Smokescreen

(Hardback)

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Description

17 year-old competitive dancer Kerry has gotten away from her overbearing mother for the summer to work in Northern Ontario, surveying campsite locations with her fellow surveyor, Yvette. But things take a serious turn when fires are deliberately set in the forest, uprooting the girls from their jobs and throwing the area into turmoil. Meanwhile, Kerry's budding romance with a First Nations firefighter who knows more than he is saying is creating conflict between the two girls. It's a long hot summer and Kerry will need to stay on her toes to keep out of harm's way.

Reviews

Watching Jimmy won the Canadian Library Association's Book of the Year for Children Award and was a finalist for the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People, and the Ontario Library Association's Golden Oak Award.

Praise for Watching Jimmy:
"Like a steady beat that pulses louder and louder, the story unfolds against a backdrop of postwar social and political concerns and Remembrance Day. Carolyn is a passionate and feisty character, delineated with love and precision, and readers will be drawn to her. A compelling and satisfying novel." - School Library Journal

"Hartry... has perfectly captured this determined child's voice and vividly recreates the setting of Toronto in 1958. It's not hard to connect the dots ... which brings the story home to modern readers. As Carolyn encounters one nearly overwhelming challenge after another, they will find her ultimately optimistic tale impossible to put down." - Kirkus Reviews

Author Bio

Nancy Hartry is the author of two picture books, Hold On, McGinty! and Jocelyn and the Ballerina. Nancy finds inspiration for her stories in the antics of her children and her larger family. Watching Jimmy grew from her short story "Thunderbird Swing," which appeared in Secrets, published by Tundra Books. Watching Jimmy won the Canadian Library Association's Book of the Year for Children Award and was a finalist for the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People, and the Ontario Library Association's Golden Oak Award. When Nancy is not writing stories, she works as a lawyer. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.