16-year-old Emilie is being forced by her mom to stop being stagnant. She has been homeschooled since her epilepsy kicked in as a child, and seems to relish in curling deeper and deeper into that protective, lonely shell. She insists everyone around her has it so much better than her, that it's best for her to just stay away. But her mom (and her therapist) disagree.
Once thrust back into public school (and a social life), she begins to see how she created her own blind spots, ones that take some work to finally help her see how making assumptions about others does more damage than good. She needs to decide whether she wants to stay in her shell or call her therapy dog by her side and get "out there," start being more open about her disability, her truth. I think a lot of teenagers will be able to relate to her struggle with this decision, and be happy they picked up this book.
The writing is lovely and descriptive.
I won an ARC of this book at a writing conference, and am glad I got to read it after hearing so many good things about the author and this novel.