Every. Child.

 

 

I have buried a child. 

 

My heart has been a home to sorrow. 

Echoes of silence abide there still. But 

there are things I did not, 

could not 

and will not

ever know.

 

I have buried a child.

 

My child was not stolen from me.

My child was not forced into the 

unfamiliar, nor made to feel:

Unsafe.

Unloved.

Unacceptable.

 

I have buried a child.

 

And it is true that I know grief

That I am acquainted with loss

But I know nothing of the pain of:

Injustice

Indifference

Inhumanity.

 

I have buried a child.

 

My child's grave is marked

I can kneel with memories and tears,

knowing every effort was made on her behalf.

She was not:

Dishonoured

Disregarded

Discarded

 

I have buried a child

 

And if there is one thing I know

One thing I believe

It is this:

Every child matters.

Every. Child.

 

- Valerie Sherrard

 

 

This many...

A friend once remarked that it's difficult to keep track of my books. I can hardly argue with that when I regularly have to double-check details myself. This explains the confused look you'll see on my face if you ever happen to ask me how many books I've written. Which, of course, is not the same as how many have been published (also an incomplete figure as it doesn't take into account those that are under contract but not yet released). And the tally never includes the wretched efforts that have been abandoned (not deleted, mind you) at some stage of writing, or, if completed, stories which good sense has kept me from sending out.

I am aware, of course, that a general figure is more than enough to satisfy the innocent curiosity of anyone who happens to venture that dreadful question. Sadly for them, that rarely prevents me from offering (much) more information than their polite interest warrants. 

All the same, it seems the responsible thing to do -- to have a list of publications readily available. So here it is!   

Picture Books

Down Here (2015)
Isabelle Malenfant, Illustrator

Miss Wondergem's Dreadfully Dreadful Pie (2011)
Wendy J. Whittingham, Illustrator

There's a GOLDFISH In My Shoe! (2009)
David Jardine, Illustrator

There's a COW Under My Bed! (2008)
David Jardine, Illustrator

 

Early Chapter Book

Cooper Clark and the Dragon Lady (2019)

Cover art and drawings by

David Jardine

Middle Grade Novels

A Bend in the Breeze (2022)

Birdspell (2021)

The Rise and Fall of Derek Cowell (2020)

Random Acts (2015)
Rain Shadow (2014)
Driftwood (2013)
The Glory Wind (2010)

Tumbleweed Skies (2009)

Speechless (2007)

Young Adult Novels

An Unbalanced Force (2024)

Standing on Neptune (2023)

Finding Avalon (2020) collaboration with Pamela MacDonald
Counting Back from Nine (2012)
Testify (August 2011)

(Testify has been translated into French and Korean)

Accomplice (2011)

Watcher (2009)

Three Million Acres of Flame (2007)

Sarah's Legacy (2006)

Sam's Light (2004)

KATE (2003)

The Shelby Belgarden Mystery Series

Searching for Yesterday (2008)

Eyes of a Stalker (2006)

Hiding in Plain Sight (2005)

Chasing Shadows (2004)

In Too Deep (2003)

Out of the Ashes (2002)

Non-Fiction

More than Words: Navigating the Complex World of Communication (2023)

with co-creators Natalie Hyde and David Jardine

Vanessa Hudgens: Superstars Series (2010)

The Rise and Fall of Derek Cowell

 Hi, my name is Derek Cowell.

You might remember me from when I was popular.

Before that, I was invisible. And after.. well, that's a long story.

I never expected to become popular. It just sort of happened.

An accidental photobomb, a chance encounter with a real live celebrity, and suddenly, I was somebody.

These things never last, though, unless you help them along.

That's where I ran into trouble.

Read the first chapter here!

  

Reviewed in Atlantic Books Today 

 

Award News for this book:

 

Shortlisted for the 2021 Red Maple Award! 

Shortlisted for the 2022 MYRCA Northern Lights

 

 

Finding Avalon

This is my daughter Pamela's first novel. I was so happy to be part of it, contributing a minor character voice. You can't even imagine how proud I am of my girl! Here is the stunning cover of this forthcoming story for teens!

A bit about the story:

Avalon Monday doesn’t mind telling schoolmates that her mother ran off to California to live with a guy she met on the internet. After all, that’s way less embarrassing than the truth.

But one fresh start and three years later Avalon discovers there are things you can never truly leave behind. When her past collides with her present, will it expose her secret and leave her new life in ruins?

 Finding Avalon has been reviewed in:

CM Magazine

Atlantic Books Today

 

I LOVE this guy!!

By this post's heading, you're probably expecting a long, mushy message about my husband (whom I DO love) but I'm afraid another fellow has also captured my heart. His name is Cooper Clark, and I have to admit, I'm quite smitten with him.

 

Cooper is full of opinions and ideas! In his first adventure (book # 2 is in the works) he comes up with one zany plan after another in order to avoid facing his fear of dragons. Some of his plans will be recognized by young readers as things they themselves have tried. Others are unique. Here's what happens:

 

Cooper Clark's world takes an alarming turn when his regular babysitter gets a new job. 

 Arrangements are then made for Cooper to spend his after-school hours with old Mrs. Mulligan — a plan he does not care for one bit! Everyone knows that Mrs. Mulligan has a real live dragon in her basement and although he has kept his fears secret, Cooper is very afraid of dragons. 

