Stars and Birds

The Mystery of the Haunted Dance Hall

Release date: May 13, 2025

Stars

One of my favourite things about camp was seeing all the stars, and my main character, Bee, agrees:

“It was all new to me. I was really looking forward to the stargazing because I had never seen many stars at home, where they were blocked by the tall buildings and the city lights. The stars were exquisitely lovely tonight, flung across the sky like confetti at a wedding. I’d never seen a sky like that … I felt a bit as if I were in a dream. The forest and the sky were so still and beautiful—almost too beautiful to be quite real.”

I’m seeing stars myself lately because my new book has received two starred reviews: one from Kirkus Reviews and one from Publishers Weekly.

“An enchanting meld of ghostly magic, inspiration from a beloved fairy tale, the otherworldly rituals of summer camp, and the thrills of an adolescent summer spent in nature.” -- Kirkus

“Steady pacing and elegant prose combine to craft a warmly bewitching tale about young love and heartache.” -- Publishers Weekly

A starred review from either of these publications means that the book is extra-special, so that is why I’ve been doing my happy dance! Good early reviews and pre-orders are a great way to launch a book. So if you haven’t pre-ordered yet, please do here! 

Birds

Choosing birds as the focus of Camp Blue Heron gave me everything I needed to build the framework of my story. I named the tents after different birds, starting with smaller birds: Chickadees (8 years old) and Sparrows (9), all the way up to the Hawks (15) and the Eagles (16). I had fun trying to find bird names for the characters that suited their personalities: Geraldine Swift, the Camp Director, moves quickly like a swift, and Nurse Dove is calm and gentle, and always wears gray, like a mourning dove.

I’m fortunate to have a bird feeder right outside my study window, where sparrows, juncos, blue jays and occasionally a northern flicker alight to gobble up sunflower seeds. They are one of those welcome distractions as I work. I’ve started putting out peanuts on my driveway for the crows, and they are hilarious to watch as they strut around. On rare occasions I see an eagle or a hawk, and of course there are a lot of seagulls, because I live beside the ocean. And there are big flocks of starlings – I love watching them swoop, all in sync. But the birds at Camp Blue Heron are on another level: because the camp is inside a bird sanctuary, it seems to attract many more birds than anywhere else. A lot of the camp activities centre around birds: bird identification, bird drawing, and species studies.  

The birds and the stars in my book add natural magic to the story, but they also hold keys to the solution of the mystery. You’ll have to read it to find out how!

Pre-order

SAVE THE DATE: The Book Launch Party is Tuesday May 13 at 6 p.m. at the A.C. Hunter Library in St. John’s. Newsflash: There will be S’mores from Rocket Bakery!