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Helen Mason

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First Name
Helen
Last Name
Mason
Province or Territory
Ontario
Craft
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Professional information

Bio
After working as a teacher, and as an editor and project manager for educational publishers, in 2014, Helen Mason closed her full-time business and currently focuses on young adult novels. Helen has published 38 nonfiction books and is currently seeking representation for Riding the Storm, a YA novel about a teen whose bipolar mother takes a drug overdose. She's also working on Maybe Yes, Maybe No, a high-interest, low-vocabulary book about a seventeen-year-old who has the symptoms of bipolar disorder but insists she's okay. Helen has also started on a third book.

Helen won the 2017 Middle East Youth Nonfiction Book Award for A Refugee's Journey from Afghanistan and A Refugee's Journey from Syria, two books she wrote for Crabtree's Leaving My Homeland series. The books were starred selections on the Canadian Children's Book Centre's 2017 Best Books for Kids and Teens List.
Available For
Oops! Is That True?
Using examples from personal experience, Helen discusses how to find and check information, both online, using interviews, and during library research. The talk will include bloopers she's made or avoided.

What Would You Pick?
Good information books include pictures that tell a story. During this collaborative workshop, participants get to look at the selection of pictures from which Helen had to choose for some of her published works. What would students' use? Why did the publisher use the ones in the finished title? Junior-level students particularly enjoy this give-and-take discussion.

The Collaborative Process
Today, many books aren't the sole idea of the author. More are the result of collaboration between author and a publishing team. From idea to plan to publication, Helen uses her own works to illustrate the steps in this process. Illustrations include feedback from the publisher and production team, marked-up passes of the early book, and examples of pages that were changed just before publication.
Publications
Weird Nature (Mystery Files), Crabtree Publishing Company, 2013

Life on the Homefront During the American Revolution (Understanding the American Revolution), Crabtree Publishing Company, 2013

Length Word Problems (My Path to Math, Level 2), Crabtree Publishing Company, 2013

Word Problems: Mass and Volume (My Path to Math, Level 3), Crabtree Publishing Company, 2013

Agricultural Inventions: At the Top of the Field (Inventions that Shaped the Modern World), Crabtree Publishing Company, 2013

Is it hard or soft? (What's the Matter?), Crabtree Publishing Company, 2014

Is it natural or human-made? (What's the Matter?), Crabtree Publishing Company, 2014

Chef (Creative Careers) Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2015

Costume Designer (Creative Careers) Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2015

Interior Designer (Creative Careers) Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2015

Landscape Designer (Creative Careers) Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2015

Makeup Artist (Creative Careers) Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2015

Urban Planner (Creative Careers) Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2015

What Is Digital Entrepreneurship? (Your Start-up Starts Now!), Crabtree Publishing Company, 2017

Be an Active Citizen in Your Community (Citizenship in Action), Crabtree Publishing Company, 2017

Be an Active Citizen at Your School (Citizenship in Action), Crabtree Publishing Company, 2017

A Refugee's Journey from Syria (Leaving My Homeland), Crabtree Publishing Company, 2017

A Refugee's Journey from Afghanistan (Leaving My Homeland), Crabtree Publishing Company, 2017

Medical Entrepreneurs (Science and Technology Start-Up Stars), Crabtree Publishing, 2018

Energy Entrepreneurs (Science and Technology Start-Up Stars), Crabtree Publishing, 2018

Dream Jobs in Information Technology (Cutting Edge Careers in Technical Education), Crabtree Publishing, 2018

Dream Jobs in Human Services (Cutting Edge Careers in Technical Education), Crabtree Publishing, 2018
Awards
Bran and Bluma Appel Scholarship, The Humber School for Writers, 2016
McGraw-Hill Ryerson Team Leader, 2004
Honourable Mention, Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence, 1999
Pete McGillen Award, 1992
The Greg Clark Outdoor Writing Award, 1987
Other Memberships
Canadian Children's Book Centre
Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators

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