This year was the first time that all of the Forest of Reading award ceremonies happened on the same day and at the same place. And because I feared traffic and exhaustion, especially after a hectic Wednesday, I stayed overnight in Toronto the night before and took a taxi to Harbourfront.
The Silver Birch Express Award wasn’t given out til past noon, but they had us autograph for a couple of hours in the morning — outside. It was cold! Nancy Shouse (who won the Silver Birch Express that afternoon — congratulations, Nancy!) and I sat side by side in what I am sure was a wind tunnel. We were both frozen.
There was no anxiety or anticipation for me at all. I had known all along that Aram’s Choice would not win the Silver Birch Express. It’s not a fun book. It deals gently with an unknown chapter in history. And it specifically appeals to boys who don’t like to read. But it was so wonderful to have the opportunity to meet more children who had been touched by Aram’s Choice. There is nothing more satisfying for an author than to have oodles of 8 year old boys come up one at a time and say, with wonder, “Did you write Aram’s Choice? I loved that book. It was the first book I ever read because I wanted to.” And what followed after that would inevitably be a combo of:
What happened to Mr. Chechian?
What was Mgerdich okay after he fell out the window?
Will there be another Aram book?
Did this really happen?
How do you know all this stuff?
And then they would ask to have their photo taken with me.
It was awesome!
But even more awesome was that I got to meet one of my writing idols — Sheree Fitch — who was also nominated for the Silver Birch Express.
We had never met and so I didn’t recognize her on sight. When Art Slade introduced us, I was gobsmacked when she said, “I have always wanted to meet you!” That shocked the heck out of me. How did Sheree Fitch even know who I was?
Well, she said that she was thrilled with the review I had given her for her first YA novel — The Gravesavers –a couple of years ago. She said that of all the reviews she got, mine was the one she loved the best because, I “got” the novel. She knew all about my books. Wow! She is such a high profile author, yet so down to earth and nice. She was encouraging and chatty with everyone she met. That personality shows in her writing. Down below is a photo of Sheree, Art Slade and myself in the “Green Room” at the Tree Awards:
