The Good Balita

Former Inquirer journalist Candy Quimpo Gourlay scored a major book deal with one of the United Kingdom’s biggest publishers.

Her novel TALL STORY will be published by David Fickling Books (DFB), joining a prestigious list that includes John Boyne (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas) and Philip Pullman (The Golden Compass).

DFB praises the book as “an outstanding and highly orginal novel”.

Says Bella Pearson, Editorial Director of DFB: “It isn’t often that I am in fits of laughter one minute and in tears the next – TALL STORY is one of the warmest, funniest, most moving books I’ve read in a long time – and Candy Gourlay is a rare and new voice in children’s fiction. We are feeling immensely excited (and smug!) to be able to add her name to the DFB list.”

TALL STORY uses the Bernardo Carpio legend and other Philippine folk lore as a stepping off point to tell the story of a teenage boy named Bernardo who grows to eight feet tall. After years separated by immigration paperwork, Bernardo meets his half English sister Andi with by turns hilarious and touching results.

A hardback of TALL STORY will be published in the United Kingdom in June 2010 and later in the United States later in the year.

DFB is an imprint of Random House, one of the biggest publishing companies in the world.

Candy, who lives in London, however reserved Philippine publication rights for Filipino publisher Ramon “RayVi” Sunico.

Sunico is the manager of Cacho Publishing House, which has pioneered in bringing teen fiction to the Philippine publishing scene.

“It was so important to me that a Pinoy publisher will be the one who brings my writing to the Filipino public. I am thrilled that RayVi is going to be that publisher,” Candy said.

In turn, Sunico said, “From the moment I discovered Candy’s blog and read the crisp, crackling prose of Tall Story, I knew that getting her read here would benefit not only the growing field of Philippine Young Adult lit but inspire many young Filipinos.”

A publication date will soon be announced in the Philippines.

“I can’t believe my luck. Not only do I get to work with RayVi Sunico who is himself a fabulous poet, but I get to meet David Fickling whom I’ve always admired – his books are always gorgeously published and his taste is impeccable,” Candy said.

Candy moved to the UK in 1989 after she married Richard Gourlay, who was the Manila-based correspondent for the Financial Times of London. In the UK, she became the London correspondent of the news agency Inter Press Service and later the editor of the pan-European magazine Filipinos in Europe. They have three children.

The deal with Fickling and Sunico was negotiated by Candy’s agent, Hilary Delamere who represents such high profile children’s authors as Raymond Briggs (The Snowman) and Carnegie winning Siobhan Dowd (Bog Child).

David Fickling Books is publisher of quality picture books and fiction, and is home to some of the most bestselling and highly acclaimed authors including Philip Pullman (published by DFB in the UK only), John Boyne, Mark Haddon (published by DFB in the UK only) and Jenny Downham. Its authors have won all of the major literary prizes including the Costa Children’s Book of the Year, the Guardia Children’s Fiction Prize, and most recently the Carnegie Medal. David Fickling Books is an imprint of Random House Children’s Books UK and Random House Children’s Books in the United States and is based in Oxford, England and New York, USA.

 

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