A Shuswap author has published a book that explores the power of girlhood, seeking to reclaim that power in the wake of the tragic murder of an Armstrong teen on Halloween night in 2011.
Taylor Van Diest was killed near the railroad tracks on Pleasant Valley Road. Her killer received a life sentence in June 2018.
Emilia Symington-Fedy91裸聊视频檚 book, Skid Dogs, tells the story of how she and her girlfriends used to hang out on the tracks in Armstrong. When two decades later Van Diest was murdered on those same tracks, she returns to her hometown to comfort her mother, who is fearful of the murderer who is at large. Back on the tracks where she grew up, Symington-Fedy begins to question her own coming of age, and the wounds it left start to show.
The book is an unflinching reckoning with 91裸聊视频�90s teenage rape culture and tells the dark and hilarious story of a 13-year-old and her girl gang as they navigate the misogyny of high school life, their love for one another holding them together, even while sexual coercion and assault tear them apart.
But while the book touches upon serious subject matter, it is brimming with hope and joy; it91裸聊视频檚 an empowering celebration of girls who overcome the male gaze, who unleash their joy into a dangerous world.
Moving between the unstoppable joy of friendships, the long shadow of sexual violence and the griefs and loves of adulthood, Skid Dogs is a story about the places where girls are unruly and free.
91裸聊视频淣obody gets a secret window into how girls are when there91裸聊视频檚 no parents or boys around. We91裸聊视频檙e crazy,91裸聊视频� Symington-Fedy told The Morning Star. 91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 a wildness to us that was just unstoppable, and so that91裸聊视频檚 the freedom and the kind of celebratory empowerment I want folks to pull from the book.91裸聊视频�
The joy of girlhood seeps into the tone of the book; Quill and Quire called the book 91裸聊视频渟creamingly funny.91裸聊视频�
For Symington-Fedy, the humour in her book cuts through the traumatic subject matter she deals with, embuing it with the kind of nuance that makes it true to life.
91裸聊视频淗umour takes us deeper,91裸聊视频� she said.
Symington-Fedy has since walked those tracks where she and her friends used to congregate. She91裸聊视频檚 noticed that since the murder, the tracks are vacant.
With her book, she asks, 91裸聊视频渨hat could be possible if the girls reclaimed those tracks metaphorically?91裸聊视频�
Symington-Fedy describes conversations she91裸聊视频檚 had with her two sons about the 91裸聊视频渋nherent power91裸聊视频� they wield, teaching them that a big part of their responsibility in life is to uplift and support, and to not necessarily be at the centre of things.
91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 trying to prepare them for the inevitable downfall of the patriarchy,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淭hey are already smarter than I am. We91裸聊视频檙e doing our best.91裸聊视频�
Symington-Fedy says the big issue for women is 91裸聊视频渢he hard work of being honest, and a willingness to hurt feelings. For men, the work is to get curious even if it91裸聊视频檚 deeply uncomfortable.91裸聊视频�
She references a well-known quote by Canadian author Margaret Atwood: 91裸聊视频淢en are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.91裸聊视频�
Symington-Fedy says she didn91裸聊视频檛 write Skid Dogs for her old friends, or for men to learn a lesson. Rather, she wrote it so that the 14-year-old girl like her out there might make different choices, and realize the power of their girlhood.
Van Diest91裸聊视频檚 murder sent shockwaves of trauma through the community of Armstrong, and Symington-Fedy admits she91裸聊视频檚 worried about bringing that back to her hometown.
91裸聊视频淏ut I know when I say her name, Armstrong girls91裸聊视频� eyes light up in knowing. And her mother is grateful she91裸聊视频檚 not forgotten. So, I91裸聊视频檝e decided, it91裸聊视频檚 more important to talk and be uncomfortable than be silent and try to move on. Because we don91裸聊视频檛 move on. This tragedy re-shaped our town. Let91裸聊视频檚 reclaim the tracks, and never forget and demand more, so there91裸聊视频檚 less chance of it happening again.91裸聊视频�
She says the book is a celebration of the life of Van Diest, who was 91裸聊视频渧ivacious91裸聊视频� and knew how to stand up for herself.
91裸聊视频淚t is traumatic, but how I want to rise above the trauma is to remember the joy.91裸聊视频�
Symington-Fedy lives in the Shuswap with her family and will be launching her first book Nov. 18 at the Salmon Arm Art Gallery at 7 p.m.
Skid Dogs is available for purchase on Amazon and can also be found at Bookingham Palace in Salmon Arm.
READ MORE:
READ MORE:
