I’m proud and excited to announce the publication of my new book for young readers, To Hope and Back: The Journy of the St. Louis. This luxury ocean liner left Germany in 1939 carrying almost 1000 Jewish passengers. They were all hoping to find freedom across the ocean, away from the Nazi regime that was threatening them. Not one country in North or South America (including Canada) would permit the ship to land. It was finally forced to return to Europe where over one third of its passengers eventually perished in the Holocaust. This book documents the journey of the St. Louis and the story of two of its passengers. Lisa Avedon and Sol Messinger were children on board the ship. They were among the lucky ones to survive. To Hope and Back is another book in the Holocaust Remembrance Series for Young Readers, published by Second Story Press.
I’ll be talking about this new book during Holocaust Education Week here in Toronto in November. I’ll let you know the details as they develop.
Hope you all have a chance to read this remarkable story!

First of all, to those of you who are celebrating Easter, I hope it’s joyous celebration. And to those who have recently celebrated Passover, I hope your seders were wonderful!

Well here’s the exciting news! I recently found out that the play I wrote last summer with my son, Jake Epstein, has been accepted into the “In the Beginning Playwrights Festival” with the Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company here in Toronto. We will have the opportunity to have the play workshopped for a full day and then we will have a public staged reading with professional actors and director. The play is called Therefore Choose Life and is based on a true story of a man who survives the Auschwitz concentration camp thinking he lost his first wife there. He comes to Canada, remarries, has a son, and twenty-five years later, his first wife resurfaces! Yes, it’s quite a story!

The staged reading of Therefore Choose Life will take place on Tuesday June 14 at the Al Green Theatre (Miles Nadal JCC). It’s free and open to the public. Once I have more details I will be sure to let you all know. So, stay tuned as I begin a new and exciting writing chapter in my life!

Yes, I’m still talking about my adult book, Restitution, and still loving the opportunity to share this remarkable story. Tonight I am speaking at Temple Sinai Congregation in Toronto. Here are the details:
Where: 210 Wilson Avenue (just west of Avenue Road)
When: 8:00 p.m.
This event is sponsored by Na’amat Canada in Toronto, an organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of women and children. Tonight I am their guest speaker for their yearly “Sharon Cole Memorial Evening.”
Some of you have written to me to say that you have tried to get to my recent events and have not been able. Here’s another chance to hear me speak about this book.
Hope to see many of you there!

This Sunday November 14, I will be speaking as part of Books and Brunch, a reading series hosted and sponsored by Blue Heron Books in Uxbridge. The event this Sunday will be at Wyndance Golf Club at 11:00 a.m. I’ll be talking about my book, Restitution, but I’m sharing the podium (or is it the armchair!!) with Allison Pick whose recent novel, Far To Go also tells the story of an affluent Jewish family on the verge of the Second World War.
By the way, if you’ve never been to Blue Heron Books, you MUST take a drive there. As their website suggests (www.blueheronbooks.com), this charming bookstore (owned and run by Shelley Macbeth) is a hub of literary events, readings, and happenings for young and not so young!
I hope to see many of you at the golf club on Sunday! Come and chat with me after the event.

Hi everyone,
If you didn’t have a chance to hear me during Holocaust Education Week, I wanted to let you know that I have more sceduled talks coming up. Here are a few that are open to the public.
Sunday November 7: I will be speaking at St. Peter’s Anglican Church (Erindale), 1745 Dundas St. W at 9:15 and 11:00 a.m.
The eh List Author Series: I will be speaking at the Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge St. on November 9 at 12:30 p.m.
Na’amat Canada: I will be speaking at Temple Sinai Congregation, 210 Wilson Ave. on November 22 at 8:00 p.m.
And if you live in the Windsor area, I will be speaking there at there Jewish Community Centre, 1641 Oullette on November 15 at 8:00 p.m.
Most of these talk are about Restitution, my adult book. You can also have a chance to hear me talk about Restitution tonight, Thursday November 4 on Global TV at 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. I was interviewed for this piece, along with Karl Reeser, the man I write about in Restitution. The journalist who interviewed us taped us for almost two hours! I am curious to see how she is able to reduce that to a piece that will only be about 5 minutes! Watch and you will see too.
Hope to meet many of you at my talks!

