Picture a Girl
by Jenny Manzer
Orca Book Publishers, 2024
ISBN 978-1-4598-3666-2
$14.95, 181 pp, ages 10 – 13
orcabook.com
Author Jenny Manzer captures her reader from the first sentence, “When Mama is happy, there is no one who shines brighter.” Like all children, eleven- year-old Adelaide (“Addie”) loves her Mama and her younger brother, Billy. But Addie doesn’t love the life she has. Her Mama is a great surfer and storyteller, but Addie struggles when Mama drinks her “medicine” or disappears for days on an “adventure.” Addie has to think on her feet and hide her Mama’s absence from their landlord, her friend Pokey, teachers, neighbours, and other adults. Addie doesn’t like her life but doesn’t want social services to separate her family. She keeps up routines and finds ways to feed Billy and herself. But one day, Mama leaves for longer than ever before and doesn’t leave any money. Addie has to do something, so she lies and registers for the Belle of the Board surf contest for teen girls in hopes of winning the cash prize. Picture a Girl is a page-turner covering Addie’s abandonment, deception, struggle, and surfing attempt in just over a week’s time.
Classroom Connections: Ideal as a read-aloud to encourage class discussion on tough topics, including the law vs. reality, what is the “right” thing to do and how to know, making tough choices, and which adults are safe helpers in a community. This text encourages self-reflection and discussion, encouraging youth to consider how they would face similar challenges. Reading Comprehension Strategies: Asking Questions, Inferring, Transforming.
Review by Amanda Parker.
This review is featured in Canadian Teacher Magazine’s Fall 2024 issue.
