First published 2020
Mia has earned her reputation as a problem teen through poor grades, wild parties, and reckless relationships with boys. The final straw comes when she hits her stepmother across the face. Her father ships her off to Red Oak Academy, a therapeutic facility for troubled girls buried deep in Minnesota wilderness. At the residential center, Mia must confront the chaos of her past alongside her therapist and fellow residents, each carrying their own catalog of mistakes and regrets. As she settles into the program, a troubling question begins to eat at her. Would these same girls face identical consequences if they were boys instead? This realization opens her eyes to broader patterns in how society judges and punishes young women. The growing awareness forces Mia to lower her defenses and examine uncomfortable truths about gender and justice. Her journey toward healing requires something she has always avoided: the courage to show her authentic self to a world that may not accept what it sees.
Genres: fiction, gender-studies, feminism, contemporary, adolescence, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Minnesota, Red Oak Academy
320 pages · ebook · Quill Tree Books
Content warnings: abuse, sexism