2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalists Announced

Sailor Girl is both coming-of-age tale and love poem to the natural world. Set on the grainboats of Canada's Great Lakes in the summer of 1981, it follows the literal and figurative journey of Kate McLeod, a rebellious photography student looking to earn money for school. Using tight, salty dialogue and gripping description, the book renders a sharp-edged portrait of life lived on the edges of society. It is also a love story in which a middle-class girl finds a deep connection with the unruly young men and tough-minded women of the lakes. Life on the water is physically and socially restrictive, and Kate kicks against the rules, both written and unwritten. Sailor Girl is a uniquely Canadian story, one that preserves a vanishing part of our heritage.