• Age: 12
• Grade: 8 to 12
• Reading age: 12

His parents don't seem to understand what is going on in his life at all. He's not doing well at school. And a juvenile court judge has just ordered him to write a 2000-word essay on how he's going to turn his life around.

Now his mother has enrolled him in a writing class called The Tuesday Cafe, but it's not the kind of class she expected.

It all started with a small fire in a garbage can. Unfortunately, the garbage can was in the hallway of Harper's school and...

The Tuesday Cafe is the first of four books in the Harper Winslow series.
Book two is A Fly Named Alfred.
Book three is A Beatiful Place on Yonge Street.
Book four is The Popsicle Journal.

Don Trembath began writing for keeps when he was 13 years old. He wrote horror stories at night and read them to his little brother as he tried to fall asleep. "Every morning I'd ask him if he'd had a nightmare and he'd say, 'No. Was I supposed to?' I soon abandoned horror stories and moved on to comedy. I read those stories to him and would ask him in the morning. 'Did you laugh?' One day he said, 'No, but I had a nightmare.'"

Don was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on May 22, 1963--the third youngest of four boys. In the winter he played hockey and in the summer football, baseball, and soccer. Between games, he went to school. At the age of 14, Don moved with his family to Alberta. He graduated from Paul Kane High School in St. Albert and went to the University of Alberta to study English. He has written for weekly and daily newspapers, local and national magazines, and a host of trade publications.
Don's first book, The Tuesday Cafe, was published in 1996. Since then he has written nine others, with two more, Daydream Believer and Hypnotized published in 2007. Don also teaches writing at MacEwan College in Edmonton, and regularly visit schools and libraries across the country.

Don currently lives in the town of Morinville, Alberta with his wife, Lisa, their three kids, three laid back cats, and their neighbor's big dog.

Don Trembath's profile page

• Commended, CCBC Our Choice
• Short-listed, ALA Popular Paperbacks
• Short-listed, PNLA Young Reader's Choice nominee
• Short-listed, Children's Literature Choice List nominee
• Long-listed, ALA Best Books for Young Adults
• Long-listed, YALSA Quick Picks
• Commended, CCBC Our Choice
• Short-listed, Blue Heron Book Award nominee
• Winner, R. Ross Annett Award

"For any hockey fans out there, this is definitely a must read!"

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