Category: News stories

When I was writing Underground Soldier, there was a ton of research to do. I had to figure out what was going on in Kyiv before Luka was captured by the Nazis, and I needed to find out what the underground bunkers of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army looked like, and figure out what an escaped slave would eat on the run, and where he would hide.

But there were also small day to day scenes that needed to be accurate. For example, what was growing in the field that Luka walked through once he jumped out of the wagon of corpses? Another thing I had to figure out is what the interior of the barn that he hid in would look like. I’ve been in barns before, but not until you have to write a scene inside a barn do you realize all that you need to know.

For my barn research, I called upon Marna Hamilton, a berry grower who lives not far from me. For years I have been buying berries in season from her farm, but while I was writing Underground Soldier, I noticed her barn. It’s about the same age as the one Luka would have hidden in. It’s in Brant County, not the Third Reich, but all barns of an era have some things in common. Marna kindly took me on a tour of her barn and answered all my questions. That was two summers ago. This week the strawberries are lush and so I dropped back by to get berries, but also to thank Marna for her help and to give her a copy of Underground Soldier. Here she is:

 

 

I drove to Quebec City after leaving Shawinigan High School. I didn’t get stuck in traffic and arrived at the Courtyard Marriott in the heart of old Quebec City at around 6:30pm. There was enough time to walk through town and find a place to eat, and what a treat it was.

Friday May 9, 2014

I packed up and checked out early, then headed to Corcelette for a visit to the students of Dollard des Ormeaux School.

Librarian Kerry Ann King asked me to time my arrival for just after the buses had departed, so I waited, then parked in the bus lanes. I followed the last students into the school.

Here’s a photo of Kerry Ann, standing beside the TD Book Week poster. She is wearing red in honour of our veterans.

 

I did three sessions in speedy back to back to back without even a minute break in between. The first two sessions were 30 minute ones for the primaries and the final session was for grades 3 and 4. Some parents attended as well, and many students and adults wore red in honour of our veterans. I wish I had known, and I would have worn red as well! When I finished, Kerry Ann helped me pack up quickly. “There’s a parade starting up soon,” she said. “And you don’t want to get stuck in the middle of it.” I was so thankful for my good parking spot. I dashed out and made it out of town just before the parade.

I drove back into Quebec City to meet Guy Dubois of La Maison Anglaise Bookstore at Cosmos restaurant. How wonderful to have good food and good company. When we finished, I followed Guy’s car to St-Charles Garnier School where I presented to French students who were in the advanced English language program.

I finished at about 3:30, then hopped into the car and drove to Cornwall, where I stayed overnight (running into friends from Brantford there too!). On Saturday, I drove the rest of the way back to Brantford.

A fabulous adventure! I met many wonderful students and many devoted teachers, librarians, booksellers and parents. I’d do it again in a flash.

Thank you, Canadian Children’s Book Centre, for organizing all of the author visits across the country. One school visit at a time, we can transform the country into passionate readers.

 

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

I checked out of the Marriott and headed over to Akiva School in Westmount. My GPS wanted me to turn onto Kensington, which was illegal. I circled a few times, navigating the heavy traffic and one way streets, not seeing any place to park. I phoned the school and asked where I should park. “Ooooh, this is Wednesday,” said the receptionist. “Not a good day to find a parking spot in the area…” She suggested I park a couple of streets away, so I drove out of the immediate area and found a spot about eight blocks away. My presentation materials are in rolling luggage, so it wasn’t a problem. I got to the school with about 15 minutes to spare. Librarian Janice Camlot met me at the door.

As the students assembled in the library, I saw that many of them were holding their own copies of my books — in particular — Stolen Child, Making Bombs for Hitler, and Underground Soldier.Lots of great questions and enthusiastic comments.

 

After the Akiva presentation I enjoyed a stroll through Westmount to my car, enjoying the sun and the warm weather. My next stop was Westmount Park School and I did two presentations there, both sponsored by Montreal Children’s Library (Atwater Branch). One session took place before lunch and the other immediately after lunch. This meant that I had the opportunity to sit and relax and chat with librarian Elizabeth Macdonnell. What a treat it was!

Here’s a photo of my first group. I talked about my own reading difficulties as a child and the fact that I had dyslexia. I presented One Step At A Time and Last Airlift and I had a bizarre thing happen. I had just prepped the students for a reading from One Step and grabbed my book to open it to the marked spot, but my book mark wasn’t there! It took me one very long minute to find my spot and read the excerpt.

After the session, a child came up to me and said, “You have dyslexia, right?” I nodded. “I have pneumonia,” he said.

<!!!>

Over lunch, I checked the reading copies of all my books. The bookmarks had disappeared from them all! Elizabeth gave me strips of paper and I re-bookmarked them all so I wouldn’t be caught short again!

The second group was much younger, but they too were enthralled with Last Airlift and One Step At A Time. I think the fact that many of them had family that had escaped from war made those two books quite pertinent. Here’s a photo of them, sitting with rapt attention.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My last session of the day was at the Hebrew Academy, which was a half an hour away. Lovely students and thoughtful librarians. I really enjoyed the energy of this school. The students hammed it up for photos. And they asked really insightful questions about my World War II trilogy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was nearly 5pm by the time I got on the road. Next stop: Shawinigan. I drove through hours of terrible traffic but once I was out of Montreal, the traffic dispersed and the scenery was beautiful. So many flocks of geese in intriguing patterns in the sky. I got to Auberge Gouverneur Shawinigan just before 9pm, ordered room service, and was soon sound asleep.

 

 

 

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Here’s what it looked like across the road from my hotel:

 

 

 

 

And here’s the sign that greeted me at Shawinigan High School:

Teacher librarian Kim Kiolet had been planning for Book Week since the beginning of the school year. When I stepped in, I felt like a rock star. All of the students knew who I was. First order of the day was for Kim and her colleagues to distribute a free book to every student in the school. This was from funding from the Literacy Foundation.

Here are the students, holding their books! I’m in there somewhere too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kim had set up a table for me at the front of the auditorium and she added the TD Bookweek poster, so I had to get a photo of it!

The primaries came in shortly after.

 

 

Here they are, hamming it up before we got started.

 

 

 

 

Here are the kindies.

 

 

 

 

 

This photo was snapped by Kim Kiolet as I was presenting Last Airlift to one of the older groups.

 

 

 

SHS teachers prepped their students on the geography and customs of the regions my books are set in. Here is a lovely wall display just outside the auditorium. And here is a great group of students!

 

 

I’m all packed up after 4 sessions and having a chance to meet every student at SHS. Thank you, Kim, for your wonderful preparation. This is Kim:

 

 

 

I hopped into my car and drove to Quebec City.