New for February 2020! In this first book of a new trilogy, strange black plants start shooting up after a big downpour. Soon they are everywhere. They take over fields and twine around houses. They bloom and throw off toxic pollen -- and they feed. Three teens from Salt Spring Island, Anaya, Petra and Seth, are the only ones who seem immune. What’s their connection? I’ll give a reading and, using PowerPoint introduce readers to the weird and fascinating world of toxic, invasive and carnivorous plant species. I also talk about my creative process, from brainstorming, outlining, and successive drafts to finished book. The duration is about 50-60 minutes.

A 2018 New York Times Notable Book for Children. My latest middle grade novel is about an ink splotch that pulls itself free from the sketchbook of a blocked artist, and turns a kid’s life upside down (and then right-side up). It’s lavishly illustrated by the acclaimed illustrator Sydney Smith (Sidewalk Flowers, Town is By the Sea, Small in the City) and touches on themes of creativity (and plagiarism!), family dynamics, loss of a parent, special needs, friendship -- and comics and books! Using Powerpoint, I will talk about my inspirations for the story, and introduce readers to the story with some short readings. I also talk about my creative process, from brainstorming, outlining, and successive drafts to finished book. The duration is about 50-60 minutes.

Romeo and Juliet meets Indiana Jones in an epic tale that combines a hunt for a dinosaur skeleton, bitter rivalries, and a forbidden romance. It’s 1872: Sam Bolt and Rachel Cartland have accompanied their feuding fathers to the Wild West in search of an elusive dinosaur fossil called the Black Beauty. Using Powerpoint, I will introduce readers to the real warring palaeontologists and the “Bone Wars” that inspired my novel. I’ll also show images from my field trip to Dinosaur Provincial Park, where I did research. I also talk about my creative process, from brainstorming, outlining, and successive drafts to finished book. The duration is about 50-60 minutes.

Join 15-year-old Will Everett on the maiden voyage of The Boundless, the most magnificent train ever built, as it travels across the continent on an epic journey that includes a brilliant escape artist, a mysterious ringmaster, some murderous brakemen, fabulous treasure, bog hags and sasquatches - and Will Everett's struggle to stay alive! Using Powerpoint I'll take the students through the story, and the research I did to create it: the amazing history of the CPR, luxurious train carriages, sasquatch mythology, the figures real and literary in my magic-realist world - and my own trip across Canada on the train. I also talk about my creative process, from brainstorming, outlining, and successive drafts to finished book. The duration is about 50-60 minutes.

Winner of the CLA's Children's Book of the Year, and YA Book of the Year, this is the story of teenager Ben Tomlin, whose scientist parents adopt a newborn chimpanzee and raise it as a human baby, to see if chimps are capable of learning human sign language. It isn't long before Ben forms a powerful bond with Zan - but is Zan a lab specimen, or his little brother? Using a Powerpoint presentation interspersed with short readings from the book, I will talk about the sources of inspiration for the novel, my research (including video footage of my visit to a chimp sanctuary), and the fascinating world of chimpanzees. I also talk about how I got my start as a published children's writer at age seventeen, and my creative process. The duration is about 50-60 minutes.

Using Powerpoint, I talk about my sources of inspiration for the entire Silverwing trilogy: bat facts, sound technology (real and imagined), natural history, folklore and mythology and exotic locations from around the world. I also talk briefly about my own start as a writer of children's fiction: from my earliest stories to first published book. 60 minutes.

I use a Powerpoint slide show, interspersed with short readings, to take my audience on a time travel journey through the imaginary past of AIRBORN (winner of the Governor General's Award) and its sequels SKYBREAKER and STARCLIMBER. Mixing fact and fantasy, I introduce readers to my early twentieth century world: the buildings, the cities, the clothing, and airships. I take them through a brief history of flight, culminating with the great airships invented in the early 1900s - and, of course, the Aurora, the luxurious Titanic­like airship that is the setting of much of Airborn. If time allows, I also talk briefly about my own start as a writer of children's fiction: from my earliest stories to first published book. The duration is about 60 minutes.

For this picture book, illustrated by Plasticene virtuoso Barbara Reid, I have a Powerpoint slide show of the illustrations while I read the story; then I show a few reference photographs of Everest and famous mountain climbers - and the Yeti! I also talk briefly about my own start as a writer of children's fiction: from my earliest stories to first published book. 30-40 minutes.