Ella was beautiful. Ella was fast. Ella was gone. Ella was never coming back.

How is Drew Walter supposed to take care of three kids who are in his custody till they turn eighteen when he hates children? The answer has only one word, five letters. Grace.

Amanda Rose is too young for her best friend to be dead. She went to bed to one world and woke up to an entirely different one the next morning when her best friend, Roxanne, committed suicide, leaving Amanda behind with only one missed phone call, a message she can't bring herself to listen to. And then comes in Orion Mathers, Roxanne's ex-boyfriend and the reason why everyone in Madison high school turned on Roxanne. Amanda blames him for what happened since to her nothing was wrong until he revealed her unusual eating disorder. But then, to honor her best friend, a former model, Amanda decides to take part in modeling competitions in her place in hopes that if she won, things would start to make sense again. But she soon finds out, the deeper she gets into the model world, the harder it is to come out. She sheds being Amanda, the boring, shy friend of the dead girl and becomes Mandy, the more outspoken, beautiful girl. Mandy is distant toward her family, develops an eating disorder of her own, and just wants to win. Her family, her wild child sister, and even Orion urge her to stop but she can't now. Maybe not ever. 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 - 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭. (𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐀 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨

WATTPAD ORIGINAL EDITION In 1955, mixed-race Ethan Harper leaves his progressive hometown for a summer in Alabama where he's not welcome, except by resident free spirit, Juniper Jones. ***** After getting himself into a bout of trouble, 16-year-old Ethan Harper's parents send him to Ellison, Alabama, to live with his aunt and uncle for the summer. But the year is 1955, and Alabama is a far cry from his beloved home of Arcadia, Washington. As much as it's hotter in temperature, it's colder in every other way, and Ethan learns the hard way that people see his mere existence as a threat. Amidst all the mayhem, a fiery, free-spirited, oddball walks into Ethan's life. Her name is Juniper Jones. She is the first person in Ellison who seems unfazed by their racial differences, and she promises to give Ethan a summer he will always remember, filled with endless adventure and discovery. With Juniper, Ethan can breathe, he can be, despite the incessant attention and bullying their newly formed friendship attracts. Can the two survive the summer, run in the light and block out the noise of the outside world? [Published version comes out June 16, 2020 with Wattpad Books!] [[word count: 70,000-80,000 words]]