It's not easy to have a private life on a small island. Thirteen-year-old Heather Blake can't stand the fact people on Tarragon Island know about her family's traumas practically before she does. The local youth writing group is supposed to help her meet people and improve her writing skills. Instead, Heather finds herself revealing way too much about both her writing life and her private thoughts to kids she can't believe are becoming her friends. Heather's new school, a budding romance, serious family illness, a strange crime, and even stranger island residents cause more trouble than she thinks she can handle. It will take all the strength and determination Heather can muster if she hopes to survive and carve out a place for herself in her new island home.

Nikki Tate writes with verve, humour, and absolute authenticity of twelve-year-old Heather's life in transition. Nothing stays the same as Heather's understanding of her island world widens and deepens. Insightful, gentle, a pleasure to read, and wise in its portrayal of Heather's determination to become a writer.— MARILYN BOWERING

Juvenile Fiction, 174 pp, 5 x 8
ISBN 1-55039-107-0, paper, $8.95