Description
Growing up in a picturesque Newfoundland fishing village should be idyllic for sixteen-year-old Kit Ryan, but living with an alcoholic father makes Kit's day-to-day life unpredictable and almost intolerable.
When the 1992 cod moratorium forces her father out of a job, the tension between Kit and her father grows. Forced to leave their rural community, the family moves to the city, where they live with Uncle Iggy, a widower with problems of his own. Immediately pegged as a "baygirl," Kit struggles to fit in, but longstanding trust issues threaten to hold her back when a boy named Elliot expresses an interest in her.
Author Bio
Heather Smith is the author of several picture books, including the award-winning The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota's Garden. Her middle-grade novel The Boy, the Cloud and the Very Tall Tale has been named a Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year and her picture book Waking Ben Doldrums was shortlisted for the IBBY Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Award and won the IBBY Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities award. Originally from Newfoundland, Heather now lives in Waterloo, Ontario, with her family.
Prizes
- Forest of Reading White Pine AwardNominated 2014
- Bank Street College of Education Children's Book Committee Best Children's Books of the YearCommended 2014
Review Quotes
★ "Refreshingly, Smith chooses not to cast Phonse as an abusive alcoholic, but accurately portrays the mood swings, unpredictability, and misunderstandings of the disease...Kit is a likable, sympathetic heroine who is often funny in a goofy, endearing way. The supporting characters are equally strong...while the language convincingly evokes the novel's East Coast setting...With sprightly dialogue, relatable characters, and a story that delves into serious subject matter without becoming morose, Baygirl is a balanced, well-written debut."
— Quill & Quire, starred review