Mortified

SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOVERNOR GENERAL'S AWARD FOR YOUNG PEOPLE'S LITERATURE

SHORTLISTED FOR THE FOREST OF READING SILVER BIRCH AWARD

“Brilliant, funny, unputdownable.”– Alice Kuipers, award-winning children’s author

For fans of Remarkably Ruby and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, comedy and cringe come together in this sweet novel about facing your fears.

It’s nothing short of a catastrophe when someone secretly signs up Belinda Houle, the school’s shyest kid, to audition for a play.

Belinda turns to Sally—her unflappable best friend and resident witch—for help. Belinda doesn’t believe in magic, but if Sally says she has a spell for confidence...well, it couldn’t hurt to try it. Could it?

What follows the spell is a series of disasters so disastrous they would have been funny—if only they weren’t happening to Belinda! From eating dog food, to losing her hair in a straightening mishap, to wrecking a mural and ending up with globs of paint on her head, things get worse and worse for Belinda until she must face the facts: One piece of bad luck can be explained away, but this? This is a straight-up curse!

Can she break the curse before the dreamy Ricky Daniels takes notice of her crooked wig?

More importantly, can Belinda battle the very thing she hoped the spell would take away: her embarrassment?

KRISTY JACKSON is the author of the Governor General’s Award–shortlisted middle-grade novel Mortified. Her work draws inspiration from her Cree and German background and her long list of embarrassing moments. She is the mother of two boys and a communications professional who has spent many years working for Dene communities. Kristy runs a program that delivers books to children in seven remote Indigenous communities in Canada and volunteers for a non-profit dedicated to improving literacy in her community.

• Joan Betty Stuchner—Oy Vey!—Funniest Children’s Book Award