Jennifer Lanthier

Authors’ Booking Service is pleased to announce that children’s author, Jennifer Lanthier, is now scheduling visits to Ontario schools for the coming school year.   

Jennifer is based in Toronto and makes frequent visits to eastern Ontario. Jennifer would love to plan a visit to your school or library. Her rate is $175 per session, plus travel from Toronto.  

Jennifer logged many years as a journalist, writing about everything from recombinant DNA-based drugs to film premieres, before publishing her first children’s novel, The Mystery of the Martello Tower – A Hazel Frump Adventure in 2007. The next book in the series is due in May 2008.

Here’s what Teacher-Librarian Lina Loparco has to say about this author:  

The Mystery of the Martello Tower is popular with boys and girls alike, so we were delighted to have Jennifer visit us for Literacy Day. Feedback from teachers and students was very positive; Jennifer really got across the message that editing and revising can be as interesting and fun as writing that first draft. Her warmth and enthusiasm were infectious and the students were especially captivated by her tales of rejection, and her experience of “writing the same book twice”. (Who knew that the American version of a Canadian book could differ so dramatically?) We’d love a return visit.

Jennifer is a member of The Writers' Union of Canada, and so schools wishing to invite her may be eligible for a travel and fee subsidy to off-set the cost of her visit. For details of this program, please contact us.
  
Time slots are filled on a first-come, first-serve basis, so please respond early if you are interested in booking Jennifer Lanthier.    

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Published Works: Jennifer Lanthier

The Mystery of the Martello Tower – A Hazel Frump Adventure, 2007 

The Mystery of the Martello Tower (U.S. version) coming May 2008 

The Secret of the Japer’s Jewels – A Hazel Frump Adventure, coming May 2008 
 

Jennifer’s Presentation Details

My presentation begins with a brief discussion of how writing opens the doors to many fascinating worlds. Before publishing my first novel, I worked for newspapers, a wire service, magazines, and even wrote speeches for a much-loathed premier of Ontario. I like to ask questions, and discuss with kids what they like and don’t like about all kinds of writing. I take the audience through the process of writing and publishing that first book - with marked-up manuscript pages and samples of the thirty-four rejection letters I collected along the way – and we discuss the changes I was asked to make to the American version of the book – altering language, plot and character. (Taking out the letter U is only the beginning!) At the end of the presentation, I give the class a signed copy of a poster for The Mystery of the Martello Tower, and bookmarks with my website URL so they can email me with their thoughts about the book or follow-up questions. 

I will also tailor presentations to specific topics on request. For older students, I have a lot of fun with presentations and workshops on writing mysteries, and also on writing fiction vs. non-fiction (hint: they have so much more in common than people think!). 
 

I will present to grades three and up. 

Maximum number of students per session: 100

I can be flexible on audience size; for more interactive sessions, smaller groups work best. Please let me know what you need.

I offer workshops to grades five and up

Maximum participants for workshop: 25

I am comfortable presenting in a classroom, library, auditorium, or gymnasium. A table to display books and other props is helpful.