Young Adult Novels by Lesley Choyce

Excerpt from Random (click on the cover to read the first chapter)

2010-09-23T07:00:00.001-04:00

Random -- author interview with Lesley Choyce

2010-09-22T06:08:00.000-04:00

What triggered this story for you?

I had heard so many people using the word “random” in recent years although the very meaning of it had become, well, random. And I was, yet again, trying to sort out whether my own life made sense, whether there was a true purpose that we all have or if the events of our lives are haphazard and hence random.

So I came up with Joey and his own personal dilemma. His was, I admit, a bit deeper and darker than my own. I wanted a different kind of narrative, one that was fragmented and yet compelling which is the way most of us think. That’s why I used the digital diary idea. Once Joey got going with his DD, of course, he took over and all I had to do was hang on and follow his random thoughts and struggles to prove there is no meaning or purpose to life while being gobsmacked over and over with indications that it does all add up to something. Something of great significance.

The young men in your young adult novels are intelligent, sensitive, well-read. It's refreshing to find books which set aside some of the common misconceptions about teenaged boys. Can you comment on that?

Everyone I have ever known is unique and eccentric in their own way. I wanted Joey and my other male teen characters to exemplify teenagers boys who have very complex emotional and intellectual lives. I was certainly not ever normal in my teen years. No one is. Most teenage guys are actually quite sensitive, intelligent and fragile. The young macho stuff is just a facade in almost all cases. The massive force of social conditioning that comes today mostly from commercialism and pop culture deprives many teens from exploring their own unique identity. So it is my hope that my quirky characters resonate for both guys and girls and encourages them to be who they want to be. I’ve received enough emails from readers of my books to know that, for some, these novels do connect and help liberate the spirit of those struggling to figure out who they are, those suffering from “being different,” those who feel alienated and isolated.

When you first named your protagonist Joe Campbell, did you know you were going to reveal to him the book by the other Joseph Campbell?

That was a fluke. All I knew was that his name was Joe, then Joey. At first, I wanted to usher in some Scottish history of all things. I had been reading about the feuds and warfare between the Campbells and the MacDonalds. And then it occurred to me that Joey’s formal name was Joseph Campbell, whose books I had read in university. I had an aha moment or two over that and when I did a bit more research into the life and work of Joseph Campbell, I realized there were some extremely interesting connections to my character and his dilemma. It was then that I was reminded of the fact that there were some rather significant forces of creative energy outside of me that were helping to shape this book.

Joe begins as a boy who is profoundly confused about the purpose of life - because of what has happened to him. But would you agree that this is a condition that applies to most teens at some point in their lives? And is it a handicap for them?

Hey, not just teens. I am still profoundly befuddled and confused about many things. And yet the confusion and uncertainty, I’ve found, is really the wellspring of my curiosity and creativity. I don’t know if I have a purpose in life and if I was certain of it, I would be a very different person. I live by my hunches and I think Joey is doing that too. When he discovers a hunch of his is wrong, he gets a bit more confused but then absorbs the new information and moves on or at least tries to. And thus he grows, matures. But there is no final absolute solution to his problem or an ultimate answer.

If you were to ask me what my own hunches are about what I’m doing on this planet, why I am here, I’d say this. I’m supposed to be creative and to write. I need to be kind and compassionate to everyone around me (including my enemies if I have any) as often as I can. I must absolutely give back more than I take. I must try my best to be honest with myself and with everyone around me even when it is difficult. I need to be daring and take chances (but not all the time). And I need to remain passionate about what I do and how I live. And I need to have some degree of fun while doing all the above.

Joe, Gloria and Dean are outsiders in their world. You seem to write a lot about outsiders in your young adult novels. What special qualities do such people have that make them interesting characters to build a story around?

When we are totally comfortable in our lives, our families, our jobs and our communities, we feel safe and secure. We are comfortable insiders – inside such a nice, cozy (but almost always temporary) womb. It’s a wonderful place to be; it’s just that it doesn’t work out that way all of the time. So then we become outsiders.

