Category: 2022/2023 Hatmatack Awards

Gentile, Leslie (Brentwood Bay, BC)

Virtual and local in person visit rates: $300 for 45-60 minutes.

Leslie’s debut middle grade novel Elvis, Me and The Lemonade Stand Summer won the Victoria Children’s Book Prize, The Jean Little First-Novel Award, and has been shortlisted for ten other awards, including The Washington State Library Award 2025.

Her second novel, Shamus The Urban Rez Dog, P.I. was released in September 2023, and has been shortlisted for the Victoria Children’s Book Prize 2024, The Chocolate Lily Award 2025, and the Langley School District Book of the Year 2025. 

Her third book, Elvis, Me & The Postcard Winter, is available as of November 2024.

Leslie is an engaging speaker who very comfortable working with children of all ages. As a musician, she has written songs to accompany each of her books and performs these songs with her readings, which makes for a fun & dynamic visit.

The Elvis series is an excellent choice for Pink Shirt Day, as themes touch on bullying, racism, and family.

With Lemonade Stand, Leslie will lead students through an exercise on kindness and unkindness, and empowering choices we can make.

With Postcard Winter, Truly’s story continues. Leslie will lead students through an exercise on bullying, and what each of us can do in small ways to be allies and good friends.

And always, there’s music!

Shamus the Urban Rez Dog, P.I. is a fun-filled detective story with a twist – it’s told by an urban rez dog, trying desperately to fit into townhouse life while helping his kids solve a mystery to get their mom out of trouble. We learn Shamus’ views on racism and the world around him, and readings and songs such as “It’s a Dog’s Life’ and “Bad Dog Blues”.

Leslie also offers a workshop on writing and getting published for young writers and adults called “Weird Things I Do To Write That Work!” This includes road-tested tricks for developing strong characters, overcoming writer’s block, and some great tips for getting published.

All of these presentations and visits work equally well virtually and in person, and the larger the group the better! Leslie’s record is 420 students so far…

Leslie lives in Brentwood Bay with her husband Dan and her German Shepherd who is convinced he’s a lap dog. Though not connected with a specific nation, Leslie is of Salish, Tuscarora and Scottish heritage and lives on Vancouver Island the traditional territory of the W̱SÁNEĆ people.  

Contact Leslie to book a visit:

    Sherrard, Valerie (Miramichi NB)

    Valerie Sherrard

    GG nominated, award-winning author. Valerie Sherrard has been named the 2024 Literary Arts Laureate of the New Brunswick Lieutenant Governor’s Award for High Achievement in the Arts.

    Virtual Visit: $225.00 for a 60 minute presentation.

    In school visits: $300 for a single presentation or $550 for two at one location. Full day workshop 700.00.  Expenses are included in all fees. For in-school visit dates — please contact Valerie and she will let you know when she plans to be in Ontario.

    Valerie is an experienced presenter (in-person and virtual visits) who uses humour and an interactive style to engage her audience. Feedback from her school and library visits has been enthusiastic.

    Standing On Neptune – middle grade novel in verse. Poems. Poetry.

    Birdspell Corbin Hayes is used to being alone. His mom’s illness means lost jobs, constant moves, new schools and friendships that never get to grow. So, when a classmate offers Corbin the talking bird she can no longer keep, he sees a chance to fill the gap in his life. But when things begin to spiral out of control, Corbin can no longer cope. At his lowest moment, he’s forced to do the one thing he fears the most. Young Adult.

    Finding Avalon  Avalon Monday doesn’t mind telling schoolmates that her mother ran off with a guy she met on the internet. After all, that’s way less embarrassing than the truth. But when the past collides with the present, exposing her secret and threatening to leave her new life in ruins, Avalon discovers there are some things you can never truly leave behind.

    Cooper Clark and the Dragon Lady  (Chapter Book) Desperate measures are called for when a boy is secretly afraid of dragons, but his new babysitter is rumoured to have a dragon in her basement!

    Counting Back From Nine. Novel in verse. Poem. Poetry.

    Presentations: I will present to grades 1 – 9. A signed bookmark or postcard will be provided for each student at all in-person presentations.

    Grades 1 – 3: There’s a COW Under My Bed! or Down Here! Fun and interactive talk about expressions and language, and students’ own creative abilities. Reading with audience participation. I end with a short Q & A. For these grades you may book two half hour presentations in the place of a single 60 minute session if you prefer.

    Middle Grades: Engaging interactive presentation on literacy, with or without issue-based segments depending on the book being presented. I end with a short reading and about 10 minutes for Q & A.

    Young Adult: Engaging and interactive presentation on literacy, believing in oneself and a variety of writing or issue related topics, depending on the requested focus. I end with a short reading and about 10 minutes for Q & A.

    Workshop for grades 6 and up: A Story’s Voice. This full day workshop is designed to help young people develop distinctive voices in their writing by examining the way character, setting, perspective, dialogue, tense etc. impact in telling a story. Writing exercises will demonstrate how each of these support a story in different ways, and help them to recognize which components will work best for their stories. Limited to 15 participants. Available virtually – contact to discuss a suitable arrangement.

    I am flexible on audience size but in my experience, smaller in-person groups result in the greatest benefit to students. I am comfortable in all settings, including classroom, library, auditorium or gymnasium.

    A sound system may be necessary depending on audience size, acoustics and the number of presentations booked.

    Contact Valerie:

      Torres, J (Whitby, ON)

      Award-winning Filipino Canadian writer of comic books and graphic novels. Member of Writer’s Union of Canada, Canadian Children’s Book Centre, and Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators, and Performers. Middle grades. 

      Rates are $350 for one session, $650 for two, $950 for three, plus mileage. Classroom or library setting preferred over gymnasium or auditorium. Limit of 50 students per session (negotiable). Projector and laptop required for slideshow presentation. 

      Virtual rates: $200 for one session, $300 for two (within the same week).

      Best suited for grades 4 to 6, each session is approximately 45-60 minutes consisting of a brief intro, a reading (excerpt or short comic story), presentation on how graphic novels are made, and a Q&A at the end. Book sales and signings available upon request.

      J. has written for all the major North American comic book publishers including Archie, Dark Horse, DC, Image, and Marvel. He has also been published by Kids Can Press, Owlkids, Scholastic, and Tundra . He currently writes the Chirp comic in Chirp Magazine and the Adventure Comics motion comics for the DC Kids YouTube Channel. His graphic novels include Alison Dare (Eisner Award Nominee), Bigfoot Boy (Junior Library Guild Selection), Brobots (Kids Read Comics Award and Parents’ Choice Award), How to Spot a Sasquatch (Junior Library Guild Selection) , Lola: A Ghost Story (Aesop’s Accolade), Planet Hockey (Forest of Reading Honor Book), and Stealing Home (Forest of Reading Honor Book, Hackmatack Award Winner, nominated for Red Cedar, Bilson Award, and Sakura Medal).

      LOLAAESOP J Torres

      CONTACT J TO BOOK A VISIT: