First published 2013
Marley thought she could count on her parents for everything. Then she discovers they've been lying to her about something fundamental, and her family starts falling apart. Bobby is only sixteen when his girlfriend gets pregnant. He never planned to become a father, but now he must figure out what being a man really means. Shoogy keeps everyone at arm's length, even those who care about her most. Meeting Curtis breaks through her walls, but when the military sends him to Iraq, she faces losing the one person who matters. These three stories from Heaven, Ohio show teenagers confronting the hardest moments of their lives. Each must choose between holding onto the past or stepping into an uncertain future. Their journeys reveal how young people find strength they never knew they had.
Genres: fiction, contemporary, adolescence, young-adult, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Heaven, Ohio
Period: 21st-century
400 pages · Paperback · Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers