Manon Bourette Bourette itibaren Porozovo, Ivanovo Oblast, Rusya
A sophomore in high school, the pretty and popular Martha Abbott is worlds different from who she used to be: A shy, chubby outcast known to her family as Marty Mouse, a little girl who cried often and who used books and daydreams to escape from the reality of the world around her. Back then, the only person who truly understood Martha was Ivy Carson, the second-youngest daughter of a large, low-income family from the other side of town. The Carsons have earned themselves quite a bad reputation (Mrs. Carson is an alcoholic, Mr. Carson is a debtor, and several of the older carson children have been busted for various criminal activities), but Ivy is different. Even though Martha's upper-class family doesn't exactly approve, Martha and Ivy become friends...and this friendship is the only thing that gets Martha through those difficult growing-up years. Then comes the day Ivy and her family vanishes without warning, without a trace. But her friendship with Ivy strengthened Martha more than she knew and she is able to finally crawl out of her mousehole, put aside the daydreams that once consumed her, and live in the real world. She has learned to live without Ivy in her life. But now, when Martha is a sophomore, she gets word that the Carson family has returned to the area...and Martha is worried: Now that she's so different (both inwardly and outwardly) than she was last time she and Ivy talked, can the two girls still be friends? Is there even a place for Ivy in Martha's life now?
Can be terrifying for a parent to read, but makes you think about how much you really see and remember at any one moment.