The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.Īutumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart their mothers are still best friends. Although the story sports many coincidences (e.g., the lodge just happens to have a dark room) and a rushed ending, it offers a realistic depiction of teenage emotions and the mother-daughter conflict. So why is Bernie still so angry at her mother and attracted to the older, two-timing novelist rather than the nice boy next door? Analyzing her own photography, finding answers to Charlotte’s mysterious life and realizing the similarities she shares with her mother help put Bernie’s “out of focus” life back in perspective. It has an immediate affect on the family: Ally, Bernie’s brother, relaxes his obsessive-compulsive tendencies and her mother not only remains sober, but resumes her role as caregiver from Bernie.

She is married to Jim McFarlane and they have one daughter, Christine.When 16-year-old photographer Bernie Dodd discovers that her great-aunt Charlotte has left Black Spruce Lodge (in northwestern Ontario) to her single, alcoholic mother, she demands (with a threat to call Social Services) that the family leave their roach-infested apartment and open the lodge for business. She is also a recipient of the Young Adult Canadian Book Award is a two-time winner of the McNally Robinson Book for Young People award and has been shortlisted for many other awards and honours.

This story about a girl who has antique glasses which allow her to see ghosts is considered a 'Canadian classic.' Her latest novel, Winter Shadows, was published on October 12, 2010, by Tundra Books, a division of Penguin Random House.īuffie is a recipient of the Vicky Metcalf Award Body of Work Award (For Writing Inspirational to Canadian Youth). Her first manuscript, a novel entitled Who is Frances Rain? (1987), was published by Kids Can Press, in Toronto.

She worked as a visual artist before beginning a writing career in 1985. Buffie has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Manitoba. She attended Sparling Elementary School, Sargeant Park Junior High, and Daniel McIntyre High School.

Margaret Buffie (born March 29, 1945) is an award-winning Canadian children's author.īuffie was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Out of focus by margaret buffie