 

Not willing to expose his secret, Cooper does his best to find a way to avoid Mrs. Mulligan's dreadful pet . 

 

It isn't until he runs out of ideas that Cooper makes a most important discovery. 

 

This is my first chapter book. I hope you love it as much as these reviewers did -- or even more! 

 

Review of this story from Atlantic Books Today

Review of this story from CM Magazine

Review of this story from CanLit for Little Canadians

 

 

Open Letters to my Grandchildren # 2: Purpose in Your Heart

One of my favourite stories from the Old Testament is about Daniel.

Not the story everyone talks about though, which is Daniel in the Lion's Den. That's also a great reminder of how God rewards faith, but the story I like the best happened before then. At the beginning.

Daniel was a fine young man. Everyone knew it. And that's one of the reasons he was captured and taken away from his home in Judah to a place called Bablyon. Daniel and the other captives were chosen for their good qualities, and were expected to adapt to the new world they found themselves in and to add value to it. 

So there they were, being treated well and provided with good things, including great food. Except, the foods were not allowed to them. Daniel, and the other captives, followed strict laws regarding the kinds of foods they could eat, as well as the ways it was prepared.

But there they were, looking at tables loaded with food that smelled great. And they were all hungry. What were they supposed to do? Insult the king, who'd provided it? Starve? It was a sticky situation to say the least.

So what happened? Daniel Chapter 1 verse 8 tells us:

"But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank..."

As a result of Daniel taking a stand to do what he knew was right, he and the others from Judah were given a completely different diet, one that you wouldn't expect could promote health and strength. Even so, they thrived on it and were stronger and more fit than those who were eating the other stuff.

What I like the most about this story is WHY it happened. It would have been so easy for Daniel to give in, to make excuses, to shrug his shoulders and decide he had no choice but to go along. But Daniel didn't do any of those things because he had purposed in his heart! 

Daniel already knew what he was going to do before he was faced with the temptation. He didn't make up his mind when he sat at the table, hungry and facing platters of delicious smelling food. His heart had chosen the right thing ahead of time.

But why? Why did Daniel purpose this in his heart? So that he would not defile himself! That's a pretty strong statement. He might easily have told himself that eating some forbidden food wasn't a big deal. It wasn't like stealing or killing or any of the really wrong things, right?

Except, Daniel understood that it mattered. That he needed to do what was right in small matters as well as large. And if you read through the Book of Daniel in the Bible, you will see how God blessed him.

Every day, as we go through life, we are faced with choices. Often, we are tempted to do the wrong thing, and when those things seem small, we may tell ourselves they don't matter. But that is not true -- every right choice brings a reward.

And it is easier, so  much easier, for us to make the right choice if we already know what that choice will be, if we have determined beforehand to do what we know we should do, no matter how tempted we may be. 

If we have purposed in our hearts.

Open Letters to my Grandchildren # 1: A Different Kind of Substance Abuse

It's everywhere -- talk of substance abuse. Which makes sense since addiction is a serious problem.

But that's not what I want to talk to you about right now. Today, I want to talk about the prodigal son's particular kind of, "substance abuse."

The prodigal son, as you probably know, pestered his dad to give him his inheritance early. He didn't want to wait for his father to die to get what he figured was coming to him.

Once you know the story, you might think it would have been a good idea for his dad to tell him, "No way!" But that's not what happened.

What did happen, as the Bible tells us, was that the son went off and had himself one big long party. (If you don't know what happened next, check it out in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 15, verses 11-32.)

What interests me, and what I want to talk to you about today, is the way the son's actions are described. There's actually not a whole lot of description, although it's easy to imagine what he was up to. What we do find, is this phrase:

he "wasted his substance with riotous living."

(This is from the King James Version of the Bible -- other translations word things a little differently, and may be easier for you to understand, but this is the phrase I'd like you to remember - always.)

He wasted:

Prodigal didn't use what he'd been given the way he should have. He more or less threw it away. He got no real value out of it. That's often the case when something comes too easily. A person often values what they work for more than what they're given.

his substance:

Now this is the phrase that interests me the most, and the one I am asking you to really, really, think about. At first glance, it's easy to think this just means he wasted the inheritance his father had given him. But it goes far beyond that.

Substance, if you look it up, is described as what a thing is made up of. So, yes, the son wasted the substance of what he'd been given -- whatever money and other valuables he had. But there's more to it. Because he also wasted his personal substance.

He threw away his personal qualities, the gifts God gave him. He trashed his own character, his honour and integrity...like it was worthless. Except, it wasn't. It was more valuable than anything else he had.

with riotous living.

This doesn't need a lot of explanation. He was having himself good time. At least, he thought he was. (He also thought he was popular, until his circumstances changed and everyone disappeared.) I wonder how many regrets he had while he was eating pig slop and living in poverty. 

You're smart enough to draw your own conclusions on whether this so-called good time was worth the cost. Because everything has a price.

And finally, why all of this matters to each of you.

As you make your way through life you will have to make a lot of decisions. They won't all involve money and material values, but almost everything you do will involve your personal value. Who you are. How you treat others. How you treat yourself -- your mind and your body. 

Don't waste your substance.