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"A raw and riveting coming-of-age story about the wild love of teenage friendships and the casual oppression of 1990s rape culture. Emelia Symington-Fedy grew up with her girl gang on the railroad tracks of a small town in British Columbia. Unsupervised and wild, the girls explored the power and shortcomings of "best" friendships and their growing sexuality. Two decades later an eighteen-year-old girl is murdered on Halloween on the same tracks, and Emelia returns to her hometown to stay with her mother, who is fearful of a murderer at large. While the media narrows its focus on how the girl dared be alone on the tracks, Symington-Fedy slowly comes to terms with the mistreatment of her own teenage body. Giving a bold and often darkly humorous first-hand account of nineties rape culture and the sexual coercion that still permeates girlhood, Symington-Fedy holds her hometown close and accountable and exposes the subtle ways that misogyny shows up daily. Award-winning poet and author Aislinn Hunter describes Skid Dogs as a "riveting, raucous and tender look at growing up a girl in a boy's world. [...] Beautifully written and bravely told, this book is the Stand By Me for girls that's been far too long in coming."--
About the author
Emelia Symington-Fedy grew up in Armstrong, BC. She has worked as an essayist, storyteller and documentary producer for CBC Radio and is the co-artistic director of The Chop Theatre. She is the creator of the popular blog and radio show that became an audiobook, Trying to Be Good: The Healing Powers of Lying, Cheating, Stealing, and Drugs (Author's Republic, 2017). After living an urban life for many years, Symington-Fedy and her family are now enjoying life back in Armstrong, on their rural property near a lake.
Summary
Skid Dogs is a raw and riveting debut memoir about coming of age during the casual oppression of ‘90s rape culture and the passionate tumult of teenage friendships.
“I can’t remember the last time I read a book so brave. Maybe never.” —Ani DiFranco
"I fell hard for the scrappy, funny, honest, resilient young heroine of Skid Dogs, and the wise narrator who mediates her story—an essential tale of girlhood survival." —Melissa Febos, author of Girlhood, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award
“Everyone knows, a girl has to be killed before she’s taken seriously; anything less is just called growing up.”
In 1991, Emelia Symington-Fedy stumbled upon a tight-knit group of girls hanging out on the secluded railroad tracks intersecting her small rural town—and became “best friends” with them overnight in the way only fifteen-year-olds can. Unsupervised and wild, the girls navigated teenage friendship dynamics, toyed with adult vices, and explored their growing sexuality.
Two decades later an eighteen-year-old girl is murdered on Halloween on the same tracks, and Symington-Fedy returns to her hometown to stay with her mother, who is fearful of a murderer at large. The victim was simply taking a shortcut to her friend’s house—just like Emelia’s gang had done so many times in their day. While the media fixates on why the girl dared to be alone on the tracks, Symington-Fedy slowly comes to terms with the mistreatment of her own teenage body and the twenty years of silence between her former friends.
Combining the intimacy of memoir with the gripping narrative of true crime, Symington-Fedy offers a bold and often darkly humorous first-hand account of nineties rape culture, the sexual coercion that still permeates girlhood, and the subtle ways that misogyny shows up daily.
Foreword
- DRC available on Edelweiss
- National and regional publicity campaign
- Author available for interviews and features
- Social media outreach to true crime readers