When you are young, you feel like an outsider because you are not fully fledged as an adult. You are simply too young. Then you become an adult and realize that you are still an outsider on a lot of levels. Outsiders are edgy, nervous, problematic and interesting. They often don’t know who they are but they know who they are not. Outsiders are still searching for identity and meaning and that makes them more interesting to write about.

As you develop a story for teenagers, setting doesn't seem to be of prime significance for you; the stories - and Random is an example - could take place anywhere in North America. Is this a deliberate approach?

I’ve written a number of novels that are very precisely set in Halifax and on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia where I live. Other novels, like Random, could be a random suburban community just about anywhere in North America. I think this makes it easy for many readers to simply imagine that the story is set in the town where they live. But then within that framework, the world of the narrator, Joey in this case, is fairly precise. Yet it’s primarily the landscape of his interior geography that is most important and that’s where the reader should be. Travelling around inside Joey’s head with him and living his life vicariously.

Random is a novel that focuses largely on the main character's thinking through his situation, rather than working out his problem with lively action. This demonstrates your respect for the reader, I think. Could you comment on this?

I think that most of us live our primary lives inside our heads. We work out most of our problems and make our discoveries internally although they may be triggered by external factors. The wonderful illusion of good first-person fiction is that you, the reader, become the character while you are reading. That is intended to be my “gift” to the reader. You pick up my book about a character who has never existed and events that have never happened. You accept the psychological game that I’ve created – the contract between reader and writer which is the agreement that the fiction is real, at least while you are reading the book. I can’t waste the reader’s time... or mine. So I owe the reader the best possible world I can give him or her. Sometimes that is a daunting task. Fortunately for me, I let Joey take over the novel quite early on and all I had to do was follow his lead.

Random (BookBuzzr.com and Freado.com excerpt available)

2010-09-21T15:30:00.002-04:00

Word on the Street Halifax is this Sunday (September 26, 2010)

2010-09-21T07:01:00.003-04:00

Just to let you know that next Sunday is Word on the Street from 11 am to 5 pm.

I'll be at Victoria Park in Halifax across from the Public Gardens reading from Raising Orion, my new novel at 12:30 and from Random, the new YA novel at 4 pm. See you there.

Click here to read excerpts as they become available.

Kenya children read Skate Freak

2010-09-20T19:24:00.000-04:00

Children in Kenya reading my book, Skate Freak.

Photos courtesy of Eric Walters.

Two new novels this fall Raising Orion and Random

2010-09-02T06:25:00.004-04:00

This September, Nova Scotian author Lesley Choyce is releasing his first novel for adults in more than seven years called Raising Orion, published by Thistledown Press. He's also celebrating the publication of Random, a young adult novel coming out from Red Deer Press. Choyce is also one of three featured surfers in the documentary Winter Wave Riders (Hemmings House Productions) which is being screened at the Halifax Film Festival this month. In addition, he is also part of a unique poetry-music collaboration with Toronto singer-songwriter Jason McGroarty and soon to release an album blending spoken word and pop music. His previous two CDs were with the band The SurfPoets.

Lesley Choyce is a novelist and poet living at Lawrencetown Beach in Nova Scotia. He surfs in the North Atlantic year-round. He also runs a literary publishing house and teaches English at Dalhousie University. He is the host of a regular nationally-broadcast program on BookTelevision called Off the Page with Lesley Choyce. Choyce is the author of more than seventy books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction for adults, teens and children. His writing has earned him several awards, including two Dartmouth Book Awards and the Ann Connor Brimer Award for the young adult novel Good Idea Gone Bad. His work has been translated into Spanish, French, Danish and German.

Choyce will be available for interviews this fall in Halifax and Toronto. He will be reading from his two new books at Word on the Street in Halifax on September 28.

Republic of Nothing nominated for best book

2010-06-19T16:57:00.000-04:00

The Republic of Nothing is nominated for best book in the "Atlantic Canada Reads" Competition.

