Details and Specs
ISBN associated with this title: 9781927917435
Item RG0038
PublisherRunning the Goat
PublisherRunning the Goat
Published on October 12 2021
Language ENG
Pages 286
Format Paperback
Dimensions8.5(in) x 5.5(in)
Shipping weight320(g)
Status ACTIVE TITLE
Kate Story is a writer and theatre artist who was born and raised in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Uncanny occurrences were not unheard-of growing up in the house on the Southside Road built by Kate's great-great grandfather. Having fled to the mainland at sixteen, Kate keeps coming home to see family, do the occasional performance work, and get the occasional fit of the shudders. Kate lives in Peterborough/Nogojiwanong, Ontario, where the shudders are fuel for the writing and performance work. Previous novels include Blasted, Wrecked Upon This Shore, This Insubstantial Pageant, and the YA fantasy duology Antilia. Kate's fiction has won the Sunburst Award?s honourable mention, been a CBC Literary Award finalist, and has appeared in World Fantasy and Aurora Award-winning collections. Kate is also a recipient of the Ontario Arts Foundation?s K.M. Hunter Artist Award for work as a theatre writer, performer, and creator.

Quick Quotes

Kate Story's Urchin is electric with magic, glittering language, and high-wire tension. Story's protagonist, non-binary Dor, is a brave spy and adventurer who soars off the page, out the window, through the gloom to the wonderfully terrifying kingdom of the fairies, on a wild quest to save her mother who has been led astray by the little people. This masterful coming-of-age tale is alive with energy and insight, charged with passion and wit. Here's a queer, ultra-modern, historic St. John's, where scientific advancement smacks up against potent magic and ancient lore. Sparks fly. Prepare to be zapped with high voltage suspense and megawatts of fun. Prepare to be spellbound.

Lisa Moore, author of Flannery, Caught, and February

Witty, tender, heartrending, Urchin is the compelling coming of age story of Dor, who must grapple with curses, sabotage, and their very own identity. Urchin beautifully blends history and fantasy, bringing both early 20th-century Newfoundland and its rich fairy lore vividly to life. Protagonist Dor is perhaps the greatest treat of all; a clever, endearing underdog who you root for from start to finish. Kate Story handles Dor's struggles with gender and sexuality with honesty and grace. A truly valuable novel and a must-read!

Caighlan Smith, author of Children of Icarus

A sprawling, lyrical historical fantasy.

Kirkus Reviews

With every breath of the story you feel the high winds, you see the crashing waves, you stumble on rocks, and you hear the Newfoundland voice [...] And, through it all, is the personal whisper: "Who am I? What am I? Am I even ok?

Deborah Furchtgott, The Children's Bookroom

Highly recommended.

Chris Laurie, CM: Canadian review of Materials

"a compelling work, wonderful in its execution"

PinkPlayMags

  

Award Winners & Nominees


2022 Governor General's Literary Award for Young People's Literature (Text)