Colleen Sydor

When I participated in TLA last year I discovered the fun, the frenzy, of collecting ARCs. One of my co-panelists, Linda Joy Singleton, was an experienced ARC collector and I just followed along. It wasn't hard to get the hang of it. Grab.  I'd so many ARCs I had to ship them home separate from my luggage. 

And I still haven't read them all. 

One ARC that I finally read, caught my attention when it recently won the Manitoba Book of the Year Award (older books for children category). It's Colleen Sydor's novel debut,  My Mother is a French Fry and Further Proof of my Fuzzed-Up Life (Kids Can Press). This is an edgy book, and very funny. The fifteen year old protogonist, Eli, talks - or should I say, rants, about her mother and school. She's quieter about the other things - like a first boyfriend and a nagging guilt about a little sister.  The book is totally deserving of this award.