As of June 18 – Friday, readers can vote for their favourite of the six. Click here if you’d like to vote for any of the six, or check out the link below:

http://saltyink.com/atlantic-canada-reads-competition/

The Book of Michael

2008-09-03T10:01:00.001-04:00

Red Deer Press
Juvenile Fiction/Social Issues/Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance
Ages 16+ • 224 pages • 5 1/4 x 7 1/4"
ISBN 0–88995–417–8 paper • CDN 12.95 • USA 12.95

Michael Grove was sixteen years old when he was convicted for the murder of Lisa Conroy, the girlfriend he loved very much. The circumstances surrounding her final hours attract considerable media attention, especially because Michael and Lisa had sex just prior to her death. A public outcry against light penalties for young offenders ensures Michael is tried as an adult; he receives a harsh and severe penalty. Six months into his imprisonment, the true murderer confesses. Michael is released but quickly finds that the stigma of imprisonment and the (wrongful) rap for murder is not an easy thing to escape out on the streets.

The End Of The World As We Know It -- Nominated for 2008 White Pine Award

2007-12-05T09:02:00.000-04:00

Lesley's Young Adult novel "The End of the World As We Know It" has been nominated for a 2008 White Pine Award.

Click here for more information about this prestigious award.

"Author Lesley Choyce has filled his latest book with quirky yet complex characters, and his adept portrayal of one teen's inner struggles - struggles that are not fuelled by extreme poverty, abuse, or neglect or any other external provocations - is at once profound and utterly realistic. Carson's story of subtle growth and quiet transformation will resonate with a wide range off readers. It is a beautifully honest book tinged with sadness, but ultimately filled with optimism and hope."
-- Atlantic Books Today (Halifax)

Book Description

"I hate the world and everything in it. And that includes me."

Asked to write something for English class that expresses who he really is, 16-year-old Carson takes pleasure in blistering the page with hate for everything in his life. Stuck in a private school for kids who have repeatedly flunked out elsewhere, Carson knows he's got nowhere lower to sink to. "Flunk Out Academy" is the last resort for Carson and his classmates, in a small town where its deeply troubled students are decidedly unwelcome.

Then Carson meets someone who is even less optimistic than he. Christine struggles to get by, living in a trailer by herself, abandoned by her mother and father, so desperate that she has become almost immune to the pain and loneliness.

Confronted by her deep sadness, Carson starts to care for her and she for him. Once focused on someone other than himself, he begins to notice the world around him and realize that there is beauty as well as hopelessness, love as well as hate. Together the two teenagers struggle to work out how they are going to live in an imperfect world. There are no easy happy endings, but somehow the journey eventually makes the pain worthwhile.

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Red Deer Press; 1 edition (May 31, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0889953791
ISBN-13: 978-0889953796

If you like, you can order your copy from many online and bricks & mortar book sellers. Here are a few links for your convenience:
Chapters.ca || Amazon.com

Wave Warrior review

2007-06-14T06:42:00.000-04:00

Wave Warrior. (Orca Soundings).

By Lesley Choyce
Victoria, BC: Orca, 2007.
105 pp., pbk. & cl., $9.95 (pbk.), $16.95 (cl.).
ISBN 978-1-55143-647-0 (pbk), ISBN 978-1-55143-649-4 (cl.).

Subject Heading:
Surfing-Juvenile fiction.

Grades 6-9 / Ages 11-14.

Review by Carole Marion.

Click here to read Carole Marion's review of Wave Warrior.

Book launch and author reading May 24 at 7 p.m. Halifax

2007-05-20T18:54:00.000-04:00

Lesley Choyce will launch and read from his novel, The Republic of Nothing, the third new edition issued by Goose Lane Editions. The launch will take place at Just Us! Cafe on Barrington Street, Halifax, 7-8:30 p.m.

Free citizenship is available to anyone who wants to immigrate to the republic.

The third edition of the The Republic of Nothing has an afterward by Rush drummer, Neil Peart as well as a book club section for thought and discussion.

The Republic of Nothing opens in the early 1950s on Whalebone Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia, when Everett MacQuade marks the birth of his son by declaring the island's independence. From then on, mysterious happenings take place and refugees from the outside world find a place there. By the mid-1960s, the Republic of Nothing begins to succumb to the influences of the outside world. This is a story about resilience, independence, and anarchy.

The Republic of Nothing has been optioned by IMX Communications. Stay tuned for more details about when it will be filmed and where.

The Republic of Nothing is published by Goose Lane Books.