Hi everyone!
Next week is Holocaust Education Week (November 1-9) and the program is impressive. The theme this year is “We Who Survived.” With that in mind, I am scheduled to talk about my latest book, Restitution. It is the story of one family’s journey to reclaim four beautiful oil paintings that were lost during the Holocaust. Many of you were there for the launch of this book in May. This time, I will be talking about the story in more detail, complete with a slide presentation. Karl Reeser, the man whose story is documented in Restitution, will also be there to speak and answer questions.
Here are the details:
Date: Tuesday, November 2
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Place: Beth Torah Congregation, 47 Glenbrook Avenue
Hope to see many of you there!
If you want to see a list of all the programs being presented during Holocaust Education Week, you can go to their website, www.holocausteducationweek.com

My summer has been filled with many wonderful things! Hope yours was the same.
First and foremost, I spent most of the summer doing the thing which I love most and that is writing. I wrote and wrote and wrote, and when I was finished writing one thing, I wrote some more. I have a new thinking place in the backyard– a big lounge chair shaped like a bucket (if you can imagine!) I think I did my best writing there.
A couple of projects on the go– one of them (one I am really quite excited about) is a play I have written with none other than my son Jake Epstein. How amazing that I have the opportunity to work on a creative project with my very own son! The play is called “Therefore Choose Life” and it is about Joseph– a Holocaust survivor who remarried after the war only to discover that his first wife, Chava– a woman he thought he had lost in the gas chambers is actually alive. We did a table read with some very talented actors including my wonderful daughter, Gabi Epstein (yup, she’s named after my mother, Gabi).
The other writing project I’m working on is a book called Voices of Remembrance: Today’s Youth Respond to the Holocaust, which will ask young people from across the country to write about the Holocaust. Their essays will be included in a book to be published by Second Story Press. If you are a teacher or teacher/librarian, interested in having your students participate, write to me and I will send the information
And finally, I’M ON FACEBOOK! I didn’t think I’d do it, but I did. And I’m looking for friends! I still don’t exactly know how that whole world works but my daughter is helping me out. Saw “The Social Network” and was hooked. Hopefully I will see you all in cyberspace!
That’s it for now! Please check back for updates about our play, “Therefore Choose Life” as well as the “Voices” project. I think it’s going to be a very exciting year.
Cheers!
Kathy

Happy summer everyone! Hope you are all enjoying the summer heat. And I hope everyone is reading some wonderful books. I’ve been trying to get caught up on some writing (and some reading). I’m actually beginning to work on a play right now - but more of that later!

A couple of months ago, a wonderful fellow-writer, Anne Dublin, interviewed me for an article and a podcast. I wanted to share that on-line interview with you. I had the chance to talk about my background in writing, along with all of my books. Hope you enjoy it!

I’ve had a jam-packed couple of weeks of author visits. I’ve been to St. Thomas, London, Burlington, as well as a bunch of schools in the Toronto area. I continue to be impressed with the thoughtful questions that young readers ask. A young girl asked me if I ever become so sad when I write my stories that it is difficult for me to continue. I responded that I do indeed become sad at times. While we can never of course fully understand what that time was like for survivors, I don’t think you can write about this history without feeling some of the pain. At the same time, I continue to be inspired by the survivors that I meet. And that’s what keeps me going in this writing.

The wonderful students of St. Thomas More School gave me a beautiful card that they had made. It’s message is so important, so I thought I’d share it with you.

It’s finally here. Tomorrow (Sunday April 11 from 3:00-5:00 p.m.) is the date for the long-awaited book launch of my first adult novel, Restitution. Check out this beautiful cover! I’m thrilled and just a bit nervous, but that’s always the case when I’m launching a new book. The most exciting news is that two of the main “characters” from the story will be present for the celebration. Karl Reeser will be there to talk about his experience of having been a part of this project. I understand that a number of his family members have come in from out of town to be part of this. Richard VandenBosch will be joining us, from his home in New York City, via Skype. I’m just hoping the technology pulls through for me so that Richard can actually be “present” for the event.

Other than that, I am expecting lots of my own family members and friends to come out, as they always do, to support me. I hope many of you will be able to make it as well. The location is “918 Bathurst” which is just north of Bloor.

In the meantime, if you’d like to hear me talk a bit about the story, check out this Youtube clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypTpg0NW1rE