Jean Thesman

From the book:

"'But you'd always feel bad if you were the only survivor," Naomi offers. 'Wouldn't you? Wouldn't you care about all the people who died, maybe even members of your own family?'

"I'm not going to listen to this. I'm going to walk out of class right now and go home. I start to get to my feet, but Tasha and that stupid Sherman boy glance over at me, so I sit back down.

"'Did you want to add something, Miss Deacon?' Mrs. Vargas asks.

"Oh, I could add plenty! But I shake my head.

"She goes on to something else, but I'm too angry to pay attention. I want this class to be over, and I don't care if the building bursts into flame to end it. I don't care if the world flies apart! Then they'd find out what it's like to be left behind!

"I can't get my breath ...."

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"People hate what they can't explain ..."

For the past three years - ever since the unspeakable thing happened to their family - Skylar Deacon's parents have hated to let her out of their sight. Now she's going to summer school, and it's a struggle each morning to get past them and out of the house. She knows they love her, but it's time for them to let go of their fears - and let her grow up.

Skylar's grandmother and older sister, Alexandra, offer their support, but Skylar is the one who has to face the bus, the school, the kids she doesn't know, and the truth about what made the Deacon family outcasts in their own neighborhood. Does she herself have the strength to stop looking back and turn her eyes - and hopes - to the future?

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Best Book, Parents' Guide to Children's Media