Chapters.Indigo.ca
Amazon.com

The End of the World As We Know It upcoming launch May 22, 2007

2007-05-14T12:52:00.000-04:00

The End of the World As We Know It will officially launch at J.L. Ilsley High School in Halifax on May 22.

About The End of the World as We Know It
Asked to write an English class assignment that expresses who he really is, 16-year-old Carson takes pleasure in filling the pages with hate for everything in his life. Stuck in a private school for kids who have repeatedly flunked out elsewhere, he knows there's nowhere lower to sink. "Flunk Out Academy" is the last resort for Carson and his classmates in a small town where the deeply troubled students are decidedly unwelcome.

Then Carson meets Christine. She struggles to get by, living in a trailer by herself, abandoned by her mother and father. Confronted by her deep sadness, Carson starts to care for her -- and she for him and realizes there is enough beauty to fight against hopelessness, love to battle all hate. Together, Carson and Christine struggle to work out how to live in an imperfect world.

The End of the World As We Know It is published by Red Deer Press.

Chapters.ca
Amazon.com

Archive available for online reader discussion

2007-05-14T10:14:00.000-04:00

The Halifax Daily News wraps up its first session of BookTalk with Stephen Clare featuring Lesley Choyce's novel, The Republic of Nothing.
To view the archives of the author question and answer and other discussion, please click here.

The third edition of Choyce's award winning novel, The Republic of Nothing was released spring of 2007 by Goose Lane.

If you enjoyed The Republic of Nothing, you may also enjoy The Sea of Tranquility by Lesley Choyce.

Republic of Nothing wins online readers' poll

2007-04-22T06:44:00.000-04:00

Online reader discussion of Republic of Nothing begins

Lesley Choyce's bestselling novel, The Republic of Nothing, won the first reader's poll at The Daily News to kick off the paper's new online reading group.

Click here to take part with this group that is reading the first 125 pages (17 chapters) this week (April 21 - 29, 2007).

The Republic of Nothing (reader’s guide edition) with an afterword by Rush’s Neil Peart is available through your library or for purchase at Amazon.com, Chapters.ca and many other online book sellers, including the publisher: Goose Lane.

Please click here to join us.

The Republic of Nothing
By Lesley Choyce
Paperback: 382 pages
Publisher: Goose Lane Editions (Third edition March 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0864924933
ISBN-13: 978-0864924933

The Republic of Nothing is a novel set on a small Canadian island that declares its independence to the world and anarchy reigns. A god-like ocean deposits many a thing, yet it also takes away. The 1960s blaze off shore and draw the island's inhabitants into politics, the Vietnam War, and the peace movement. Sound impossible? Not on Whalebone Island, AKA the Republic of Nothing. Where else can a dead circus elephant, a long-dead Viking, the discovery of uranium, a raven-haired castaway who may be psychic, an anarchist turned politician, and refugees fleeing from the United States all be part of everyday life? Where else is eccentricity embraced with such open arms? In this new readers' guide edition, complete with an afterword by Neil Peart, Lesley Choyce's novel about resilience, independence, and anarchy comes alive, leading readers to discover once again that everything is nothing and nothing is everything.

More places to discuss Lesley's books online are available at Shelfari.com and LibraryThing.com

Third edition of The Republic of Nothing release

2007-03-13T15:40:00.000-04:00

The Republic of Nothing
By Lesley Choyce
Reader’s Guide Edition, with an afterword by Rush’s Neil Peart

“ A triple-decker of a yarn . . . “
— The Globe and Mail

In The Republic of Nothing, prolific Canadian writer Lesley Choyce mines the deep vein of 1960s political and philosophical turmoil to create his best-loved work. A novel about rebellion, resilience, and independence, this Reader’s Guide edition, perfect for book clubs, also celebrates the 10th anniversary of the book’s original publication.

“My father declared the independence of Whalebone Island on March 21, 1951, the day I was born. It was a heady political time even on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia. New, pint-size nations were emerging all over forgotten corners of the globe and my old man decided that the flowering of independence should not pass us by.”

