Three beloved, award-winning middle grade authors share stories of characters who tackle very different challenges, all with bravery and heart. When her best friend is placed in the ICU after a serious accident, Albie must take charge of their project for the Young Entrepreneur Club contest in Stacey Matson’s Eleven Out of Ten. Erin Bow’s Witchward Bound is a magical tale of two rivals, a cat and a raven, who must learn to work together to save the witch they both care for. And in The Book of Jupiter, Robin Stevenson shares the gripping and insightful story of a girl who realizes she’s lived almost her entire life inside a cult. The authors will discuss courage, creativity, and their writing process. Moderated by Shannon Ozirny. Grades 4–7.
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ERIN BOW is the author of The Scorpion Rules, which received three starred reviews and was a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year and it’s sequel, The Swan Riders, which received two starred reviews. She also wrote the acclaimed Russian-flavored fantasy Plain Kate, which received two starred reviews and was a YALSA Best Book of the Year, and the terrifying YA ghost story Sorrow’s Knot, which received five starred reviews and was a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year. Visit her at ErinBow.com.
STACEY MATSON has worked in a theatre program on Parliament Hill and written theatre pieces for the Glenbow Museum and for the All-Nations Theatre in Calgary. She recently completed her Master of Arts in Children's Literature at the University of British Columbia. Eleven Out of Ten is her first novel in a planned trilogy. Stacey lives in Vancouver, BC.
SHANNON OZIRNY is the Head of Youth Services at the West Vancouver Memorial Library. She has taught a children’s materials course as an adjunct at the UBC iSchool and has reviewed kids and teen books for The Globe and Mail and Quill & Quire. She has served as a juror for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes, Canadian Children’s Book Centre Best Books and Odyssey audiobook awards and moderates kidlit events for the Vancouver Writers Fest and Kidsbooks.
ROBIN STEVENSON is an award winning author of more than thirty books of fiction and non-fiction for kids and teens. Her books have received numerous starred reviews, won the Silver Birch Award, the Sheila A. Egoff award and a Stonewall Honor, and been finalists for the Governor General's Literary Awards, the Lambda Literary Awards, and many others. In 2022, she was the Book and Periodical Council's Champion of Free Expression, and in 2023, she was awarded the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence for her body of work and contributions to BC's literary community. Robin was born in the UK and lives on the west coast of Canada.
