Senior year can be stressful enough, but what if you had to live inside a closet in your high school?
Rachel dreams of getting into an excellent college so that she can escape an unbearable life with Carrie, her drug-addicted aunt who she’s lived with since she was a baby. With stellar grades and a full load of advanced classes, her goal is in her grasp until she must suddenly leave Carrie’s after a terrifying night at the start of her senior year.
Rachel moves in with her best friend’s family, but the already rocky friendship takes a turn for the worse, and Rachel can’t stand the tension any longer. She has never been comfortable with conflict, so instead of facing it, she runs. Left with no other safe place to go, Rachel decides to live in a forgotten closet inside her large high school. After all, Montgomery High is the only place where she feels like she belongs, and she’s perfected the art of flying under the radar.
If staying hidden inside her high school while dealing with the stressful challenges of homelessness isn’t hard enough, add the sudden attention of Ethan, the boy she’s had a crush on since freshman year. Rachel must decide if she will take risks to experience a bit of happiness that she desperately craves. With the help of a kind security guard and her beloved librarian, Rachel’s dreams finally feel within her reach. Will she trust herself enough to step into her future or will the pain of her past keep her running away?
Rachel’s brave story is about telling the truth, accepting kindness, and holding on to hope in the hard spaces.
From the Author
Honestly, I have always been leery of self-publishing. I am a recovering book snob, who once thought only legitimate books came from the machine of traditional publishing. I wanted to be a part of that machine more than anything because it meant that I got the seal of approval as a worthy writer. As a librarian, I understand how the process works and can only place traditionally published books on my library shelves. It’s taken some unlearning and relearning to get on the self-publishing path, but now that I am here, there is a lot of freedom in it. I am not on this journey for fame and fortune; that was never the goal. The goal was to finish a book–take it through the excruciating process of drafting, revising, editing, and then put it in the world to be read. I always thought that I needed traditional publishing to validate my worth as a writer, but now I realize that I can give the magical YES. I am the one I have been waiting for.
It feels right for A Soft Place to Land to be my debut novel, and for it to be on my terms as a self-published author. As a high school librarian and reader of Young Adult realistic fiction, I’ve noticed that many traditionally published stories portray school as the stereotypical place that teen characters must endure, and the teachers are often antagonistic or lame. This does not reflect the reality that I have witnessed in my twenty-seven years of working in public education. Although I have not personally known a student who lived inside my school, I have known countless students who consider school the most stable, loving place in their lives. And I know educators who have personally sacrificed to support their students. In the face of our current political climate, this book is my love letter to librarians, public education, and the inspiring perseverance of my students–past and present.