BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
'Five Little Bitches' chronicles the intertwining lives of five young women, each of whom is plagued by her own unique demons, and all of whom are devoted to music, the punk-rock lifestyle, and an underground code of solidarity. The novel details each of the girls' personal histories alongside the rise and fall of their band, Wet Leather. As the band progresses, the girls tour Canadian, American and European small towns and big cities, and all the alleys, gutters, back stages, vans, hotel rooms, highways and airways in between.
The novel follows a generation of girls in revolt. As the girls are tested by their own habitual self-defeatist and self-destructive attitudes and behaviours, female bonding and rebellion is played out under extreme circumstances. At its heart, 'Five Little Bitches' asks whether alternative music and youth culture can be an affective mode of subversion and empowerment. The story is a punk-rock travelogue from a psychologically-charged feminist perspective, exposing the external pressures and tribulations which slowly increase as an all-girl band achieves success in the male-dominated world of rock 'n' roll.
" 'Five Little Bitches' is funny, outrageous and startlingly authentic. ... [McWhirter] delivers what any reader wants - a novel that is vibrantly alive, never dull." Prairie Fire
"Told in the straight-ahead manner of 2007's 'Dirtbags', McWhirter delivers an in-your-face style to match the grit of her characters..." Quill & Quire
Teresa McWhirter grew up in Kimberley, in the East Kootenays of interior BC. She received a BA with a double major in English and Creative Writing from the University of Victoria. After extensive travel across the Canada and the US, her first novel, 'Some Girls Do', was published by Raincoast/Polestar books (2002). Following an assortment of jobs, including teaching English in Korea, driving an ice cream truck, and scaring children at a haunted house, she published the novel 'Dirtbags' (Anvil Press, 2007) and the young adult novel 'Skank' (Lorimer, 2011). During the past few years Teresa has toured Europe and North America with punk rock bands, gathering material for 'Five Little Bitches'. She lives in East Vancouver.