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Skim

Mariko Tamaki

2008140 pagesabout 2–3 hours
2008
first published
  • 2008Groundwood Books · ENGISBN 9781554980697
  • 2008Publishers Group WestISBN 9780888999641
  • 2009Walker Books, Limited · 144 pages · ENGISBN 9781406321364
  • 2009Ediciones La Cúpula, S.L. · 148 pagesISBN 9788478338603
  • 2008Groundwood Books · 140 pages · ENGISBN 9780888997531

"Skim" is Kimberly Keiko Cameron, a not-slim, would-be Wiccan goth who goes to a private girls' school in the early '90s. When her classmate Katie Matthews is dumped by her boyfriend, who then kills himself — possibly because he's (maybe) gay — the entire school goes into mourning overdrive. It's a weird time to fall in love, but that's what happens to Skim when she starts meeting secretly with her neo-hippie English teacher, Ms. Archer. But then Ms. Archer abruptly leaves the school, and Skim has to cope with her confusion and isolation while her best friend, Lisa, tries to pull her into "real" life by setting up a hilarious double-date for the school's semi formal. Suicide, depression, love, homosexuality, crushes, cliques of popular, manipulative peers — the whole gamut of teen life is explored in this poignant glimpse into the heartache of being 16.

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How it reads

Character focusSingle lead

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Written forMiddle grade

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