Skin Deep is a sincere and heart-felt look at a teenager's struggle to come to terms with her mother's mortality while struggling with her own ideas of beauty.
When her mother suddenly announces that she has breast cancer, Cori's world seems to end. Things that once seemed so important to her no longer matter -- it's hard to care if your hair is flat-ironed when your mother's is falling out due to chemo. For Corinne, this summer she is learning who she really is underneath, and who her real friends are.
Hot on the heels of her previous YA novel, Out, acclaimed children's writer Sandra Diersch tackles another tough issue in Skin Deep. To do so, she turned to her former teacher and breast cancer survivor Gerri London for help. Gerri draws on her own experiences to provide the touching journal entries of Cori's mother. These serve to shape the novel and give each of the characters lives of their own.

SANDRA DIERSCH has taught writing courses to British Columbia students and aspiring adult writers. She has written eight books to date, including Offside! and Home Court Advantage, both Canadian Children's Book Centre Our Choice selections. She lives in Maple Ridge, B.C., with her husband and young daughter.

www.sandradiersch.com

Sandra Diersch's profile page

GERRI LONDON was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997. After her treatment and recovery, she and her husband started The London Family Cup of Hope, a charity that raises funds for cancer research. Today, Gerri gives support to women facing the same journey she had, by counselling them through their fear and anxiety. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Gerri London's profile page

• Winner, Best Books for Kids & Teens -- Canadian Children's Book Centre - Star Selection

"Raw emotion...drives the narritive; excerpts from a journal kept by Cori's mom provide a mature point of view."

The Horn Book Guide

One of the Canadian Children's Book Centre's "Great Reads for the Holidays 2011"

bookcentre.ca

Skin Deep (SideStreets)