Winner of the OLA's Forest of Reading Silver Birch Express Award

Sylvia Tull -- the girl whose very glance turns Owen's face into a burning tomato -- has moved away from the small village where Owen lives with his parents and two brothers. But he still has the birthday gift she gave him -- a stationery set, complete with stamped envelopes -- because she wants him to keep sending her stories.

So Owen nervously begins to write Sylvia about all the things that are going on in his life. How his little brother, Leonard, got his head stuck in the bannister. The disastrous camping trip with his irritating girl cousins. How his new baby cousin will only stop screaming if Owen carries her.

And he tells her about the most bewildering drama to hit the Skye household yet, when the boys' father quits his insurance job to write a novel, and all the Skyes have to cope with the consequences.

Alan Cumyn has written an irresistible epistolary novel. Owen is a true writer in his head -- but getting the right words onto the page is another story. Young readers will easily identify as he wrestles with his spelling, with his writer's insecurity, and with his deep desire to tell Sylvia the truth about what is going on in his life, and in his heart.

Sylvia Tull - the girl whose very glance turns Owen's face into a burning tomato - has moved away from the small village where Owen lives with his parents and two brothers. But he still has the birthday gift she gave him - a stationery set, complete with stamped envelopes - because she wants him to keep sending stories. So Owen nervously begins to write Sylvia about all the things that are going on in his life. How his little brother, Leonard, got his head stuck in the banister. The disastrous camping trip with his irritating girl cousins. How his noew baby cousin will only stop screaming if Owen carries her. And he tells her about the most bewildering drama to hit the Skye household yet, when the boys' father quits his insurance job to write a novel, and all the Skyes have to cope with the consequences. Readers and writers of all ages will easily identify as Owen wrestles with his poor spelling, with his writer's insecurity, and with his deep desire to tell Sylvia the truth about what is going on in his life, and in his heart. Alan Cumyn is a highly acclaimed author of books for children and adults. His most recent novel, The Famished Lover, sequel to The Sojourn (named among the top Canadian novels of 2003 by the Globe and Mail, the Vancouver Sun, Maclean's and Quill & Quire), was long-listed for the Giller Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin literary award. Alan's two previous children's books, The Secret Life of Owen Skye and After Sylvia, received rave reviews and award recognition. The Secret Life of Owen Skye won the Mr. Christie Book Award and the Hackmatack Children's Choice Book Award, and was nominated for the Governor General's Award, the Ruth Schwartz Award, the Rocky Mountain Award and the Pacific Northwest Libraries Association Young Readers Choice Award. After Sylvia was nominated for the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award as well as the prestigious TD Children's Literature Award. It has also been adapted for the stage. Alan is past chari of the Writers in Prison Committee of PEN Canada. He lives in Ottawa with his wife, author Suzanne Evans, and their two daughters.