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Children's Nonfiction Women

Meet Clara Hughes (Scholastic Canada Biography)

by (author) Elizabeth MacLeod

illustrated by Mike Deas

Publisher
Scholastic Canada Ltd
Initial publish date
Jan 2024
Category
Women, Depression & Mental Illness, Olympics
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781443197724
    Publish Date
    Jan 2024
    List Price
    $18.99

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Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels

  • Age: 6 to 10
  • Grade: 1 to 4

Description

Meet Clara Hughes — athlete, Olympic medalist and mental health advocate.

 

Clara is still the only person in the world to ever win multiple medals at both the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics. But perhaps her biggest accomplishment is the work she has done to help others.

 

Growing up in Winnipeg, Clara liked sports. She wasn’t a top athlete and was headed down a bad path until the fateful day she watched speed skater Gaétan Boucher compete at the 1988 Winter Games. Clara decided she would do that too. It was to be a life-changing decision, one that set her on a course of training, competing and winning at the Olympic level in not just one but TWO sports. But as the world was cheering her on, Clara didn’t feel right inside. She finally realized that winning all the medals in the world wouldn’t make her okay — she had to work as hard on her mental health as she did on her training. Maybe even harder.

 

Young readers will get the inside story of Clara Hughes’s inspiring life and how she learned to not only take care of herself, but to inspire others to do the same.

 

The Scholastic Canada Biography series focuses on fascinating people who have shaped Canada’s past and present. Written by acclaimed author Elizabeth MacLeod, each book also features comics-inspired illustrations by Mike Deas.

About the authors

Liz is one nosy author, which is why she loves writing non-fiction. She’s very curious about why people do what they do, and likes sharing with kids the amazing facts and secrets that she uncovers.As a kid in Thornhill, Ontario, the idea of being a writer never crossed Liz’s mind—she figured most authors were already dead and they definitely weren’t Canadian. Besides, it was science that interested Liz.But writing was already part of Liz’s life. After dinner on school nights, Liz and her two brothers would trudge up to their rooms, close their doors and start to do their homework—or so their parents thought. A few minutes later, a piece of paper would come sliding under Liz’s door. One of her brothers had drawn a picture, usually of some weird creature.Liz really couldn’t draw (still can’t!), so the only way she could respond was to write a short story, often about a mad scientist or space alien. She would slip the story under her brother’s door and—well, not a lot of homework got done.At university, Liz studied sciences—there was hardly any writing involved at all. But after university, she was hired as an editor at OWL magazine, where she could combine writing and her love of science. But it wasn’t long before Liz had a goal: to write a book. Her first one was about lions and since then she’s written more than fifty others.Royal Murder: The Deadly Intrigue of Ten Sovereigns (2008) is one of her favourite books because royalty has always fascinated Liz. She loved going behind the scenes with monarchs from Cleopatra to Dracula to find out just what they would do to hold onto power or protect their families.Bones Never Lie: How Forensics Helps Solve History’s Mysteries (2013) was the winner of numerous awards, including the Crime Writers of Canada 2014 Arthur Ellis Award in the Juvenile/YA category. Liz’s latest book with Annick Press, Galloping Through History: Incredible True Horse Stories (Spring 2015), combines, once again, her outstanding storytelling skills with her passion for history. This time her love of animals also shines through as she recounts the stories of six horses that changed the way humans live, travel, fight, work, and play.Liz lives in Toronto with her husband, Paul, and their cat Cosimo. While she writes, he is usually sprawled across her desk—often right on the book she needs for research!

Elizabeth MacLeod's profile page

 

Mike Deas est auteur-illustrateur de bandes dessinées, telles que Tank and Fizz and The Case of the Tentacle Terror. Il signe aussi les illustrations de la série Graphic Guide Adventure. Sa passion pour l'illustration a été entretenue tout au long de son enfance à l'île Saltspring, en Colombie-Britannique où il habite encore aujourd'hui.

 

MIKE DEAS is an author/illustrator of graphic novels, most recently Tank and Fizz and the Case of the Tentacle Terror. He is the illustrator of the Graphic Guide Adventure series. His love for illustrative storytelling comes from an early love of reading and drawing while growing up on Saltspring Island, British Columbia. Visit him online at www.deasillustration.com.

Mike Deas' profile page

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Meet Chris Hadfield:

“. . . Meet Chris Hadfield delves a little deeper and gives children the anecdotes that will be most relevant to them. It’s about dreaming and working hard and having fun while engaging with others about your passion.” (Meet Chris Hadfield) — CanLit for LittleCanadians

 

Praise for Meet Elsie MacGill:

“Elizabeth MacLeod has written an outstanding book. The language is flowing and exciting, and there are speech and thought bubbles that add humour and break up the text making the information easier to absorb . . . The illustrations by Mike Deas are as strong and beautiful as the story.” (Meet Elsie MacGill) — CM: Canadian Review of Materials, 5/5 stars

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