“This book has such a beautiful vision of that time period in the 1970s, growing up in a first-generation Canadian household. It’s about Johnny Wong, who writes letters to the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs — Dave Keon at the time — and tells him all these stories about his community, including a murder. It’s like a garden of beautiful anecdotes and information and nostalgia about Toronto — Ng does just a beautiful job of this story that happens to also be a mystery about a murder.”—Angela Misri, CBC Books, The Next Chapter, Mystery Panelist

“Letters From Johnny makes for an intriguing read, whether you are a young adult or your youth is in the rearview mirror. It is what I like to call an honest book, written from knowledge of what it was really like to grow up in a city on the cusp of uncomfortable change. Best of all, through his letters, Johnny makes an honest guide as he searches for his identity and wrestles with his need to belong.”—Kate Barlow, Oakville News

“Letters From Johnny: endearing book filled with humour…loved the book!”—Eva Levesque, The Review

“I love this book a lot. Its voice— Johnny Wong, Grade 5, 1970— is one we’ve never heard before, expressed, eventually, in letters to Leaf captain Dave Keon. There’s sports here, but don’t let that give you pause. “Letters from Johnny” is as much about growing up as a first-generation Canadian as it is Toronto in the 70s with its team, its Chinatown, its new cultures trying to be heard above the Protestant din.”–Dave Bidini, musician, Rheostatics; publisher West End Phoenix; author Keon and Me 

“Poignant, insightful, and tinged with menace. Letters from Johnny deftly captures the confusion and hurt of eleven-year-old Johnny Wong as he grapples with loyalty, friendship, and murder close to home.”—Barbara Fradkin, Arthur Ellis Award finalist, author of Inspector Green, Amanda Doucette and Cedric O’Toole murder series

“While this voice and format will appeal to younger readers, the universal themes of a search for identity and a need to belong will resonate with anyone who never quite felt understood or that they belonged. Moreover, the novel will also draw in legions of Toronto Maple Leaf diehard fans, Canadian history buffs and lovers of off-beat immigrant stories. In essence, this is an adult fiction/YA crossover.“—The Ottawa Review Of Books

“Told entirely in Johnny’s voice, with phonetic spellings (“diplowmat”), incorrect punctuation, and strike-outs, the letters are riveting. They take us deep into Johnny’s humorous, feisty, always questioning 11-year-old head. The details of time and place nicely evoke the early Seventies and the Chinese immigrant culture. The simple cover, Johnny’s age, the tone of his letters, and the low page count suggest the genre as mid-grade to YA. But the tragic family saga, the murder, and resolution, coupled with Johnny’s often wise insights, make this an unusual cross-over that will appeal to anyone from eleven to adult.”—Editors’ Choice, Historical Novels Review

“Who knew that a Chinese-Canadian kid’s heartwarming letters to his hockey hero could so perfectly capture Canada in 1970? “Letters from Johnny,” takes us from the FLQ crisis and a shocking neighbourhood crime, to the simple heartbreak of being a Maple Leafs fan. Wayne Ng brings us the world of Johnny Wong, as the 11 year-old pours out his fears, hopes, and dreams to his new pen-pal, Leafs legend Dave Keon.”–Wayne Turmel, author, Acre’s Bastard and Acre’s Orphans

“Wayne Ng has the uncanny knack of being able to project himself into a child’s head to tell readers the child’s story — not an easy feat. Johnny is an engaging character going through a rough patch in life and Wayne brings that to life with a voice that is both accurate and convincing.”–Rick Blechta, award-winning author of the Pratt and Ellis series

“Highly Recommended” —Ann Ketcheson, Canadian Review of Materials

“The book also doesn’t shy away from uncomfortable situations among its characters: Johnny’s mother’s alcoholism, his father’s extramarital relationship, his principal’s smoldering bigotry and his attempts to find his place in a Canada that sends mixed messages about belonging. Apprehended while slumbering in an Eaton’s store, Johnny is offered a Kit Kat bar by one of the employees: “[He] said it is no egg roll or chop suey but its good eh. I think he was trying to be nice and funny but it was not.” What we get from Johnny is a confusing jumble of complexities for a boy coming of age without the safety and guidance we all wish for our children. In other words, a real life.” —Mark David Smith, YAdudebooks

🏆WINNER of the 2022 Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence for BEST CRIME NOVELLA

🏆FINALIST – Ottawa Book Award 2022

Interviews and Podcasts

• Fifty-Five Plus Lifestyle Magzine
• Crime Writers Canada – A Conversation With Wayne Ng – BEST CRIME NOVELLA
• Ottawa Book Awards 2022 – Fiction Finalist Wayne Ng – Reading 
• LiterASIAN Festival 2022 – Finding Our Voices with Wayne Ng
• Derick Fage Interview with Wayne – Daytime Ottawa, RogersTV
• LiterASIAN Interview with Wayne Ng 
• Junction Reads with Wayne Ng
• Brockton Writers Series 13.07.22
• The Raw Mike Richards Show – Interview on Sauga 960 AM
• CBC Radio Ottawa – In Town and Out – Interview with Giacomo Panico 
• CBC Radio Toronto – Metro Morning – Interview with Jill Dempsey
• All About Canadian Books – Video Interview with Crystal Fletcher
• 20 Questions with Rob McLennan
• Ricepaper Magazine’s in-depth interview with Wayne Ng 
• The Shit No One Tells You About Writing: Incorporating The Epistolary Form Into Your Writing – Dec 16, 2021

Features

• All Lit Up – Character Study (Letters From Johnny – The Movie)
• All Lit Up – 32 Books for Asian Heritage Month 
• CBC’s 23 books for kids and young adults to celebrate Asian Heritage Month in Canada
• CBC Books – Letters From Johnny
• CBC Books – 58 Canadian works of fiction coming out in Spring 2021
• Ottawa Citizen – What to read now: A midsummer guide for Ottawa booklovers
• OpenDoor Magazine Author Feature  
• Featured on Scotiabank Giller Prize’s Craving CanLit 2021

Biographical aspects: Though fictionalized, I wanted to bring many personal and historical elements together. I was born and raised in downtown Toronto as the son of Chinese immigrants. Though a boy at the time, I have vivid memories of this era—the draft dodgers partying on Baldwin St, my hippie teacher, and the FLQ*. I lived on Henry St, and went to Orde St Public School.  Many of the names and personalities of the characters are derivatives of real people.  My father actually worked as a chef at Lichee Garden. However, my mother disdained alcohol. I was of course a hockey fanatic who worshipped Dave Keon, and I really did mail the Toronto Maple Leafs, forgetting both a stamp and a return address.

*Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ)

For information on the FLQ Crisis, also known as The October Crisis:

• The October Crisis. A radical Quebec group raises the stakes on separation and Ottawa invokes the War Measures Act
• Fifty years later, what’s the true story of the October Crisis?
• CBC podcast Recall: How to Start a Revolution

Title: Letters From Johnny
Author: Wayne Ng
Publisher: Guernica Editions
Publication Dates: April 1, 2021
Number of Pages: 130
Word Count: 26,000
Genre: Historical Fiction, General Fiction (Adult), Fiction-Coming of Age, Fiction-Humorous, Young Adult, Crime, Mystery, Multicultural, Own Voices
ISBN-13: 9781771835770
ISBN-10: 177183577X
ISBN-ePub: 9781771835787
ISBN-Kindle: 9781771835794

Letters From Johnny – BOOK COVER IMAGE (High Res)

Letters From Johnny – PRESS RELEASE

Letters From Johnny – BOOK TRAILER