It is 1993, the last year of school and Laurie's final spring before adulthood. She works part time at a restaurant and looks after Cindy, her neglected, potty-mouthed little neighbour. Like her mother, Laurie devours books and dreams big. Her father works at a garage, where Laurie constantly struggles to keep her car running. It is here that a budding romance intensifies Laurie's understanding of class differences, and opens her eyes to a more complicated world. With her big heart, she takes Cindy globe-trotting without even leaving town, and learns how to come to terms with circumstances beyond her control. Life teaches Laurie that everyone requires some maintenance sometimes. A story of taking responsibility and coming into adulthood, Some Maintenance Required is as funny and as impressive as its main character. (From House of Anansi Press)

Marie-Renée Lavoie is a Canadian writer from Quebec. She's the author of three other books, including A Boring Wife Settles the Score, Autopsy of a Boring Wife and Mister Roger and Me (La petite et le vieux in French), which won Radio-Canada's Les combat des livres in 2012.