Hannah's life is pretty good. She has two parents who love and support her, she's popular at school, and she's one of the best gymnasts on her team. Everything has changed now that her cousin Cal is living with the family. He's rude, he plays pranks that are just mean, and he freaks out for no good reason. Hannah knows she should have sympathy for him because his mom died, and his dad's in jail, but it's really hard when it seems like Cal is legitimately trying to ruin her life.
Cal thinks his cousin Hannah is a spoiled princess. She gets everything she wants, and she's never had to deal with anything really hard in her life. Cal's mom is dead, and even before that his dad used drugs and abused him and his mom. They ended up homeless and hungry. That's something Hannah could never understand. No one could. That's why he keeps things to himself building walls out of crazy stories and running away when things get too hard.
Hannah's parents already have a strained marriage, and dealing with Cal's antics doesn't help, but everything comes to a head when their grandmother decides to visit for Thanksgiving. She's never forgiven Cal's mom for dropping out of college to be with his dad, and she takes all her anger out on him.
Can Cal and Hannah find a way to trust each other and save a family that is becoming more broken every day?
Ellen Hopkins's new book is a touching story about two kids learning to deal with some challenging situations and learning how to trust and rely on each other. This book deals with the effects of physical and emotional abuse as well as the way drug and alcohol abuse has unintended consequences. Readers will sympathy with both Hannah and Cal and cheer on their blossoming relationship. Highly recommended.
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