• Age: 14 to 18
• Grade: 9 to 12
• Reading age: 7 to 10

Becky was once a promising young skating star, but these days she feels numb, disconnected, and very lonely. The only way she knows to relieve pressure is to cut herself. Will Becky have the strength to save another young athlete who's skating down the same path?

MONIQUE POLAK écrit régulièrement pour le Montreal Gazette et a été publiée dans de nombreux autres quotidiens de renom tels que le Globe and Mail, le National Post et Newsday. Dans la collection SideStreets, elle a écrit All In et On the Game, ainsi que Flip Turn pour la collection Sports Stories. D’ailleurs, ces deux derniers ouvrages ont figuré sur la liste des meilleurs livres pour enfants du Centre du livre jeunesse canadien. Monique enseigne l’écriture ainsi que la littérature anglaise. Elle vit à Montréal, au Québec, avec son mari et sa fille.

MONIQUE POLAK is the author of 26 novels for young readers, as well as two non-fiction titles and a board book. Her books Hate Mail, Room for One More, and the historical novel What World is Left, which was inspired by her mother’s experience during the Holocaust, were all winners of the Quebec Writers’ Federation Prize for Children’s and YA Literature.

Her books have also been nominated for the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People and the Arthur Ellis Award, and several have been selected as Best Books for Children and Teens by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre.

She is also a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in The Globe and Mail, Macleans, and Postmedia newspapers across the country, and is a columnist on ICI Radio-Canada’s Plus on est de fous, plus on lit Monique lives in Montreal, Quebec, where she teaches English and Humanities at Marianopolis College.

Monique Polak's profile page

• Winner, Best Books for Kids & Teens - Canadian Children's Book Centre

"Monique Polak handles this rarely addressed topic with sensitivity while offering teens a lot of useful information on this disease ... the novel is well written and engaging and offers several positive messages to its readers."

CM Magazine: Canadian Review of Materials

"This book is not only a great read, but it would be bibliotherapy for a self-mutilating teen."

The Expositor

Scarred (SideStreets)