Who is Darlene Foster and what
does she do when she is not writing?
She is a published children's author, an employment coach/facilitator,
an ESL tutor, a wife, mother and grandmother. She loves travel, shoes,
cooking, reading, sewing, chocolate, music, the beach and making new
friends. Her grandson calls her "super-mega-as woman-supreme". She was
brought up on a ranch in Southern Alberta, where she dreamt of
traveling the world and meeting new people. She lives on the West Coast
of BC with her husband Paul and two black cats, Pumpkin and Monkey.
Darlene is available for school and library presentations and can be
reached at darlene.foster@telus.net
Fun Fact: Did you know that camels have
three sets of eyelids? The first two lids have extra-long, wavy lashes
to screen out sand. The third — transparent — eyelid allows them sight
even when closed against a sand storm. Also the third lid blinks
sideways, like windshield wipers, to clear the lid of sand.
A short story by Darlene Foster is included
in this collection of stories about growing up in rural Canada. Writers
from all walks of life including a journalist, politician, athlete,
musician, actor, as well as award-winning authors—share one thing in
common: they were all country kids whose upbringing profoundly impacted
their identities and their lives.
Amanda Ross is a 12 year old Canadian girl who decides that the only
way out of her boring existence is to travel outside the country. She
makes a wish on her twelfth birthday for a chance to travel and gets an
airline ticket to the United Arab Emirates to visit her Aunt the next
day. She doesn't even know where that is and has to look it up on the
internet. Once there she meets Leah, an English girl, and before she
knows it they are in the middle of an adventure that involves a runaway
princess, bounty hunters, camels and a sand storm. She often finds
herself wishing she were back home in her boring but safe life once
again. Leah and Amanda decide to meet in Spain the following year and
she also is invited to visit Leah in England. Amanda just can't keep
her nose out of other people's problems and it always gets her in
trouble.
To read the first chapters of both Amanda books, Click
Here.
“Amanda in Arabia: The Perfume Flask is an
engaging read. Almost immediately I found myself caring about what
happened to Amanda and the more I read the more I wanted to be immersed
in the exotic landscape that Darlene Foster deftly paints. Once you
start reading, Amanda in Arabia is hard to put down.” Josh
“Amanda in Arabia – The Perfume Flask is a
fast paced, edge-of-your-seat adventure. The chapters were short, easy
to read and flowed smoothly into one another. …These are all admirable
features in a great children’s chapter book. Apart from being
technically well written, Amanda’s adventure includes things that
children of all ages can identify with; family, friends, mystery and
fantasy. Even though Amanda in Arabia was written for children, I
quickly discovered that I couldn’t put it down and was intrigued from
beginning to end. A lovely reminder that we are all children at heart.”
Lisa, mother of three
“Just like I was there! I liked reading
Amanda in Arabia – The Perfume Flask. It was really cool that Amanda
met a real princess and got to ride on a camel. My favourite part was
when Amanda was riding Ali Baba to go find Princess Shamza because I
could feel the excitement in my body like I was doing the same thing.
It was easy to read and the story flowed. I would like it if my cousin
could read it because I think she would like it, too.” Seven year old
male reader
"Success
is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it."
- Maya Angelou
