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December 29, 2010

Taiwan.com.au Portal promotes The Adventures of Mali & Keela

U.S.-based publisher Personhood Press recently gave permission for Taiwan.com.au Portal to promote its book The Adventures of Mali & Keela: A Virtues Book for Children.

Written by New Zealand-based writers Jonathan Collins and Janice Healey and beautifully illustrated by artist Jenny Cooper, the 13 stories contained in The Adventures of Mali & Keela introduce children to the concept of virtue and demonstrate how virtuous behavior can make the world a better place. Each tale is built around four of the 52 virtues that have been identified by The Virtues Project, a global grassroots initiative that inspires the practice of virtues in everyday life.

The collected stories bring the virtues to life in lively, entertaining adventure tales designed to be read aloud to young listeners. Each tale is followed by clear, age-appropriate definitions of the virtues for the adult reader and the young audience to explore.

Discussion questions are also provided to draw the children into a conversation about each story. These interactive tools foster a more profound understanding of the virtues, help children put each virtue into context within their own experiences, and provide a rich environment for learning -- while young and old enjoy the thrill of a well-told yarn.

The Adventures of Mali & Keela was the Mom's Choice Award Gold Recipient in 2010. Taiwan.com.au Portal is proud of this opportunity to promote this wonderful children's book to readers in Taiwan and across the Chinese-speaking world.

For more information about The Adventures of Mali & Keela: A Virtues Book for Children and other books published by Personhood Press, please see Our Clients.

December 16, 2010

Taiwan.com.au Portal promotes Alison Wong's As the Earth Turns Silver

New Zealand writer Alison Wong, along with U.K.-based literary agency Toby Eady Associates, recently gave permission for Taiwan.com.au Portal to promote Wong's novel As the Earth Turns Silver.

This fascinating novel follows the intertwined stories of two very different people struggling with the trials of daily life in early twentieth-century Wellington, New Zealand. Chung Yung, recently arrived from China, helps his older brother at their green grocery in order to support his family back in China. At the same time, he must deal with overt racism in his new homeland and his growing affection for a local widow, Katherine McKechnie -- herself struggling to raise two young children after the untimely (if not entirely unwelcome) death of her brutish husband.

Against the backdrop of World War One, there is inevitable tragedy. However, As the Earth Turns Silver is ultimately a very uplifting novel. It is also beautifully written; the unfolding of plot and the development of characters are both handled with the most assured skill.

Taiwan.com.au Portal is proud of this rare opportunity to promote As the Earth Turns Silver to readers in Taiwan and across the Chinese-speaking world.

For more information about As the Earth Turns Silver and Alison Wong's other books, please see Our Clients.

November 3, 2010

Taiwan.com.au Portal promotes Simone Lazaroo's The Australian Fiance

Australia-based literary agency Jenny Darling & Associates recently gave permission for Taiwan.com.au Portal to promote Simone Lazaroo's novel The Australian Fiance.

Singapore, 1949. A young Eurasian woman, a survivor of the Japanese Occupation, meets the son of a privileged Australian family. She accompanies him to Broome, Western Australia, with hope for a better life, despite doubts from her family.

The Australian Fiance is the winner of the Western Australian Premier's Book Award in 2000 and was shortlisted for the Kirriyama Rim Pacific Prize in that same year. It is a story about remembering and forgetting, about photography, and about love and lost love.

Taiwan.com.au Portal is proud of this opportunity to promote The Australian Fiance to readers in Taiwan and across the Chinese-speaking world.

For more information about The Australian Fiance and Simone Lazaroo's other books, please see Our Clients.

October 26, 2010

Taiwan.com.au Portal promotes Clive Hamilton's Requiem for a Species

Australia-based author and public intellectual Clive Hamilton, along with Australian publisher Allen & Unwin, recently gave permission for Taiwan.com.au Portal to promote Hamilton's book Requiem for a Species: Why we resist the truth about climate change.

Sometimes facing up to the truth is just too hard. There have been any number of urgent scientific reports in recent years emphasizing just how dire the future looks and how little time we have left to act. But around the world only a few have truly faced up to the facts about global warming.

Requiem for a Species is about why we have ignored warnings about global warming, so that now it is too late. It is a book about the frailties of the human species: our strange obsessions, our hubris, and our penchant for avoiding the facts. It is the story of a battle within us between the forces that should have caused us to protect the earth, like our capacity to reason and our connection to nature, and our greed, materialism and alienation from nature, which, in the end, have won out.

And it is about the 21st century consequences of these failures, and what we can do now. Because we don't have to take this lying down.

Requiem for a Species is a provocative and sobering book. Taiwan.com.au Portal is proud of this opportunity to promote this powerful book to readers in Taiwan and across the Chinese-speaking world.

For more information about Requiem for a Species: Why we resist the truth about climate change and Clive Hamilton's other books, please see Our Clients.

August 28, 2010

Taiwan.com.au Portal promotes Janine Shepherd's Never Tell Me Never

Australia-based author and motivational speaker Janine Shepherd recently gave permission for Taiwan.com.au Portal to promote her autobiography Never Tell Me Never.

Shepherd's story reads like the plot of a Hollywood movie. A champion cross-country skier gearing for the winter Olympics, her life was irrevocably altered when she was run over by a truck during a training bicycle ride to the Blue Mountains.

Her neck and back was broken in six places, and her right arm, collarbone and five ribs fractured. Her right leg had been ripped open, she had sustained head injuries and massive internal injuries. She had severe lacerations to her abdominal area and had lost five liters of blood. The bleeding alone was enough to kill her.

Doctors warned her parents that she was not expected to survive her ordeal. Even if by some small chance she recovered, she would never walk again.

Coming to terms with her shattered Olympic dreams, refusing to believe what expert medical staff were telling her about her chances of any kind of recovery, Janine focused every sinew of her being on healing her broken body and crushed morale.

Her fighting spirit was rekindled watching small planes flying overhead. She mad a decision: "If I can't walk, I'll fly." And fly she did. While still covered in a full-body plaster cast, Shepherd was lifted into an aircraft for her first flight. That moment changed her life forever.

Shepherd's story of defying the odds and winning is both moving and inspiring. Never Tell Me Never has become a classic in the survivor genre and a bestseller. Countless Australians have been captivated by the inspiring story of this remarkable young woman and her story of incredible courage and strength.

Never Tell Me Never is a testament to the power of the human spirit and one that will move and inspire all. We are proud of this rare opportunity to introduce Janine Shepherd to readers in Taiwan and across the Chinese-speaking world.

For more information about Never Tell Me Never and Janine Shepherd's other books, please see Our Clients.