• Age: 8 to 12
• Grade: 3 to 12

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 a communications professional and the mother of two boys. Her work draws inspiration from her Cree and German background and a long list of embarrassing moments of her own. Her short fiction has been published by CommuterLit, Kids Short Stories and Quick Brown Fox. Kristy Jackson runs a program that delivers books to children in seven remote Indigenous communities in Canada. She also volunteers for a non-profit dedicated to improving literacy in her community. Mortified is her debut novel.

Kristy Jackson's profile page

Rhael McGregor is a Queer Two-Spirit/non-binary artist of both Métis and settler heritage working in comics and animation. Their works focus on 2SLGBTQIA+ imaginings of fantasy, sci-fi, and autobiography to tell stories they hope will help bring laughter, positivity, and acceptance to their readers. Rhael is well-known for their work on indie comics such as Tinder and Small Big Gay, as well as their anthology work with Quindrie Press and Iron Circus Comics. Rhael's currently working on their first graphic novel as an artist for HighWater Press.

Rhael McGregor's profile page

“Belinda is exactly the character every kid needs and Mortified is exactly the book every kid should read. There is nothing more beautiful than a character who walks you into a complicated life with bravery and intimacy. Never shying away from the reality of anxiety, always offering a way forward, Mortified is a great story full of incredible companions for all young readers.” — Cherie Dimaline, bestselling author of The Marrow Thieves series and Funeral Songs for Dying Girls