Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)
Aunt Fred is a Witch
Illustrated by Chum McLeod.
Toronto: Second Story Press, 1991.
PZ7 .G5536 A96 1991
Synopsis (from the National Library of Canada catalogue record)
When Leila is invited to spend the weekend with her Aunt Fred, she takes a necklace of garlic because her cousin Jeremy claims that Aunt Fred is a witch.
Awards and Honours
1991 Canadian Children’s Book Centre Choice
Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)
Catching Time
Illustrated by Kirsti Anne Wakelin
Markham, Ont.: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2010.
Publisher’s Synopsis (from its website)
Scurry and worry, bustle and whirl. When a family’s hectic schedule leaves no room for family fun, Sara decides to take matters into her own hands. With a preserve jar from Mom’s cupboard in one hand, and a butterfly net in the other, she sets out to capture time itself. But where can it be? Is it underneath a desk, or is it twinkling in the sunlight?
Fiction (Juvenile, chapter book)
Ellen’s Terrible TV Troubles
Illustrated by John Mardon.
Toronto: Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 1999.
Fiction (Juvenile, chapter book)
Fangs and Me
Illustrated by Gordon Sauvé.
Toronto: Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 1999.
Awards and Honours
1999 Canadian Children’s Book Centre Choice
Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)
The Flute
Illustrated by Pulak Biswas.
Vancouver: Tradewind Books, 2011.
PZ7 .G5536 F58 2011
Publisher’s Synopsis
Her parents swept away by a catastrophic flood, Chandra finds solace in her mother’s flute. Set in India, The Flute is an enchanting tale of the power of hope and the resilience of the human spirit.
Fiction (Juvenile, Novel)
A Friend Like Zilla
Toronto: Second Story Press, 1995.
Awards and Honours
1995 Canadian Children’s Book Centre Choice
1996 International Reading Association Children’s Book Award (Nominated)
1996 Mr. Christie Book Award (Nominated)
1996 Silver Birch Award–Ontario Library Association (Nominated)
1998 Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award (Nominated)
Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)
A Gift for Gita
Illustrated by Alice Priestley.
Toronto: Second Story Press, 1998.
PZ7 .G5536 G54 1998
Awards and Honours
1999 Canadian Children’s Book Centre Choice
2002 Saskatchewan Young Reader’s Choice Award for Grades K-3 (Nominated)
Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)
Grandpa’s Clock
Illustrated by Amy Meissner.
Vancouver: Orca Book Publishers, 2006.
PZ7 .G5536 G73 2006
Publisher’s Synopsis
“Slow and steady,” that’s how you make a grandfather clock. Grandpa should know. He and Cayley have made many clocks together. Now they are making Cayley’s very own, a Lord Nelson. Then, one night, Cayley awakes to the sound of a siren. Grandpa is gone.
Fiction (Juvenile, Novel)
A Group of One
New York: Henry Holt, 2001.
Markham, ON: Fitzenhry and Whiteside, 2004.
Synopsis (from the National Library of Canada catalogue record for the Holt ed.)
Learning from her grandmother that her family was active in the Quit India movement of 1942, a rebellion against nearly two centuries of British occupation, gives fifteen-year-old Tara new pride in her heritage, but she still objects when her teacher implies she is
not a “regular Canadian.”
Awards and Honours
2002 Bank Street College of Education–The Best Children’s Books of the Year
2002 Cooperative Children’s Book Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Choices
2002 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, Honor Book
2002 New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age List
Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)
Island Morning
Illustrated by Brenda Jones.
Charlottetown, PEI: Acorn Press, 2015.
Publisher’s Synopsis (from its website)
Island Morning is a gentle story of a girl and her grandfather’s early morning walk through the fields of Prince Edward Island. On their journey, they see gentle pastures, farm animals, scenic vistas and a glorious sunrise. But this walk is about more than just viewing the beautiful scenery. It is also about the special time between grandfather and granddaughter and how they see the world through each other’s eyes.
Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)
Jane’s Loud Mouth
Illustrations by Kimberly Hart.
Charlottetown, P.E.I.: Ragweed Press,1990.
Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)
Lights for Gita
Illustrated by Alice Priestley.
Toronto: Second Story Press, 1994.
PZ7 .G5536 L54 1994
Awards and Honours
1994 Canadian Children’s Book Centre Choice
1995 American Bookseller Pick of the Lists
Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)
Making Grizzle Grow
Illustrated by Leslie Elizabeth Watts.
Toronto: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2007.
PZ7 .G5536 M34 2007
Publisher’s Synopsis
An imaginative, endearing story about what happens when your temper gets the better of you. Making Grizzle Grow is also about love–the kind that doesn’t disappear just because you get mad.
