There’s Eeyore, just twelve years old when she runs away from her privileged home, harboring a secret she’s too ashamed to tell anyone. Rusty winds up alone and broke when his older boyfriend ditches him. Squid has survived a meth-addict mom and too many foster homes to count. There’s Scabius, a rough, delusional punk from Utah, and Critter, a heroin dealer with movie star looks and a vulnerable heart. Laura, smart and restless, has run to L.A. looking for something bigger than the tiny town she comes from.

And then there’s Tracy, the charismatic, damaged thread that ties them all together, irrevocably changing each person’s life she touches.

With rare candor and searing prose, Jessica Blank introduces us to seven unforgettable teens who form their own dysfunctional family, complete with love and belonging, abuse and betrayal.

Jessica Blank, an actor and writer, has appeared in several films, including The Namesake, On the Road with Judas, and Undermind; and on TV in Law and Order: Criminal Intent, The Bronx Is Burning, and Rescue Me, among others. She is coauthor (with her husband, Erik Jensen) of the award-winning play The Exonerated, and of Living Justice, a book about the making of The Exonerated. This is her first novel for young adults. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their dogs, Zooey and Yoda.