A New York Times Book Review choice as one of the 10 Best Illustrated Children''s Books of 2008.

Skim is Kimberly Keiko Cameron, a not-slim, would-be Wiccan goth stuck in a private girls'' school in Toronto. When a classmate''s boyfriend kills himself because he was rumoured to be gay, the school goes into mourning overdrive, each clique trying to find something to hold on to and something to believe in. It''s a weird time to fall in love, but that''s high school, and that''s what happens to Skim when she starts to meet in secret with her neo-hippie English teacher, Ms. Archer. But when Ms. Archer abruptly leaves, Skim struggles to cope with her confusion and isolation, armed with her trusty journal and a desire to shed old friendships while cautiously approaching new ones.

Depression, love, sexual identity, crushes, manipulative peers -teen life in all its dramatic complexities is explored in this touching, pitch-perfect, literary graphic masterpiece. Cousins Mariko and Jillian Tamaki collaborate brilliantly in this poignant glimpse into the heartache of being sixteen.

Mariko Tamaki is a Toronto-based writer and performer - "a talented writer getting better and better," says Now Magazine. She is the author of Cover Me, True Lies and the Book of Bad Advice and Fake ID. Mariko grew up in Toronto, where she attended a private school very much like Skim''s.

Jillian Tamaki grew up in Alberta and currently lives and works in New York, where her clients include the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, the Walrus, Macleans and the Village Voice. She has received a number of awards for her editorial illustrations, including a National Magazine Award, and her work has appeared in the American Illustration and Communication Arts annuals. Her first book, Gilded Lilies, was published by Conundrum Press in 2006 and was nominated for a 2007 Doug Wright Award in the Best Book category.

"Skim" is Kimberly Keiko Cameron, a not-slim, would-be Wiccan goth who goes to a private girls' school in the early '90s. When her classmate Katie Matthews is dumped by her boyfriend, who then kills himself -- possibly because he's (maybe) gay -- the entire school goes into mourning overdrive. It's a weird time to fall in love, but that's what happens to Skim when she starts meeting secretly with her neo-hippie English teacher, Ms. Archer. But then Ms. Archer abruptly leaves the school, and Skim has to cope with her confusion and isolation while her best friend, Lisa, tries to pull her into "real" life by setting up a hilarious double-date for the school's semi formal. Suicide, depression, love, homosexuality, crushes, cliques of popular, manipulative peers -- the whole gamut of teen life is explored in this poignant glimpse into the heartache of being 16.