Fiction (Juvenile, Novel)
Mina’s Spring of Colors
Markham, Ont.: Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 2000.
Awards and Honours
2001 Canadian Children’s Book Centre Our Choice Award
2001 Silver Birch Award–Ontario Library Association (Nominated)
2001-02 Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award (Nominated)
Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)
My Mother is Weird
Illustrations by Brenda Jones
Charlottetown, P.E.I.: Ragweed Press, 1988.
Charlottetown, PEI: Acorn Press, 2012.
Fiction (Short stories)
Of Customs and Excise: Short Fiction
Published under the pseudonym: Rachna Mara.
Toronto: Second Story Press, 1991.
PS8576 .A73 O38 1991
Publisher’s Synopsis
From India to England to Canada – stories of women whose lives are intertwined in a clash of cultures, class and race.
… Mara links together a number of very different women. As they strive to escape the confines of traditions and duties, the women become irrevocably joined across oceans and decades.
Awards and Honours
1992 Commonwealth Book Awards–Best First Book (Canada and Caribbean Region) (Nominated)
1993 Ottawa-Carleton Book Award (Nominated)
Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)
Roses for Gita
Illustrated by Alice Priestley.
Toronto: Second Story Press, 1996.
PZ7 .G5536 R67 1996
Awards and Honours
1996 Canadian Children’s Book Centre Choice
Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)
A Screaming Kind of Day
Illustrated by Gordon Sauvé.
Markham, Ont.: Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 1999.
Awards and Honours
1999 Governor General’s Literary Award–-Children’s Literature, Text, English language (Winner)
1999 Chapters Write for Canada selection
2000 Canadian Children’s Book Centre starred selection
Fiction (Juvenile, Novel)
The Sower of Tales
Markham, Ont.: Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 2005.
Fiction (Juvenile)
That Boy Red
Toronto: HarperTrophy Canada, 2011.
Awards and Honours
2011 OLA Best Bets for Children and Young Adults (Ontario Library Association)–Junior Category (Honourable Mention)
2012 CLA Book of the Year for Children Award (Canadian Library Association) (Honour Book)
2012 Silver Birch Award-Fiction (Forest of Reading, Ontario Library Association) (Nominee)
Fiction (Juvenile)
The Trouble With Dilly
Toronto: HarperTrophy Canada, 2009.
Publisher’s Synopis
That new kid, Gedion–Sulky-face–is shoplifting from her family’s store, and her mom is just letting it happen. No wonder her parents can’t afford to buy her those new hockey skates she’s always wanted. But as soon as Dilly tells on Gedion, she realizes that some things are better left unsaid. Dilly decides she must do something to make up for her thoughtless action, and she comes up with the most fabulous, beautiful, wonderful idea in the whole wide world. She’ll throw a Christmas party for Gedion’s family.
Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)
Wheniwasalittlegirl
Illustrations by Sally J.K. Davies.
Toronto: Second Story Press, 1989.
Reissued:
When-I-Was-A-Little-Girl
Illustrations by Renné Benoit.
Toronto: Second Story Press, 2006.
PZ7 .G5536 W43 2007
Publisher’s Synopsis
A little girl can’t measure up to her mother’s perfect behaviour as a child — until Grandma visits and reveals what her mother was really like!
Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)
Wild Rilla
Illustrated by Yvonne Cathcart.
Toronto: Second Story Press, 1997.
PZ7 .G5536 W45 1997
Anthology (Memoir, Juvenile)
Gilmore, Rachna. “Snapshots From the Fringes.” In Piece by Piece: Stories About Fitting Into Canada, edited by Teresa Toten. Toronto: Puffin Canada, 2010, 17-28.
Selected Criticism and Interpretation
Chilana, Rajwant Singh. “Rachna Gilmore.” In South Asian Writers in Canada: A Bio-Bibliographical Study. Surrey, BC: Asian Publications, 2017, 247-248.
Z1376 .S68 C45 2017
Rahman, Shazia. “Resisting Women: Orientalism, Diaspora, and Gender.” Ph.D. diss., University of Alberta, 2002.
Available from Proquest Dissertations and Theses
Links
Rachna Gilmore obituary that first appeared in the Ottawa Citizen around Feb. 13, 2021
Entry from Writers Union of Canada
Profile by Dave Jenkinson from CM Magazine
Publisher Acorn Press
Publisher Fitzhenry & Whiteside
Publisher HarperCollins Canada
Publisher Red Deer Press
Publisher Second Story Press.