"I walk up the back steps and then stand there, waiting for the goosebumps on my arms to go away. They don't. I almost don't go in. But then I think of Baby Ella. And Mom. I push open the door.... "
When twelve-year-old Hershey must run away with her mother to a women's shelter, she wonders how, among other things, she'll compete in the town talent show with her best friend, Phoebe; who will take care of her cat, Augustus Gloop; and if she'll survive being on a new bus route with her sworn enemy.