Join two wonderful children's authors for a heartfelt reading and talk about growing up, and finding your voice. Whether it’s navigating anxiety in a new place or the innerworkings of a curious mind, these stories explore the ups and downs of childhood with honesty, humor, and heart. This session offers laughs, insight, and a celebration of kids being their true, sometimes messy, always marvelous selves.

Location: Childrens Tent, UBC Robson Square

Moderator: Mary Duffy

Readers: Gabrielle S. Prendergast, The Anxious Exile of Sara Salt (Orca Books)  | Christine Read, Queenie Jean Is in Trouble Again (Heritage House Printing)

About The Moderator

Mary Duffy

Mary Duffy is a Vancouver children's and YA librarian. She is a longtime member of Pandora's Collective.

About The Readers

Gabrielle S. Prendergast

Gabrielle Prendergast is the award-winning author of numerous books for children and teens. She won the BC Book Prize for her YA sci-fi novel Zero Repeat Forever and the Westchester Award for her YA novel Audacious. After years of working in social welfare and the music and film industries, Gabrielle began writing books when she became a mother so that she could work from home. She has taught writing at Sydney University, San Francisco State University, UBC and at numerous conferences. Gabrielle lives in East Vancouver.

Christine Read

Hailing from small-town Ontario, Chris Read has worked as a piano teacher, camp counsellor, waitress, math tutor, chartered accountant, finance director, treasurer, and executive director. She is married and a mother to two grown children, one of whom has ADHD. After many years of working for and with not-for-profits and charities, Chris decided to return to her roots and wrote a humorous book for kids about a girl with ADHD. She lives with her family and their Labrador retrievers in a rural seaside community outside Vancouver.