Zaidman, Harriet: - 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.