Jean Throop Book Award Nomination!

So nice to see the Mango Monster nominated for IODE Ontario’s Jean Throop Book Award! Extra special to see it with such lovely company :)

Touring for Canadian Children's Book Week!

Can't wait for this tour! Thank you @kidsbookcentre for selecting me & The Mango Monster 🥭 to participate in Canadian Children's Book Week 2025!! Check out the full lineup and details :)

https://bookcentre.ca/news/announcing-the-tour-roster-for-canadian-childrens-book-week-2025

CBC Books TOP PICK for Canadian Kids

Thank you @cbcbooks for all the love!! 🥭The Mango Monster🥭 is their TOP PICK for Canadian kids for the fall! 🍂💕

https://www.cbc.ca/books/all-the-canadian-books-we-re-excited-about-this-fall-1.7331654

CBC Books 50 Canadian kids books to read in fall 2024 list!

Thank you @cbcbooks for including The Mango Monster on this super list! Nice to be among many friends and more fun books to check out!

https://www.cbc.ca/books/50-canadian-kids-books-to-read-in-fall-2024-1.7278788

🥭 The Mango Monster 🥭 arrives September 15!

🥭THE MANGO MONSTER🥭 cover is here! This fun and tasty mystery story is illustrated by the magnificently talented @menekarepka (Can you believe it's her debut book?!) We can't wait to share it with you! You can pre-order now or grab a copy when it hits bookshelves September 15th! 🥭😋❤️

Thank you everyone at @owlkidspublishing especially editors, Debbie Rogosin and Jennifer Stokes!

TPL selects 100 Chapatis for First and Best 2023!

Thank you Toronto Public Library for selecting 100 Chapatis for your First and Best 2023 list!

Check out all the top picks of the best Canadian children's books for building reading readiness in kids under five.

LAUNCHED!

Big thank you to all who helped make 100 Chapatis book launch so very special!

Check out more pics on Instagram!

CBC: 10 Canadian books to read during Asian Heritage Month

Thank you CBC for including Coconut Dreams on this star list of 10 Canadian books to read during Asian Heritage Month!

French language edition of Coconut Dreams!

Publication Day! Much obliged to Éditions L'Interligne and Paul Ruban for all of the care and hard work they put into this translation.

For more info click HERE

TWUC Short Prose Contest!

Emerging writers! Send your work to The Writer’s Union Short Prose Contest if you're able. Max 2500 words of unpublished fiction/nonfiction. Looking forward to reading them along with Madeline Coopsammy and Suzanne Methot.

https://www.writersunion.ca/short-prose-competition

Coconut Dreams Audiobook now available!

Coconut Dreams is an audiobook! Thanks so much ECW Audio & Bookhug. And Rishma Malik Scott and Raoul Bhaneja - so happy with your performances especially in the way you brought Ally and Aiden to life!

You can listen via any audiobook platform or request it from your local library.

EVENT Magazine Review! →

So grateful that Coconut Dreams continues to receive thoughtful reviews. Andrew MacDonald’s review in EVENT magazine is such a wonderful deconstruction that you can read below:

https://www.eventmagazine.ca/2020/03/andrew-macdonald-reviews-derek-mascarenhas-and-elise-levine-for-event-48-3/

Broken Pencil Review!

Thank you Broken Pencil and Fiona Raye Clarke for this thoughtful review :) The line on “dragon nomenclature” made me laugh out loud! You can read the full review here:

“Coconut Dreams” nostalgically depicts the complex dynamics of South Asian immigrant families

49th Shelf - Our Top Fiction of 2019

Thanks to 49th Shelf for including Coconut Dreams in your Top Fiction of 2019! Check out their full list below:

https://49thshelf.com/Blog/2019/12/17/Our-Top-Fiction-of-2019?fbclid=IwAR0NieUM2POPU7KzlLSU3WmABxkNnn249GCgxuLqOQUFwRMOb71WTdRA_ks

Writers’ Trust of Canada - 2019 Best Books of the Year: Recommended Reading Lists

So honoured and humbled to hear Jenny Heijun Wills said Coconut Dreams was one of her favs of 2019. Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related. was definitely on my list as well!

“The stories in Coconut Dreams by Derek Mascarenhas move me to want to be a better storyteller. Throughout, he finds the perfect words that make me stop mid-sentence and marvel at how a writer can quietly stun a reader into holding their breath just with language.”

Globe and Mail - Year End List

Thanks so much to Jade Colbert for including Coconut Dreams in The best reads from Canada’s small publishers this year.

“These linked stories about the Pinto family – once of Goa, now of Canada – stick long after the first read. Each story is distinct – evidence of a great collection.”

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-the-best-reading-of-the-independent-presses-of-the-year/?cmpid=rss

Facebook Live Interview at Vancouver Writers Fest!

Thank you to Lauren Dembicky for this interview at the Vancouver Writers Fest! Check it out below:

https://www.facebook.com/VanWritersFest/videos/428556797861186/

Semi-Prose Podcast

Thanks so much to the wonderful team at Semi-Prose podcast for interviewing me!

We talk about Goa, IKEA grand openings, and Matilda in our deep-dive into Coconut Dreams!

Canlit fans check out the other episodes as well - it’s one of my favs!

CBC Books - How I Wrote It

Find out why I wrote a short story collection about growing up South Asian in Canadian suburbia :)

Thanks so much to Ryan B. Patrick, Oliver Thompson, and CBC Books for this interview:

https://www.cbc.ca/books/why-derek-mascarenhas-wrote-a-short-story-collection-about-growing-up-south-asian-in-canadian-suburbia-1.5156311