Cole’s small town is a trap he’s determined to escape in this fresh and moving debut novel that balances loss with humor.

Ever since his mom died, Cole just feels stuck. His dad acts like a stranger, and Lauren, his picture-perfect girlfriend of two years, doesn’t understand him anymore. He can’t ditch his dad, so Cole breaks up with Lauren. She doesn’t take the news very well, and Cole’s best friend won’t get off his case about it.

Now more than ever, Cole wants to graduate and leave his small, suffocating town. And everything is going according to plan—until Cole discovers the one secret that could keep him there…forever.

"Ever since his mom died, Cole feels stuck. He just wants to graduate and leave his small, suffocating town. And everything is going according to plan--until Cole discovers the one secret that could keep him there...forever"--

"The book is unusually clear-eyed in its depiction of both the negatives and the positives of a close-knit small town. There's an underlying nuance to the dynamics and a pleasing lack of villainy to the characters, so events are emotional rather than melodramatic."