Monday, November 21, 2011, 1:21 pm
Me: Doing my routine day job and wondering when I can get back to my writing...
Blackberry pings!
Email: From my editor, Barry Jowett, telling me that The Tiffin was named as one of the five best books of the year for Young People, by the Quill & Quire.
Me: The rest of the day is shot as I float and text my son to duck out of class and go get a copy of the Q&Q now. Well no, I didn't actually do that. I told him to pick up a copy after school. I'm a good mom!

What makes a book of the year?
This is how Q&Q explains it; There's no formula for deciding. Some are critical darlings, some are word-of-mouth favourites. Some introduce us to important new voices, some represent the best work from established authors. And some are simply exceptional works we think people will be reading and talking about for years to come. Together, these 15 books made the biggest impact in 2011.

There are ten books in the adult category and five in the young people category. The other nominees in the list are:

The Qalupalik by Elisha Kilabuk/Joy Ang
My Name is Elizabeth by Annika Dunklee/Matthew Forsythe
Tilt by Alan Cumyn
This Dark Endeavour by Kenneth Oppel

This is what they had to say about The Tiffin:

"With her latest tale of courage, determination, and success in overcoming hardship, Mahtab Narsimhan reminds us that, sometimes, all you need to engage young readers is a really good story. The Silver Birch Award-winning author (for her debut novel, The Third Eye) transports readers into the frenetic world of the dabbawallas of her native Mumbai, who deliver lunch to white-collar workers in metal containers called tiffins. Against this backdrop we meet Kunal, who is on a quest to find his birth mother using the tiffins as a tool. It sounds fantastical, but Narsimhan's lush rendering of Mumbai is so vivid the reader can almost hear its sounds, see its sights, and smell its scents. In her starred Q&Q review, Shannon Ozirny wrote that "this world will be just as awe-inspiring to North American young people as any fantasy realm could hope to be."

Thanks Q&Q!

And for those reading this post, have you picked up your copy of The Tiffin, yet? Please do!