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The Agony of Bun O'Keefe

Author Heather Smith
Ebook
Tundra Book Group | Penguin Teen Canada
On sale Sep 05, 2017 | 256 Pages | 9780143198666
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Little Miss Sunshine meets Room in this quirky, heartwarming story of friendship, loyalty and discovery.

It's Newfoundland, 1986. Fourteen-year-old Bun O'Keefe has lived a solitary life in an unsafe, unsanitary house. Her mother is a compulsive hoarder, and Bun has had little contact with the outside world. What she's learned about life comes from the random books and old VHS tapes that she finds in the boxes and bags her mother brings home. Bun and her mother rarely talk, so when Bun's mother tells Bun to leave one day, she does. Hitchhiking out of town, Bun ends up on the streets of St. John's, Newfoundland. Fortunately, the first person she meets is Busker Boy, a street musician who senses her naivety and takes her in. Together they live in a house with an eclectic cast of characters: Chef, a hotel dishwasher with culinary dreams; Cher, a drag queen with a tragic past; Big Eyes, a Catholic school girl desperately trying to reinvent herself; and The Landlord, a man who Bun is told to avoid at all cost. Through her experiences with her new roommates, and their sometimes tragic revelations, Bun learns that the world extends beyond the walls of her mother's house and discovers the joy of being part of a new family -- a family of friends who care.
  • WINNER | 2019
    White Pine Award
  • WINNER | 2018
    Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards
  • WINNER | 2017
    Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design – Prose Fiction
  • AWARD | 2019
    YALSA Best Books for Young Adults
  • SHORTLIST | 2018
    Amy Mathers Teen Book Award
  • SELECTION | 2018
    USBBY-CBC Outstanding International Trade Book
  • SHORTLIST | 2018
    Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards
  • SHORTLIST | 2018
    Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People
  • AWARD | 2017
    Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book
© Donald P. Barnes
HEATHER SMITH is the author of four published YA novels; three middle-grade novels, the most recent of which, Tig, has received two starred reviews and was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award and the OLA Red Maple Award; and seven picture books: Angus All Aglow, A Plan for Pops, The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota’s Garden, Slowpoke the Bell Island Mine Horse, Annie’s Cat is Sad, Waking Ben Doldrums and Granny Left Me a Rocket Ship. The books in her body of work have either won or been shortlisted for virtually every Canadian children's literature prize, and been translated into eight languages. She lives with her family in Waterloo, Ontario. View titles by Heather Smith

About

Little Miss Sunshine meets Room in this quirky, heartwarming story of friendship, loyalty and discovery.

It's Newfoundland, 1986. Fourteen-year-old Bun O'Keefe has lived a solitary life in an unsafe, unsanitary house. Her mother is a compulsive hoarder, and Bun has had little contact with the outside world. What she's learned about life comes from the random books and old VHS tapes that she finds in the boxes and bags her mother brings home. Bun and her mother rarely talk, so when Bun's mother tells Bun to leave one day, she does. Hitchhiking out of town, Bun ends up on the streets of St. John's, Newfoundland. Fortunately, the first person she meets is Busker Boy, a street musician who senses her naivety and takes her in. Together they live in a house with an eclectic cast of characters: Chef, a hotel dishwasher with culinary dreams; Cher, a drag queen with a tragic past; Big Eyes, a Catholic school girl desperately trying to reinvent herself; and The Landlord, a man who Bun is told to avoid at all cost. Through her experiences with her new roommates, and their sometimes tragic revelations, Bun learns that the world extends beyond the walls of her mother's house and discovers the joy of being part of a new family -- a family of friends who care.

Awards

  • WINNER | 2019
    White Pine Award
  • WINNER | 2018
    Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards
  • WINNER | 2017
    Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design – Prose Fiction
  • AWARD | 2019
    YALSA Best Books for Young Adults
  • SHORTLIST | 2018
    Amy Mathers Teen Book Award
  • SELECTION | 2018
    USBBY-CBC Outstanding International Trade Book
  • SHORTLIST | 2018
    Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards
  • SHORTLIST | 2018
    Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People
  • AWARD | 2017
    Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book

Author

© Donald P. Barnes
HEATHER SMITH is the author of four published YA novels; three middle-grade novels, the most recent of which, Tig, has received two starred reviews and was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award and the OLA Red Maple Award; and seven picture books: Angus All Aglow, A Plan for Pops, The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota’s Garden, Slowpoke the Bell Island Mine Horse, Annie’s Cat is Sad, Waking Ben Doldrums and Granny Left Me a Rocket Ship. The books in her body of work have either won or been shortlisted for virtually every Canadian children's literature prize, and been translated into eight languages. She lives with her family in Waterloo, Ontario. View titles by Heather Smith

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