The Gladstone Hotel, Skim launch

East Indian woman, early 20s, with coarse hair, wearing wide-brimmed, black and white checkered baseball hat, black and white striped hoodie, and low slung skinny jeans with gemmed belt buckle.

Skim, Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood Books)



She stands at the edge of the bar nervously watching the girls around the pool tables suck their long necks and rack up another go round. She nurses a ginger ale in a short glass. Old trick. Her mother will pick her up in 47 minutes outside the Mars Diner. She'll have had a grilled cheese sandwich and too much coffee. That will explain the minty gum, the reason she wasn't there when her mother arrived, because she had to get gum, now get off my case, and let's just go home already.