Wendy Phillips

Wendy Philips is a Canadian author. She grew up in Kamloops, British Columbia, and wrote her first book at the age of 11, and completed degrees in journalism, English, education and a children's literature degree from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. Her past jobs have included journalism, bookbinding and teaching English. She has lived in Lesotho, Ottawa, South Africa and Australia, but currently lives in Richmond, British Columbia with her husband, son and daughter. Phillips currently works as a teacher-librarian at MacNeill Secondary School in Richmond, BC. Phillips is also an author of young adult fiction, whose first book Fishtailing won the 2010 Governor General's Award for children's literature. Notable works Philip's first and only book Fishtailing was published in 2010 by Coteau Books after only two previous rejections. She was the 2010 winner of the Governor General's Literary Awards for Children's Literature in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Fishtailing follows the lives of four fictional Vancouver high school students; Natalie, Tricia, Miguel and Kyle. The book switches perspectives between the four characters, showing how they interact and deal with violence, bullying and their desires to fit in. This book is unusual because it is written in verse instead of prose. Therefore, the book switches between the four central characters by displaying poems written by them. This book comes from Phillips' experiences with students. As a Librarian and teacher, Phillips was exposed to both the positive diversity of different cultures of a multicultural society, as well as the negative experiences students' bear at home that affect their school and social behaviour. With an equal representation of students, teachers and school counsellors in her novel, Phillips expresses the conflicts of getting through to students and identifying challenges from each role within the schools. Fishtailing Sexually abused by her father's friend, having her parents' love taken away from her by alcoholism and work, Natalie tries to take control by hurting others more than she is hurting. She cuts herself and is out to make other people hurt. Tricia is a Japanese-Canadian who is a 'good girl'. She is attracted to Natalie and learns from her how to isolate her family and cut herself. Eventually, Tricia realizes that she doesn't want to hurt people and becomes disenchanted with Natalie.