AWARD-WINNING AND BESTSELLING AUTHOR: The Marrow Thieves won the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature; the Burt Award for First Nations; the Governor General’s Literary Award in Young People’s Literature; the Sunburst Award; the Amy Mathers Teen Book Award, and it has been shortlisted for many others. The Marrow Thieves has now sold over 100K copies in Canada alone.

MAJOR US AND CDN ATTENTION FOR MOST RECENT YA BOOK: Featured on Good Morning America and Oprahdaily.com, Hunting by Stars has been on numerous “Best of” lists and gift guide selections for 2021 in both the US and Canada, including NPR, Kobo and themarysue.com.

CHERIE IS MESERMIZING IN PERSON (AND VIRTUALLY): Cherie is no shrinking violet, and she is incredibly fun and brilliant in interviews and conversations with other authors.

A BELOVED PRHC AUTHOR TO BUILD LONG-TERM: We have an untitled book 2 from Cherie for the young adult market (pub date TBC); as well, we will be publishing The Marrow Thieves #3 in Canada (Abrams will be the publisher in the US). Also, her second adult book with Random House Canada will be coming out just before this YA book (published in the US by HarperCollins). 

CHERIE DIMALINE is an author from the Georgian Bay Métis Community. Her book The Marrow Thieves won the prestigious Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature, the Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature, and the Governor General’s Literary Award, among others. It was named a Book of the Year on numerous lists, including those from NPR, the School Library Journal, the New York Public Library, Globe and Mail, Quill & Quire, and the CBC. Its sequel, Hunting by Stars, was published in 2021 to great acclaim, and has been selected as Book of the Year from NPR, Indigo, and Kobo, and is a Good Morning America Buzz Pick, as well as a Cityline Book Club Pick for December 2021.

Author Residence: Georgian Bay, Ontario

Author Hometown: Georgian Bay, Ontario

A BookPage Most Anticipated YA Book of 2023

“Winifred is an engaging lead with an emotional and fulfilling journey. Artfully melding horror, deadpan humor, and an impossible romance, this well-crafted narrative from Dimaline follows lived-in characters who are tortured by grief. Atmospheric, intimate, and melodic; the rich storytelling sings.” —STARRED REVIEW, Kirkus Reviews

“[A] story of healing. Dimaline has created a rich world of complex characters with a narrative that oscillates from love story to suspense-thriller — sometimes within the same chapter — without any tonal whiplash. Funeral Songs for Dying Girls is a complex exploration of grief, family, and love that will appeal to teens and adults alike.” —STARRED REVIEW, Quill & Quire

“Contemplative prose excels in its portrayal of a reclusive protagonist longing for connection and overcoming grief while living in a neighborhood that shuns her for perceived shortcomings, presenting a textured narrative about loss and love.” —Publishers Weekly

“This lyrical ghost story portrays how a bond between two girls — one living, one not — transforms the grief that roots them both in place…. Wrenching and poignant, Funeral Songs for Dying Girls is a haunting tale about what it means to search for home — not the place, but the feeling you carry with you.” —BookPage

“Dimaline’s intense, bittersweet, and often funny novel is more than a ghost story. Extended portions about the life and death of Phil, a sympathetically rendered ghost character who becomes one of Winifred’s first loves, allude to the real-life neglected epidemic of MMIWG2S (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People). Through this novel, Dimaline honors those lost.” —The Horn Book

“Winifred’s narration is startling in its honesty…and the result is a deep intimacy that is warm but melancholy.” —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“[A] literary journey that explores grief, identity, family, and isolation through the lens of a lonely and independent 16-year-old girl…. Dimaline’s writing is lyrical and haunting.” —Pine Reads Review