview with Mahtab.

And the winners are:

The Blue Spruce Award (kindergarten – grade two): Chester, written and illustrated by Melanie Watt (Kids Can Press)

Silver Birch Award Fiction (grade three – six): The Third Eye by Mahtab Narsimhan (Dundurn)

Silver Birch Award Non-Fiction (grade three -six): Gold Medal for Weird by Kevin Sylvester (Kids Can Press)

Silver Birch Award Express (grade three – six): Dear Sylvia by Alan Cumyn (Groundwood Books)

The Red Maple Fiction Award (grade seven – eight): Out of the Cold by Norah McClintock (Scholastic Canada)

The Red Maple Non-Fiction Award (grade seven – eight): Royal Murder: The Deadly Intrigue of the Ten Sovereigns by Elizabeth MacLeod (Annick Press)

The White Pine Award (high-school): Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (TOR)

What If Magazine Reviews The Third Eye

Erin Winzer — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:19:58 +0000

The Spring 2008 issue of teen magazine What If? includes a review of The Third Eye by Mahtab Narsimhan. Here’s a little snippet of what reviewer Taralyn Kerr had to say about this junior fiction novel.

“The Third Eye’s protagonist is a refreshing new personality in the literary universe of today’s fantasy novels. She is not the typical teen girl who courageously rises to conquer her obstacles; Tara is a young prepubescent girl riddled with fear. Her desperate struggle to continue on through her paralyzing terror, for the sake of her brother and her village, makes her an incredibly charming character. In addition, the ending leaves an intriguing note on a magical story.”