Skids

by Cathleen With

The stories in Skids are the stories of street kids; they are harrowing yet moving confessionals about young kids on their own, many of them runaways or addicts, eking out existences in shelters, treatment centers, or dysfunctional families. Told in the vernacular of the street, Skids reverberates with a sense of urgency and desperation, but with compassion and optimism as well. The book, based on the author’s personal experiences, pays homage to the street kids she knew by honoring their stories and making them matter. This is Cathleen With ’s first story collection.

Genres: Canada

152 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2007

About the author

Cathleen With is a Vancouver-based writer and teacher.

Her first book of short stories, "skids", was published in 2006 with Arsenal Pulp Press. Many of the stories are based on her friends’ voices, some now gone, and Cathleen's own experiences battling addictions and depression in her youth.

"Having Faith in the Polar Girls' Prison" is her first novel and was published in 2009 with Penguin Group Canada. It was inspired by her years of teaching in the North and won the 2010 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize from the BC Book Prizes.

Cathleen completed her Master’s degree in Creative Writing at UBC and has worked as a teacher in Inuvik and Seoul.

Reviews

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in two chunks: half of it a few months ago, and the other half over the past couple of days. Fortunately that works out alright with short story collections!

The stories in this collection were a mixed bag for me. Although I felt super uncomfortable reading most of them, that was actually a good thing. These stories were incredibly real and well-realized and I felt very immersed in the scenes. Oftentimes I wished they were somewhat longer as I felt a few only scraped the surface of what seemed to be such a strong story underneath.

[Eaton Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Skids" surprised and impressed me. Surprised me because it has a rapid heartbeat. Impressed me because With is such a canny, stylistic writer; her prose clippers along with grace and attention to detail. Overall, acute descriptions of young, queer and struggling life in Vancouver, and well worth reading (especially with breaks between stories as they tend towards sameness). I might wish With had gone deeper into her narratives.