MaryLou Driedger Hybrid Book Launch
Friday Apr 28 2023 7:00 pm, Winnipeg, Grant Park in the Atrium, Streaming via YouTube
Join MaryLou Driedger for the launch of her new middle grade novel Sixties Girl (Heritage House Publishing) featuring a reading and a conversation hosted by Colleen Nelson, followed by a book signing.
The launch will be hosted live in the Atrium of McNally Robinson Booksellers, Grant Park and also available as a simultaneous YouTube stream featuring live chat. Before arriving, please review details of how to attend physical events here at the store.
Set in 1960s and present-day Winnipeg, this poignant coming-of-age story follows a decade in the life of a young girl growing up in a close-knit family in a time of sweeping social change. Sixties Girl is a decade in the life of an ordinary girl living in extraordinary times, from the Cuban Missile Crisis to Expo 67, from Beatlemania to miniskirts.
Told in alternating timelines—with an adult Laura recalling her childhood experiences to her grandson Will—this vivid portrait of a Canadian childhood and adolescence is a deeply personal, heartfelt reflection on family and self-discovery, as well as an insightful commentary on an era that changed society forever.
MaryLou Driedger’s curiosity and love of learning have taken her to some fifty destinations across the globe. As an educator, she has taught in three different countries and is the recipient of a Manitoba Teacher of the Year award. She is the author of Lost on the Prairie, and has been a columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press and The Carillon. Her freelance work has been published in numerous periodicals, anthologies, travel guides, institutional histories, and curriculums. MaryLou chronicles her adventures on her popular daily blog.
Host Colleen Nelson is a teacher and award-winning author of books for middle grade and young adults. Her latest novel, The Umbrella House, is out this spring.
See:
Sixties Girl
- MaryLou Driedger 
Children's paperback
$14.95 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $13.46
Set in 1960s and present-day Winnipeg, this poignant coming-of-age story follows a decade in the life of a young girl growing up in a close-knit family in a time of sweeping social change.
The 1960s was a decade of major world events, exciting changes, and unforgettable fashion and music. But for Laura, navigating the cliques at school, avoiding corporal punishment doled out by the nuns, and dealing with her mother's illness feel more real than the news stories of political assassinations, royal visits, the legalization of birth control, and the threat of nuclear war that dominate the headlines of the day. Sixties Girl is a decade in the life of an ordinary girl living in extraordinary times, from the Cuban Missile Crisis to Expo 67, from Beatlemania to miniskirts.
Told in alternating timelines--with an adult Laura recalling her childhood experiences to her grandson Will--this vivid portrait of a Canadian childhood and adolescence is a deeply personal, heartfelt reflection on family and self-discovery, as well as an insightful commentary on an era that changed society forever.
Lost on the Prairie
- MaryLou Driedger
Children's paperback
$14.95 - Add to Cart
Reader Reward Price: $13.46
Set between Kansas and Saskatchewan in 1907, this middle-grade novel follows a young boy who gets separated from his family en route to Canada and must find his way alone across the immense prairie landscape.
Following the sudden death of his eldest brother, twelve-year-old Peter is chosen by his father to travel by train from Kansas to Saskatchewan to help set up the new family homestead. But when Peter's boxcar becomes uncoupled from the rest of the train somewhere in South Dakota, he finds himself lost and alone on the vast prairie.
For a sheltered boy who has only read about adventures in books, Peter is both thrilled and terrified by the journey ahead. Along the way, he faces real dangers, from poisonous snakes to barn fires; meets people from all walks of life, including famous author Mark Twain; and grows more resourceful, courageous, and self-reliant as he makes his way across the Midwest to the Canadian border, eventually reaching his new home in Drake, Saskatchewan. The journey expands Peter's view of the world and shows him that the bonds of family and community, regardless of background, are universal and filled with love. Packed with excitement and adventure, this coming-of-age novel features a strong and likeable young protagonist and paints a realistic portrait of prairie life in the early twentieth century.
