Böcker utgivna av Beech House Books

When Alison Hayes finds herself suddenly set free in the world to build her life out of the crumbled ruins of her childhood, she must come to terms with her own demons before she can make her way out of the chaos left by her mother's life. Were people right to think she would follow the same road her mother travelled, or would Alison be able to forge a new path? Is she destined to repeat the mistakes of her mother, or is she free to make choices for a better way? When there are opportunities to make good choices, how will she ever know which choice is right?

When Alison Hayes walks into her storm-darkened trailer the afternoon of her 16th birthday, she has no idea that it will be the beginning of a year like no other. Her mother has lost her job again, the most stable man they've ever had in their lives is looking for the nearest exit, and her best friend is dating the prom queen. She can't remember the last time anything good had happened to her. If the rails still passed through town, she would definitely be on the wrong side, always looking across to everyone else, it seems, who has it so much better than she.Dirty. Trashy. The words have followed her through her life in her tattered, rust-stained jeans. She longs to understand her mother - who is lost and broken, driven by her addictions, by her losses - and to reconcile the memory of Mother before with Mother now. In the chaos of their one acre in the world, Alison strives for sanity, forging a path through the wreckage into the light. She is alone and must learn to stand alone, or she will be swept by the same undercurrents of self-defeat that took her mother so many years ago. During this worst of times, she discovers her own strength and determination and a powerful drive to do something better.

For ten years Alison has stayed on the fringe of society. She lives a quiet, nearly invisible life, working nights as a nurse at the hospital and sleeping days. When her volunteer work at the Crisis Clinic sets her on a collision course with a pregnant teen, Alison finds herself plunging without a parachute. She must reconcile her own history as her obsession about the girl mounts. Will Alison finally make peace with her mother and with her own role in their chaotic time together?