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‘Kate’ is brainchild of Lake-Lehman teacher

Mary Garrity Slaby, a veteran language arts and reading teacher at the Lake-Lehman Junior Senior High School, has written a book entitled “Call Me Kate: Meeting the Molly Maguires.”

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Mary Garrity Slaby, a Lake-Lehman language arts and reading teacher, writes under the pen name, “Molly Roe.”

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The book stars feisty 14-year-old Katie McCafferty.

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Slaby, who writes under the pen name Molly Roe, holds a Ph.D. in education from Temple University and a Pennsylvania teaching certification in six areas. She has pursued the hobby of genealogy for the past decade.

Born in Philadelphia, Slaby was raised in Schuylkill County and currently lives in Dallas with her husband, John. They are parents of two grown children, Melissa and John Garrett, who is the cover illustrator of “Call Me Kate.”

Digging into the past has given Slaby newfound respect for her ancestors and a better understanding of history. “Call Me Kate” is the first in the author’s trilogy of historical novels loosely based on the lives of strong women who preceded her.

She is also a contributing author to “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk High School.”

“Call Me Kate: Meeting the Molly Maguires” is a novel of historical fiction aimed at educating while entertaining a young adult audience.

Coming of age amidst the seething unrest of the Civil War era, feisty 14-year-old Katie McCafferty infiltrates the Molly Maguires, a secret Irish organization, to rescue a lifelong friend. Under the guise of a male draft resister, Katie volunteers for a dangerous mission in hopes of preventing bloodshed.

Katie risks job, family and ultimately her very life to intervene. A series of tragedies challenge Kate’s strength and ingenuity and she faces a crisis of conscience. Can she balance her sense of justice with the law?

“Call Me Kate” is suitable for readers from 11 years old to adult. The story is dramatic and adventuresone, yet expressive of daily life in the patches of the hard coal region during the Civil War.