Dreams of escape from her privileged but empty life are only fantasies
until Kristen finds a Canadian birth certificate under her mother's
jewelry box. Kristen has no memories of her early childhood or her
biological father. Her stepdad controls her secretive mother, and
Kristen cuts on herself. Even her best friend, Natalie, doesn't know she
is haunted by thoughts of suicide. The questions raised by the birth
certificate are so unsettling that Kristen decides to run away.
Corey was alone the night that Kristen ran away. He has a past and he is
known as a trouble maker. He is blamed by both the authorities and kids
in school for having murdered Kristen, though her body has not been
found. Even his mother believes he is guilty. Natalie, who has her own
reasons to despise Corey, grieves for Kristen and also blames Corey.
But Kristen has crossed into Canada and is making a new life for
herself, unaware what is happening in her absence back in Washington
state. She finds a kind of peace she's never experienced, until what
started as an innocent relationship with an older man becomes dangerous.
Now, stalked by a real predator, she must decide whether to stay and
resolve her new problem or return home and confront her former life.
The three main characters tell their stories separately as first-person
written responses to an English class assignment to keep a personal
journal. Each struggles to face life with integrity while entangled in a
web of difficult situations. To triumph, each must confront the
challenge of forgiveness.
