Rosoff reads tonight

The reading is a co-presentation of Babar Books and the Westmount Library.

“I find her books very different,” said Children’s Librarian Wendy Wayling. “The storylines are unique. She said she doesn’t want to deal with issues so much as what kids go through as teenagers.”

Wayling describes Rosoff’s previous work as “dark, not so uplifting, but there is a humorous side ... mainly for older teens. It’s a little bit edgy.”

The Boston-born Rosoff, now a resident of the UK, published her first book, How I Live Now, in 2004. A story of a young girl grappling with her feelings for her cousin in a nightmarish near-future England, it won the 2004 Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the 2005 Michael L. Printz Award for Young Adult Literature, and the 2005 Branford Boase Award. After writing a picture book for young readers, Meet Wild Boars, in 2005, Rosoff’s second novel Just In Case was published in 2006 and won the 2007 Carnegie Medal in Literature.

A tale of friendship in the 1960s

What I Was, published in 2007, is Rosoff’s third novel. It’s the story of Hilary, a cynical boy in the 1960s attending a boarding school on the coast of England. Hilary doesn’t fit in there, and instead soon becomes fascinated with Finn, an orphan who works at a market, lives on his own, and doesn’t go to school at all. The novel follows their relationship, and Hilary’s view of his friend, as both are threatened by other boys at Hilary’s school. The book links themes of history and memory with lyrical descriptive passages and a brooding atmosphere.

Rosoff has been performing a series of readings across North America in support of the novel. “I think it’s a rare opportunity to see her, coming from England,” said Wayling. “She’s just making two Canadian stops. She’s in Toronto and here, and that’s it. So it’s kind of lucky that we’re getting her ... She’s well-known in England, she gets involved in discussions of children’s literature.”

• Meg Rosoff’s reads at 7 p.m., on Feb. 14, at the Gallery at Victoria Hall, 4626 Sherbrooke St. W. Refreshments will be available. There is no charge to attend the reading. Rosoff’s web site may be found at www.megrosoff.co.uk.