'Baygirl' by Heather Smith

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.

about the author 

I was born in a thatched cottage on the Yorkshire Dales. According to my mother it was a dreadful night. The gales played havoc with the thatches, making the roof look much like our sheep when shorn by my pub loving father. Unfortunately, the local doctor couldn’t make it to the birth. Lucky for me, Edna the cow was labouring that night as well, so our dedicated veterinarian stepped in and, after the calves were delivered, employed his freshly-used bovine whelping forceps to deliver me safe and sound.

Stop here if you’d like to live with me in the land of hogwashery, where you can fabricate the events of your birth and make up new words (like hogwashery).

Continue if you’d like to read the real bio (which is not as exciting).

The Real Bio:

I was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland (in a regular old hospital), where I learned the value of humour.

I also lived in Scotland, where I learned to roll my Rrrrrrrrrr’s.

And Las Vegas, where I learned self-restraint.

Now I live in Waterloo, Ontario, where I’ve learned to raise a family.

That family consists of three children and a husband (a Scotsman who is an R roller extraordinaire).

I have a fascination with capelin, a small fish in the smelt family. Capelin roll onto the beaches in Newfoundland once a year. No need for a boat or a rod, you just pick them, like berries!

My first young adult novel, Baygirl, was published by Orca Book Publishers on September 1st, 2013. It is set in Newfoundland, the inspiration for much of my writing.

More information about the author and her writing can be found at her web site.