ZONTA, Pat 1951-

PERSONAL: Born March 24, 1951, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; divorced; children: Dave, Mike. Education: Attended McMaster University; also studied medical radiation technology at St. Joseph's Hospital and Mohawk College, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Religion: Roman Catholic.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Firefly Books Ltd., 3680 Victoria Park Ave., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M2H 3K1. E-mail—p_zonta@hotmail.com.

CAREER: Worked as a medical radiation technologist in Ontario, Canada, including positions at St. Joseph's Hospital, Joseph Brant Hospital, York-Finch Clinic, McMaster Children's Hospital, and Gamma X-Ray and Laboratories Ltd., for twenty-five years. Also actress and singer, including a singing tour of Italy, 2001.

MEMBER: Ontario Association of Medical Radiation Technologists (education coordinator, 1996).

WRITINGS:

Jessica's X-Ray, illustrated by Clive Dobson, Firefly Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

Also author of Mikey's Endoscopy, privately printed. Theater critic, View. Contributor to periodicals.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Short stories and nonfiction.

SIDELIGHTS: Pat Zonta told CA: "My idea for Jessica's X-Ray germinated when I was a student X-ray technologist, but I did not start writing the book until 1997.

"I began writing the prototype series, 'Xandra's X-Ray: Xander and Xandra Children's Learning Series' after being 'downsized' from my full-time position as an X-ray technician. I self-published the prototype series and, with the permission of Firefly Books, it is currently available exclusively to the Children's Hospital at McMaster Medical Centre in Hamilton, Ontario. The Children's Hospital provided seed funding for the series in 1997, and I have donated the series to the hospital. The 'Xandra' books are given to the children who visit the hospital. Crayola Crayons donated 500 three-packs of crayons to be attached to the black-and-white books so the children can color them.

"With Jessica's X-Ray I hope to allay at least a few of the fears children experience about the X-ray process in an entertaining and educational manner while speaking to them respectfully and intelligently. I hope to reach out to as many children as possible. Most people have never seen X-ray, ultra-sound, computer-assisted tomography (CT), or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images. I hope to give the public a little insight about how our bodies look from the inside out. I hope Jessica's X-Ray will reach children all over the world. I hope it will be translated into other languages. Due to the digital imaging process used to create the original diagnostic images, the book can easily be adapted to an online market or video format.

"The names Jessica and another character, Sarah, are the names of my granddaughters. Sarah, at age three, called the MRI image 'scary guy' and loved to play a game where she opened the book, screamed out his name, closed the book at lightning speed, then laughed at the fun before she repeated the process over and over again.

"Sarah, Jessica, and I are always thrilled when we see the book displayed in bookstores. I have also enjoyed reading Jessica's X-Ray to classrooms of children from pre-kindergarten through third grade. They were a wonderful audience and had prepared questions for me to answer after we read the book, such as 'how long did it take to write?' or 'when did you know you wanted to become a writer?' The answer to that question is—when I was in grade five.

"I thoroughly enjoy the interaction with children when I read the book to them. I designed Jessica's X-Ray to be interactive. I am very pleased at the fun we have reading it in the classroom. I have performed as an actor in many children's plays, and I can think of no greater thrill than participating with children—in hearing their ideas, enthusiasm, and creativity. I love helping kids in any way I can."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Resource Links, April, 2002, Linda Berezowski, review of Jessica's X-Ray, p. 58.

School Library Journal, August, 2002, Martha Topol, review of Jessica's X-Ray, p. 181.