Bright lights, big trouble
Fans of Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak and Judy Gregerson's Bad Girls Club will relate to this story about a girl traumatized by her brilliant mother's serious mental illness
Like a grown-up Eloise from the picture book, the main character, Van, lives in an upscale casino in glitzy Las Vegas, giving readers entree into a crazy world that few ever get to see
Based on real life events witnessed by the author, a harrowing look at the dangers of self-help cults that promise insight and instead deliver destruction
With her mother, a brilliant businesswoman with fragile mental health, Van arrives in Las Vegas at the Silver Saddle casino, where Alex, a college student, is assigned to "babysit" her. Van is used to having to land on her feet, because her mother and her surrogate grandmother move from city to city all the time like corporate gypsies, but Alex introduces Van, a talented musician, to a group where her guitar skills may shine. But just as she's about to play her first gig, her mother is lured in by a con man promising a "vision quest" in Arizona, and Van must go on the road to find and save her mom.