• Age: 12 to 18
• Grade: 7 to 12

Shortlisted for the 2021 McNally Robinson Book for Young People Award Nominated for the Forest of Reading White Pine Award!

Shortlisted for the McNally Robinson Book for Young People Award!

Eugenia Grimm is a tough girl living in a tough town at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. She drinks and fights and pushes against expectations. She is also hurting: after her father died by suicide, her older brothers drifted away and her mother up and left.

After a last-straw violent incident and faced with the possibility of incarceration, she is sentenced to time at an Intensive Support and Supervision Program located at a remote mountain ranch. There, she begins to make connections, explore difficult truths, and might even turn things around-until a series of events pull her into a dark spiral she may not have the strength to resist.

[T]he characters - therapists and troubled youth alike - have an inviting combination of snarkiness and depth. - Quill & Quire

. . .many serious themes are woven into the story, but there is also the wonderful appreciation of what can be achieved if only people are given the time, encouragement and incentive to work out their problems and improve their lives. - CM Magazine

Anita Daher draws writing inspiration from the many places she's been blessed to spend time which include Summerside, PEI; Yellowknife, NT; Churchill, MB; Baker Lake, NU and Sault Ste. Marie, ON. She's been entrenched in the book publishing industry for several years writing books, articles and reviews, leading workshops and presentations, and has worked on the publishing end of things as a marketing director. Previous occupations include flight service specialist, radio broadcaster, lunch truck driver, and grave-plot salesperson. She likes writing best, as she never has to take off her slippers, can wear a funny hat, and can hold conversations with the statues and stuffies that keep her company.

Anita holds memberships in The Writers' Union of Canada, The Canadian Children's Book Center, The Manitoba Writers' Guild, The Saskatchewan Writers Guild, and was a founding member of the Territorial Writers Association. When she's not writing, she likes to spend time baking, playing her guitar (badly), and turning her backyard garden into a haven for neighbourhood bunnies. Anita currently resides in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with her husband, two daughters, a basset hound, and a Westfalia camper van named Mae.

Books with Orca: Flight from Big Tangle (2002), Flight from Bear Canyon (2004), Racing for Diamonds (April, 2007), Poachers in the Pingos (2008), On the Trail of the Bushman (2009).

For information on school presentations and workshops visit Anita's website: http://www.anitadaher.com.

Anita Daher's profile page

"A provocative and compelling story that will leave you both emotionally raw, and satisfied." - Eric Walters

"...many serious themes are woven into the story, but there is also the wonderful appreciation of what can be achieved if only people are given the time, encouragement and incentive to work out their problems and improve their lives." - Highly Recommended by CM Magazine

"Daher paints a vivid and convincing picture here of a young person with a complicated and tragic history attempting to straighten out her life." - Winnipeg Free Press

Nominated for the 2021 Forest of Reading White Pine Award

"...an important read that awards girls the right and space to feel and process anger." - Ali Bryan, 49th Shelf