Stolen Girl: the Brantford connection

Many thanks to the Brant Family Literacy Committee for funding this presentation. Since I did this for a Brantford group, I decided to talk about Stolen Girl, which is set in Brantford just after WWII about a young refugee who has troubling memories of what she may have been doing during the war. As a Brantfordian, it was awesome to include some of my favorite local places, like the original Brantford Public Library, now Laurier Brantford, Central School, the Ukrainian Catholic Church of St John, Yates Castle, and the train station, as well as our old downtown and some of the stores that used to be there. Also the neighborhoods where the refugees of that era lived.

Letters

I love getting letters and do answer each one. I was particularly delighted with these from yesterday, including a suggestion for a new book!

Battle of the Books: Holdrege Nebraska

I enjoyed speaking with students from Holdrege Nebraska’s Battle of the Books contest last week! The above photo was posted on twitter by Wilcox-Hildreth Upper Elementary. I took the photo below, which shows the back of their shirts, which is a monopoly board using all of the books! How neat is that?!

You are invited to a book conversation about Birdspell!

My good friend Valerie Sherrard’s newest novel, Birdspell, is wonderful! I love it so much that I’m helping her launch it.

We’ll be doing that on Zoom at 2pm EST on Thursday April 8th. Valerie will answer all of my (and your) questions about the book! Invite details are down below.

Here’s what the book is about:

Corbin Hayes has felt alone for as long as he can remember. His mom’s illness means lost jobs, constant moves, new schools and friendships that never get to grow. There’s a gap in his life that’s been waiting to be filled. So, when a classmate offers Corbin the talking bird she can no longer keep, he’s stoked. But when things begin to spiral out of control, Corbin can no longer get his mom – or himself – through the dark period. At his lowest moment, he’s forced to do the one thing he fears the most.

Here’s the link to register for this free Zoom event!