First published 2026
Sixteen-year-old Adela Woods arrives in Padua Beach, Florida, exiled by her Indiana parents after becoming pregnant. Her grandmother's small panhandle town becomes home to an unexpected sisterhood. Adela meets Emory, who carries her newborn through high school hallways, refusing to quit her education. She encounters Simone, already mother to four-year-old twins and facing another pregnancy. The Girls, as they call themselves, live as outcasts, raising their children together in the back of Simone's red truck. The town judges them harshly, but these young mothers create their own world of friendship and mutual support. They navigate romance, betrayal, and the daily challenges of raising children while still being children themselves. Secrets emerge that test their bonds. Through shifting loyalties and broken trust, they discover what it means to grow up fast while holding onto pieces of their youth. This is a story about finding family in unexpected places and the strength that emerges when young women support each other through impossible circumstances.
Genres: fiction, romance, family-life, friendship, contemporary, adolescence, young-adult
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, pregnancy
Setting: Florida, Indiana, Padua Beach
Period: 21st-century
352 pages · Paperback · Vintage