Coming up to the anniversary of the “Georgetown Boys” arriving in Canada, we pay tribute to their journey through this beautifully illustrated children’s novel that touches on the Armenian Genocide of 1915.
Join author, Marsha Skrypuch and illustrator Muriel Wood, as they welcome the families of the original Georgetown Boys to the official launch of Aram’s Choice.
The launch will be held at:
The Freckled Lion, 87
Main St. S. in Georgetown, ON
June 29 th , 2006 from 1-2pm and 7-8pm
From the New Beginnings series, comes Aram’s Choice, a story that follows the life of a boy who loses his family in the Armenian genocide in Turkey and is exiled in Greece. The book follows Aram while he travels to Canada with forty-seven other Armenian boys in what was Canada’s first international humanitarian effort.
Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch first heard about the Armenian Genocide seventeen years ago while doing research for a magazine article about the first “Georgetown Boys” — a group of 47 Armenian orphans who were rescued by Canada in 1923 and were housed and schooled at a farm in Georgetown, Ontario.
After interviewing the son of a “Georgetown Boy,” Marsha was left with more questions than answers. For example, why were all of the rescued orphans male? Why were they all between the ages of eight and twelve? What happened to their parents? What happened to their sisters?
After years of research, Marsha was able to write Aram’s Choice. Based on true events, this book gives children a chance to learn about effects of genocide through one that the Turkish government has long denied ever happened.
Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch is the author of many books for children, including Silver Threads and Enough as well as her YA novels, The Hunger and Nobody’s Child, which was nominated for the Red Maple Award, the Alberta Rocky Mountain Book Award, and the B.C. Stellar Award.
Muriel Wood has been illustrating books for children since 1964, including the Canadian classic, The Olden Days Coat written by Margaret Laurence. Other books that she has illustrated include Old Bird, and the first two titles from the New Beginnings series, Lizzie’s Storm and Scared Sarah.
Aram’s Choice
By Marsha Skrypuch; Illustrated by Muriel Wood
Ages: 8-11, Grades: 3-6
ISBN: 1-55041-352-X hc; Price: $18.95 CAD
ISBN : 1-55041-354-6 pb; Price: $10.95 CAD
Available: June 29 th , 2006
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
195 Allstate Parkway Markham, Ontario L3R 4T8
1.800.387.9776 www.fitzhenry.ca
Contact:
Sylvia Lesak,
Marketing & Publicity Coordinator
905-477-9700 x 212
slesak@fitzhenry.ca
Good luck with the launch, Marsha!!! I’m sure you’ll sell tons of books! 😀
Thanks, Maggie!
I’m really looking forward to it!
A bit of a quick drop by for us, but thanks for signing Aram’s Choice for me. I read it tonight and was so touched by the story. Muriel’s artwork is stunning also.
I hope the launch went well. We enjoyed our trip to Georgetown, albeit short. We had a nice lunch at the Market Restaurant before dropping by the Freckled Lion. Once the girls picked out their books they were ready to go. My days of casual chatting are few and far between 😉
Congratulations!
Helene B
Hi Hélène!
It was so nice of you to come to the launch and it was great to meet your daughters! The launch was fabulous. Both in the afternoon and evening, we ended up staying well past the posted times because there was a steady stream of people.