Local author's book up for award

posted on 07/27/10

A book written by Springfield author Laura Best has been short-listed for the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People.

“Bitter Sweet” is the story of Pru Burbridge, a girl living on the family homestead in Dalhousie, Nova Scotia in the 1940s whose life gets turned upside down when her father abandons the family and her mother becomes ill.

Ms Best is a long-time writer whose fictional short stories have been published in a variety of literary magazines across Canada.

The Bilson Award, which offers a prize of $5000 to the winning author, is judged on historical setting and accuracy, strong character and plot development and suitability for its intended age group, and must also be a well-told, original story.

The winner will be announced in Toronto in November.