A season of secrets . . .
It’s a long, hot Halifax summer in 1959 and twelve-year-old Rosalie Norman has a guilty secret. Her no-nonsense, authoritarian mother has broken her ankle — and it’s all Rosalie’s fault. But news that her teenage cousin Johnny has vanished pushes the accident from everyone’s minds. As Rosalie and "the Gravedigger" — the strange boy who lives across the street — search the city for Johnny, Rosalie discovers a great deal about the love and the secrets that bind her family.
Awards and citations
• Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award Winner
• Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award Honour Book
• CBC Radio's Young Canada Reads Winner
• TD Canadian Children's Literature Award Finalist
• Hackmatack Award Finalist
• Red Maple Award Finalist
• Rocky Mountain Book Award Finalist
• Red Cedar Award Finalist
• Ontario Library Association Best Bets Selection
Reviews
“What a celebratory event it is when one encounters a children's novel and has to shout, 'yes! This is Canadian literature at its best.' Johnny Kellock Died Today provokes exactly that delightful response.”
— The Toronto Star
"The quietly stunning revelations at the heart of this first novel, the depth of its characters and the wonderful particularities of time and place attest to the presence of a shining new talent at work."
— The Globe and Mail
“Rosalie’s voice is bright, witty and in the end, infinitely wise. The story moves forward in a meandering, exploratory fashion that, in a sense, mimics the ethereal quality of a summer afternoon . . . Hadley Dyer brings us characters who are full of life. Through her clean, evocative imagery, Dyer renders a touching picture of Halifax in the 1950’s.”
— CM Magazine
“I could say a lot about this book, about the beautiful detailing, Rosalie's charming character, the exuberance of the prose, how wise and hilarious it is. But let's just cut to the chase — it's utterly gorgeous!”
— Tim Wynne-Jones
“Johnny Kellock Died Today is elegant, assured, atmospherically charged, and I hope that young readers will recommend it to their parents. They'll also find much to enjoy in this debut that marks Hadley Dyer not as 'a writer to watch' but as a writer fully formed. Shes a treasure, and so is Johnny Kellock.”
— Bill Richardson
“Cliche free! Hadley Dyer's is a refreshing new voice!”
— Brian Doyle