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She’s abandoned at age six by her mother and left most of the time to fend for herself in a beat up motor home without a motor, by her father who is making a life for himself without her . Sixteen year old April Sawicki is desperately searching for something better than the life she has, desperately wanting to matter to someone. She takes to the road alone with her voice and songs with a few trash bags of things in a stolen car. I feared for her and hoped for her as she journeys from place to place. When she settles in Ithaca, NY for a while she finds friendship and experiences what it’s like to love and be loved, but she can’t stay.

Three years later, she is still on the road, alone, playing a gig and then leaving for another, sometimes returning, but never staying. This is an emotional story. Sometimes a story gives me that lump in my throat and sometimes a story can immediately bring tears. It was the latter for me at times and especially in the last chapters because sometimes a character makes you want so much for them to be happy. One can only hope that any teenage runaway will have a Margo in their lives or be fortunate enough to find true friends like Carly and Ethan, people who they matter to. Readers can only hope for characters like these who matter to them.

I received a copy of this book from Simon & Schuster through Edelweiss.