Category: News stories

More pics from Red Maple day

from left to right: Pam Withers, E Latimer, Colleen Nelson, Kristen Ciccarelli, Jean Mills, Eric Walters, me, Kevin Sands. Lorna Nicholson and winner Wesley King are out of the pic — they’d been called by fans for photos.
In a neverending attempt to get all 10 of us together, here’s another variation of 8! Kristen Ciccarelli, Colleen Nelson, me, Lorna Nicholson, Eric Walters, Pam Withers, Wesley King and E Latimer. Kevin Sands had skedaddled to beat the traffic home and I don’t know what happened to Jean!

Red Maple Day

We’re about to go on the stage at Harbourfront for the Red Maple fiction awards ceremony. Maya, in the red coat, is Krystia’s great-granddaughter. Iryna Korpan, in the striped coat, is Krystia’s daughter. beside me are Adele and Chloe, my signholder and introducer.

Big congratulations to Wesley King for winning the Red Maple Fiction award for his novel A World Below.

It was a wonderful day. The highlight was having Iryna and Maya on the stage so I could introduce them to the audience. I think it’s good for readers to have the opportunity to see the descendants of a little girl who was extraordinarily brave. Vichnaya Pamyat, Krystia.

DSBN Silver Birch Red Maple celebration

On April 26th I had the honour of participatin the the District School Board of Niagara Forest of Reading celebration. There were nearly 1500 kids participating. It was a blast! Check out this video:

It was also great to catch up with writer friends and fellow nominees.

Silver Birch nominee Natalie Hyde, me, and fellow Red Maple nominee Jean Mills
A panel discussion with Jean Mills, Kristen Ciccarelli, Kathy Lowinger and myself. Sonja Upton moderated.
J

Visiting students in Louisville KY

Bloom Elementary students waiting in line

I was picked up in the wee hours of Easter Sunday morning to begin my trip to Louisville Kentucky on behalf of Scholastic Book Fairs and the publication of Stolen Girl. It was a quick three day trip but in that time I met with enthusiastic students and staff at 6 schools!

My first stop was Buckner Elementary:

  • These 4 patient students were the last in a long line-up, waiting for an autograph.
  • Along the way to the library I was greeted with these creative signs!

Scholastic Book Fairs Field Rep Carol Cook and Field Manager Cindy Herman then took me out for lunch, and since this was my first time in Kentucky, I had to try a Hot Brown, which was invented in Louisville. Yum! It was huge! I couldn’t eat it all but it was delicious!

A Hot Brown from Lou Lou Food & Drink: French bread on the bottom, thin sliced turkey, Mornay cheese sauce, garnished with tomato and bacon!

Next school was Holy Trinity, where I was greeted with a large bomb-festooned banner and many enthusiastic students.

I asked those who had questions to come up to the front to ask them. Their questions were displayed on the screen so all of the students could see.

On Tuesday, we visited Bloom Elementary. I was very impressed with the stately architecture of the building itself and loved the bright and airy renovations, in particular the broken glass mosaic tiles in the front foyer.

It was a large and attentive audience at Bloom and the questions were perceptive.

I LOVE this picture! Thank you, Bloom students for your patience and enthusiasm!

These five students were at the very last of the line-up, so I thought it was fitting to get a pic. Thank you for your patience!!
On Tuesday afternoon, I spoke with 100 grade 4 students at Lowe Elementary.

I was packed and checked out when Cindy took me to our first school on Wednesday, Mount Washington. A beautiful banner decorated the entrance!

There were very many avid readers and enthusiastic book purchasers at the school. The two students sitting with me organized the books — you can see sets stacked on the shelves waiting to be signed. Classes came in one at a time. There were so many books to sign and students to say hello to that I opted to skip lunch so I could greet everyone personally. Thank you, Mount Washington students and educators for your reading enthusiasm!

The final school on the trip was the Christian Academy. It was a good thing Carol and I didn’t stop for lunch because there were FOUR car accidents on the road between Mount Washington and Christian Academy! As it was, we got to the school in plenty of time. Students were enthusiastic and asked great questions!

Thank you, Cindy and Carol for taking such good care of me! It was an awesome adventure!!