Emotional and sexyI loved it! Miranda Kenneally, bestselling author of Catching Jordan Dessa is a winning and resilient heroine. Elizabeth Wein, New York Times bestselling author of Code Name Verity A journey I would happily take over and over again. Dahlia Adler, author of Just Visiting The fantastic, feminist novel I wish Id had as a teen. Jessica Spotswood, author of the Cahill Witch Chronicles A heartfeltand at times, heartbreakingexploration of finding yourself. Stacey Kade, author of Finding Felicity An emotional, aesthetic, and hopeful journey to self-discovery. Kirkus Reviews [T]he message of maintaining persistence, courage, and creativity is a worthy and welcome one for teen readers. Booklist Seventeen-year-old Dessa Rhodes is torn between leaving her modern nomadic life and pursuing her dreams of becoming an artist in this fun, contemporary debut novel thats perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Morgan Matson (Ashley Poston, author of Geekarella).Dessa Rhodes is a modern day nomad. Her family travels in an RV, their lives defined by state lines, exit signs, and the small communal caravan they call home. Among them is Cyrus, her best friend and long-time crush, whom she knows she can never be with. When your families are perpetually linked, its too dangerous to take a risk on romance. Instead, Dessa looks to the future. She wants to be a real artist and going to art school is her ticket to success and a new life. Theres just one problem: she hasnt been acceptedanywhere. Suddenly her future is wide open, and it looks like shes going to be stuck traveling forever. Then an unexpected opportunity presents itself: an internship working with a local artist in Santa Fe. Dessa struggles to prove to her bossand herselfthat she belongs there, but just as she finally hits her stride, her family suffers an unexpected blow. Faced with losing everything that she has worked for, Dessa has a difficult decision to make. Will she say goodbye to her nomadic lifestyle and the boy she loves? Or will she choose to never stop moving?

 

 

This book is aimed at children at US 9th grade+.

This book has been graded for interest at 14 years.

There are 320 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2019 by Simon & Schuster .

Lauren Spieller is an author and literary agent who lives in New York City with her husband. When she isn't writing, she can be found drinking lattes, pining for every dog she sees, or visiting her native California. She is the author of Your Destination Is on the Left and She's the Worst. Visit her at LaurenSpieller. com and follow her on Twitter at @LaurenSpieller.