• Age: 8 to 12
• Grade: 3 to 7

Maya is off to Paris with her mother to attend a haute couture fashion show of an up and coming Acadian designer Elise Bourque. But her elderly cat, Mitain, is not well and Maya is worried that she won't be there when she gets back. She's also worried about missing her father's trip to port because he is working on the Queen Mary II. The Paris fashion scene is bound to delight young readers and the loss of a beloved pet will tug at their heartstrings. Elise Bourque is a real person and the author included her in the story to encourage young people to follow their dreams. Bourque is from Petit-Rocher, NB and now lives in Ontario. Her collection was showcased at the fashion week in Ottawa and the Mercedes-Benz Start Up of the Spring-Summer 2013 season. This early chapter book is beautifully illustrated by Réjean Roy and the end papers resemble a passport to go with the travel theme. It is a translation of the Bouton d'or Acadie title Maya et Mitain : De Saint-Jean à Paris.

Joanie Duguay is from Pointe-Alexandre on Lamèque Island (NB) and has won several prizes for her writing. In 2005, she won the Société Radio-Canada writing contest for her poem “Devenir.? In 2006, she received the Antonine-Maillet?Acadie-Vie literary prize in the Prix volet jeunesse Richelieu for her short story “L?homme à la valise rouge? which was later published in Virages magazine. Her first children's novel, Puce et la mystérieuse coccinelle, was published by Bouton d?or Acadie in 2012.

Joanie Duguay's profile page