Book Blurb
Shay, sarcastic and queer, is settling in with her fifth foster family in four years. The Morgensterns—Rabbi Miriam, husband Ravid, nine-year-old twins Nathan and Eli, and a big black cat—welcoming and patient, slowly adjust to life with Shay. The challenges are frequent when Shay’s always-below-the-surface anger bubbles up. Against her better judgement, she finds herself becoming more attached to them.
Conflict starts on day one of high school when Shay’s first serious girlfriend ghosts her. Things get more complicated when Shay volunteers for the school theater production and develops a crush on the girl in charge of the stage crew. Can Shay help it when she then crushes on one of the boy actors? Shay tries to navigate it all, but eventually, her anger issues cause her to make a bad decision that hurts a friend deeply.
Further complicating things, Shay’s father, released from prison the previous year, announces he wants to pursue custody. Of course, this throws Shay’s life with the Morgensterns into turmoil. Will he take her away from her friends and foster family? What’s the point of getting attached to everyone when everything can be lost?
Warning: This book contains discussion of child abuse (past reference); sexual assault (past reference); substance/alcohol use/addiction (adult relative), drug and alcohol use (teenage), past trauma/ death of a family member (past reference), trauma (child in foster care system; past reference); depiction of physical violence (high school students); use of strong language.
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