First published 2025
At 22, Kristin Collier walked into a bank to apply for her first credit card. She was weeks from college graduation and ready to start her teaching career. Instead, she learned she owed over $200,000 in credit card debts and private student loans she never took out. The person who stole her identity was a trusted family member. Collier chronicles her journey through America's student lending system while grappling with this personal betrayal. She interviews other student borrowers and examines the historical forces that created our current crisis. The book weaves together her family story with cultural analysis and research into higher education financing. Collier shows how debt affects relationships, life choices, and entire communities. She explores what it will take to repair both her family bonds and her financial future. The memoir calls for a world where education is free and accessible to all students regardless of background.
Genres: american-fiction, american, education, memoir, biography-memoir, 21st-century, current-affairs
Vibes: emotionally-resonant, intimate, investigative, socially-conscious, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-secrets, personal-reckoning, systemic-critique
Setting: United States
Period: 21st century, Contemporary
304 pages · Hardcover · Grand Central Publishing
Content warnings: abuse, emotional-abuse