About the author...

As a child, Janis wanted to be a nurse, paleontologist, accountant, architect, monster truck driver, and police officer. She did not become any of those and traveled through the South Pacific and Europe instead before earning a diploma in photography (Langara College) and working in the dark for a few years. She eventually found her way to teaching (Simon Fraser University) and stumbled into a position as a teacher-librarian and earned a Masters of Education in teacher-librarianship (University of Alberta). She continues to enjoy spreading the love of reading to all of the students she teaches.

Janis lives with her husband, three boys, and dog on the West Coast of Canada, not too far from where her maternal grandparents were forcibly removed in 1942 before being sent to an internment camp. When she finds a quiet moment, Janis enjoys reading, hiking, paddleboarding, poking around in the garden, cooking, making things, learning languages, and most recently, finding moments alone to write.

Photo by Tanya Kaselj