WELCOME TO RACHEL’S WORLD!
Quality Canadian fiction for readers twelve and up by an award-winning children’s author!
The Double D Ranch in Aspen Lake, where Rachel and her sister Jane live with their grandparents, is based on a real ranch in the real community of Bridge Lake in central British Columbia. This is my home and the inspiration for many of my books. Over the past twenty years we have been impacted by dangerous rapidly growing forest fires, forcing us to evacuate three times.
THE OLD HOUSE!
The Old House plays an exciting role in three of my books, Never To Be Told, Rachel Bird and Like A Bird. It was the original homestead built on our ranch, in the early 1900’s. Today it’s the home of swallows, mice, marmots and deer escaping the flies on a summer day!
The famous staircase that no kids are allowed to climb – but they do anyway!
Can you see the ghost in the window?
Meet the Author
I’m a retired teacher, an avid reader and I’m passionate about writing books for all ages. I divide my life between two homes, our ranch in Bridge Lake in the interior of British Columbia and a small island called Saltspring on the West Coast.
Where do my ideas come from? Our ranch has been a huge inspiration. Our house is beside a small lake. All kinds of wildlife visit us; bears, foxes, rabbits, marmots, pone martins and weasels. We hear wolves howling and coyotes singing. Many of my books have a ranch or wilderness setting, including Sam’s Ride, Whiteout, Missing, After The Fire, Never To Be Told, The Way Home, Rachel Bird and Like A Bird.
Of course, all the kids I taught pop up frequently in my books! They have shared with me over the years so many funny, amazing and surprising stories. It was for my students that I wrote my first two books, My Homework is in the Mail and School Campout!
My love for historical fiction led me to my Upper Canada series, the Ellie and Max books, beloved by many readers, to Murder at the St Alice, a rollicking mystery in an historic hotel, and to Finding Grace. It’s been fun to dabble in fantasy as well with the Enchanted Theatre series and The Griffin of Darkwood.
I always have a new book on the go. I love the initial stages of writing when everything is new and exciting and full of promise. In between writing, I spend my time outdoors, hiking, biking, kayaking, hanging out with horses and swimming!
The best part of all? My readers! I love hearing from you, meeting you and spending time with you inside my stories!
RACHEL BIRD
Sometimes families can shock you.
After their mother’s unexpected death, Rachel and her little sister Jane are sent to their family ranch to spend the summer with their grandparents. A ranch they didn’t know existed and grandparents they didn’t know they had.
As Rachel unravels the hidden truths of a devastating night, she is faced with more disturbing questions about her mysterious family. What happened to Uncle Jimmy? Will the truth ruin her growing friendship with rodeo star Cody? And the most important question of all, who was Stephanie?
LIKE A BIRD
Rachel’s story continues in LIKE A BIRD!
The smoke has lifted again. It’s playing a game with us.
A year ago, Rachel Bird hated it in small-town Aspen Lake. She and her little sister Jane had just moved in with grandparents they never knew they had. But this summer looks very different. Rachel has a best friend, a boyfriend and she loves riding her amazing horse Magic. They are all sweltering under a heat dome, and although Rachel’s heard about the dangerous wildfires, they seem very far away.
Then the grass turns yellow, the sun blood red and the smell of smoke is everywhere. As the fire sweeps towards them, can Rachel find the strength and the courage to keep her family safe?
Like A Bird was inspired by real events!
Residents of British Columbia will never forget the summer of 2021. From June 25 to July 1, the western heat dome was the deadliest weather crisis ever recorded in Canada, with 661 heat-related deaths. On June 28, Canada’s highest ever temperature of 49.6 degrees Celsius was recorded in the small interior town of Lytton. The next day, a wildfire incinerated almost the entire town. It is predicted that due to climate change, the frequency, severity and duration of extreme heat domes and wildfire seasons will increase. The year 2023 was another crisis year in B.C. with a record number of acres and buildings destroyed by wildfires.
Inside the creation of Like A Bird . . .
What inspired you to write this story?
After writing Rachel Bird, I felt very attached to Rachel. I wanted to continue her story. The inspiration for the setting and time of Like A Bird came from my personal experiences on our family’s ranch with forest fires, three evacuations over 20 years, leading up to the heat dome and devastating fires several years ago in B.C. During an evacuation, there are so many emotions and questions – panic, dread of what might happen, questions like What should I take? What should I leave behind? What really matters? Putting Rachel in this situation and giving her the responsibility for her family’s safety allowed her to develop her strengths, recognize her fears and take charge of her often very complicated life.
What do you hope readers learn or take away from your book?
Forest fires play a major role in this book and are affecting more and more Canadians. As we grapple with climate change, I hope readers will have a better understanding of how lives of ordinary people are impacted and the need to find solutions and act now. However, I did not write Like A Bird as a climate change book. It’s really about Rachel who struggles with high school, fitting in with her friends and her relationship with her boyfriend Cody. I think readers will identify with Rachel’s challenges and understand the importance of learning and growing and accepting that life is not always going to be perfect
How do you approach the beginning of a new book?
The idea comes first, sometimes from a story I hear in the news, an image I see, my daily life on our ranch. It has to really excite me as I know I’ll be living with it for a long time. It might be several months before I start writing the first draft but before that, I’m always working on the story in my head, visualizing the characters, thinking of ideas for scenes, jotting down scraps of dialogue. Some of my best ideas come when I’m out for a walk and I rush home to jot them down! I like to use index cards to organize my notes. I feel confident to start writing when I know how I want to begin and have an idea of how the story will end. Often the ending goes somewhere completely different but it helps me to have some direction in mind. Initially, I write freehand in a big notebook but then switch to the computer. I set myself a daily word quota, and off I go!
Study questions for LIKE A BIRD:
- Wayne and Rachel share a strong attachment to the ranch. What are some examples of this in the story?
- The old house is an important symbol of the Bird family’s history. Give specific examples of the different ways the house has played a role in this family. Did the fate of the house at the end of the story seem inevitable? Why or why not?
- Jane and Rachel have an often volatile sister relationship but they love each other. Give example of this bond from the story.
- When the fire threatens the ranch, Rachel tells Wayne, “It’s not about a house. It’s about our family.” Does Wayne agree or disagree with Rachel?
- Community is a strong thread throughout the story. Find ways that the community of Aspen Lake support each other through the fire danger. Rachel sometimes finds the closeness of the community limiting. What are some advantages and disadvantages of living in a small community?
- Margaret’s garden is her refuge. Are there other refuges in this story?
- Margaret is a steady loving influence in the first book Rachel Bird. Does she continue this role even when she is far away on Saltspring Island?
- What is the fundamental difference between Rachel and Cody that complicates their relationship? Cody accuses Rachel of hiding things from him? Is this justified? If so, why does she do that?
- How do the numerous conflicts between Wayne and Rachel reflect their love for each other?
- What is the role of Mr. Boney in the story?
- In what ways does Rachel sometimes feel conflicted about her friends at high school? Do her actions make it difficult for her to maintain close friendships?
- Although she has not always made good personal choices, Amber is a sounding board for Rachel. In what ways does she help Rachel navigate high school life?
