The Finding Place
a novel for middle grade readers
Red Deer Press
ISBN 978-0-88995-533-2
Found as a baby outside a school in China, Kelly Stroud was adopted and raised by North American parents. She has always considered herself part of a loving family, until the day her dad goes out to buy milk, and never returns. Struggling with what it means to be loved and left behind, Kelly embarks with her mother on a journey back to China in search of her cultural roots. The Finding Place is an adventure story which moves from urban North America to the magical landscape of Yangshuo, China. It is also a coming-of-age story written in the voice of an international adoptee whose unique perspective throws fresh light on the meaning of family: the people who raise us, and the parents who bring us into the world.
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The Finding Place is available in bookstores, on Amazon, or Red Deer Press
MEDIA PACK:
Click here for the Media Pack – The Finding Place
REVIEWS:
“A great story about family and self-discovery.”
— KidsBookshelf
“A powerfully written, emotionally vulnerable coming-of-age tale, The Finding Place delves into the meaning of family, and what real love is.”
— The National Reading Campaign
“Readers who enjoy learning about new cultures, exploring changing family relationships, and understanding teenage life will definitely enjoy this novel.”
— Resource Links Magazine
Deboning a Dragon
a poetry collection
Mansfield Press
ISBN – 978-1771262323
Available November 2019
Deboning a Dragon explores the nature of travel: journeys we take away from places, and towards others. Poems explore the restlessness of teenage years spent waiting for life to begin; the discoveries we make about ourselves when we plunge from known worlds into stranger ones, and the ultimate journey to parenthood. “Deboning a Dragon attests to the probability that shared experience can provide a bridge to span otherness. Hartley is a passionate observer, leaving her own signposts along the way.” – Denis De Klerk
Deboning a Dragon is available on Amazon, in bookstores, or Mansfield Press.
REVIEW – Barbara Carey, for the Toronto Star and Toronto.com, 10 January 2020:
“Deboning a dragon is not like deboning a fish,” Julie Hartley writes in her debut collection. It’s a reminder that imaginary beasts inhabit a different realm than earthly creatures; yet the real and the fantastical often intersect appealingly in her work. The Toronto poet grew up in Britain, and many poems reference real places and are grounded in details that seem authentic, as in “Home Address,” a narrative looking back at childhood, where the speaker describes “the fat-crackle of Mabel’s fish ’n’ chips” and eating “Marmite thick-spread on baps.” But the poems also frequently spiral into the surreal. Hartley’s best poems spark with evocative imagery and carry an emotional charge, whether describing travels, the joy and trepidation of motherhood, or a mysterious nighttime journey from a young child’s perspective, and there’s her observations are often disarmingly whimsical: “I’d like to be/on the backside of an/escalator just to see what/those marching stairs/become in a whispered/upside-down dark.”
Practical Approaches to Shakespeare
in the Drama Classroom
A resource for Drama Teachers
Theatrefolk
Shakespeare is a great resource for drama teachers looking to teach key performance skills: character development, ensemble building, physical theatre, comedy, staging techniques and more. Practical Approaches to Shakespeare in the Drama Classroom explores practical and engaging strategies for drama teachers looking to connect their students to Shakespeare in a meaningful way.