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Seventeen-year-old Fern has not had an easy life. She struggles at school and lives with her mother in a roach-infested apartment where break-ins are common and the neighbors are unfriendly. Despite these challenges the two of them are managing to cope, but then Fern's mother suddenly has a heart attack and dies, and Fern is left utterly alone. She's a survivor, and not afraid of hard work, but how does a 17-year-old with no skills support herself? Using only her resourcefulness and resolve, Fern fights to create a new life, and just when things seem about to unravel, she discovers that she is not really on her own after all.
About the author
EDEET RAVEL is an award-winning author of books for both young readers and adults. Her YA novel, Held, was nominated for the CLA Young Adult Book Award and the Arthur Ellis Crime Award, and her YA novel, The Saver, has been adapted for film and received awards around the world. Her novels for adults have won the Hugh MacLennan Prize and the Jewish Book Award and have been nominated for the Governor General’s Award and the Giller Prize. Edeet was born on an Israeli kibbutz and holds a PhD in Jewish Studies from McGill University.
Summary
Seventeen-year-old Fern has not had many breaks in life. She struggles at school and lives with her mother in a roach-infested apartment. Then, suddenly, her mother has a heart attack and dies, and Fern is devastated. But she's a survivor, and she's not afraid of hard work. Sidestepping social services, she quits school and sets out to look after herself.
With a little luck and ingenuity and a lot of determination, she manages to live rent-free by becoming a janitor in a crummy apartment building. When she runs out of toothpaste she gets freebies from dentists' offices. Then she tries to juggle two other shift jobs, including one in a restaurant kitchen, so she has access to leftover food. But despite her resourcefulness and resolve, the exhaustion and stress eventually take their toll, until Fern discovers that she is not really on her own after all.
