Now in paperback, a moving novel of loss and resilience, told in a voice that is sometimes humorous, at times heartbreaking, and always authentic (School Library Journal").
Twelve-year-old May lives with her grandmother, who is depressed about the absence of May s mother, and her father, who works long hours and is almost never around. Due to her circumstance and her resentment over having to live in a low-income neighborhood, May often finds herself picking fights and getting into trouble.
But when May is caught defacing her least favorite teacher s classroom, she has a choice: expulsion or one-on-one summer school with the teacher she most detests. Begrudgingly, May chooses summer school and ultimately learns that her teacher has a secret past and might just hold the key to answers no one else will give May about her mother."