• Age: 12 to 18
• Grade: 7 to 12

Nothing in Kerry’s life prepares her for her first summer job. Stationed as far north from Toronto as Florida is south, unqualified and inexperienced, she perceives hazards around every tree. What does she know about fieldwork? Or black bears? Or men? Absolutely nothing—all she’s done with her life so far is competitive dance. If her mother only knew what this job required!
Kerry’s new partner, Yvette, is unlike anyone she’s ever met and something about her doesn’t add up. Her boss is a chauvinist pig and out to get them. When forest fires break out, Kerry and Yvette are drafted for fire duty and sent deeper into the bush—even closer to the fire. As all of northwestern Ontario goes up in flames, Kerry vows to find out what is really going on and uncovers a crime of international scope and scale that will threaten her life.

Smokescreen is an adrenalin pumping adventure, pitting two resourceful young women against nature and man at their most greedy. Truth and lies. Fire and darkness. Who will triumph when nothing is what it seems?

NANCY HARTRY est l’auteure des albums jeunesse Hold On, McGinty! et Jocelyn and the Ballerina. Elle a également écrit le roman à succès Watching Jimmy, qui a gagné la récompense du livre de l’année de l’Association canadienne des bibliothèques en 2010. Lorsqu’elle n’est pas en train d’écrire des histoires, Nancy travaille en tant qu’avocate. Elle vit à Toronto, en Ontario.

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, as well as strangers who have no idea that their quirks and foibles will find their way into books. When Nancy is not writing stories, she works as a lawyer. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Nancy Hartry's profile page

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