Category: News stories

First visit of 2023

The wonderful Ms Bartholomew invited me to Riverside Elementary, Suwanee Georgia, for two back to back visits this morning. I think this is the third time I’ve visited Riverside and always, the students are such a pleasure to speak with. Thank you, Ms Bartholomew and Riverside educators for your great prepping!

I didn’t think to ask for a photo until the second session was almost over — that should tell you how excited I was to get back in the class with students after the holiday break. This spring I have a number of in person visits scheduled and I’m really looking forward to that.

Look at these smiling faces!

Koota Ooma!

It was great popping in to Koota Ooma Ukrainian Book and gift store this past Wednesday on my way home from Toronto after an informative brain-picking session with with two knowledgeable academics for my novel-in-progress. I offered to sign any of my books that Koota Ooma had on hand, thinking they might have a half a dozen or so. Much to my delight, they had a PILE — and a great variety! The first pen ran out of ink! So, if you’re looking for an autographed copy of Winterkill etc, you know where to get it!

I also did some shopping. Look at those beautiful necklaces! And picked up a fantastic book, The Zelensky Effect. You can get one too — an autographed copy, no less because later on Wednesday, author Olga Onuch had her book launch!

Cuthbertson MS and Winterkill

The final virtual visit for 2022 was with Cuthbertson Middle School’s 800 grade 6, 7 and 8 students in 29 different classrooms. Check out this pic!

Michele Bost had done an amazing job prepping the students and they were visibly engaged in the discussion. There were oodles of questions and we could have continued for quite some time but the school day was ending. Here are more pics from the other side of the screen:

New Sarepta AB, presenting to a single class of older students

One of the things I like most about presenting is that no two audiences are ever alike. This single class of grade 7/8 students was quite a change from the big groups of younger students. Different questions, but also more time for discussion. We talked about the kind of research an author does to write a book like Winterkill and how to find resources when the historical event has been hidden or suppressed. I am so grateful to HREC and HREC ED because their databases of resources are a great starting place for Holodomor research. This page on Rhea Clyman is one of my favorite places to send students. And this page is another superb resource that I used myself extensively. I particularly like the report to Congress because the massive database of survivor testimonies is searchable by word.