Authors' Booking Service is pleased to announce that young adult author and screenwriter Don Calame is now scheduling visits to Ontario schools.  

Don would love to plan a visit to your school or library. His rate is $250 for each one hour session, $450 for two sessions, $600 for three sessions and $800 for four sessions. He is also available for virtual class or library visits through Skype or Facetime throughout the year.


Don is the author of the young adult novels Swim the Fly and Beat the Band. He is also an accomplished screenwriter who has worked with Marvel Studios, The Disney Channel, Universal Studios, and Paramount Pictures. Before making his mark as a writer Don was an elementary school teacher in Los Angeles. He is an experienced reader, speaker, and educator.


Don has recently applied to The Writers' Union of Canada; schools wishing to invite him may be eligible for a travel and fee subsidy to offset the cost of his visit. Contact us for details of this program. 


 

Published Works

Swim the Fly, Candlewick Press/Random House Canada, April 2009


Quill & Quire -
starred review
 “Calame delivers a fast-paced, well structured story that is laced with hilarity, sweetness and wisdom… Swim the Fly is, in fact, the sort of book that could tweak many boys to the fun of reading.”
Publishers Weekly - starred review “Screenwriter Calame debuts as a novelist by perfectly channeling the adolescent male mindset…. This one will spread like athlete’s foot in a locker room.”
CM Magazine - highly recommended “Few young males will likely be able to resist reading just a few pages of a book that suggests it’s going to be about seeing a “real-live naked girl.” And once into the book, they will be hooked… Uproariously funny.


New York Times Book Review “Serves up jokes and gross-outs in the style of filmmakers like Judd Apatow. Boys will probably love it. This one did.”
Los Angeles Times “Hilariously raucous scenes that stuff its pages.”


Beat the Band, Candlewick Press/Random House Canada September 2010


CM Magazine - highly recommended “A fast, laugh-out-loud read… the short, reader-engaging chapters just fly by.”
Kirkus Reviews “With song-title chapter headings providing a subtle soundtrack and the inspired addition of Coop’s dad… fans have nothing but more good gross fun to look forward to.”


Booklist “It’s not all that often the wisecracking buddy gets to be narrator, but that’s what happens in Calame’s endearing follow-up to Swim the Fly.... As the slang-happy Coop might say, this is one part brill and one part ridic.” — Daniel Kraus


Upcoming:


Call the Shots, Candlewick Press/Random House Canada Fall 2012

Awards and Nominations

Swim the Fly
Nominated:
OLA Forest of Reading White Pine Award, 2011
Michigan Library Association Thumbs Up! Honor Book
New Westminster Hyack Teen Readers Award
Nevada Young Readers Award
ALA Best Book for Young Adults
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) Book Award
 
Beat the Band
Nominated:
ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults

Don's Presentation Details

As a lifelong reader it breaks my heart when I hear from parents, librarians, and teachers that teenagers—and teenage boys in particular—do not enjoy reading.


This is why I wrote my first novel, Swim the Fly. I wanted to create something that would speak to a young adult audience. Particularly of interest to me was the task of trying to engage the reluctant reader teenage boy. It was important to me that the story be realistic, fun, and funny as a way to keep the reader absorbed all the way through the book.


And while I was confident that boys would enjoy this story, what surprised me was how many girls have embraced the book as well.


I begin my presentations with a short reading from a couple of the more humorous sections of my books. I find that this helps everyone relax and sets the tone for a lighthearted and enjoyable experience.


After I’ve read, I open the floor for questions and answers. During this period we will discuss pretty much anything. Topics often include: how I became a screenwriter and novelist, the differences between writing novels and screenplays, where story ideas come from, how screenwriting has affected my novel writing, and how much of my novels are based on real life.


I present to students from grades 8 to12. This is not flexible due the mature subject matter of my books. I will address groups of any size in any venue.

Requirements

A bottle or glass of water, a microphone for groups of 90 or more, and for teachers to be present during talk.