Going forward, I think Kelly Oram will be my go-to author for YA books.
This book was so good. It had a lot of difficult issues but never got too bogged down. There was so much growth in certain characters, and I loved seeing it.

5 Stars

Content: kissing, divorce, scattered language, bullying ( )

Lily is one of those teens who's just trying to survive, but her family, kids at school, and inner conflicts are conspiring to make that impossible. Her parents fighting has become so loud her abusive male neighbor, Noah, a high school football star has given her the nickname Trash, which has been picked up by all the popular kids.
Then several things happen in short order. Her supposed boyfriend dumps her by proxy, Noah suffers a severe brain injury after a hit on the football field, her best friend starts ghosting her, and her parents get a divorce. If all that wasn't enough, she begins to question her goal of going to college to study journalism.
Just when it seems like life is about to break her, a most unusual and unexpected opportunity comes her way. Noah, whose outlook on life and personality have flipped completely due to his TBI, wants to write a book about the injury and his recovery. Lily needs something to replace her spot on the school paper. She reluctantly agrees to work with him on his book, and she discovers what she expected to be a really uncomfortable experience is anything but. This is a great look at how the unexpected can often be a healing journey. It's far from smooth for either teen, but reading along as they come to grips with those unsettling moments as well as dealing with other teens' discomfort and meanness makes for a fine and insightful story. ( )