And so begins a quirky, quintessentially Choycian, work. In this idiosyncratic world anything can happen. A treasure trove of objects wash up on shore — including a circus elephant, a ship’s cargo of exotic furniture, and a mysterious raven-haired woman adrift in a lifeboat — and refugees from the outside world find a place where they can live in peace. At its heart, it is the story of one young man’s journey into adulthood while the anarchy of the adult world rages on around him.

This particular novel was a watershed in the author’s career. Choyce says it engendered a somewhat cult following. He even received letters from strangers who wanted to move to the island he had created.

“Kids in alternative rock bands wrote songs about it. Favourable reviewers wondered who I was and why I was ‘in hiding’. I knew I had tapped into something very important. Ultimately, it made me happy to be a writer who was so blessed to live at least part of my daily life IN the Republic of Nothing in all its shining exuberence.”

Neil Peart, drummer and lyricist for the rock band Rush, is one of many people deeply affected by this book. In his afterword, Peart reveals how he struck up a friendship with Choyce after reading the novel in the mid 1990s. He articulates why The Republic of Nothing remains one of his favourites to this day.

“Like all great fiction, it speaks for all time. And like all great dramatists, Lesley Choyce can build a stage on Whalebone Island, Nova Scotia, and bring the whole world to it.”

Discover why everyone from teenagers to rock stars adores this Canadian classic. Sail away to The Republic of Nothing, where ‘everything is nothing and nothing is everything.’

About The Author

Renaissance man Lesley Choyce has taught at Dalhousie University for the past 25 years. He runs Pottersfield Press and has published over sixty books for adults and kids. Lesley surfs year round in the North Atlantic and is considered the father of transcendental wood-splitting. He’s worked as a rehab counsellor, a freight hauler, a corn farmer, a janitor, a journalist, a lead guitarist, a newspaper boy, and a well-digger. He lives in a 200-year-old farmhouse at Lawrencetown Beach overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. He also hosts a nationally syndicated TV talk show on Vision TV called Off the Page with Lesley Choyce. His recent novel Cold Clear Morning is being developed as a feature-length movie. In 2002, Goose Lane Editions published Choyce’s best-selling circumferential history book, The Coasts of Canada. That same year, his animal epic film, The Skunk Whisperer, was broadcast across Canada and heralded at the Maine International Film Festival. Along with the Surf Poets, he has released two poetry/music albums, Long Lost Planet and Sea Level.

Accolades for Lesley Choyce and The Republic of Nothing

“ A national treasure.” — The Ottawa Citizen

“Reminiscent, both in wit and sensibility, of Stephen Leacock.” — Quill and Quire

“This book has to be the most unlikely success story!! If you go to school, you know that the books the teachers give you to read are generally either really old or really boring. I am surprised to say that this book is neither.

”The book is a very vivid depiction of what it is like to seek independence from your family, and even your country. This books about a family that live on a secluded island off Nova Scotia, they call this island "The Republic of Nothing." They don't want to be a nation of anyone elses, they want to be on their own with no government. This book starts off as a book about an Utopian island, and that it becomes about one family, mainly the main character, trying to find their way. It has family struggles, committment, romance, comedy, politics, etc etc. This is definitely a book for everyone from a dreamer to a succeeder.” — Kelly, on Amazon.com

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Wave Warrior

2007-01-30T09:57:00.000-04:00

Wave Warrior

By Lesley Choyce

"I climbed back onto my board. All I wanted was to get through the day without dying."

Ben is determined to learn to surf. In the rough North Atlantic waters near his home, only the tough can make it on the water. His first attempt is a disaster. Then he meets Ray, a surfing veteran from California. Ray promises to teach him to surf - and to face his inner demons. As Ben becomes more comfortable on his board he learns to face his fears and prove that he has what it takes to become a Wave Warrior.

Lesley Choyce is the author of two other Orca Soundings novels- Thunderbowl and Refuge Cove. Lesley lives and surfs at Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia.

By author: Lesley Choyce
ISBN: 9781551436494
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Pub Date: March/01/2007

Forthcoming Young Adult Books

2007-01-30T09:00:00.000-04:00

Two new young adult novels by Lesley Choyce will be released this spring:

Wave Warrior (expected release date: March 2007) and

The End of the World as We Know It.

Stay tuned.