• A tenth grader helps her dad launch his business, in hopes he’ll give his blessing for her to attend the art school of her dreams; but as work starts to pile up, she’ll have to choose between pleasing others and staying true to herself.
• As Lexie begins to recognize her father’s subtly coercive, emotionally controlling nature, she learns to break out of that pattern and asserts herself with the help of her therapist.
• Not all abuse leaves bruises, but the invisible, insidious emotional trauma inflicted by a parent to a child can last until adulthood. Through Lexie’s story, young teens facing similar abuse can feel validated in their feelings, learn to look out for red flags of dysfunction, and learn what it means to have boundaries in a relationship.
• Influenced by the writings of Marsha Skrypuch, Laurie Halse Anderson, Tamara Ireland Stone, and Ava Dellaira, Azzam infuses an authentic complexity to her characters, masterfully depicting Lexie’s conflicted inner thoughts, her strengths and her heartbreaks.