Kacer, Kathy (Toronto)

Writers’ Union Member.Historical fiction and non-fiction, multi-award winner, and experienced speaker. Kathy’s rate in and around the GTA is $400 per session. HST and mileage charges are also applicable. Virtual Visits: $250 plus HST, 60 minutes, Skype/Google Talk

Kathy is an experienced presenter, comfortable in front of an audience of young people and adults alike. In the past eighteen years, she has spoken in over one thousand schools, libraries, colleges, and universities across Canada and in parts of the United States, the U.K., Germany, Brazil, Australia, and Slovakia. She also teaches writing to adults, children and teens, and conducts writing workshops.

Kathy’s one-hour reading revolves around a slide presentation and talk. She brings wonderful historical slides pertaining to each of her novels and she weaves her stories around the historical events of the Second World War and the Holocaust. She has a separate set of slides for each of her books.

For example, for The Secret of Gabi’s Dresser, she has slides, of the real Gabi, the house in which she lived and hid, her village, the dresser, etc. For Hiding Edith, she has slides of the school in France where Edith was hidden, her family members, etc. The same is true of Stones on a Grave, To Look a Nazi in the Eye, and all of her other books.

Presentations by grade:

Working with each educator or teacher/librarian, Kathy selects the perfect book or books that will be appreciated by each age group.

Here’s an example:

Grade 4-6 The Secret of Gabi’s Dresser, Hiding Edith, The Sound of Freedom

Grade 5-7 Shanghai Escape, To Hope and Back, Clara’s War

Grade 7-9 Stones on a Grave

Grade 9 + To Look a Nazi in the Eye

Kathy’s presentations are visual, interactive, and fast-paced. She loves speaking to kids. She loves their enthusiasm and their curiosity. Most of all, she loves making history come alive for young readers. She prefers to speak to a maximum of 125 students at a time. She can be a bit flexible on this. Her presentations work best with students in grades 4 through high school.

Since her presentation is power point, she does require an LCD projector (provided by the school), or a smart board, a screen, and a microphone (if the audience size is over 50 kids). She can bring her own laptop, but please let her know if a laptop is available at the school in which case she can bring the slides on a USB flash drive.

She is comfortable speaking in a library or gym. Kathy is also available for workshops for teachers and educators that focus on teaching sensitive material (i.e. war, genocide) to young people. She is able to provide valuable support material for educators who are working with sensitive topics in their classrooms and libraries.

Her workshop topics include: Teaching Sensitive Material to Young Readers Historical Fiction and Creative Non-fiction: What’s the difference? When They Are Gone, We Are Their Voice: True stories and how to write them.

Contact Kathy Kacer: