CBC Radio Book Club, Edmonton

First, I was picked up at the airport by Jacqueline Janelle, the CBC radio producer. And she didn’t come alone. She brought her delightful kids, Cameron and Janelle. I really enjoyed talking to them on the drive in to the hotel. Cameron is in 6th grade and Janelle is in 9th grade (at the school I was to visit the next day – but they swore up and down there was no nepotism involved!). These aren’t ordinary kids. They are extraordinary. Among other things, they both have their own radio shows! Seriously. When I was their age, I was hurrying home from school so I could laze in my favourite orange beanbag chair and watch “General Hospital.”

I started with reading the first chapter of the book

Then CBC host Peter Brown asked me a few questions

And boy, did they have a lot of questions! They were so prepared, some of the older classes had even done “Word Nerd” charts!

I’m sorry that we probably only got through about 2/3 of their questions. These were a smart group of kids, ranging from Grade 4 to Grade 9. I so enjoyed answering their questions. In fact, one day, if you have 45 minutes to kill, here’s a link to the entire video-taped interview. I can’t believe how often I say “um” and “uh.” That’s the beauty of radio, they edit all that stuff out and make you sound smarter than you are – but the full video reveals all.

After the hour-long reading/interview/Q and A, I had my photo taken with the kids. I’ll tell you – this is the only time a young adult author gets a wee taste of what it would feel like to be a rock star.