About the Book

Sixteen-year-old Liz just wants what all the other kids at her high school seem to have — food, shelter and maybe even a parent who actually cares.

After escaping her abusive mother, Liz thinks she’s found something like freedom: a cramped apartment, a stoner roommate and a solid group of friends. It isn’t much, but it’s hers. She goes to school, fights the pull of her roommate’s drugs and has even caught the eye of Danny — a guy who offers a glimpse of the normal life she craves.

Liz is trying. Trying hard to stay in school, build some kind of a life and toss away the things that are not serving her.

Then the precarious life she’s built comes apart when Winnie, her beloved cat, is injured. Liz has a choice: let Winnie suffer or face a vet bill she can’t possibly pay. To make matters worse, her delivery bike — her only source of income — is stolen.

With Winnie’s condition getting worse, Liz is out of time and out of options. Desperation pushes her toward the two things she swore she’d never do: selling her Ritalin, and crawling back to the mother she’d finally got away from.