Queen of the Late Bloomers

(Book Coming Soon)

Ruthie thinks after 7 years, probably everyone has forgotten that her dad died, and even though she definitely hasn't forgotten, it feels ok that people see her as just another teenage girl.  But when she has a painfully public panic attack during 8th grade graduation, she decides to keep all future “episodes” on the down-low and tries to be hopeful as summer begins.  Surely, she thinks, this isn’t too much to ask, but then her grandma gets arrested, her brother leaves for the Air Force, and her best friend, Kelli, goes away to camp for a month.

Quitting basketball and hiding her panic attacks seem easy compared to actually lying to Kelli, but Ruthie can’t bring herself to tell the truth – that her grandma is an alcoholic. When her mom kicks Grandma out of the house and threatens to make Ruthie see a therapist, Ruthie doesn’t plan to tell her old elementary school nemesis and new freshman phenom, Robbie Mason, the truth either.