National Network for Equitable Library Service

Runaway teen Annabel, nicknamed Ghost, doesn’t speak. Her interaction with her world is limited to how well she can convey her wants and feelings to others, and how intuitive others are in interpreting her expressions and gestures. Confused by her mother’s addictions, and the loss of the guidance of her grandmother, Ghost is driven to the road by a search for love. When she mistakenly thinks she must leave the shelter and safety of a good foster home, where horses and a “family” of foster kids keep her grounded, she slowly learns that danger wears many disguises and has no remorse. On the run with a tough and messed-up boy named Graydon, she makes her way to Ottawa with the help of Graydon’s drug-dealing friend, Cooper. As the physical danger in her new life intensifies, Ghost realizes the mistake she has made and, after a series of frightening events, knows she must escape the doomed life that Graydon and Cooper represent in order to save herself from a fate that has befallen many other young girls. She realizes that what she needs and the love she seeks were there all along. Has she left it too late? Can she survive on her own without a voice and make the return journey to where she belongs, or will life on the street and predators like Cooper claim her for their own?