Born Ugly

Westchester 2011 Honorable Mention

2013 Saskatoon Book Awards: Young Adult Literature Award nominee

To say Shir is unpopular is a understatement. In fact she's less than homely, therefore a target of casual cruelty in high school. Even though she wishes to remain invisible, bullies find ways of tormenting her, viciously. Worse still, she's an outcast in her own family.

There are two areas where Shir can overcome her negative self image. One is at her part-time job where the kindly Mr. A has hired her as the driver of his grocery delivery truck. The other is at her secret retreat - myplace - where she can sip her beer and watch the river, undisturbed.

But neither sanctuary is safe; Shir discovers that Mr. A's kindness is part of a plot to use her as an accomplice in shady dealings, and her haven by the river is intruded upon by a boy who simply won't go away. While these invasions shatter her initially, both lead to her throwing off the mantle of victim and asserting herself for the first time in her life.