2026 Forest of Reading Festival

I had a whirlwind spring with the Forest of Reading this year! The Forest of Reading is Canada's biggest recreational reading program and festival. Ghosts of Gastown was nominated for their Silver Birch award (fiction for kids in grades 5 and 6), so I was invited to present at the festival and attend the awards ceremony in Toronto!

It also led to other author visits across Canada (mostly virtual for those outside of Alberta) and the Forest of Reading Celebration in Whitby, ON (which I was able to attend in person). Needless to say, this was one of my busiest author years yet!

About 3,000 kids were at the festival on May 12, the day I presented and signed autographs. This was by far the biggest event I've ever been too, and it is something I will never forget. It was thrilling to meet so many amazing readers and to see kids so excited about BOOKS! I also joined forces with Sarena and Sasha Nanua (authors of Spirit Service) to give a presentation about How to Write a Ghost Story, and the crowd was so engaged and had a ton of great questions.

Needless to say, it was an amazing day and I am so honoured to have been part of this program alongside some of Canada’s best authors!

2026 Silver Birch Winner

A HUGE congratulations to the Silver Birch winner this year, Nicki Pau Preto with her amazing fantasy title, The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents!