Turnstone Press is honoured to have not one, but two of it's titles shortlisted for the 2009 On the Same Page: Manitoba Reads project. The Salvation of Yasch Siemens by Armin Wiebe and Be Wolf by Wayne Tefs have been selected to participate in the public vote-off. For the month of May the general public will be able  to register their choice for the book all Manitoban's should read in 2009.

If you are fan of either author or their works, or want to support Turnstone Press in this project, we suggest you visit On The Same Page.ca and cast your vote.

About the Books:

Winner of the McNally Robinson Book of the Year award, Be Wolf: A True Account of the Survival of Reinhold Kaletsch is a thrilling novel based on a real-life experience.

One spring, Reinhold Kaletsch, an avid outdoorsman, set out on a month-long camping trip in Northern Manitoba when a moment of carelessness leads to a serious accident. With debilitating injuries, including a fractured spine, Kaletsch must rely on his intelligence, knowledge of bushcraft, medical training and his devoted canine companions, in a desperate struggle for survival.

Praise for Be Wolf:

“[Tefs’s] writing shows a particular reverence for the Canadian Shield…[h]is latest offering takes this reverence to a new high, and Be Wolf may well become a classic among Canadian survival tales.” —Angela Narth, Winnipeg Free Press

Shortlisted for Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Stephen Leacock Medal For Humour, The Salvation of Yasch Siemens is a seminal work of Mennonite literature.

Born "on the wrong side of the double dike" in the mythical Mennonite village of Gutenthal, Yasch Siemens seems destined for a life as a hired hand in love with the wrong girl. But all of that changes when he meets Oata Needarp. Two-hundred-pound Oata is determined to make Yasch hers, and it only takes some chokecherry wine and the fragrance of Oata’s “Evening in Schanzenfeld” perfume to seal Yasch’s fate.

Praise for The Salvation of Yasch Siemens:

“Armin Wiebe has created an assortment of comical farmers and gadabouts bound to elicit uproarious mirth from his readers … What turns this novel into a comic tour de force is Wiebe’s masterful blending of narrative voice and subject matter … a new and magical literary landscape.” —Quill and Quire

Cast you Vote for your favourite Turnstone title!