Picture a Girl (Orca $14.95) by Jenny Manzer follows Addie and her brother, Billy, who lives with their mom in a shabby rental cabin in the tourist town of Cedarveil, BC, right off the beach. Their lives are a little different than some—they often visit the food bank and they don't have a phone or TV. For entertainment, their mom tells them stories before bed...if she's in a good mood or home at all. Sometimes their mom copes with her depression by drinking; sometimes, she just disappears. When Addie wakes up one morning, she finds out that her mom has gone again and Addie knows that it's up to her to take care of everything until her mom gets back. If anyone finds out that their mom has disappeared, she and Billy will be separated from one another, so it has to be their secret. She can scrape together meals and keep on top of homework... but when Addie finds out about a local surfing competition with a cash prize, she knows how much that money can help them. Will she win?

Jenny Manzer is the author of SAVE ME, KURT COBAIN, which was nominated for the Bolen Books Children’s Book Prize. She has a degree in Creative Writing and was a finalist for the 2013 CBC Creative Non-Fiction Prize, one of Canada’s most prestigious literary competitions. She lives with her family in Victoria, BC.


BOOKS

My Life as a Diamond (Orca 2018) $10.95 978-1-45981-832-3

Save Me, Kurt Cobain (Delacorte Press 2016) $23.99 978-055352-126-9

Picture a Girl (Orca, 2024) $14.95 9781459836662

[BCBW 2023]