Here for a Good Time
Kim Spencer
Penguin Random House Canada / Swift Water Books
Ages 14+
Available March 10th, 2026
It’s 1990, and teenage Morgan and her wild-child best friend, Skye, are two Indigenous girls “here for a good time,” drinking, flirting, and partying in Prince Rupert, a small Canadian fishing town. Morgan is no stranger to tragedy: her alcoholic mother abandoned the family years earlier, but her world completely collapses when her father is killed in a boating accident. When Morgan’s mother returns to town, grief—and recklessness—force her into an alternative school, where she falls for Nate Jones, a well-read Indigenous boy with unexpectedly worldly taste. As the two grow closer, an unplanned teen pregnancy and an unexpected mother-daughter reunion force Morgan to confront how loss and love can coexist.
Although classified as historical fiction, Spencer—a member of the Gitxaala Nation herself—writes with poignant accuracy, tactfully balancing the turbulence of teenage life, from fake IDs to bad boyfriends, with the enduring impact of intergenerational trauma shaped by Canada’s residential school system. Despite the sparse sentences and short vignette-like scenes, Here for a Good Time delivers an emotional, impactful story that spotlights Indigenous resilience.
Spencer opens the novel with a brief heavy content warning, but doesn’t shy away from exploring difficult issues, including racism, alcoholism, and sexual assault. These honest portrayals have the power to be incredibly important for younger readers, providing a window into aspects of Indigenous life, culture, and tragic systemic abuse that are seldom represented by our history books.
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