What Friends Are For

Harriet Zaidman

$29.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Heritage House Publishing Co Ltd
21 January 2026

Historical fiction (Children's&YA); Personal & social issues: sex education & the facts of life (Children's&YA); Personal & social issues: teenage pregnancy (Children's&YA)

Set in 1983, at the height of Canada's abortion debate, this powerful, nuanced YA novel follows fifteen-year-old Leesa as she grapples with an unplanned pregnancy.

At fifteen, Leesa is preoccupied with friends, crushes, and schoolwork and looking forward to the freedom of earning her own money and learning to drive. Although she doesn't think much about politics, she has marched alongside her mother and friend Jenny, protesting the planned opening of an abortion clinic in her city. In her traditional, close-knit community, abortion feels like a black-and-white issue, with little connection to her real life. But after she is raped at a party, Leesa's life suddenly merges with the headlines of the day. Now she is the one dealing with an unplanned pregnancy, and everything she ever believed is turned upside down. As she struggles to make a decision that could determine her whole future, Leesa comes to realize that she is only one who should have the right to make a choice about her own body. But will opening up to her family and friends mean losing them forever?

By: Harriet Zaidman
Imprint: Heritage House Publishing Co Ltd
Country of Publication: Canada
Dimensions: Height: 203mm, Width: 139mm,
ISBN: 9781772035537
ISBN 10: 177203553X
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 21 January 2026
Recommended Age: From 14 to 18 years
Audience: Young adult , Preschool (0-5)
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Harriet Zaidman is an award-winning writer who applies extensive research to find the voice and detail necessary to animate her novels. She has always been interested in how important historical events impacted people and how we can learn from these experiences. Her middle-grade novel City on Strike was set during the turbulent times of the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919. Second Chances, written for young adults and recipient of the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People, tells the story of young people stricken during the polio epidemics of the 1950s. A former teacher-librarian, Harriet lives in Winnipeg and is the children's book columnist for Winnipeg Free Press.