• Age: 12 to 18
• Grade: 7 to 12

In these eleven short stories, Budge Wilson, the popular author of Lorinda's Diary and Thirteen Never Changes, explores growing up in a colourful but imperfect world from a female point of view.

A pen pal halfway around the world, starting a diary, a favourite teacher's romance with metaphors, the intricacies of family relationships, a high school reunion, the bittersweet taste of first love are all fodder for stories that will be read over and over again, and to treasure for a lifetime.

Budge Wilson (b. 1927) was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and lived in Kingston, Ontario, before moving back to North West Cove, Nova Scotia. A former commercial artist and photographer, she has written more than twenty books, many of them for children and young adults; her awards include the Ann Connor Brimer Award for children's literature. "Mr. Manuel Jenkins" is included in her story collecton The Leaving (Anansi, 1991).

Budge Wilson's profile page

Canadian Library Association's Young Adult Canadian Book Award Winner

City of Dartmouth Book and Writing Award for Fiction winner