JL Paul
Anywhere But Here
language
( Jan. 29, 2013)
Life really sucks when your little sister disappears and your family falls apart. People smother you with sympathy and your friends have no idea what to say. Guilt eats you up inside while you just want to curl up into a tight ball and disappear yourself.
Just ask seventeen year old Rena Hamilton - she can tell from personal experience.
Rena moves from the suburbs of Chicago to a tiny Michigan town to live with her aunt. After a dismal start to her senior year, along with a serious bout of trouble, Rena just wants to begin again in a new school where no one knows her and, more importantly, no one knows about her sister's disappearance.
Things don't quite work out according to plan. Although she tries to alienate the entire population (she doesn't need friends) a ragtag group of skater types adopt her into their group. And then there's Fin, the cute hockey player who worms his way into her heart. Throw Roberta, the friendly counselor into the mix and Rena's life is anything but quiet.
Although she tries to keep the past away from the present, the strain of keeping secrets coupled with the stress of small-town gossip and high school drama slowly tears her apart. When she suffers a breakdown, it takes the love and support of the new people in her life to get her back on her feet.