From bestselling author Nancy Rue comes a YA contemporary novel that combines coming-of-age drama with a rom-com series of adventures as one girl deals with her complicated family and first love.

Jesse Hatcher is used to keeping everything together-from trying to manage her thoughts amidst her ADHD to helping her mom through bipolar "phases" and keeping the reality of the highs and lows-and their living situation-a secret. But when her supposedly dead father, Lou, appears and her mother becomes suicidal, her taped-together life comes undone.

Soon Jesse is placed in Lou's temporary custody, where she has everything but control. As she works her Dad-mandated job learning to make sushi with a chef intent on torturing her, she concocts a plan to get back to her real home. But then a cute boy named Rocky and the thrill of riding his motorcycle complicate things, and the book she found seems to have all the answers she doesn't want to hear. Torn between what her mom wants and a life she might actually enjoy, Jesse is forced to make a crazy decision.

Motorcycles, Burritos & One Strange Book:

• features a vibrant and witty protagonist dealing with the realities of a divided family and mental illness
• is a Christy award-winning novel that explores the ideas of self-worth and empowerment
• provides an inspirational message for those dealing with tough circumstances
• is the first book in the Real Life series

This book was recognised by the Christy Award.

This is volume 1 in Real Life .

There are 224 pages in this book. This book was published 2010 by Zondervan .

Nancy Rue has written over 100 books for girls, is the editor of the FaithGirlz Bible, and is a popular speaker and radio guest with her expertise in tween issues. She and husband Jim have raised a daughter of their own and now live in Tennessee.