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A riveting, sometimes shocking, coming-of-age tale like no other, 15-year-old Elizabeth reluctantly takes on the world—her father dead of a drug overdose, mother imprisoned for a terrible crime—and embarks on an odyssey taking her from the mean streets of St. Louis into the deep-recession heartland, living the gamut of malevolence and kindnesses, all the while seeking justice for her mother, whom she knows—well, thinks she knows—is innocent.
Packing a loaded .38, the immensely clever Elizabeth does all she must to survive, from becoming, along with her little brother, the foremost missing children in America, to engaging when necessary in the haute sensuelle unthinkable. Whatever it takes.
With stability looming, she determines to leave her past behind, but is confronted with a huge legal obstacle blocking the way to obtaining justice for her mother. Resolving it is risky business indeed, and Elizabeth is the only one who can effect it. But to do so, she would have to revert to a notorious version of herself, jeopardizing everything she has accomplished, including her mother’s long-sought freedom, and, quite likely, her own.