My favourite awards are readers’ choice awards because it means actual kids are enjoying one’s books. This was a humbling week when Too Young to Escape won TWO of these awards, voted by the kids themselves. The Red Cedar is an BC information book award. Here’s a video about my wonderful fellow nominees’ books.
The Yellow Cedar Award is part of the Ontario Library Association’s hugely popular Forest of Reading program. This is the first year for the Yellow Cedar and it combines two previous awards: the Silver Birch for non-fiction and the Red Maple for non-fiction. Watch the award ceremony here.
People who meet me tend not to realize that I am an extreme introvert. I am good at building characters though, and one that has proven very useful is Marsha the extrovert. I have been mostly hunkered down at home writing, writing, writing, but I crunched together 7 presentations over the last three days and so got a chance to air out Marsha the extrovert.
Monday morning’s presentation was at the Palmerston branch of the Toronto Public Library, organized by Rachelle Gooden who is a TPL Adult Literacy Senior Services Specialist. I spoke about Adrift at Sea, which was shortlisted for the Golden Oak Award. It was an awesome event!
Me with Rachelle Gooden
On Tuesday afternoon, I drove back to the GTA, this time to the ARS Armenian School in North York.
First I had the honour of speaking to the grade 8 students about my very first novel, The Hunger, published in 1999. An interesting experience, considering these students weren’t even born yet. It was so neat to answer their superb questions and to realize how well this novel has stood the test of time.
On Tuesday night, I spoke to another Golden Oak group, this time at Downsview Library. And this time, Tuan came too. Such a moving experience.
On Wednesday, I spent most of the day at Birchmount CI, with the wonderful Julia Zwaan and grade 10 history students. My presentation was about the real people behind my books.
Julia and me
just before the third group comes in
So now Marsha the Extrovert retires for a bit and the real Marsha, the introvert hunkering down and writing yet another book, takes over.
Tuyet has found a loving family at last. Life in a strange new country presents many challenges for the young refugee, but she is determined to overcome them all, including the surgeries that will one day allow her to walk on her own in shoes that match.
Tuyet cannot believe her good fortune. Brought up in a Vietnamese orphanage and rescued from the invading North Vietnamese army, she has been adopted by a kind and loving family in Canada. Tuyet feels safe at last as she adjusts to a new language and unfamiliar customs. But polio has left her with a weak leg, and her foot is turned inward, making walking painful and difficult. There is only one answer; she must have a series of operations. Her dread of doctors and hospitals brings back troubling memories of helicopters, a field hospital, and another operation in Vietnam. It won’t stop Tuyet, despite her fears and her overwhelming shyness. She has always dreamed of having two straight legs, of walking and running, of playing with other children, of owning a pair of shoes that actually match. Now that she has been given a chance, Tuyet is determined to do what it takes to finally stand on her own two feet.In this sequel to Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan’s Rescue from War, Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch continues Tuyet’s heart-wrenching true story of courage, family, and hope. Continue reading “One Step At A Time: A Vietnamese Child Finds Her Way”
Last Airliftis the true story of the last Canadian airlift operation that left Saigon and arrived in Toronto on April 13, 1975. Son Thi Anh Tuyet was one of 57 babies and children on that flight. Based on personal interviews and enhanced with archive photos,Tuyet’s story of the Saigon orphanage and her flight to Canada is an emotional and suspenseful journey brought to life by the award-winning children’s author, Marsha Skrypuch.
Like the other children in the Saigon orphanage, Tuyet dreams of a family of her own. But she is one of the oldest, and polio has weakened her and left her with a limp. Nobody will adopt a girl like her. Instead, Tuyet cares for the babies and toddlers, hoping that if she continues to make herself useful, the nuns will let her stay.
One day in April, the babies and toddlers are packed into small boxes and frantically loaded into a van.The driver places Tuyet in the back of the van as well. As she and the younger children are taxied to the airport through streets filled with smoke, artillery fire and frenzied refugees trying to escape, Tuyet believes that her job is to look after the babies until they are airlifted to safety. But when the huge Hercules C-130 takes off from the burning city, Tuyet is not left behind after all. What will happen to her when she arrives in Canada? Will she be sent to an orphanage to look after new children, or will the people return her to Saigon to take her chances with the North’s invading forces? Continue reading “Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Child’s Rescue From War”
Last Airlift