Carol Matas's Blog

Thank you to Mimi Leyton for her wonderful review of Kai and the Golem in the Fall 2025 issue of AJL News and Reviews from the Association  of Jewish Libraries: 

 "...offering a tender and hopeful conclusion...The minimal text per page makes the book highly accessible for early readers and well-suited to shared reading. It encourages discussions about emotions, resilience, and how imagination can help reframe difficult experiences."

Thank you to Donald Harrison of the San Diego Jewish World for this wonderful review.

Donald Harrison understands what I was trying to do in Kai in the Golem:

"There’s a bright side to life depending on your perspective. It’s a mitzvah to cheer up hospitalized patients. Helping others can brighten your outlook on the world, dispelling your personal gloom."

Back (left to right): Mike Moroz, Tracy Schmidt, Kelly Hiebert,
Belle Jarniewski  Front: Carla Compton, Carol Matas

What an honour! The Manitoaba Minister of Education and Childhood Learning, Tracy Schmidt, chose to announce the new mandatory Holocaust curriculum at the launch of A Storm Unleashed on November 10. A Storm Unleashed is a recommended resource for grade 6! Also there to support the announcement and the book launch were Mike Moroz, Minister of Innovation and New Technology, and Carla Compton, MLA for Tuxedo.
Tracy Schmidt announcing
the new Holocaust curriculum


Belle Jarniewski, Executive Director of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada, and Kelly Hiebert, teacher and Holocaust scholar, discussed the book with me and participated in a lively discussion.
Many thanks to the Jewish Heritage Centre, which sponsored and organized the launch. The Jewish Federation of Winnipeg and Scholastic Canada were also sponsors. And to friends, family, teachers, attendees, thank you for coming! What a great turnout! And a special thanks to my nine-year-old granddaughter who assisted me in the book signing!

Today is publication date for Kai and the Golem. Can't think of a better way to celebrate than to share this "Q&A" with Deborah Kalb on her Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb. 

 Delighted to see A Storm Unleashed as a November Children's Book Pick in the Calgary Herald . 

"This historical fiction of bravery in the times of Nazi terror is an important read."

PJ Library will be distributing Zevi Takes the Spotlight to thousands of homes in December! Here's the cover of the PJ Library edition.

And here is the badge I earned for winning the Harold Grinspoon Jewish Story Award. It's an award given to authors for a book they have written — in this case, Zevi Takes the Spotlight — in the hopes they will continue to write Jewish-themed books. 

Absolutely over the moon with this review. Firstly, it is a well written review — too few of those! Secondly, the reviewer understood exactly what I was trying to achieve with the book. And the best compliment ever: "Children will recognize themselves in Kai."

"Chil­dren will rec­og­nize them­selves in Kai. Their emo­tions may be over­whelm­ing, but cir­cum­stances can be improved by help­ing oth­ers and by look­ing at events in a more pos­i­tive light. The sweet col­or illus­tra­tions, includ­ing that of the fur­ry, orange golem, enhance the sto­ry and the char­ac­ters."    Read the full review

Available for pre-order. 

Kai and the Golem has arrived! Was just thrilled to open the box and hold the book in my hands for the first time.  Available for preorder. Kar Ben publishers. Illustrations by Elisa Vavouri.       

I was thrilled to present A Storm Unleashed to teachers at the Manitoba Social Sciences Association Conference on October 24. We had two sold out sessions. I was so fortunate to do the sessions with Kelly Hiebert, a Holocaust education scholar. Here I am preparing for the session. And here we are right after the sessions were over. Lots of great questions. Many attendees had already read the book and told me they loved it.  

I am looking forward to the book launch of  A Storm Unleashed on November 10. Belle Jarniewski, director of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada, and Kelly Hiebert, Holocaust scholar and history teacher, will be joining me in a discussion of my middle-grades novel.

I am honoured to be part of a Kristallnacht program sponsored by The Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada and The Jewish Federation of Winnipeg. Belle Jarniewski, director of the JHC, and Kelly Hiebert, Holocaust Curriculum Scholar and history teacher, will be joining me in a discussion of my novel A Storm Unleashed .

After losing her mother as a young girl, twelve-year-old Mia is living in Berlin with her veterinarian father and beloved German shepherd, Max. Mia tries to focus on her hobbies, her studies and her trips to her grandparents’ farm where she cares for the animals she loves. But it’s 1935, and life has changed radically for Mia and her Jewish father over the last two years. Antisemitism is now official state policy. At school, Mia is vilified and treated cruelly by her teachers and fellow students. Outside of school, she witnesses violence against her friends and family. And then suddenly a girl from the Nazi Youth tries to take Max. From that moment on, life becomes more and more dangerous for Mia and her father — who is now being forced to help the Nazis train Hitler’s army of dogs. Mia and her best friend, Frieda, must come up with a plan to navigate this new reality. But could it cost Mia more than she realizes?