Author Teresa Schapansky, of Lake Cowichan, B.C., has earned widespread recognition for the first books from her multi-part series, Coinkeeper – The Avery Chronicles.
A fictional fantasy adventure, Coinkeeper follows a grandfather and his grandson through time and space through the use of magic coins. The first book hit No. 1 “overnight,” with the second book following in quick order, Schapansky told the Cowichan Valley Citizen earlier this year.
“All of a sudden they were both best-sellers. I’m in disbelief.”
The series aims to fill a void of reading material for children aged nine to 12 with lower levels of reading, something to which she was altered by Jenny Ingram, the organizer of the Young Authors’ Conference.
Schapansky, of Lake Cowichan, B.C., recently published the series’ third book (shown), with the fourth one coming soon.
“We know that there are many different reasons that kids and adults struggle to read, but a lot of kids don’t want to be faced with a great big encyclopedia-like book,” she told the Citizen.
As part of her research, she contacted the Bank of Canada Museum (for historical information about the 1911 silver dollar) plus Britain’s Royal Mint Museum, the B.C.-based Sncewips Heritage Museum and the American Numismatic Society.
Schapansky’s latest books can be found in local Duncan, B.C., bookstores plus online through Amazon.