Mitch MacLeod may be the smallest kid in grade six, but he has a great sense of humor and a strong backbone. He can read, sometimes, but never at school when he has to. "You don't know what humiliation is until you have a grade one reading buddy who reads better than you do," he says. But things start to change for Mitch when he creates an opportunity to stand up to Philip, his arch-enemy, when his reading begins to improve, and when his dad, "The Creep," moves back to town.

Shelagh Lynne Supeene was born in Clinton, Ontario, Canada in 1952 to Margaret and Hal Supeene. Her father was in the Royal Canadian Air Force, so they moved often within Canada and in the US., but spent most summers with farming relatives in Manitoba where they gathered eggs, played with kittens and road horseback.

She attended Brandon University in Brandon, Manitoba and then moved to Hamilton, Ontario, to study world religions at McMaster University. Shelagh Lynne earned an Honours B.A. and did two years of graduate work on Chinese language and philosophy, for which she was awarded two Ontario Graduate Scholarships in 1980 and 1981.

In the early 1980s, Shelagh Lynne joined a peace group where she met her future husband. They married in 1987 and have two sons. They live in Waterloo, Ontario with their golden retriever. Shelagh Lynne has M.E., which means she needs to rest a lot, so she doesn't visit schools. She is, however, happy to answer reader e-mails, and can be reached at slynnes@gmail.com.

Shelagh Lynne began writing for children when her own children were learning to read. My Name is Mitch, a novel for children age 9-12, was published by Orca Book Publishers in 2003.

Shelagh Lynne goes by both her first names. In writing circles she likes to be known as "Lynne", but some friends and family call her "Shelagh". Yes, it can be confusing! But she likes both her names so she lives with the occasional confusion.

http://www.web.net/~slsupeene/

Shelagh Lynne Supeene's profile page

• Short-listed, Silver Birch nominee
• Short-listed, SYRCA Diamond Willow nominee
• Commended, CCBC Our Choice