by Helen Frost
First published 2005
Keesha has created something rare: a home where teenagers can find safety when the adults in their lives let them down. One by one, six other kids arrive at her door, each carrying their own crisis. Stephie wrestles with an unplanned pregnancy while her boyfriend Jason faces choosing between fatherhood and a basketball scholarship. Dontay bounces between foster homes while his parents serve prison sentences. Carmen sits in juvenile detention after a drunk driving arrest. Harris sleeps in his car after his father kicked him out for being gay. Katie buries herself in work and school to escape her mother's abusive husband. Helen Frost tells their interwoven stories through poetry, using traditional forms like sestinas and sonnets to capture how these seven young people support each other through impossible choices. Each character's voice emerges distinctly as they navigate the gap between childhood and adulthood without the safety net most teens take for granted.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, contemporary, adolescence, young-adult, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, social-justice
173 pages · Hardcover · Thorndike Press