This week saw the passing of Russell Hoban, an underrated giant of fantasy, experimental fiction, and children's literature.

Generations of readers will remember him for his wonderful children's picture books, including Bedtime for Frances and The Little Brute Family; others, for his 1980 post-apocalyptic masterpiece Riddley Walker, written entirely in a kind of devolved pidgin, and its brilliantly fractured take on British history, any recollection of which has been occluded by catastrophe.

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On November 12th, two Manitobans will be honoured at the 5th annual Independent Publishers Moonbeam Awards, held in conjunction with the 2nd annual Traverse City Children's Book Festival. The awards are "intended to bring increased recognition to exemplary children's books and their creators, and to celebrate children's books and life-long reading."

It's been an amazing run for Brandon author Craig Russell's debut novel, Black Bottle Man. The book, previously shortlisted for On the Same Page through the Winnipeg Public Library, as well as the Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book by a Manitoba Author and the McNally Robinson Book of the Year for Young People Award (Older Category) at the Manitoba Publishing Awards, won the Gold Medal in Moonbeam's Young Adult Fiction (Fantasy/Sci-Fi) category. Black Bottle Man is also currently in the running for the Prix Aurora Award for Best Long Form Work in English.

Winnipeg's Rae Bridgman tied for a Bronze Medal in the Pre-Teen Fiction-Fantasy category for her book Kingdom of Trolls.

 

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Inheritance (Inheritance Cycle, Book 4)$27.99 add to cart

Fans of Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle have been waiting seven long years to see how everything turns out. But fear not - the wait is almost over! Inheritance, the fourth and final book in the Inheritance Cycle, will finally venture into the wild on November 8, 2011. That's not even two months away!

If you can't wait to get your paws on Inheritance, you can pre-order it via phone, e-mail or come and visit the store. As a lucky bonus, Inheritance is also one of our 30% Off titles for November, so you get it for one low, easy payment of $19.59.

See you November 8th!

This morning, J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, announced the October launch of pottermore.com. Pottermore will offer an interactive reading experience for fans of the series, as well as Harry-Potter-related merchandise and ebooks. Fans will be able to visit Diagon Alley, get their own wand and be sorted into a house. Rowling has also promised additional information about various characters that fans will be able to access on the site - for example, the story of how Petunia and Vernon Dursley met, and what Professor McGonagall did before she came to teach at Hogwarts. Rowling says she's written about 18,000 new words on our favourite witches and wizards, and she's not even finished yet!

Registration begins on July 31st - Harry's birthday - and a million lucky registrants will be able to access the site early. Don't forget to submit your e-mail now so you can get a reminder when registration opens!

For more information, see J.K. Rowling's announcement and the Leaky Cauldron for all up-to-date news regarding Pottermore.