"It's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all." Sid Litman will be the the first one to tell you that this cliche is bullshit. After her mom left when she was eleven, Sid's been a member of a support group for kids with divorced parents. She met her two best friends in the group, but she's also heard countless tales of marriages falling apart, and she's come to believe the town is cursed. No love can last here, and nothing is worth having unless it will last forever. But, she's a senior in high school, and change is on the horizon. With only a few months left before she leaves for college (if she can even commit to a college), a good thing happens at the worst time; she and the new boy start falling for each other. Her best friends are excited for her, but she's afraid of starting something doomed to end once the new school year starts. Not to mention, her mom has just come back into her life, and she's terrified that going to different colleges will drive a wedge between her and her friends, who have been a makeshift family for the past six years. A story about reluctantly growing up, the families we forge, and learning that ephemerality doesn't negate worth.

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]]