The author describes her struggles with depression, concerns about family, friends, dating, body image, and the difficulties of being a teenage girl.

The author describes her struggles with depression, concerns about family, friends, dating, body image, and the difficulties of being a teenage girl.

It's autumn in Tokyo, and 12-year-old Akira and his younger siblings Kyoko, Shige, and little Yuki have just moved into a new apartment with their mother. Akira hopes it's a new start for all of them. But their mother soon begins to spend more and more time away from the apartment, and then one morning Akira finds an envelope of money and a note. She has gone away with her new boyfriend for a while. For a brief time the children bask in their freedom. They shop, explore, plant a little balcony garden, have the playground to themselves. Even when the bank account is empty and the utilities are turned off and the children become increasingly ill kempt, it seems in the bustling big city, nobody notices them. It's as if nobody knows.

Shannon was 13 and she wanted to die. She hated her parents, her body, her friends - her life. She never felt pretty or popular enough. She struggled with drinking. She was sexually assaulted. She nearly starved herself. But Shannon survived her pain and slowly began finding peace in her life. With warmth and insight, Shannon McLinden shares the true story of her journey through addiction and depression, offering a lifeline of support for girls everywhere. Like the best-selling Go Ask Alice, this compelling true account of the secrets and pains of a teen girl are revealed with utter honesty.

My story begins aged 3, when my mother abandoned me and left me with my brutal father to raise me. Nobody knew the secrets that went on inside that house, or the journey that I travelled on after leaving it, until now. This is the story of my survival. What do you do when no one wants you? How many people need to destroy a child until that child wants to destroy herself? What if social services always got told a different story? What would you do if you were in my position? Survival is key.

The nail-bitingly intense story of a summer at camp that ends in a disturbing death—and depicts a powerful friendship that won’t ever be forgotten. Perfect for fans of One of Us Is Lying and Broken Things. Kayla is still holding on to Lainie’s secrets. After all, Lainie is Kayla’s best friend. And despite Lainie’s painful obsession with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, and the ways he has tried to come between them, friends don’t spill each other’s secrets. They don’t betray each other’s trust. The murder at the end of the summer doesn’t change all that. Besides—Kayla knows that the truth is not the whole story.